Login HereYesterday found me playing host to a furious volley of papers and cell phones on a day trip to New York as key segments of the Lamont campaign migrated to my car for most of the afternoon and evening. I wish it was my sparkling wit and superb political acumen that earned me a spot on the road trip with campaign manager Tom Swan and ad empresario Bill Hillsman as we went to Manhattan to see Ned appear on the Stephen Colbert show, but mostly it was a willingness to shut up and drive while they went about the business of managing campaign chaos in its final days. Well, that and functional air conditioning.
Everyone had a slight case of nerves as we crowded into the green room. As Mark Pazniokas wrote in this morning's Courant, Al Franken had advised Ned not to try and be funny. Colbert's bookers told Ned that they normally schedule the show six weeks in advance but had wanted him enough to make a last minute cancellation to fit him in. Colbert came back to met Ned just before the show and really made him feel like he wanted him to do well. "I play a character who is willfully ignorant" he explained, but that was as much prep as Ned got. There was nothing scripted, no gags set up in advance.
I thought the warm-up guy had just done an exceptionally good job of getting the crowd going but they went nuts when Ned was announced. Colbert did his best Morton Kondrake impression, said Ned was destroying the Democratic Party, but then at least had the decency to thank him for it. Ned did fantastic. It was very interesting to see his earnest, hopeful, pragmatic message resonating with a non-Connecticut crowd whose tickets had been issued long before his appearance was scheduled.
Afterwards Annie Lamont joked that everyone breathed a huge, collective sigh of relief. We walked outside onto the street just as the crowd was coming out, and one after another walked past Ned to shake his hand, thank him and ask to have his picture taken with him -- it was a virtual receiving line. He really does have something in his message and his delivery that people are hungry for right now. I don't know when the corner was turned from pure anti-Liebermanism to pro-Lamontism, but somehow I think it has happened.
(The Stamford Advocate has more. YouTube by Spazeboy.)
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I love you guys, but is the Conn primary the only thing worth talking about? How about Lebanon-Israel? Anything new on the Fitz front? Observations on the continuing Bush meltdown? How are those Congressional investigations going these days? Any new Congress people or staffers heading toward the pokey? Did you see that all or most of the evidence in the Moussaui trial was put up on line? Anything in there we hadn’t seen previously? Any news on Osama’s whereabouts or the incredibly active search for him? How’s Iraq doing? Did you notice the NeoCon’s assault on environmental regulation and enforcement? Oh, there’s other stuff, too. Any comments on these kind of things?
Woohooo! COLBERT!!!
Yeah, I was holding my breath all evening until I got early word that Ned “hit a home run” on the Report.
I am so happy today!
Jane,
was thrilled with Ned’s appearance - had some anxiety before the show but he did great - was not surprised to see Colbert servin’ ‘em up right and left - must’ve been something to be there live
How thrilling the audience was so welcoming and wanted their pictures taken with him!!! That is so affirming! I’m so happy! RevDeb, Scarecrow, Selise, and i have been knocking on doors in Willimantic and i have been a little discouraged in that it seems like i’ve been doing so little. Maybe it’s the heat. Wow! such good news.
Jane:
“He really does have something in his message and his delivery that people are hungry for right now.”
You hit it right on the head!
It was the Messy Desk video. He looked human. I think people are attracted to candidates that are approachable. You only have to think of the “beer at a barbeque with Bush” to see that. But more than that, he seems sincere, not scripted. I could never detect the sincerity in Bush. Oddly enough, as slick as Clinton is, I DO detect some kind of sincerity in him. Maybe it is because I am precondidtioned to favor Democrats but I don’t think so. Biden, for example, doesn’t do it for me at all. And although I see Lieberman as being sincere in sticking to his principles, his father knows best attitude is a real turn off. It is reminiscent of a patriarchal vierw of the world that I find repulsive. Mr. Lamont is like Mr. Smith. He is not top-down.
Once he became approachable, he made it easier to find out what he was all about. The conversation on Iraq is brilliant. I hope a lot of people check it out. My limited canvassing suggests that this is a hot topic. Now, Lieberman is already some who was a senator. He is being lapped. Sad, really. I get the feeling he doesn’t know what hit him. He’s a non-confrontational, conformist, consensus driven suburbanite in a war zone and he is about to be taken out.
Thanks Jane, both Ned and you give us all hope!
Terry in Maryland at 4 — There is not one thing preventing you from discussing any of those topics in the comments. Have it it — we’re all eyes.
As to the articles we write? Well, since it’s our blog, that’s our choice, isn’t it?
o/t
MSRNC:
the Israelis are actually using the term “cleanse the area of Hezbollah”
jeebus
Ned was very good last night. Steve Gilliard has a good opinion piece this AM; ie even if Lieberman is down you don’t stop kicking.
Steve
Terry = concern troll
Look, if we don’t get a REAL Democratic Senator elected in Connecticut (for starters), one who’ll actually vote to hold Bush’s feet to the fire and vote in the interest of the American public, all those other concerns are going to still be there in 3 months, 6 months, a year, 3 years from now…
And if you were actually a regular, Terry, you’d know these threads discuss all those issues and more that you missed. Begone, or participate effectively.
Jane — tell Ned I thought he rocked for somebody who is still getting his sealegs on national television AND in a venue that could have been rough on him. Good stuff. And the crowd felt like it was fully behind him all the way, at least from where I sat on my couch last night.
(Just EPU’d from previous)
WRT the mention last night of Lieberman advisor Dan Gerstein starting the “unofficial” LieberDem blog site, I wrote Mr. G about the contradiction and just received this reply…
***
Up until Monday, I had no official affiliation with the campaign at all. Now I am volunteering in the headquarters for the last week of the primary. And since I am doing that, I will no longer be posting to Lieberdem. So there is no misleading going on whatsoever. –Dan Gerstein
***
Ah. Okay. I guess it just depends on what one’s interpretation of “un” in “unofficial” means. Gerstein’s own site has an ‘04 news release describing him as a “longtime Lieberman advisor.” Guess he took off the JLie hat the day he started the LieberDem blog, then put it back on afterward?
Jane is in the thick of it! When Ned becomes Senator Ned, will Jane still deign to talk with us peons?
GO Jane = Go Ned!
Terry in Maryland @ #4~ you can’t negate the powerful ripple affect a Ned Lamont getting into our system will have on “everything”; I appreciate the focus and light Jane is bringing to this man…rightly. And stick around ~ it ALL gets discussed here at FDL either in the main posts themselves, or here in the comments. This is an outstanding forum of bright, involved human beings who care; on a level that goes waaay beyond surface chatter.
Terry in Maryland @
4
The blog is organized by topic. If you don’t like the first one you see on the home page, try using your “scroll” button to get to a new topic. Hope this helps!
I’m tellin’ ya.. Put a new hairstyle on Ned, and he looks like Colbert. That’s the secret of Ned’s success!
Ned Lamont is bigger than CT or its primary. This campaign is the first real opportunity to speak truth to power, especially to the complicit Democratic party machine.
The Middle East is in flames in no small part due to the US invasion and occupation of Iraq. At this moment, we can wring our collective hands here at FDL, or we can help support a man who is standing up to the madness.
Thank you, Jane, for leading by your example. I am impressed by your humility and your courage. Thank you, Jane, for leading by your example.
Jane,
I saw Ned’s Colbert appearance last night via Crooks and liars. That was the first time I’ve seen him talk. Your right, it’s not about Liberman. It’s about supporting someone who can fight the prevailing right wing nonsense while invoking a hopeful progressive message. Well done Ned. Let’s clone him…
Hey, Jane,
How’d ya like driving in midtown traffic?
Congratulations, Ned! Going up against “Ted Hitler” shows you’re made of tougher stuff!
Terry, per Frank Probst, if you feel some issue isn’t receiving the attention it deserves, please by all means, link to an article or state a position. Since you feel the ladies of the lake and their other posters aren’t executing sufficiently well,” please make a significant donation via paypal.
Terry in Maryland, 7:22
“Is the primary in Conn. the only thing worth talking about?”
I live in Illinois and yes, for the next week it IS the most important thing to talk about imho. I say this respectfully.
This Connecticut primary is a bellwether election for those of us who want a major change in the direction this country is heading.
You are so right that there are many issues on the table to be dealt with, but as the ladies have said so many times, there are other sites if you want to concentrate on a specific issue.
If you need confirmation of how important this election is, take a look at the FDL community members who have gone to Conn. to help out in any way they can. Go Ned!
Jane,
Thanks for all you’re doing! Such great positive energy all around….
And I convinced a very reluctant friend to vote for Ned. Here’s what she wrote me.
I agree that the issue in Lebanon is important, but we cannnot do anything about that as long as BUsh and his rubber stamp congress are in power.
Lieberman is an enabler, as Ned has said, and once he is gone, then we will go after the other enablers.
dhamarific — you got that straight, let’s clone him!
Actually, this brings up a point we need to address on the first day after the election: how do we get more Ned’s in the pipeline?
And how do we get folks without Ned’s personal finances to take on the challenge of running for two years (that’s what it takes, a year of organizing a posse, running to win one, then another year of running to win the voters)?
Jane imho, of all the great lines Ned had on the Colbert report, the absolute best was that Israel is in much greater danger since we occupied Iraq. The sooner we get out of Iraq, the more support we can offer Israel.
That was genius in its economy and above all in its accuracy. IMHO, that will play very well on Meet the Press.
No wonder Holy Joe won’t debate him. Ned would wipe the floor with him.
Terry in Maryland @
4
Plenty of people are talking about other issues. I’m sure you can find them with little effort.
CT-Sen is an important issue. FDL’s owners can cover it in depth if they want to; it’s their blog, after all.
It is Ned Lamont’s curse that he comes across as stiff. It is the screwed up elections system that we have. Issues of substance are settled by a public relations contest.
So be it. We need to win the public relations war in order to get some sanity in government.
And we will.
Wasn’t there supposed to be a new poll out this morning?
Rayne @ 7:32
Begone, or participate effectively.
As serious as I’m sure you are, I had to laugh at that one.It is right to the point though. I just liked the wording.
Ned’s run for office has done some incredible things for Democratic grassroots activists across the country; he’s given us a model to which we can point in so many ways.
Ned was a topic of conversation last night here in Michigan at a local Dem group meeting; we talked about the union printing issue (we are up against it right now locally), also talked about the single issue voters and how they have so dramatically impacted our democratic (little d) processes. Because of the Lamont race, we can go to donors and say, “Look, this worked with Lamont, this isn’t working with Lieberman — where do you want to invest your money? with a Lamont-type candidate, or old school?”
This is so huge. And now we have this GREAT YouTube we can use in that discussion with donors, too! (Thanks, Spazeboy!)
I agree Ned needs to tighten up that response on Israel if he’s going to do MTP. Tying it to Iraq is essential. He should go listen to the Chris Matthews long-winded ME dissertation on Imus last week (see Crooks and Liars), and take that tack in his talking points.
Frank at 32 — the Qunnipeac poll doesn’t come out until Thursday — is that the one you were thinking of? Because I don’t know of any other one coming out this week. (Not that I’m omnipotent about polls or anything…)
Thanks, everyone for responding, particularly those who did so politely. Yes, I am a regular and yes, I’m free here and elsewhere to discuss a whole range of topics.
Connecticut gets to choose who will represent it (first the parties choose, then the overall choice). Influence from outside of the State is a double edged sword, isn’t it? Yes, we can provide funding to support the locals in getting messages out. On the other hand, outside influence can be taken badly by locals.
I think outside influence is actually responsible in large part for Maryland’s gun laws. The NRA decided to saturate the market here to make sure that gun control wasn’t passed. They actually sent mailings to pretty much every registered voter in the State. This blitz backfired. People I know who are life-long gun owners and usually anti-gun control voted FOR gun control because they didn’t like the NRA coming in and mucking in our business.
I also think of the differences in approach between MoveON and Rove et al during the last presidential election. MoveOn (honorably) mobilized small armies to work in key states. In many cases, those workers thought were from other areas. Rove et al, by contrast, went to the local institutions (the Fundy churches)and had the local people do the on the ground work. If you’re sitting on the fence, do you respond better to someone with whom you share an existing bond (residency in this case) or do you listen to an outsider (even a nice one)? Might it be preferable to have your message come from a local person, as well?
Yes, I know that much of the Lamont work is being done by local people. I wonder, though, if that’s the impression that on-the-fence voters might be getting, though.
Please feel free to flame me at will.
Mr. Smith… you’re going to Washington!”
I am angry at Lieberman, but I think Ned is just the right mix of fresh perspective, intelligence, and passionate beliefs to make a difference in Washington.
I’m going out now to rent the Mr. Smith Goes to Washington movie.
Lamont was impressive last night, and the audience seemed to really appreciate what he said.
He said something I’d never considered before: that he felt progressives were more entrepreneurial (I may not be quoting him exactly).
Thinking about it, it makes sense.
Today’s WSJ has an article claiming that Lamont’s recent surge is due to the activity of MoveOn and that the main (only?) reason for this is Joementum’s support for the Iraq war. The article further states that this activity “threatens a party split.”
If Ned’s campaign is only a product of the support of MoveOn, why is Ned now leading in the polls? Lieberman’s support of the war is but only one of numerous reasons (too long to list) to vote out this jerk.
Once again the MSM is trying to marginalize a “grass roots” campaign. The WSJ also states that this campaign “would imperil moderate and conservative Democrats” and “also alienate swing voters.”
Wow! I did not know we had the power to do all that!
I’d mark this one down as a major success. Ned was terrific. He didn’t try too hard to be witty, which I think was wise since guests who try to match wits with Stephen usually end up launching duds. Instead, he just laughed at Colbert’s punch lines and picked his spots for making serious points. He came across with a warmth and sincerity and humanity that I think was very effective.
I’m not at all surprised that the NYC audience was into Lamont. I work (and play!) in Manhattan (Metro-North down from CT, baby) and there’s a serious buzz in my favorite bars these days about Lamont. And Colbert tapings are, not surprisingly, packed with blog-reading progressives; the waiting area is essentially an open political discussion zone, where you can mention Kos and Atrios and FDL with a decent chance of being understood.
What I’m saying is: This is really happening. It’s on.
Peace.
I’m gonna risk sounding like a broken record, but I have this real compulsion to try and get people to be aware of this concept at work in life; Ned Lamont has a genuine “feel” for what he is doing ~ for people, for the issues; his is an honest passion and intent.
Lieberman, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld….hell the entire republican party and sadly, waaay too many of the democratic party….are totally lacking any. For them it’s a system to be played to power and gain. Clinton does it too to a great extent; but you watch him and there ARE glimpses of feel and honesty still oozing through…that’s what makes people not give up on him entirely, or lump him in with the obnoxious political masses just yet. And yet there’s still too much of him that plays the game and loses his feel and good intent. And that is what makes us cringe when he does stupid things like support Liberman. His balance is slipping with that move; he’s going to the dark side.
Contrasted with…watching Ned on Colbert, or listening to him yesterday with Franken. You have to “sense feel” - the man comes across to me anyway as having it in spades; genuine, speaking from the heart, shows emotional intelligence and commitment…comes across as a human being, not a programmed robot.
And obviously people are contrasting that “feel” - with Liberman; disingenious, speaking from his personal agenda and intent to maintain nothing but his own ego, shows complete lack of empathy or compassion for this country or the voters in it and a commitment only to holding on to his power…comes across as ultimately disinterested and disconnected ~ a dangerous attitude in these dangerous tipping point times.
And when you look at the kind of people gravitating to Ned Lamont - the “energy” that is creating….gives one hope. Jane, Christy, all the supportive and active people here… there’s “feel” at work ~ I rest my case.
There are so many things to discuss. And so many that want to be pleased by talking about what’s important to them. Not enough time, not enough space and not enough people to take care of every individuals wants. Sometimes things get rude, sometimes people get pushy and sometimes things get heated. None of that stuff gets anything done.
Great interview.
The more he speaks the stronger his position comes across.
Really liked the part where he explained as a millionaire why he was and remains a member of the Democratic party: because it’s a home to creativity and entrepreneurialism. (Free Enterprise vs. Republican Corporatism)
Now that’s a truthful hook Progressive Dems should build on.
Thought Ned was great. The advice by Franken was really good too. Ned didn’t take the “snark bait” and stayed on message and didn’t give Lieberman any blooper material.
I thought he hit the “why I am a Democrat” question at the end out of the park. I feel exactly the way he does and I never remember any other politician expressing it the way he just did.
Ned’s not a career politician though. Maybe that’s the point.
I think if you discount the importance of this primary, you are looking towards the future with blinders on. Yes there are huge issues out there. Just look at the people who created the policies, and instituted the actions to create them. People like Joseph Isadore Liberman.
Nothing to me is more imporatnt then getting rid of people like him, and by doing so, we can move forward to creatre the policies and action to live a better life for all, not the few who are connected.
Change happens becuase passionate people set out to to do it. It starts with action. This primary demonstrates the essence of the power that people have.
Israel is very perilous ground for Lamont. I thought his decision to point to the Iraq war as destablizing, and decidedly not in Israel’s interest was a good one.
Lieberman: “you can try too hard to be cool”
yeah, like he’d know about that…
When the media talks about Ned Lamont’s chances to win, they always put it in the context of a protest vote against Lieberman. Sure that is an important part of why Ned is doing so well, but the part the media omit is that Ned is a very good candidate. He is passionate about the issues and he is intelligent and naturally likeable. Those are the reasons why he has a real chance to beat Lieberman on August 8.
There’s an interesting primary in Michigan right now, worth looking at. Here’s an article -
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb...../607240343
A well-entrenched Republican incumbant is being challenged in the primary by a liberal Republican. In the primary, any Democrat can sign up to vote in the Republican primary. The liberal is calling on Dems to help oust the incumbant (Joe Knollenberg, who has voted with Bush 96% of the time). Interesting stuff.
Ned Lamont, what an outstanding human being! I’m both hopeful and fearful, as Ned reminds me more and more of Robert Kennedy. Perhaps this time we’ll get it right, and not allow our finest to be consumed in the hatred generated by this pointless, illegal war. Hope, fear, opportunity — these truly are, “the times that try men’s souls.”
horsewoman at 7:55…
My hat’s off to you for the most refreshing, lucid, and eloquent summary of why this race is worth being an FDL focus as well as a focus for anyone in this country who’s been sickened by its hijacking in the 2000 election.
Juist FYI, the last link doesn’t seem to go to Youtube.
Terry at 37 - almost all of Lieberman’s support, both financially and on the ground, is from out of state. I think the voters of Connecticut are smart enough to figure things out, myself.
Terry
No one wants to flame you. And you have an excellent point about voters responding MUCH better to local campaign volunteers than to out of state folks.
Which is why I constantly tout the 50 state project–Thank you Gov. Dean!
However, as to your original comment
FOR ONE FREAKIN’ WEEK, one small but vocal group of De,mocrats is gonna keep it’s eye on the ball.
If we accomplish nothing else, we will demonstrate HOW TOO STAY FOCUSED and not get dragged away from our chosen path everytime someone flashes a brght shiney object.
And object don’t get much brighter, shineyer, or distracting tan wars.
So, here’s the thing, if we can demonstrate that it is not necessary to be distracted from you purpose just because someone started a WAR OF CHOICE, maybe, just maybe, the Rovians will not START A WAR everytime they are in trouble politically.
Of course, it is my hope and expectation that we may accomplish somethig more than showing the rest of the Dems and the press how to stay focused,
Hell, we may even elect a new Senator from Conn
Ned will be on NPR in about 15 minutes (scheduled for 11:20), but the whole hour is devoted to the race.
Listen in, or wait til I upload it in a little bit.
This is from ABC’s “The Note”
If you were wondering if we were having any effect?
The message is seeping through!
Terry in Maryland @ 37
Do you have names Terry of your “life-long gun owners,” or a link? Did the Maryland Press, pick up on this or do you expect us to take your word for it?
Terry, if you are really interested in local politics, maybe you should not have made your 7:22 exclusively about national issues:
“How about Lebanon-Israel? Anything new on the Fitz front? Observations on the continuing Bush meltdown? How are those Congressional investigations going these days? Any new Congress people or staffers heading toward the pokey? Did you see that all or most of the evidence in the Moussaui trial was put up on line? Anything in there we hadn’t seen previously? Any news on Osama’s whereabouts or the incredibly active search for him? How’s Iraq doing? Did you notice the NeoCon’s assault on environmental regulation and enforcement? Oh, there’s other stuff, too. Any comments on these kind of things?”
It might be important at this point to say to all those media types that are saying this is a one issue primary (WRONG), we should state for the record that win or lose, the grassroots and netroots will NOT BE GOING AWAY.
Come the primary, win or lose, ridiculed or not, we are going nowhere because we have a country to take back — One person, one district one state at a time.
lhp — If the note is saying it, we are WAY beyond seeping and into full saturation. That rag is the definition of insider Brooks/Broder CYA CW.
Terry - I appreciate where you’re coming from, and I’m not going to apologize for what I said. The topic of this thread was Ned and you tried to derail it.
As for mobilization of locals: it’s absolutely critical that local people lead the effort to educate voters and GOTV because all politics are local. This is one of the two big problems with the Dean campaign, the Perfect Storm and the orange hats being emblematic. Deaniacs locally needed to be the locus and not folks driving from around the country; an Iowa farmer isn’t going to listen to a fresh-faced college student from Vermont as readily as a farmer who lives in his county.
But that’s why Lamont’s campaign has worked so well, compared to Lieberman’s; Lieberman has phoned it in so often, relied so heavily on consultants, that he’s no longer authentic. The best stuff from Lamont’s campaign are actually from supporters and not paid consultants (although the paid ads are quite good, better than the average paid ad by far).
On the issue of gun control, Dean said it best IMO while he was campaigning: Gun control is a local issue. What works in Montana won’t work in New York City and vice versa. Completely deflates the “Dems are anti-gun” frame. Marylanders like all other voters know what works for them, and it sure sounds like they show it in the polls. Where are Marylanders on the rest of the issues, and how is the Lamont-Lieberman campaign likely to affect them?
Margot @ 39:
Thank you for bringing up one of my favorite parts of Ned’s performance last night, when he adroitly linked entrepreneurship and progressive politics. As a technology entrepreneur and a progressive activist, that line blew me away.
He’s absolutely right to make that connection: all my business partners and most of my small-business associates (in NYC, admittedly) have liberal/progressive outlooks. Small companies need strong regulations and social services (e.g. universal health care, public transportation) in order to compete in a stable environment; it’s the big corporations that prefer to make society a big Darwinian free-for-all, for obvious reasons.
Peace.
looseheadprop @ 54
Which is why I can’t comprehend why Lieberman is bringing in 4000 paid canvassers from New Jersey.
Terry
I have no memeory for names, so pardon me if I don’t recognize yours.
You may have just walked in at a bad moment. We have been under attack for the last several days by cocern trolls who keep asking us why we are talking about Lamont instead of Ledanon, ignoring the fact thatwe probaly spend as many column inches onthe war as on all other topics combined.
So, if it seems like we are jmping down your throat, it may just be unfortunate timing, or it may be that I don’t recognize your screen name because I have never seen it before.
Dunno.
The dynamics of elections are twisty, curvy things. Yes, a bunch of “outsiders” can be perceived as interloping meddlers, if they come to town with an attitude of “we can save you from yourselves.”
On the other hand . . .
If you are feeling isolated, alone, and unable to visualize any way out of a painful situation, and someone comes along to contradict all that . . . you just might welcome an unfamiliar face.
Enter Ned Lamont. He started all this, not Jane or Christy or MoveOn or anyone else.
These “outsiders” may be from outside CT, but they aren’t outside the values and beliefs of the democratic party. As long as the focus is on those beliefs, the folks coming to town in CT will likely be seen as friendly long-lost relatives that you never knew you had.
CT voters are not alone in wanting change in those who claim to represent Democratic values in Washington. They just have the best, most immediate chance to make that change happen at the moment.
Steve @
13
Hell yes. And I’m very concerned that Lieberbman (with help from BushCo) will try to pull something extra evil just before election day.
Wowie Zowie Jane - you sure know how to lead by doing and never fail to lift the spirits of we far flung Ned Lamont enthusiasts with your dazzling reports.
It just doesn’t get any better than this and the country could not ask for more inspiration and excitement from a campaign trail, ever.
As soon as the caffeine kicks in am sure I’m not the only firepup off to ActBlue and donate generously. Next best thing those of us can do since we can’t be there on the ground.
Little dog,
If you are around, thanks for the dehydration idea. Littlemittens has just been introduced to the puppy bottle with water. She liked it.
And wanted to nurse right after, so you may be on to something. I think she thought my hisband and I were crazy plucking at her skin and squinting. *g*
She doesn’t have the really liqid sound in her lungs today, which my husband took as a sign of improvement, but if she is dehydrated, they goop in her lungs would thicken and you would no longer be able to hear it.
I am just blown away by these eloquent and insightful descriptions of Lamont the person, and Lamont the candidate.
I had a comment up here a few weeks ago that touched on two of the themes we’re seeing today, Ned’s earnest humility and intelligence really connecting with people, and the Kabuki dance that is American life and politics in the 21st century. Schumer, Biden, Clinton and Salazar have demonstrated that grinding predictability more perfectly than I had imagined they could.
I was going to go hunt that comment up to add to the mix, but I am just simply in awe of the insight and descriptive talent among this group, so I’m happy just to be able to drink in what all of you are saying.
Thank you so much, Jane and Christy, for your amazing posts and for making this forum available to us.
OK, back to delicious reading.
Jane, I hope when Ned is on MTP, he can fit in DeadEye’s Meet the Press moment, “I think we will be greeted as liberators.” I think Russert would like it.
Also, I hope he can bring up the Powell Doctrine to help break the “surrender monkey,” meme Joe will try and paint him with.
Christy@36:
Kos was saying yesterday at his site that a Q-Poll was due out today sometime (Tuesday). I think thats where people are getting the idea a poll was coming out today
Terry — the bad old days of only a few major media (like 3 TV networks) is over. Niche news is in. There are literally millions of blogs today covering zillions of topics. FDL is just one major star in the constellation of liberalish blogs. Personally, I use RSS to check about 30 newssites/blogs daily.
FDL cant be all things to all people. It has no discussions about EuroTrash Opera productions (Bayreuth this year is awful!). I go elsewhere for informed discussions of that topic. Using Google, you can find a great many topics elsewhere. Yahoo too!
Morning Firebirds!
Thanks for the NPR headsup Spazeboy @55, tuned right in, should be a great hour from how it already started out.
You know what I loved best about Ned’s performance last night?
He made Every. Single. Word. Count.
No wasted language, no wasted energy, no too-many-moving-parts. (Wull, except those thumbs for approximately one second.) The guy’s as crisp and natural as Tiger’s and Annika’s swings. (What unspeakable effort and dedication that illusion takes.)
From the nervous Ned of the debate, in these few short weeks, his spoken prose is now beginning to approach the condition of poetry, wherein changing a single word shatters the poem (”I wandered lonely as one cloud … “).
Oh man, am I impressed.
lhp — the message is FINALLY seeping in, yes. Thank the cosmos.
I’m wondering if we need to build a different message or frame to give it a push, though.
Something to the effect that failing to choose a different course is a form of cowardice, too.
Or keeping one’s head stuck in the sands of Iraq’s al Anbar province is not a foreign policy.
I’m a Connecticut “local” so I feel qualified in saying this: Jane and the FDL crowd are most welcome in our political scene. Hopefully, we lcoals aren’t so rigidly insular (and just plain dumb-ass) as to turn away the energy, money, and fresh thinking of bright, enthused “outsiders”. It’s not interference, it’s recognition that this primary race has become emblematic of a national struggle to reclaim our democracy.
Rayne — I really like the cowardice angle, makes the Bush people spitting crazy.
How about, “The failures in Iraq seem to have frozen this administration with fear of future failures.”
he was great. excellent decision to not attempt humor which made the whole exercise more difficult for lamont, but it made him come across as serious about the task at hand. the idea of a nation in crisis that needs to be set back on course by concerned citizens is what i think showed through the most and was very well received by the audience… a risky move by ned, but one that paid off, i feel, big time…
and jane- please come back to nyc and party it up after ned wins!
WOW.
Thanks for the driver’s seat view, Jane. Your writing makes me feel like I’m there. Ned’s appearance on Colbert was spectacular — he’s certainly improved since the debate, in all the trivial and non-trivial ways he was criticized for then.
You’re doing a magnificent job, Jane, of keeping us front-and-center in this campaign for America’s future. I know where to go to get my other news and views.
As for FDL, more NED, please!
PS hi spazeboy, siun, MA Rootsters in Connecticut!
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Had Enough?
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Joe Lieberman represents the Politics of Nope.
From lotus, “He made Every. Single. Word. Count.”
The polar opposite of Joe Biden.
Ned Lamont: The Opposite of Joe.
Lieberman or Biden.
Both, actually.
LHP 167
Good news on the water bottle! Some Pedialyte or Gatorade mixed in would make it even better. The sugar and minerals in that would give her an energy bounce and some muscle strength. Let me know if you get the Pedialyte bottle open without having to saw the neck off. I’ve never managed it, myself.
I hope I don’t sound like concern troll, but anytime a pup is ailing. I get a stomach-tightening neurosis-attack. Been there and done that, and didn’t like losing any of them. One that I lost 13 years ago, still seems like yesterday. :(
Thanks very much Kai.
WTF! Ned was just asked if he’s a “creature of the bloggers” and he answers, “I’m a creature of the 15,000 people across the state who’ve donated money and volunteered…at the parades it’s the veterans who are reaching out”
Lieberman couldn’t make it…but he apparently didn’t have to, his toadies are on the radio doing Joe’s dirty work right now.
I don’t think I’m being overly dramatic in saying that the paradigm shift that will put Ned Lamont officially into the system (practicing that positive intent thing I like to preach :), will - when looked back through the filter of time and history - be in large part due to the power of this internet, and the ability for a Firedoglake to blossom and harness the incredibly powerful energy generated by like-minded, compassionate and caring human beings.
I *have* to believe that ~ so that I can look my five year old grandson in the eyes without crying…………….
Hear? He just did it again — not a superfluous word, not a foot wrong!
BEAUTIFUL, NED!
Thanks for liveblogging it spazeboy, I’m very interested.
Kai — excellent. Putting out the Welcome mat is what separates the local from non-local, assistance accepted from interference.
You know, we saw these same things all through the 2004 election; maybe we just didn’t air them out as well as we should have because we were in such a funk. It took Crashing the Gates for us to begin to articulate some of this stuff. I know here in my state that outside interference that rode rough-shod over locals caused real problems and earned the state/local party enmity for allowing it to happen. Lamont’s race really allows us to look at this again, without the fingerpointing of who f*cked up in 2004.
I can’t thank Ned enough for that, along with FDL for being there, in that space and looking at it closely and with such passion.
Little dog, no way you’re a troll. You’re concerned and in a position to offer LHP some advice, for which we’re all greatful. We all can use as much affirmation of life as we can get!
I too have a sick puppy but Pedialyte is sorta expensive. I checked Wikipedia and now make my own : in a liter of water, add one teaspoon of salt and 8 teaspoons of sugar. Works well and is cheap enough for an Afghan woman with a sick baby…
Will the willfully ignorant lieberman take Colbert’s invitation to join the debate on his show?
immanentize @ 76
Alliterative imm! This has real promise, voters remember alliteration. Perhaps we could drop the “seem to have.” How about:
“The Iraq fiasco has frozen this administration with fear of future failures.”
al scooter at 82.
And a little levity for everyone. THE BEST send-up of Joe Biden I ever read was in Dave Barry’s 1991 column about the Clarence Thomas confirmation.
The Strom T. “Tang” thing was also classic….
“I hope I don’t sound like concern troll, but anytime a pup is ailing….”
Anything, but “and your little dog too.”
You’re providing well defined, concrete support, on a tangible issue that is of enormous interest to this community. Concern trolls don’t do that.
DOG is the middle name of this blog so how can puppy-care ever be off-topic?
Al-Scooter 89
Maybe I’m a concern monkey, instead of concern troll.
Only one cup of Sumatran so far.
Do you think it’s an FDL addiction if you can’t even stop reading and linking long enough go get another cup of coffee? LOL!
John C
I’m effectively done live-blogging it, but am working on an mp3 of Lamont’s segment now, and will have an mp3 of the full hour up
later. McJoan from DKos is on now, so the KOS-osphere may be interested.
Question:
Is the voting in CT paper or virtual? If it’s virtual, what’s the system and who’s monitoring it?
PS: great morning in Oregon, coffee on the deck with my sister (up from San Fran) and a Ned Lamont clip that gives me hope for my 7 year old daughter.
One strategy to cure an addiction is to introduce another, less harmful one.
Not that I am equating FDL with methadone, little dog….
John Casper @ 68
John, I was unclear on the Powell Doctrine, so I checked it out. These principles really lay waste to the tragedy that is Iraq.
The questions posed by the Powell Doctrine:
Is a vital national security interest threatened?
Do we have a clear attainable objective?
Have the risks and costs been fully and frankly analyzed?
Have all other non-violent policy means been fully exhausted?
Is there a plausible exit strategy to avoid endless entanglement?
Have the consequences of our action been fully considered?
Is the action supported by the American people?
Do we have genuine broad international support?
Powell played the good soldier and undermined his own credibility and in doing so launched us headlong into war. However if the doctrine was truthfully applied, we would have avoided Iraq and will avoid other future wars tbd.
Frankly, Ned’s message is bigger than just Connecticut. He represents what we used to have in this country — a sense of humility and compassion among the more fortunate in our society. He also represents the end of the hybrid, middle-of-the-road Democrats and the return of an opposition party. It really is pretty wonderful to see.
rizbiz @ 98
the voting in CT is on mechanical voting machines with a dual-control reset. one republican and one democrat–each with a different key–must be at the machine to record the numbers.
No paper, but no modems and no diebold either. It’s actually a pretty good system.
The Secretary of State (at the candidates forum I attended last week) has said that an announcement is forthcoming about new machines for this fall or next that will have paper-trails.