I just finished reading the American Prospect article on
Ned Lamont, and it got me thinking about Barry Goldwater in the 1964 election. It was this line that got me:
As it happens, gathering petition signatures is just the type of political operation at which the grassroots activists who've been drawn to Lamont excel.
The 1964 election has gone down in history for a few reasons, one is Johnson's overwhelming victory, another is the famous 'Daisy' ad (and at this point I am contractually obligated to mention that it was only aired once as a paid ad), and it is the election that the New Right showed it had muscle and exerted itself as the guiding force in the Republican Party, a position of power it has held ever since.
Ned Lamont's campaign can be a similar shot across the bow, this time from the left.
Goldwater's improbable run to the Republican Party's presidential nomination, wonderfully documented in "Before the Storm" by Rick Perlstein, was started by a Draft Goldwater movement. Lucky for us, Lamont has drafted himself, but both ended up in a position to challenge the established party structure through grassroots efforts.
Goldwater had the best political operatives working for him, but more than that, he was able to inspire a group of people on the ground to spend their time and money working to get him nominated. In Connecticut the same thing can happen. Since it is a primary, though in a heavily Democratic state, turnout is for the faithful and the dedicated, the same people that can be reached and convinced to vote for a real Democrat (I admit that I am unsure if I should use the proud word liberal for Lamont, I don't know his positions well enough). If the grassroots and netroots can do this in CT, it sends a clear message to the Democratic Party nationwide that there is a new power on the scene and the party base has a voice that
will be heard.
There is also one advantage over Goldwater. If Lamont is the nominee, we don't have to console ourselves with our new found power as we pick up the pieces from a crushing loss, we gain a Democrat as the new senator from Connecticut.