Connecticut ping!
Please Freepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent Connecticut ping list.
Posted on 10/27/2006 8:01:27 PM PDT by neverdem
In his battle for re-election to the United States Senate without the backing of the Democratic Party, Joseph I. Lieberman is deploying a secret weapon in the race’s closing days: a sophisticated operation to identify and turn out voters, courtesy of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
The Bloomberg group includes several top-level operatives who played key roles in the mayor’s decisive re-election last year or who are in the administration, and have taken leaves from their jobs to work on Mr. Lieberman’s campaign.
Since Mr. Lieberman lost the Democratic primary in Connecticut to Ned Lamont, they have helped open campaign offices, devised a strategy to reach voters and are corralling enough volunteers to cover 2,800 shifts at more than 700 polling sites on Election Day, Nov. 7.
Given that Mr. Lieberman does not have a party apparatus to help build his field operation, the efforts of the Bloomberg team could prove critical in one of the most closely watched races in the nation.
“There is no independent network,” said Stu Loeser, Mr. Bloomberg’s chief spokesman, who played the same role in the re-election effort. “To a certain extent, we were the last independent campaign.”
The workers on loan are the most vivid example yet of how Mr. Bloomberg, a Republican who often breaks with his party on issues, could build a permanent political apparatus to support like-minded independent candidates across the country — if not a national bid for himself.
With his 2005 re-election campaign behind him, Mr. Bloomberg has been relishing his role as kingmaker, endorsing Gov. Rod Blagojevich in Illinois and Gov. M. Jodi Rell in Connecticut, raising money for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in California and appearing in a television commercial for Representative Christopher Shays in Connecticut. (Mr. Blagojevich is a Democrat, and the others are Republicans.)
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
ping
That is a funny one. I also wonder if Joe will feel he has any obligation to the Republicans who have supported him. Like a key vote in the Senate every now and then.
If Lieberman wins he will make a deal and return to the dem fold where he will be welcomed with open hands.
I don't think Bloomberg has been a Pubbie for very long a time. I think his switch came just in time for him to run as Guiliani's recommended successor. Could easily be wrong though.
After an event discussing the 9/11 Commission, Mr. Kerrey, the former Nebraska senator, offered his support to Mr. Lieberman, saying the senator was "central to solving the problems of this nation." But Mr. Kerrey also suggested that he had a different view on how to begin troop withdrawal from Iraq... Asked to respond to Mr. Kerrey's assessment, Mr. Lieberman used more measured language, saying that the situation in Iraq "is not going any way as I hoped it would at this point." ...But, he cautioned: "A senator can only do so much. This is ultimately policy set by the commander in chief and his military."
Thanks... I'll ping the CT list.
Connecticut ping!
Please Freepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent Connecticut ping list.
You're not wrong. You're completely correct. He's a complete social liberal. He was a businessman, so he's probably a fiscal conservative. He's also the Jewish mayor of NYC, already hit twice, so he may have a different view of the war on terror than other lifelong dems.
The question remains, why did Joe decide to run again? My gut feelings in this matter are his need to support the WOT and continue his unwavering support of Israel. This I believe he understands are intimately intertwined, if the WOT is lost, Israel's existence as a nation are all but decided.
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