Lieberman Rival Hopes to Find Support in Issues Beyond Iraq

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Ned Lamont has become a political sensation in Connecticut by being a multimillionaire who wants the troops out of Iraq. But he would love, love to get people talking about other things than his wealth or the war.

Mr. Lamont breezed past Iraq the other night at a fund-raiser in Stamford for his campaign against Senator Joseph I. Lieberman. Instead he delved into Israel, jobs, Terri Schiavo, and his beef with Don Imus, the radio talk show host, who recently called Mr. Lamont a “bug-eyed pencil neck geek.”

“Imus is incredibly popular here in Fairfield County, so I have to deal with that,” Mr. Lamont said in an interview afterward. “People need to know the real me, not just the war and the money, if I’m going to pull this off.”

In just four months Mr. Lamont has upended the Democratic status quo by coming from nowhere (well, the Greenwich Board of Selectmen) to mount an energetic bid to topple Mr. Lieberman, who was his party’s nominee for vice president in 2000. Having stoked voter anger over the senator’s support for the war in Iraq, Mr. Lamont is also trying to score points by portraying Mr. Lieberman as neglectful on local issues and overly friendly with the Bush White House.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/19/nyregion/19lamont.html?hp&ex=1153281600&en=97ca61f3c0394538&ei=5094&partner=homepage