Posted on 10/30/2006 10:52:35 PM PST by MadIvan
Liberal members of the Democratic Party hailed him as the bright new hope for the American Left after internet activists created the momentum that helped him to slay Senator Joe Lieberman, one of his party's big beasts.
But Ned Lamont has failed to make the transition from plucky underdog to official Democratic nominee. Despite pouring millions from his personal fortune into his campaign to become Connecticut's next senator, he is trailing Mr Lieberman by up to 17 points in opinion polls.
Standing in a half-empty village library, Mr Lamont, a fibre optics entrepreneur, is far from the assured candidate of the summer. Now, even voters in liberal New England are beginning to question whether his strident demands for troops to be brought home from Iraq will make America or the Middle East safer.
"This is a war of ideas," he told supporters in a library in Hamden. "If we stay true to who we are, we win that war."
He acknowledged that "we probably need some troops in order to complete the mission in Afghanistan" but advocated "tough love" in Iraq by leaving the Baghdad government to "take control of their own destiny". In an indication of increasing desperation, he made the unusual claim that Iraq war veterans were being treated worse than those who returned from Vietnam. "We have not shown that same level of respect for the troops coming home now from the troops that came home from Vietnam, frankly."
He cited Gen Sir Richard Dannatt, the Chief of the General Staff, to buttress his case. "The top general from Britain said just last week we're exacerbating the insurgency, British troops are coming home within a year and that's going to put pressure on the Maliki government to make the political compromises that are our best hope for Iraq." In fact, Sir Richard made no commitment to pull troops out within a timeframe.
With his sloping shoulders, a tie that droops down to his navel and a speaking style that comes close to a whine, Mr Lamont is not a politician who inspires confidence. The primary was confined to Democrat voters, but in next week's mid-term elections independents and Republicans, who overwhelmingly back Mr Lieberman, will also go to the polls.
In contrast, the pro-war Mr Lieberman, the Democrats' vice-presidential candidate in 2000, is enjoying a new lease of political life. Having been written off by his foes on the Left when he was defeated by Mr Lamont in August's primary, he now finds himself the potential kingmaker in the Senate. In a case of supreme political irony, it could be his vote that gives the Democrats a majority.
Now an independent, he has promised to caucus with the Democrats but has not ruled out crossing the floor to the Republican side if he is penalised for failing to concede to Mr Lamont. Now that the polls show that he should win, he is every Democratic senator's friend once again.
"I'm a devoted Democrat but independent-minded and I've always worked across party lines to get things done," Mr Lieberman told The Daily Telegraph. "I don't feel I have any obligation to follow party orthodoxy." He remains a strong supporter of the Iraq war, the issue that was his downfall in the primary, but has broadened the debate to what he has achieved for his home state in 18 years in Washington. "During the primary, I let Lamont define me rather than defining myself."
When asked what a defeat for him would mean for the Democrats, Mr Lamont sounded like he was resigned to losing.
"It'll be taken as a strong affirmation of George Bush's policies that, even in Connecticut, Joe Lieberman and George Bush won a majority of the vote."
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
Ned just needs to spend more money, that's all!
Isn't this the campaign that Michael Moore hailed as a sign of things to come? That "anyone who supported 'George Bush's war'...their days were numbered" or some such nonsense?
Rats lament loser Lamont.
Liberal lemmings leaning Lieberman.
Thanks, Ivan... ;-)
.
USA's abandoning a then Free South Vietnam long ago =
Pictures of a vietnamese Re-Education Camp
http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1308949/posts
Now it's:
Quo Vadis, Iraq..?
Quo Vadis, USA..?
(Quo Vadis = "Where go you?" ..in Latin)
.
Connecticut ping!
You're going to enjoy this article... :o)
Please Freepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent Connecticut ping list.
That explains why the OIC at Oakland Army Barracks advised GIs returning from Vietnam not to wear our uniforms after we left post. He was afraid we'd be mobbed by the adoring crowds, and never make our flights home.
You got that right! Lieberman is a liberal, but the liberals will throw him to the wolves because he's not liberal ENOUGH. Proof that the Democrat party (the one I used to know) is no more.
Although I'm an original goldwater conservative, I always liked Joe Lieberman. He's a true gentleman like Zoe Miller. And like Reagan said : I didn't leave the democratic party, they left ME(a conservative democrat). After they fail again next week, perhaps, just perhaps they will wake up and realize, as they "auger in" to oblivion, that you can't fly an airplane with just one(left)wing. Lieberman, Miller, even Traficant wasn't much of a RIGHT wing but now even that stubby wing is GONE....Prediction : there will be very little change in the house and senate numbers...the real question is the "perot effect", disaffected republicans not voting.
this idiotic statement should be coupled with Kerry's to remind people how clueless these rats are about our military
You mean this guy?
Even so he is the better part of that dilapidated pile of flaky human debitage known as the Democrat Party.
Hey... I agree with Lemont!
Another good example of the limits of advertising money. If ad dollars determined behavior, the Edsel would have been a smash hit for Ford, many Hollyweird bombs would have been smash hits at the box office, and any number of doofus politicians with deep pockets would have been elected.
If your product is stinko, all the advertising in the world will not move it, as this particular doofus is about to discover.
Psychotic election cycle alert
"This is a war of ideas," he told supporters in a library in Hamden. "If we stay true to who we are, we win that war."
Too bad poor Ned is too busy fighting his own countrymen to realize who his real enemy is. Imagine the look of surprise on ol' Ned's face just before the jihadi's slit his throat.
THIS certainly a strange cycle. For the only time in my life I contributed to a Democrat. I gave Liar man $25.00 just to have the pleasure of being able to claim a part in the victory I knew he would get. Funny thing, I told them not to bother asking me for more because I am a Republican consultant and it would be a waste of time. They never did, which is something I've never seen before either. As I said: This IS a strange cycle.
I don't think Moveon.org scumbags are through with that race yet.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.