BLOG | Posted 02/25/2007 @ 5:29pm
Ned Lamont Backs Habeas Corpus -- and Chris Dodd
Ari Melber
Ned Lamont has been laying low since his November loss to Joe Lieberman, Connecticut's Independent junior Senator. Yet now Lamont is stepping up to help Connecticut's senior Senator, Chris Dodd, promote his bill to restore habeas corpus and other rights that were revoked by last year's Military Commissions Act.
Lamont remains a popular figure among the netroots, which catalyzed his primary campaign and made him to the top candidate in netroots donations during the mid-terms. Now he is asking his Internet supporters to back Dodd's ambitious new bill, the "Restoring the Constitution Act of 2007."
"This legislation is a chance for the Senate to start asserting our true American values again by unequivocally rejecting the gravely mistaken Administration policies on detainee treatment - policies which have only made us less safe," Lamont wrote in a recent email to his national supporter list, driving traffic to Dodd's new website, Restore-Habeas.org. The website is part of Dodd's broader Internet campaign, including live-blogging at sites like Booman Tribune and buying ads on top blogs like Daily Kos and MyDD, to promote the legislation and his presidential campaign. As John Nichols recently explained, Dodd is making the Constitution and rule of law "central to his outreach to voters."
Of course, the Dodd Campaign welcomes Lamont's support of the legislation and Dodd's candidacy. Spokesperson Benvea Schulte told The Nation, "We are very pleased Ned Lamont is supporting Chris Dodd for President. He brings great energy and enthusiasm to our campaign effort, and we look forward to his support and that of others around the country as we move forward in our campaign." ....(more at
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?bid=45&pid=169394