Lieberman Organizes...And Worries
Hartford Courant columnist Kevin F. Rennie 's latest exclusive dispatch from Connecticut.
Joseph Lieberman is hoping to use fear where work where persuasion has failed. Life on the ropes has caused the three term incumbent to call in Washington pro, Tom Lindenfeld to put together an organization to call, identify and inspire Lieberman primary voters for the August 8th showdown.The theme of a Saturday conclave of Greater Hartford Democratic town committee chairs was that if Lieberman loses the primary he will hurt all other Democratic candidates by running as an independent in November. The message was clear: help him now or your favorites suffer in November.
The meeting was held at Congressman John Larson’s political office. Larson wants locals to think the Democrats will take over the House if three challengers in Connecticut win. He would also get some credit for those wins, having looked foolish with his emphasis on an unsuccessful 2004 Dem challenger in eastern Connecticut.
The response of the crowd of about 50 could not have been encouraging, though Lendenfeld impressed with his plan. Still, there was much resentment about Lieberman’s support of the war in Iraq and, now, threat to bolt party if he falls short on 8/8. Reactions ranged from support to nods to hostility. Most local leaders are far more interested in the gubernatorial race with its tangible rewards in patronage and prestige.
One of Lieberman’s problems became evident in aftermath of meeting: lots of local leaders are quietly opposing him and were eager to share tales of the event. Plan is to hire workers to make calls and hit the pavement. Fears are growing that Lieberman will have no chance of winning in a low turnout. Twenty percent, the number batted about, is thought to be fatal to his chances.
The three term incumbent’s people concede that he has no effective organization of his own. He has brought in a pro to gin up his ground game with only three weeks left and several million dollars to spend. Lamont manager Tom Swan, an organizing legend in Connecticut, has put together a formidable machine for the challenger. It had a test run in the spring when it prepared to petition Lamont’s way onto the primary ballot, which became moot after his strong convention showing.
Lieberman needs a pro like Lindenfeld . His camp has been infiltrated by hostile Democratic officials who are surprised they get invited to his meetings when they have no intention of doing any work for him, let alone giving him their votes.
Lieberman's ground game is paid for.
Lieberman's "volunteers" are paid for.
Lieberman will outspend Lamont 3 to 1.
Lieberman is trying to buy the election with Lobbyist money. His wife is a Lobbyist.
Lamont's people are volunteers. Drawn by the opportunity to fight for what they belive in.
Lamont will not accept special interest money.
What a great opportunity to support a great candidate for all the right reasons. Go Ned!
LMAO,
Swan new about this meeting before it took place and half of those invited were on the phone to Lamont staffers and other supporters the minute the meeting ended.
If Anyone thinks Larson,Delauro,JDS,Malloy or Olsen are going to risk the wrath of the thousands of active Lamont supporters by lifting a finger for Lieberman they must be smoking crack.
You might want to fix the booboo in the first sentence.
Payback is, indeed, a b*tch, ain't it, Joe?
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It has been remarked that if some people put the amount of energy into winning marginal states they are putting into keeping Lieberman under the microscope, the benefits would be impressive. I believe Chafee has been mentioned as deserving of attention, but I may be wrong - I'm just an interested foreigner.
To me this Lieberman/Lamont deal smacks of picking the easy fight for short-term, easily won self-congratulation. Maybe not consciously, but I believe that this is the ideal end result for a lot of people putting the work in on this, and they are letting the chances of this win blind them to bigger objectives.
What if Lieberman runs as an independent? The GOP will roll out their WinMaker(TM) Electoral Bamboozler (that amazing machine that can target those who aren't voting because they have no clean underwear with a GOP mailshot containing a pair of Kalvin Kleins), get a relatively high turnout in the midterms and pick up a seat.
Karl Rove will be happy, given the amount of work people have put in to this from across the aisle.
Obviously it's Lieberman's fault rather than the activists, but still.
I don't think Holy Joe will run as an independent if he loses. I think the party will put major pressure on him, as well as offer him something to sit it out. Just my opinion.
Three weeks to gin up a ground game? Lots of luck :)
Time to start focusing on August 9th -- the day *after* things are decided in CT. A Lamont win needs the campaign to be running full bore at that point (and it could be).
Conversely, a narrow Lieberman primary win isn't going to leave many happy campers ... and a Lieberman-for-Lieberman independent party bid will be ridiculed ceaselessly right thru the election (and long after).
This isn't just Joe's to lose at this point. Lieberman needs to show a path back for the Lamont supporters. Instead, every day, he's going further oiut of his way to permanently alienate a large part of the Democratic party.
...as well as offer him something to sit it out.
What in the world might they offer - a Supreme Court appointment? A Cabinet post?
I would be surprised if Lieberman doesn't win his primary. That said, if he does lose, I don't see how he goes on to win as an Independent (by whatever label he wants to slap on it). I mean, jeebus, a 3-term incumbent who can't even win his own party's primary? That's about as big a puncture in the old electoral hot air balloon as you could possibly have, isn't it.
I know how I'd run it if I were Lamont: totally ignore him. "He lost, he's welcome to run as a private citizen if he wants, but he's not entitled to the time of day as a candidate. Debate? Whaddya you kidding me? We already had one and he lost."
But like I say, odds are he pulls it out in the end and all of this is moot. More's the pity.
Lieberman is getting revenge on the Internets!
http://liebermania.blogspot.com