Letter from Ned Lamont supporting John Kerry for Senate 08

[TayTay]

This is a very nice letter from Ned Lamont, '06 Democratic nominee for the US Senate from Connecticut, in support of Senator Kerry's re-election bid this year. This letter went out to the Senator's Massachusetts email list.

Hello Mass Dems,

Back in early 2006, it took real courage to step out from the pack in the Senate and demand a timeline to withdraw our combat troops from Iraq. But that summer, John Kerry joined with Russ Feingold to push for a vote in the Senate to do just that. Their legislation only got 13 votes out of 100, but it played a big part in beginning to change the debate around the war. John Kerry stood up for all of us.

At the time, I was running in the Democratic primary against one of the war's biggest supporters, Joe Lieberman. So many grassroots Democrats I talked to wanted leadership on changing the disastrous Bush policy in Iraq.

And after Connecticut Democrats voted for change on a hot day in August, John Kerry was there for us once again.

John not only endorsed me, he had the courage to really step up and work hard for our victory that November. There are all sorts of unwritten "inside-the-Beltway" rules about working against another Senator in your caucus, but John Kerry did what he felt was right. He campaigned for me in Connecticut, raised money for me, and did everything he could to support me in my race against Joe Lieberman.

This year, John Kerry is running for re-election - and I hope you'll do whatever you can to support him. And you can start this weekend.

If you can spare some time on Friday or Saturday, please consider volunteering for him at the Massachusetts Democratic Convention in Lowell. It's a wonderful chance to meet other Democrats and be a part of an active political convention, and John Kerry will be holding a party with all the volunteers.

If you're interested, please email [e-mail] or call Amanda Bersak at [phone].

Massachusetts is blessed to have two wonderful Senators, both with the clout to get things done and the progressive ideals to put that clout to work the right way. John Kerry has been a leader in getting our combat troops out of Iraq, he's been a leader on combating global climate change, and he's fought hard against the trickle-down economics of the Republicans.

And he's fought hard for Democrats across the country. I saw it first hand in my race, but I also saw what he did for Jim Webb in Virginia, and Claire McCaskill in Missouri, and Jon Tester in Montana, and so many more. I don't think it's a stretch to say that without John Kerry's work, Democrats wouldn't control the Senate today.

I know John will work just as hard this year to try to extend that Senate majority to a true working majority for progressive politics. With the closely-divided Senate we have now, it's been too easy for the Republicans and my old opponent Joe Lieberman to block a new course in Iraq. With more and better Democratic Senators, we can finally bring the real change to our country that we all need.

So I hope you'll not only support John Kerry's re-election but also join me in the months ahead in supporting his efforts to elect Democrats around the country. Our country is ready for change, and we're lucky to have John Kerry in position to help push the progressive change we need.

Sincerely,

Ned Lamont

I just :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: Ned Lamont!

[karynnj]

1. Wonderful letter

Maybe this should be mass emailed to the "progressive" Democrats of America who endorsed the Nowhere Man who has done nothing for no one, who wants to be on the ballot.

[ProSense]

2. Excellent. Ned Lamont is wonderful!

I hope he challenges Lieberman in 2012.

[Luftmensch067]

3. This letter made me so happy!

It means a lot to see someone being as loyal to Senator Kerry as he is to others.

[MonteLukast]

7. Real loyalty, not just mutual back-scratching.

You just get this sense of love and devotion here.

As to why JK gets taken for granted? Maybe it's too easy to take for granted the ones who keep our lives running smoothly. Especially in a place like the Senate.

[wisteria]

4. Senator Kerry supported Lamont, I would think this was the least owed to Kerry.

It is a nice gesture that acknowledges the efforts of Senator Kerry on behalf of Ned lamont. That said, it is a shame that Lamont wasn't a strong enough candidate to rid us all of Lieberman.

[MBS]

5. I loved seeing this in my inbox

It warms my heart to see that Ned Lamont really appreciates what JK did for him, at a time (2006)
when other Dems, including most of this year's candidates in the 2008 Dem primary, took a much more cowardly route. And it warms my heart, in general, whenever I see evidence that someone really understands what a mensch JK is, and how JK walks the walk, every day, in his commitment to this country.
so I'm very glad to see Lamont walking the walk for JK, just as JK walked the walk for him. Paying it forward is always good, but paying BACK is the best!

I hope that Obama appreciates the political risks that JK took in his endorsement, and full-throated commitment to his campaign.

John Kerry so much deserves loud, deep, public appreciation for what he does.

[karynnj]

6. You said that so well

It astonishes me that so many completely take Kerry for granted. Lamont's letter is fantastic as he is one of the few saying what the political motivated aren't that the 2006 victory taking over the Senate may not have happened if not for Kerry. It was not just his obvious work on the campaign, but the fact that for far better reasons, Kerry led in insuring that the Democrats were associated with an exit plan for Iraq. Had they followed Bill Clinton's preferences and just sad Bush's was wrong, the Republican line that the Democrats had no plan would have rung true.

In the last few days, one thing that expectantly hurt, were all the calls in the media that because HRC came so close, she should be majority leader, vp, Supreme Court Justice (!), or as in the Hill, they referenced that a special position was fashioned for Hubert Humphrey. I bet if Obama loses in November, there will be not such call in his case. Remember when Kerry returned to the Senate after winning the nomination easily and running a classy, positive campaign brimming his ideas, plans, and integrity, then went on a trip to Europe and the Middle East showing how good a diplomat and statesman he is. There was no a whisper of any special treatment - instead, there were whispers that he wasn't 100% stating in line with Reid. What actually happened was Kerry refused to completely surrender his role as a leader - which was a status he earned. This and the Clinton allies immediately beginning a second swiftboating - that Kerry never fought back.

That HRC could run the gutter campaign she ran and have as many people as she has saying this and arguing that she does indeed have 18,000,000 people behind her hurts - when the opposite happened in 2004/2005. The entitlement of the Clintons sucks. Looking at the way the Clintons treated Kerry before and after the election, it may be that the risk he took was less than it appeared in one way - they likely would not have treated him well anyway and had they won, with his support (horrors) or neutrality, at some point, at some time, he would likely have stood against them on something - out of principle and ended up in the same place on their bad list - just as he made Nixon's. The only way to win was for the Clintons to lose.

[Inuca]

10. YES!!!

Thanks for stating so well what I kept thinking for the last couple of days. I only hope that this "how can we make poor Hillary happy" will slowly dissipate as the limelight moves away from her. It is I hope nothing but a media obsession, an attempt to keep those wonderful primary ratings linger a while longer. Fortunately I hear and read more and more comments like "Obama is now the leader of the party" (gave me a jolt or realization when I first heard it, but it basically correct I guess) or "it not likely thet Reid would be overly enthusiastic about relinquishing his position and there are others waiting in line", etc. As you say, it comes back to entitlement, and attitude tha indeed sucks. Also, I spent some time yesterday perusing the love fest in GD-P. It was amusing, sometimes in a touching way, some others in a "what the hell do these people REALLY think" kind of way, to see so many Clinton supporters sing virtual kumbaya, a good thing no doubt, and shared I hope by as many of her supporters out there as possible. It also made me wonder whether I am a horrible person because I do nto feel any sudden and irresistible urge to have a beer with Hillary. I was much relieved (but very little surprised) when I heard THE SPEECH. She is anything but an idiot, and what she must have heard on Wednesday was I guess the jolt that made her finally and fully acknowledge the reality she was running away from. It was the speech she HAD to do for her own sake. That it also happened to be very good for the sake of others is a happy coincidence. Anyway... I am, as I so often do, rambling far away from the OP, sorry... Very nice letter from Lamont, by the way :-).

[benny05]

8. Great Note from Ned

And I love this sign from My Left Nutmeg:

[Inuca]

11. :-)

I wish it were for real (which I assume it isn't).

[JI7]

9. this is very nice

he said everything we all knew but the morons on the "left" either ignored or didn't care about .