"Why haven't the Netroots been more 'there' for Ned Lamont? "

[Tom Rinaldo]

This current meme is an attempted double put down, both of Ned Lamont and of the Netroots. In a wanting their cake and eating it too kind of reasoning, it simultaneously implies that Ned Lamont turned out not to be so special after all, because the netroots abandoned him, and that the netroots isn't so special after all, because it abandoned Ned Lamont.

First, to state the obvious, the Netroots continue to "be there" for Ned Lamont. We never stopped being there for Ned Lamont. The third ploy attempted by the above political meme is to shift attention away from a more obvious and relevant question, which of course is; Why hasn't more of the National Democratic Party been "there" for Ned Lamont? Good question but not the one I want to address here, here I'll return to the question in the subject header.

Why haven't the Netroots been more "there" for Ned Lamont? Because the Netroots are now "there" virtually anywhere a Democrat is fighting to turn a red seat blue. Because the Netroots understand the importance of retaking Congress from the Republicans this year, and we understand that doing so means electing a slew of new Democrats to seats that Republicans had counted on as their own. We understand that although we can't always get what we want, if we try this time, we expect to find, we'll get what we need; Harry Reid as Senate Majority Leader and Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House.

It is no longer the Primary season, when "the netroots" could focus all of our attention on getting the best possible candidates selected to represent the Democratic Party in the Fall Elections. These are the Fall Elections. That means we are busting our butts to elect the candidates that the Democratic Party ultimately settled on to run in districts all across this vast nation of ours. We aren't only tuned into a few high profile major media event races, we are in all of the trenches, fighting for Democratic endorsed candidates up and down the tickets, in places large and small. Yesterday I was door knocking for Kirsten Gillibrand for Congress in North Hyde Park New York, on Friday I will be in Corning New York for Eric Massa. These are Democratic candidates in my own state who need my help while all of us work to retake Congress for the Democratic Party. If I could clone myself to also be in Connecticut campaigning for Ned Lamont, believe me I would be.

Right now we are not asking a whole lot from National Democrats in return for our hard work and hard earned dollars. We'll ask more of them after we retake Congress, but for now our request is simple. Do you like to see us out there doing everything we can to elect the Democrats you are running, even quite a few who we are decidedly less than wild about? That's nice. Now let's see you do the same.

[bowens43]

1. They're focusing on competitive races.

Like it or not, Lieberman is going to win. That's pretty clear.

[Nederland]

2. The bottom line is the "Netroots" aren't all that big

Yes, they can raise a lot of money, and they can influence the outcome of a primary, but they simply lack the numbers to decide a general election. So yes, the Netroots were there for Ned Lamont, and they are still there for him--it's just now that the general is around the corner it isn't enough.

[Tom Rinaldo]

3. The thing is, the Netroots without Party support face a huge struggle but

The business as usual Democratic Party without Netroots support faces a husge struggle also.

And though I understand the point you were making, of course the Netroots can decide a General Election, we can make that claim the same way any major element of the Democratic Party can. A tightly fought and closely won election has many parents. For example, if Jim Webb wins in Virginia it may not be because of the netroots, but it never could have happened were it not for the netroots.

[blm]

7. I think netroots will STILL decide Conn. and people in the Dem estabilshment

who are trying to downplay Lamont as the Dem candidate in the race are the ones in for a shock.

I think some of the netroots who let a couple weeks go by without pumping Lamont are now back in the game. Those polls designed to make Lieberman seem a foregone conclusion were always suspect to me.

[AtomicKitten]

4. the netroots support was enough for a win in the primary

but not enough to carry the general in a state where the majority of registered voters are independents.

[Tom Rinaldo]

5. First off, it's not over. Latest momentum is swinging toward Lamont

Yes it has to keep moving that way for him to win, but there is still time.

But it isn't Independents voting for Lieberman that causes Lamont problems, it's the fact that the National Republican Party is openly supporting Lieberman over their own candidate. Some Congressional Democrats supporting Lieberman also doesn't help. Among other things, that combination helps frame Lieberman more like an Independent, rather than just someone who couldn't even win his own Party's primary.

[AtomicKitten]

6. it is indeed a unique race

I was convinced the anti-war sentiment in the country would translate into an independent shift towards Lamont, and hopefully a media blitz campaign will be successful in that regard.

I would like anyone that disregards the will of the voters to understand that that strategy doesn't work.

[karynnj]

8. I think that Clark's Very stark straight forward ad may

really help. It is pretty powerful - and does spell out very clearly that Lieberman has been wrong for 4 YEARS on Iraq.

I think there may be mnay people who opt for Lamont in the voting booth - if only to deny Lieberman a decisive win. This is a very strange election. I also hope that Kennedy, Kerry, Clark and Edwards being there countered the perception from the primary that the party leadership backs Lieberman. Bill Clinton's campaigning and ads for Lieberman shifted the primary a lot closer than the numbers were before his visit. The Clinton's official support of Lamont in the General election likely hasn't outweighed Bill's active endorsement of Lieberman in the premaries.