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Dianne Farrell, Candidate for U.S. Congress
Connecticut’s 4th Congressional District
Tim Tagaris, Internet Director
Ned Lamont for U.S. Senate
Nancy DiNardo, State Democratic Party Chair
Connecticut
We just ate a huge Portuguese feast at Patty’s parent’s house and now we’re all sitting around doing work on our respective laptops.
We had a really great day in New Haven. As Josh mentioned before we interviewed Tim Tagaris, the Internet Director for the Ned Lamont campaign. He’s wicked smart (I’m in New England so I can say that) and we’ll have his interview posted in the next day or two.
New Haven is a beautiful town and today was perhaps the nicest day I’ve seen all year- perfect temperature with sun and a slight breeze. When the weather is good, I am happy.
The leaves are already starting to change colors up here in New England and we’ve driven by a number of pumpkin patches. It’s definitely fall and I love it.
Tomorrow we’ll spend the day right outside of Providence producing a couple of shows and then tomorrow night we’re scheduled to interview Sheldon Whitehouse, the Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate in Rhode Island. Then, we’ll head to our old stomping ground in Boston for a three day jaunt. We have some great interviews booked up in the Bay State including with a former Democratic nominee for President…any guesses?
Ok, back to work. Hope everyone is having a good night out in TV land.
-Matthew
U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman’s lead over anti-war challenger Ned Lamont has narrowed to a razor-thin margin, two polls showed on Wednesday.
The 2000 vice presidential candidate lost the Democratic primary vote in Connecticut to Lamont this month, but is running for re-election as an independent in a contest that has exposed deep divisions over the unpopular Iraq war.
An American Research Group poll conducted Thursday through Monday said the race was a statistical tie, putting Lieberman’s support among 790 likely voters at 44 percent versus 42 percent for Lamont, a political novice and wealthy cable TV executive.
Republican Alan Schlesinger, a former state legislator, had 3 percent. The poll had a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
Adam Sharp, Senator Landrieu’s Communications Director, confirmed with me this morning that Landrieu will indeed support Lieberman over Democratic nominee Ned Lamont.
“Senator Landrieu is supporting Senator Lieberman,” wrote Sharp in an e-mail. “We have not issued any press release or anything on it, but have confirmed it to anyone who has called. She did state her support publicly before the primary, as reported by the Times Picayune and called Senator Lieberman the day after the primary to reiterate her position.”
Don’t you get it, Mary? This is not about YOU. This is not about your friendship with Joe. This is about America and this is about the will of Connecticut voters. This is about the Democratic Party!
NBC News is reporting that the US pushed British investigators to arrest the plotters of an alleged terror attack against trans-Atlantic airliners earlier than the British authorities wanted. “[O]ne senior British official suggested an attack was not imminent, saying the suspects had not yet purchased any airline tickets. In fact, some did not even have passports.” The rushed arrests were announced just after Ned Lamont beat Sen. Joe Lieberman in the CT Senate primary. Via TPM.
DoubleSpeak commentator Ari Melber wrote a piece for The Nation called Ned Lamont’s Digital Constituency. It’s good. Have a read.
The Nation:
Joe Lieberman’s life as a Democrat ended on Tuesday with a fatal blow from Connecticut’s primary voters. The voters’ surging antipathy for Lieberman was stoked by many factors–the Iraq War, the President, the Senator, the surrogates, the pundits, the activists, the bloggers–but Ned Lamont’s victory was driven by two triggers: First, the war elicited a primary opponent; then Internet activists convinced voters that he was a viable alternative. Yet the recent obsession with bloggers, by traditional media and Lieberman boosters alike, only reveals one component of the Senator’s undoing online.
Bloggers actually constitute a small slice of progressive Internet activists, known as the netroots, which includes organizations like MoveOn.org and Democracy for America; informal networks like e-mail lists and MySpace groups; and Internet activists who use websites to raise money, broadcast videos and disseminate information. That is how Daily Kos blogger Markos Moulitsas sees it. Just past midnight on election day, he emphasized that bloggers are “much smaller” than a third of the netroots, writing that it is “insulting” to focus on blogs instead of the real people who worked for Ned Lamont.
“Yesterday, Connecticut Democratic voters went to the polls to elect candidates to represent our party in general election contests this fall.
“I congratulate all of the candidates for waging vigorous campaigns about important issues. These clean, issues-based campaigns are a hallmark of campaigns in our Democratic party and in our state.
“Another hallmark of our campaigns is that we Democrats typically unite behind nominees elected by Democratic voters. It is in keeping with that tradition that I join Rosa DeLauro, John Larson, and other Connecticut Democrats in declaring my support for the Democratic slate of candidates who will face the voters this November. That decision includes the race for the United States Senate.
“I supported Joe Lieberman in the primary. Like many other Democrats, it was my view that Joe had compiled a strong record on Democratic priorities, like good jobs and a healthier environment. He’s a good friend, a good Senator, and a good Democrat.
“But now the voters of our party have spoken — and I respect their decision. For that reason, I have congratulated Ned Lamont on his victory in the primary, and pledged to help in any way I can to secure his victory in the general election this fall. He has earned the right to represent our party and I believe he will be an outstanding candidate for the Senate. I hope Connecticut voters will support him on Election Day in November.â€
Thank you Sen. Dodd for standing up and having the backbone to do what is good for your party.
Senator Joe Lieberman, who lost the Democratic primary last night in Connecticut will continue to run for his Senate seat as an independent, after an embarassing loss to Ned Lamont. Boo to you, Joe! I know it hurts, but you lost. The voters rejected you. Take it as a hint, you’re done. Your day is over. Your Democratic voters no longer want you to represent them. Take a hike!
Ned Lamont, a Connecticut millionaire whose candidacy for the United States Senate soared from nowhere on a fierce antiwar message, won a narrow victory in the Democratic primary last night over the incumbent, Joseph I. Lieberman.
Senator Lieberman, a national party leader and the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2000, conceded defeat in a phone call to Mr. Lamont shortly before 11 p.m. But then, in a combative speech to supporters in Hartford that was carried live on television news, the senator declared that he was not dropping out of the race, but would instead run for re-election as an independent this fall.
“As I see it, in this campaign, we’ve just finished the first half and the Lamont team is ahead — but in the second half, our team, Team Connecticut, is going to surge forward to victory in November,†Mr. Lieberman told cheering supporters.
The senator said he was staying in the race because Mr. Lamont had run a primary campaign of “insults†and “partisan polarizing†that relentlessly blamed Mr. Lieberman for President Bush’s wartime policies, which the senator has supported and defended but also criticized at various points.
“For the sake of our state, our country and my party, I cannot, I will not let this result stand,†Mr. Lieberman said of the Lamont victory.
Read these links, drink your morning coffee and DoubleSpeak will be coming at you with much more information from last night’s election results in CT, GA, MI and around the rest of the U.S.A.
