Reply #18: No-Name Dem Fires Shot Heard Around the Nation [View All]

[Melissa G]

No-Name Dem Fires Shot Heard Around the Nation

Commentary by Kevin Buck

Tuesday August 22, 2006

On Aug. 8, a Connecticut businessman named Ned Lamont became that state's Democratic candidate for the United States Senate by defeating three-term incumbent Sen. Joe Lieberman. This is a remarkable feat because Lieberman had the backing of the Democratic establishment; he was the party's vice-presidential candidate in 2000; and he had a huge cash advantage. Lieberman was facing a political amateur, a businessman and small-town politician with no statewide organization or name recognition - and he still lost.

Ned Lamont beat Joe Lieberman the old-fashioned way: on the issues. And no issue loomed larger in the Connecticut race than the ongoing debacle in Iraq.

Joe Lieberman faithfully parroted the White House "stay the course" mantra. He refused to acknowledge that his vote for and ongoing support of the quagmire in Iraq was out of step with Connecticut Democrats and 60 percent of the American public.

Ned Lamont waged a smart, grass-roots-powered campaign that captured the imagination not only of Connecticut voters, but also of political junkies across the nation. It was a rare, "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" win for the little guy over a polished, professional, well-funded political machine --and it has struck fear in establishment political circles inside the Washington beltway and beyond.


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This is what the Connecticut voters heard from Ned Lamont, and it propelled him to victory. This is what the rest of the nation needs to hear from Democrats, and in November we can take back America.



http://www.the-signal.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=32269&format=html