Joe, I have issues with your "
Closing Argument."
Sadly, my opponent has done his best to distort my record, spending at least $4 million of his own money to mislead people into thinking that I am someone I am not.
Joe, you know records are distorted through the obfuscation of numbers. Yet you revel in it. You decry Lamont "voting with Republicans 80% of the time" while bragging about your "90%" Democratic agreement. You use those numbers to mask the import (or lack thereof) of the votes they represent.
Ned Lamont does not distort your record. He says you are wrong about Iraq and the major issues of the day. He then systematically lists those issues and claims you are wrong about issues A, B and C. That's a critique, not "distortion"
You are now distorting distortion.
I am the only Democrat in America to run against George Bush in a national election twice. I even beat him and Dick Cheney once, if all the votes had been counted.
Woah, you're going to pull something with those rhetorical acrobatics.
But still, that just makes you embody everything that has failed in the Democratic Party.
And most importantly, then why the fuck is the Lamont primary "the fight of your political life?" Does Ned Lamont pose more of a threat to our values than George Bush?
You're the one who cried on FOX News that the vote counting should stop in Florida, 2000. Yet in your battle with Lamont, you won't concede even if you lose the primary.
At least you don't flip-flop in your disregard for the will of the electorate.
As Matt Taibbi said, you're going to "forc[e] liberal voters to kill [you] twice in the same movie, like Jason in Friday the 13th.
For us real Democrats, the extremism of the current administration is the political fight of our lives. We're not satisfied with mild critiques emanating from you and your DLC ilk. We want a Congress that agrees with John Conyers that we're in the midst of a Constitutional Crisis, not one that merely tisks at the shredding of our values.
In 2000, you weakened both your vice-presidential and Senate runs by running for both simultaneously. Thanks to you, the Democratic Party was guaranteed to lose one or the other. But then just as now you put yourself before the "principals" you claim to hold.
There is no principal you hold besides keeping Joe Lieberman a pampered Washington D.C. all-star.
In the Senate, I have acted on that conviction time and time again, standing against the President on most every big domestic issue. I did so because I believe that his policies were damaging to our state and country. And that's the truth.
But when you were pushed aside you just let him past. Your impudent "standing" soils the Democratic Brand and demotivates voters who don't view Democrats as a viable alternative.
I opposed the Bush bankruptcy bill.
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I opposed the President's efforts to undermine affirmative action in the courts.
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And contrary to the lies of my opponents, time after time I stood with my fellow Democrats to oppose George Bush's plan to privatize Social Security.
Okay, I'm glad you're setting the record straight....
Now with all that said, I will never hesitate to work across party lines when it helps me get something done for the people of Connecticut.
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That's something that separates me from my opponent - I don't hate Republicans.
Yes, you save your vitrol for progressives. With Republicans, you think it's Senatorial to compromise with torture, an imperial presidency and the dismantling of Social Security. Your "compromise" on the filibuster means you can't ever use it. Good job! Now, instead of not having a filibuster we have one only the Republicans are allowed to use!
I'm terrified what kind of compromise you'll come to when Bush wants to drop nukes on Iran. Will you propose an amendment that puts smiley faces on our bombs?
That doesn't make me a bad Democrat. It makes me a better Senator.
I'm glad you're so proud of the work you've done. Our country and planet are doing great!
The fact is, I have openly and clearly disagreed with and criticized the President for, among other things:
Too bad you love the President's credibility too much to question it. As a Better Senator, you're in the best position in the world to get some answers!
And I said that if I were President, I would ask Secretary Rumsfeld to resign. I first said that in October 2003.
But you said you wouldn't in 2004. Did you really just remember about that 2003 Meet the Press episode? You brought it up like two days ago and won't shut up about it.
Oh yeah... and neglecting that you bashed Democratic cals for Rumsfeld's ouster in 2004 would be called a fucking distortion, you lying sack of Senatorial horseshit.
I know as well as anyone we have made a lot of mistakes in Iraq and we have suffered more casualties than we should have. Don't think for a minute I do not grieve for every casualty of this war.
LOL, Those weapons gotta' be around here somewhere!
But seriously, uhm, how many causalities should we have suffered to lie to our citizens, alienate our allies and destabilize the entire middle east?
In fact, as someone who voted for the war, I feel a heavy responsibility to try to end it as quickly and successfully as possible.
I'm speechless...
Hadassah, come January and your Husband is forced into early retirement... don't let him go to Atlantic City. He'll lose all your lobbying money right quick!