Dean hit the right tone at CT Democratic rally....with Lamont and others.

[madfloridian]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/20/ap/politics/m...

"Democratic chairman Howard Dean praised Ned Lamont on Friday as the challenger dealt with a dose of bad news _ a double-digit deficit in the latest poll.

"No one was going to stand up over the Iraq policy until Ned stood up and then the people stood up because Ned was a great leader," Dean said at a rally for Lamont and other Democratic candidates. "We need Ned Lamont."

"Your state has done something extraordinary," Dean said. "Your state had a courageous person step up when nobody thought he could win and take on folks who supported the Bush policy."

There really was not much more he could say, because so many of the power Democrats are supporting Lieberman. But he tried, and he said it well.



Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean, right, holds a microphone out into the audience during a rally for the Connecticut State Democratic Party in Hartford, Conn., Friday, Oct. 20, 2006. At Dean's left are State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz. (AP Photo/Jessica

[babylonsister]

1. What power dem is supporting Lieberman? Really? I think it's

rethugs who are supporting him, because Dems aren't. Dean RAWKS!!!

[madfloridian]

3. Here are the long lists.

CT Dems for Joe
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/...

National Dems for Joe
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/...

[blm]

8. Kerry holding a Town Hall meeting for Ned on Wed. with veterans' support

So, hopefully it will generate some REAL Iraq talk in the Conn. press.

http://www.nedlamont.com/page/event/detail/visibility/w...

Lamont NEEDS the high visibility support from the entire Dem party. Why he isn't getting it from establishment Dems is what distturbs me.

[madfloridian]

9. Great, I heard he was going this week.

It ain't over yet.

[blm]

10. That's the way I see it - I'm hoping to pull this one back where it SHOULD be.

.

[Zhade]

12. Especially with the missing 387 grand.

And the lieberman camp refusing to open the books - thus breaking federal election law.

This SO isn't over.

[upi402]

2. DINO Joe will give it to the Rethugs I bet

Dean is great. Good on him. I read that Joe's money is coming from the usual Republican sources.

[Vidar]

4. Dean is by far the best among the Democratic leadership.

[madfloridian]

5. It was interesting to observe...

all the criticism of Dean about that day in which the Today Show made a huge deal of putting on Terry McAuliffe, grinning, and saying Dean would not "debate" Mehlman.

Well, he never has, Mehlman does not debate...he just spouts talking points.

Besides the schedule of the chairman was

Wed. Portland, several events and fundraisers

Thurs. Minnesota, fundraisers and U of M rally.

Friday his plane was late getting to the CT Dem rally, but he got there. Talk about jet lag.

He sounded tired in the video at Spazeboy's site, but he was still inspiring.

[Cha]

6. I guess those majority of

Connecticutians just love how bush and lieman are losing the War On Iraq based on LIES.

I really feel bad for the intelligent people of Connecticut. lieman is a whining, simpering, doddering ol' fool.

[Hippo_Tron]

17. Our problem is that Lieberman built a coalition using the Republican party

Which shows just how right we were about him during the primary. I don't think that people expected the White House and the Connecticut Republican party to get fully behind Lieberman but they did just that and that is how he is going to pull this off if he does. He can get some independent and democratic votes because some people don't understand that the war isn't a single issue it's also $1 trillion (which actually if you want to get into economic analysis is multiplied several times) that won't be spent on education, healthcare, infrastructure, business, and many other things. But these independents and democrats aren't a majority and it's the Republicans that are key to his coalition.

[SouthernBelle82]

7. I'm glad Dean went to help him

He's still a power house democrat too and he's chairman of the DNC. So it's good to know that the DNC is helping too and have not done like the GOP is doing in places and writing off canidates. The race isn't over yet.

[MH1]

16. Welcome to DU, SouthernBelle82!

Nice avatar.

I agree, it's great Dean is doing this, and yes he is a powerhouse Democrat!

[Zhade]

11. Well-said, Dean.

If there's any justice, lieberman's questionable campaign spending will be his downfall.

[madfloridian]

13. All this really should not have happened.

Effective leaders could have taken control and things would have gone better. Too many supported him. And they are making the chosen Democrat use up money to defend himself.


Dems for Joe...Al From, Will Marshall, Leon Panetta, Lanny Davis, et al


CT chapter of Dems for Joe

I watched the videos from CT, and the body language of all of them showed that the situation was not an easy one. I thought Dean chose his words well.

[blm]

14. No kidding. Why the hell should ANY DEm be pushed through this indignity

of having to fight for Dem support even up till the weeks before election?

The establishment Dems would be spitting mad if it was the reverse.

[madfloridian]

15. They would not tolerate it from us.

I think this may be why Lamont took a week off, then did not push too hard for a while. I have seen some bloggers saying earlier that perhaps he was waiting for the leadership...which of course never came.

[madfloridian]

18. A reminder of who is NOT helping Lamont...the primary winner.

I saw this yesterday, but we need reminding of this. Lamont won the primary. If his win is not honored by the party...then there is no way to bring change to the party. Loyalty is expected from both sides of the aisle.

http://www.dfalink.com/blog_post.php?id=67030

"Barack Obama: Mr. "Audacity of Hope" is hoping you'll never find out he cancelled his plans to campaign in Connecticut for Lamont weeks ago, right at the last minute. He has just recently agreed to send out an email under his name for Lamont, asking people to volunteer for Ned, and that's good. But he seems to be calculating that backing out of the rest of his promise won't matter, even as he turns up in New York and Massachussetts on his book tour (doesn't I-95 run from NY to MA through CT? What's the hypotenuse?). Can you help Mr. Audacity?

John Edwards: The smiling former senator did well to campaign with Lamont right after the primary, and he apparently told an audience in Colorado just this week he would be glad to go back anytime. Word on the street in Connecticut is he may have changed his mind when actually asked to deliver. Can you help Senator Edwards with his sums?

Russ Feingold: Senator Feingold seems to be copying from John Edwards' paper. He tells people he will show up for Ned anytime, but doesn't actually do it. Maybe he was an English major. Can you help him with his math?

The Clintons: The Clintons seem to have turned in their papers, from what I can tell. Senator Clinton is holding on to her email list of Connecticut contacts from her national database, so the Lamont campaign can't tap into those Democrats who may be able to help get out the vote by volunteering for Ned. Likewise, President Clinton will not be reprising his role as supporter of the incumbent during the primary for the subsequent winner of the actual Democratic primary. Perhaps Senator Clinton will be running in the future on some newly minted "America for Clinton" ticket?

The DSCC: Until late this week, the DSCC had dug its heels in against pressure to send out an email on behalf of Ned, asking people to volunteer for Ned and help GOTV, but I'm told they've been persuaded to change their minds. Good for them."

[Little Star]

19. madfloridian,

Could you make this its own post in GD? I think people might like to write some e-mails! I am very surprised to see Edwards and Feingold on that list, the others, not so much. Are these Dem's like JRE & Russ worried that they won't get the backing of the DSCC if they run in 2008? What the heck is with the DSCC undermining Ned?

[madfloridian]

20. This is why.

This is a powerful group of Democrats, and I will only list a few. They prefer things not to change, they consider Joe one of them...and it is basically about Iraq as the main underlying issue.

http://www.joe2006.com/free_details.asp?id=97#natchapte...

Don Baer, Director Of Communications - Clinton Administration

Mark Brzezinski, Former Director of National Security Council – Clinton Administration

Ash Carter, Former Assistant Secretary of Defense - Clinton Administration

Bill Danvers, Senior Director for the National Security Council - Clinton Administration

Lanny Davis, Special Counsel to the President - Clinton Administration

Stuart Eizenstat, Former Deputy Treasury Secretary – Clinton Administration

Steve Elmendorf, Former Chief of Staff to House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt

Al From, Founder of the Democratic Leadership Council

Bill Galston, Deputy Assistant for Domestic Policy - Clinton Administration

Jamie Gorelick, Deputy Attorney General - Clinton Administration

Martin Indyk, Assistant Secretary Of State, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel - Clinton Administration

Max Kampelman, Ambassador to the CSCE - Carter Administration

Jim Kennedy, Former Spokesman for Former President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore

Simon Lazarus, Associate Director of the White House Domestic Policy Staff – Carter Administration

Michael Levy, Asst. Sec. of Legislative Affairs for the U.S. Dept. of Treasury – Clinton Administration

Abbe Lowell, Chief Minority Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives

Will Marshall, President and Founder, Progressive Policy Institute

Dana Marshall, Senior Advisor, U.S. Department of Commerce – Clinton Administration

Mack McLarty, Former White House Chief of Staff - Clinton Adminstration


John Nakahata, Chief of Staff to Chairman of the FCC – Clinton Administration

Tom Nides, Special Counsel for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs - Clinton Administration

Leon Panetta, Former White House Chief of Staff – Clinton Administration

Tony Podesta, Clinton Transition Team, Former Counsel to Sen. Ted Kennedy

Bruce Reed, Domestic Policy Advisor - Clinton Administration

Dennis Ross, Special Middle East Coordinator- Clinton Administration

David Rothkopf, Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade - Clinton Administration

Richard Swett, Former Ambassador to Denmark - Clinton Administration

Ben Wattenberg, Aide and Speech Writer to President Lyndon B. Johnson

Jim Woolsey, Former Director of the CIA - Clinton Administration

[rinsd]

21. This is quite funny

Various progressives have spent inordinate amounts of time calling the DLC and Democratic leadership names and suggesting all kinds of awful agendas.

Then when said folks don't lend enough of a hand with the progressive candidate, they are lambasted.

Something about vinegar and honey come to mind.

[madfloridian]

22. We supported the winners...bottom line.

The very people who were lecturing people to be sure to stay on board in 04 are being disloyal to the voters now.

And they are excusing it by saying it is their good friend.

They are not supporting the winner of the Democratic primary...bottom line.

They don't want to hurt Joe's feelings, but they never worried about anything like that in 04.

[rinsd]

23. I disagree. Its about poll numbers and priorities

Ned just crawled under double digits for the first time in a month or two.

There are something like 30 or 40 competitive races out there for Congress.

The loss of this seat to Joe or the capturing of the seat by Ned does not factor into the equation of a majority Democratic Congress in the House and Senate because Joe has stated he is going to caucus with Dems.

"The very people who were lecturing people to be sure to stay on board in 04 are being disloyal to the voters now"

Which people? People on DU? Because maybe I missed it because Duers haven't exactly been rolling out the red carpet for Hillary Clinton or Hank Johnson (winners of primary battles against more progressive candidates). I will give some credit for Harold Ford support which is very surprising given that he is a conservative Democrat. But really who is the "who" you are talking about?

[madfloridian]

24. It factors into the party tradition, if you lose you lose graciously.

I just see so many excuses here for Joe. It is kind of pathetic that it is about him and not the winner of the primary.

[rinsd]

25. "the party tradition, if you lose you lose graciously."

I agree.

This is a very unique situation in which the political stakes are both high and largely insignificant depending on the scope. Majority for Congress = doesn't really matter, direction of the party = high with Lamont win.

I just don't see the point in making enemies lists within your own party because said "enemies" were not helpful enough. Its counter productive stuff that is childish at best.

[madfloridian]

27. Joe is the one acting in a childish way now. Sorry, but that is true.

.

[madfloridian]

26. You are comparing an 08 run with Joe's situation now. Doesn't make sense.