You've probably heard the buzz about Ned Lamont challenging Joe Lieberman in the Democratic primary this year.
Ned is considering running because, like most Connecticut Democrats, he is tired of being represented by a senator who is not willing to stand up to the President on the war — and on the rest of his extreme right wing agenda which is so harmful to our country.
Ned Lamont is a successful businessman who understands the importance of health care and education to our economy. He will fight for universal health care and to bring all of America's schools into the 21st Century. He believes the federal government should stay out of people's private lives and stop spying on its own citizens. He would push for energy conservation and bio fuels as better alternatives than the liquefied natural gas plant in Long Island Sound. And he would demand that corrupt public officials be held accountable for their actions.
The polls show that Democrats are ready for a change, but the entrenched interests behind Joe Lieberman are going to fight tooth and nail and pour millions of dollars into this race. To win, we'll need volunteers working hard in every city and town — and we'll need thousands more Americans pledging to contribute financially as well.
What's the next step? Ned has stated that he will not move beyond the exploratory phase of a campaign until at least 1,000 people in Connecticut have signed up to volunteer. So no matter where you live, this is a chance to make history. Please sign up today!
http://www.nedlamont.com/It's Not Shaping Up To Be A Party For Lieberman
January 22, 2006
Greenwich millionaire Ned Lamont is strongly considering a challenge against Lieberman for the Democratic nomination to the Senate. Lamont, whose active interest in politics has been limited to developing a dead-on JFK imitation, a run for the state Senate in 1990, service on the state's pension advisory board, raising money for Bill Clinton and working with the liberal think tank the Brookings Institution on budget issues, may have found his unlikely moment.
At 52, Lamont is tan, fit and possessed of an easy confidence that often comes with being born into a fortune and making it bigger. He understands the long odds against succeeding in a primary against an incumbent senator. His interest in making the race springs from issues, not burning personal ambition. Lamont declared in a recent interview in his cable company office that "two things really got my goat." The first was the war in Iraq, which Lamont has opposed from the start. The other was last year's transportation bill with its emblematic millions for the "Bridge to Nowhere" in Alaska.
Iraq, however, is the issue that will drive Lamont's race. He was inspired when hawkish Democratic U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., called for a withdrawal of American troops late last year.
That provided a stark contrast to Lieberman's stalwart support of the war, particularly his optimistic assessment of it in a Wall Street Journal piece in November. Lieberman's chummy relationship with President Bush has added to the "groundswell of anger" that Lamont detects.
So let there be a debate, says the earnest challenger, who will have no trouble mounting and funding a primary campaign. His sunny countenance is more that of the energetic go-getter than ambitious politician. He won't let the race degenerate into a series of bitter accusations.
http://www.courant.com/hc-renniecol0122.artjan22,0,1685433.story?track=mostemailedlink