For what seemed like weeks, overcast skies, crisp autumn-like days, and the steady drumbeat of rain covered the Connecticut landscape. Was it any coincidence that the day Ned Lamont's first two commercials hit the airwaves the sun peeked through the clouds and the rain resigned itself to come again another day? Probably complete coincidence, but it wasn't by chance that today's trying times produced a leader who is truly starting a movement.
I'm probably like many of you. My first bit of goodwill towards Ned Lamount was because of Joe Lieberman. It was the ol' ham sandwich bit, "I'd support a ham sandwich over that guy." I even came to Connecticut thinking this was about Joe Lieberman ... I was wrong. And I'm not the only one to enter the fray loathing Joe but ending up loving Lamont -- just ask Markos, Chris Bowers, Matt Stoller, C&L, Howie Klein, and Jane Hamsher ... names you trust online.
http://www.nedlamont.com
Although you're invited, not all of you are going to make it to Connecticut before August 8th. And while the "foil" helps, it's the campaigns, and Ned's, sincerest wish that you get to know him, not just find inspiration in what you already know about Joe. So ... with my first diary since joining the campaign, I wanted to provide some resources to learn more while giving a little look inside the campaign and where we stand as of today.
Tonight's Convention
Will Ned get 15% of the vote tonight and qualify for the ballot? I have no idea. To be honest, Lieberman has sent out no shortage of four mailings to delegates in the past few weeks. Mailings from Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, fellow delegates, and multiple phone calls to individual delegates from Joe himself. Just last night, Town Committees were calling "emergency meetings" to pass resolutions forcing delegates to vote by bloc at tonight's convention. Ned gets the conscience vote in the committees, and pasting together those votes from across the state would probably get us above the threshold ... but this is old school machine politics at work. Either way, the petition drive is well underway and we'll be the first candidate ever to obtain the 15,000 signatures necessary to qualify for the ballot. We also get the added bonus of a well-oiled and tested ground operation heading out the convention.
I have an aircard and will be writing (photos and video too) live from the convention -- follow it here starting at around 4 PM
Commercials
As you all know, Ned went on the air with the first of three commercials this weekend. You can check them out here and here. You can also read a short piece that gives a bit of a glimpse into what it was like on the set one of the days filming took place.
The Local Blogging Scene
My history is largely in Ohio and Pennsylvania, both home to thriving blogging communities. I didn't know what to expect when I arrived, but was happily welcomed with open arms. Wow. These folks want this race bad, and are doing to dirty work of circumventing the mainstream media on a daily basis to inform their audiences about the race. And what an impact they've had...
You might recall the handy "Lieberman maps" that gave directions to nearby hospitals after rape victims are denied emergency contraception. Well, not only did that widespread post by CT Bob generate national buzz, but it helped NOW and CT NARAL get involved in the race. In fact, at the NOW PAC endorsement, the organizaiton blew up the maps and used them as props for the media. But it's not just Bob. Even Ned goes around to meetings and talks about the "Lamont Blog." I was in the office earlier today when he mentioned he likes the author's (thirdparty on Kos/MyDD) "clever takes on the news." You have a tremendous community blog, My Left Nutmeg. Connecticut Blog is a multimedia wizard, making his way around the state to provide you the moments that can't quite be captured in text. In fact, it was Connecticut Blog that captured Lieberman's first utterance of potentially kissing the Democratic Party goodbye in favor of an Independent run. And there are a number of individuals who deserve praise for their online work. I remember reading CTKeith and DeanFan84's work as early as February 2005. Scarce & Spazeboy are also video wizzards -- and you can completely count on them to be there. As "scarce" likes to say, "I'm always around, but always scarce." And there's more ... it also unfortunately says NOTHING about the exemplary work on You Tube.
Volunteers
There isn't a day that volunteers aren't buzzing in and around campaign headquarters in Meriden, CT. The campaign has also set up multiple satelite offices throughout the state, including locations in New Haven, Norwalk, West Hartford, Watertown, and Willimantic.
Resources
Ned Lamont Campaign Blog: Purpose of the blog is to give a "window into the campaign" using all sorts of multimedia.
Sign-up For Campaign Emails
Ned Lamont Campaign Blog RSS Feed
Ned Lamont Google News
Ned Lamont Technorati Page
Ned Lamont You Tube Page
Lamont Blog
The Ned Lamont Resource
Without a Purpose
My Left Nutmeg
CT Bob
CT Blogger