Foley fallout hits Connecticut campaigns

[mhatrw]

http://www.journalinquirer.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17293224&BRD=985&PAG=461&dept_id=161556&rfi=6

Fallout from the controversy over former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley's sexually explicit correspondence with congressional pages continues to affect two of Connecticut's most hotly contested races in the next month's election.

In the increasingly heated battle between U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman and the Greenwich Democrat who defeated him in the August primary, Ned Lamont, the campaigns are sparring over who may or may not have called for the resignation of House Speaker Dennis Hastert, and when. The Republican leader from Illinois is said to have been warned last year about Foley's interactions with the minors who deliver messages and answer phones in the Capitol.

Lamont today urged voters to write letters to newspaper editors protesting what he said was the refusal by Lieberman - now running as an independent candidate - to hold responsible Hastert and the rest of the Republican leadership. Lamont had called Thursday for the speaker to step down and accused Lieberman of continuing to talk about the scandal "like a Washington politician."

He cited the senator's statement in Torrington: "Right now I'd say this thing is spinning out of control, it's become another partisan frenzy in Washington, that's the wrong way to go at it."

Lieberman's "warped vision of bipartisanship has led him to refuse to hold this administration accountable on Iraq," Lamont said, "and now it has led him to refuse to call for the resignation of Dennis Hastert."

[MadMaddie]

1. So is Lieberman losing points because of his support of Hastert?

He is not right in the head...

[Tarheel_Dem]

5. right now he's ahead by double digits.....

anywhere from 10 - 20 pts. depending on the poll. :(

[MadMaddie]

6. Is this because of Republicans supporting him?

[Tarheel_Dem]

10. I can't decipher these polls....

reuters/zogby seem way out of whack to me, i'd even go so far as to say they may be an outlier. all the other polls are pretty much in line with each other. reuters/zogby also showed a double digit lead for allen (va) which i've seen nowhere else.

There are some experts around here who can get into the techinicalities about "sampling", but alas, i'm too stupid.

:hi:

[Qutzupalotl]

7. Those are old polls.

AFAIK, there hasn't been a poll since this scandal broke. Also, I saw the 10 point lead and a 4 point lead, but I never saw a 20-point lead. Do you have a link for that?

[Tarheel_Dem]

9. you may technically be right.....

but here's where i got the 20 pts.

http://electionprediction.us/

[Exultant Democracy]

19. Those polls are bunk, and as a native of CT I can tell you why

In Aug Traitor Joe had an almost 2-1 lead and in less the a month Lamont had cut that to 10 points.

Joe also historically has always done worse in CT the longer he is there (people don't like him when they see a lot of him)If I had thought that this race was close I would still be in CT, but I'm in CO right now trying to retire Musgrave.

[hughee99]

18. I don't know that it's really "support", as such...

just that Lieberman seems to be leaving the whole issue alone.

[BattyDem]

2. Hmmm ... losing Joementum?

:evilgrin:

[Nite Owl]

3. Good for Ned

'Partisn frenzy'? Well hell yes, it's his repuke friends that are responsible. It's unabashedly partisan and any real dem would be proud of that but then there's Joe who is only bipartisan when it comes to impeaching Bill Clinton.

[ShockediSay]

4. Lamont should also emphasize cronyism & corruption nt

[Lexingtonian]

8. it's a good wedge issue

The residual Democratic support Lieberman has and which keeps him ahead is essentially old people, afaik. Republican accountability for a gay sex scandal is an issue in which they differ dramatically from Lieberman's newly found Republican support.

Drive that wedge, Ned.

[cui bono]

17. Plus, that new found Republican support may opt for the other

Republican on the ticket rather than Loserman. The base doesn't like the predator scandal and cover up.

[sundancekid]

11. a couple of zingers for Lamont to deliver to joethelesser ...

... with appropriate apologies to the brilliant original ones, of course!

"I have known bipartisanship, senator lieberman, and you hardly resemble that remark"
borrowed from Bentsen

OR (possibly better)

"I am not going to take a bipartisanship lesson from the Republican Party's #1 most trusted appeaser."
borrowed from the genius of Harold Ford Jr.

[stepnw1f]

12. Lieberman is Buddy Buddy with Hastert

Give him a big hug Joe... just pretend you are 15 so he hugs back.

[Ian David]

13. Bipartisanship with Republicans is more like date-rape.

We need to work for the common GOOD, not common GROUND.

[stepnw1f]

14. lol (nt)

[NightHawk63]

15. I'm hard-pressed to think of a better analogy!

[autorank]

16. Let LIEberman be LIEberman....what a fool he is...

What would it take to get him to demand Hastert's resignation...if not this.

Smart move on Lamont. Also using "Hastert" as a proxy for "child abuse." It's Connecticut after all.