Well I was at the parade in Newtown today and stayed near Joe Lieberman for more than an hour. We even shook hands. Of course rumor has it that I was the one with the Bush mask holding the sign "Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity Love You and So Do I."
I also showed a sign stating "Cut And Run, Invade Iraq, Ignore Osama, Go Joe Lieberman." For the record, I support using military force to get Osama Bin Laden. (For you newspeople who like to label me anti-war)
At around 10 am the march began. Lamont had a large crowd of about 60-90 people while the Lieberman crew numbered somewhere around 25. The Lamont group kept up with the flow of the group while Lieberman's group at one point trailed the Lamont group by almost half a mile.
While some of the locals were upset that "the politicians were ruining things," most of the people at the parade supported Ned Lamont. One Lieberman pedestrian actually went up to the Bush man thinking that the signs were actually supportive of Lieberman. One of the mounties on a horse in the parade made snide remarks to the Bushman but another 3 mounties complimented the Bushman. While Bushman walked near the parade route, hundreds of people laughed as Bushman cheered on Joe LIeberman. Bushman even cheered on Joe and stood next to him and shook his hands. Hadassah was standing by her man the entire time.
There were a couple of ugly moments. One moment concerned some Democratic town committee man named McArdle who tried to claim powers that he did not have. Apparently McArdle was so crazy that the Malloy camp rejected him and McArdle was kicked out of the Dean camp for erratic behavior in 2004. Then McArdle tried yelling at Bushman toward the end but Bushman told him that no one asked him. McARdle bumped himself into Bushman but Bushman laughed at him and wouldn't take the bait.
It is important to emphasize that Bushman simply went to Newtown with 3-5 facts and repeated those facts over and over again. At no time did Bushman lie, say anything bad to Joe Lieberman, or heckle Joe Lieberman.
And since I believe that honesty must always prevail, I am going to make it crystal clear that Joe Lieberman personally was very nice to me as well. Likewise, Bushman treated Joe respectfully and civilly at all times. First, I was able to entertain hundreds of people in the crowd who got a kick out of the mask. Kids got a great kick out of high fiving "The President." It was entertaining street theater. Second, Bushman was friendly to all crowd members, including Lieberman supporters. Even a couple of Lieberman's marchers gave me a Lieberman sign and a couple of Lieberman name tags which they displayed on my shirt and mask forehead. Third, you will notice that Lieberman was more friendly to me than Lamoont.
Of course one other Liebergoon tried to start a fight with Bushman while Lieberman was giving sound bites to a TV station but again Bushman wouldn't take the bait.
The ugliest moment came when during this same press conference one of the Liebergoons attacked a man holding a Lamont sign while the same man was holding an infant child probably no older than six months. The Liebergoons ripped up part of the Lamont sign. Liebergoons attacked another man holding up a Lamont sign during the same conference. I can accurately report, having witnessed these events, that several of Lieberman's goons initiated physical contact with Lamont supporters but NO Lamont supporter did that to a Lieberman supporter.
Joe was standing there and the cameras were rolling when Joe's goons attacked two Lamont supporters. Had Joe any decency he would have told his staffers to knock it off but JOe continued on in his press conference.
I find it amazing that 95% of the time, it is right wingers who initiate violence against people who disagree with them but that you will rarely see a liberal start a fight with a conservative. (The liberal says "hey you're free to disagree.")
All in all it was a bad day for Joe Lieberman as his supporters were few in numbers, the behavior of some of his marchers despicable, and Lamont was pure class and well liked by the crowd.
My only beef with Lamont is that he sometimes is so nice and so classy that he underestimates the viciousness of his opponent and his opponent's supporters.
I'm sure the media will try to spin this terrible day for Joe in his favor but the facts on the ground speak for themselves.