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Lieberman loses to anti war candidate in primaries { August 9 2006 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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Lieberman Falls to Lamont
August 9, 2006 8:51 AM
The Stamford Advocate, Stamford, Conn.
Aug. 9--Greenwich millionaire Ned Lamont rose from political obscurity to defeat one of the Democratic Party's most popular heavyweights last night but failed to deliver the knockout punch.
Three-term incumbent U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman vowed to fight on as an independent candidate, saying he would file the necessary paperwork this morning to get on the ballot in November to retain his seat.
A former one-term Greenwich selectman who has never held elected office outside his town, Lamont called his victory a milestone for voters in the state.
"We call Connecticut the land of steady habits. Tonight we voted for change," Lamont said. "When I got into this race eight months ago, it was kind of a dream."
Surrounded by his family, hundreds of supporters and an entourage of political patrons that included Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Lowell Weicker Jr., Lamont was greeted by deafening applause and chants of "Ned."
A married father of three who is the great-grandson of JP Morgan scion Thomas Lamont, the Senate hopeful earned his way onto the primary ballot in May after winning a third of the delegate votes at the state party convention. Lamont has made Lieberman's support of the war in Iraq a central issue of the campaign.
Lamont renewed his push for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq if elected to the Senate, prompting his sea of supporters to chant, "Bring them home."
Lamont spoke only briefly of his primary opponent, whom he defeated by 3 to 4 percentage points, according to unofficial returns.
"I want to thank him for dignity and decency with which he has served our state for many years," said Lamont, who entered yesterday's primary leading Lieberman in public opinion polls.
Lamont quickly shifted his comments to the November general election, calling on Lieberman to abandon his plan to run as a petition candidate.
"I'm hoping that over the next few days we'll come to the conclusion that the party's going to stick together," said Lamont, whose supporters answered with shouts of, "Bring Joe home."
Shortly after his victory speech, the Lamont campaign sent out a mass e-mail urging supporters to call on Lieberman to drop his independent bid.
Lieberman's campaign has tried to paint Lamont as an inexperienced and opportunistic multimillionaire who had seized on the emotions of Internet bloggers and the party's extreme left.
In a Hartford ballroom, Lieberman delivered what amounted to a defiant, nonconcession speech.
He said he phoned Lamont to congratulate him on his primary win, but he made it crystal clear to the crowd he would not yield his Senate seat.
"I'm a sports fan, so I'm going to use a sports comparison," Lieberman said. "In this campaign we've just finished the first half and the Lamont team is ahead. But in the second half, our team, team Connecticut, is going to surge forward to victory in November."
Lieberman said his campaign this morning would file the 7,500 petition signatures necessary to run in the general election as an "independent Democrat" under the new Connecticut for Lieberman Party.
"So tomorrow is a brand new day, (and) we launch a new campaign to unite the people of Connecticut -- Democrats, Republicans, independents -- so we can move forward together to solve our most serious problems," Lieberman said.
Chants of "Six more years, six more years" and "Go Joe, go" rose from the crowd.
Lieberman has faced criticism from his opponent and many prominent Democrats for not playing by the primary rules and accepting a loss.
But last night he sought to recast his independent campaign as a crucial battle against "the old politics of polarization" that Lieberman said were the real winner of the primary.
"For the sake of the state, country and my party I cannot and will not let that result stand," Lieberman said. "People are fed up with petty partisanship and angry bickering in Washington. It is continually blocking progress on major problems and wasting America's greatness."
Lamont's campaign continually labeled Lieberman as a closet Republican who sides too often with President Bush and the GOP-led Congress.
Lieberman last night sought to paint the primary winner as part of the problem -- an extremist who rose from political obscurity in a political climate where "every compromise is labeled a surrender, every disagreement is considered disloyalty and every opponent e is seen as evil."
"I will never hesitate to work with members of the other party if it helps me achieve solutions that will build a better life for the people of Connecticut," Lieberman said.
The race has drawn nationwide attention and support. Lieberman last night appealed to out-of-state viewers "disappointed with the ugly tone of our politics and fed up with nasty partisanship in Washington" to help his campaign.
"You can go to my Web site . . . when it is unhacked," Lieberman said, referring to his campaign's complaints that Lamont supporters crashed the Web site Monday night.
The comment drew loud cheers.
The only passing reference Lieberman made to his continued support of the Iraq war was when he promised that, if re-elected in November, he will continue fighting for progressive values and "stronger national security."
Lieberman, an 18-year incumbent, began the race as the clear frontrunner. But over the past few months, Lamont steadily gained on Lieberman in the polls, leading him last week by 13 points. The end result was a man who had run for vice president in 2000 and president in 2004 was forced to fight for his political life.
Lieberman launched a bus tour of the state and brought in several high-profile Democrats including former President Clinton, U.S. Sens. Joseph Biden and Barbara Boxer and former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland.
None, however, appeared able to rally voters the way Lamont and his anti-war message did.
In an interview following Lieberman's speech, his campaign manager, Sean Smith, said his candidate always knew he was "playing in a very tough environment."
"Joe Lieberman has a position on Iraq not shared by most Democrats in Connecticut," Smith said.
But, Smith said, with the primary over he believes Lamont's message is limited.
"I think (Lieberman's) speech tonight laid out a playing field where Ned is pushed very far to the left and Joe occupies the broad and vital center," Smith said.
Asked how the campaign would cope with the probability that several high-profile Democrats who supported Lieberman in the primary will now support that contest's victor, Smith replied: "The Democratic primary is over. We're in a general election now. He'll be proud to stand with Democrats who still stand with him, but is appealing to a broader slice of the electorate now."
Lieberman did not mention the war last night, although he did say if reelected, he would continue to fight for stronger national security.
As he spoke, a woman standing to the side of the stage shouted "Can we have peace?" Lieberman ignored her and his campaign staff tried to quiet her down.
In an interview afterward she identified herself as Tammela Able, a telecommunications engineer from Atlanta, who was staying in the hotel on business.
Able said she supported Lieberman when he ran in 2000 for vice president but can no longer stomach his staunch support of the Iraq war.
Lieberman was introduced last night by his son, Matt Lieberman.
"Just last Thursday this campaign was 14 points behind. Yesterday it was six. Tonight we're three or four behind," Matt Lieberman said.
"This is a campaign with exciting momentum going forward."
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Copyright (c) 2006, The Stamford Advocate, Conn.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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