So ... it's just before the primary and Joe Lieberman makes a stop at an ice cream store. A little boy stands outside the counter as Joe merrily approaches offering to buy him a cone and share a smile.
Flashbulbs! Photos! What a beautiful moment! What a kind man!
Joe gets on the bus. The press scatters...
The boy hands over the ice cream cone, unlicked, to his older sister.
His older sister, Marion Steinfels, Joe's press secretary.
Maybe you needed a smile on your face after today's Q-Poll. I didn't, cause things are going great at campaign HQ, and if you'll follow me below the fold, I'll share...
The Q-Poll
We're down 10. We're down 2. Honestly, it's probably somewhere inbetween. But let me share something else with you: I didn't even set my alarm clock to get up early for the poll's release this morning. Why? Because those numbers don't really matter as much as these:
One-hundred plus supporters at Labor Day Parade
120-plus supporters at a 1st CD organizing meeting
Folks lined up in the HALLWAY during a 3rd CD meeting
Joe Lieberman can't match that. He holds a much heralded door-to-door-corps meeting, and 15 people show up. So don't fret, sweat. Which leads me to my next item of business.
Don't Fret ... Sweat!
Again, not really concerned with polls at this point and with good trendlines and positive turnout on-the-ground, I am feeling real good this morning. But I am happy, no, I am PROUD to see the CT blogosphere rally this morning after the release of the Q-Poll numbers.
Their message: YOU are the campaign and it's time to step up again and bring this thing home.
1.) Volunteer. Don't wait. Contact your local field office and tell them you are ready to get involved.
2.) Send a postcard using "family, friends and neighbors."
3.) Write a letter to the editor about Joe's relentlessly negative campaign or this weekend's NIE story.
4.) Start planning immediately to host a house meeting for Ned on October 10. Yes, October 10. More details coming shortly, but be prepared to make it happen.
5.) Contribute
6.) Email your friends, especially those inside CT, and get them signed up on our email list for possible volunteer opportunities. Just direct them to the homepage for more information.
7.) Start an ActBlue Page and fundraise yourself for the campaign. Become your own PAC Man.
8.) Important: Invite your personal networks to use the "family, friends and neighbor" tool. Imagine if you email 10 people, five of them use it and identify 10 friends. That's 50 more supporters. Now imagine 1000 people doing that... Those are some serious numbers.
Governor Warner and Wes Clark Step Up ... Big-Time
I get a lot of emails in my inbox. They often read, "Hey, we have a lot invested in this race ... what are our potential 2008 candidates doing to help?" Here's your answer:
John Kerry immediately sent out two fundraising emails and has done the dirty work of consistently pushing back against Joe Lieberman's repeated attempts to throw the Democratic Party under the bus. John Edwards was in CT right after the primary. Today, Wes Clark and Governor Warner both sent out emails to their national lists on behalf of Ned.
Gov. Warner
I agree that we need a plan to get out of Iraq --and real action to make us safer. Most alarmingly this week, the latest National Intelligence Estimate concludes "that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks." Think about it.
The current Republican leadership isn't making us safer - or any more prepared to compete in a global economy. As a successful entrepreneur, Ned Lamont knows how to do both. It's time for congressional leadership that will stand up to the current administration and move America forward. It's time to put Ned Lamont in the U.S. Senate.
You can read the whole email at the link above.
And then there was the good General stepping up to the plate and taking a swing for the fences:
General Wes Clark
"In Connecticut, Ned Lamont is running the type of campaign all Democrats can be proud of. Standing up to President Bush's failed policy in Iraq, dispensing with self-serving and wishy-washy notions of "independence," and pledging to invest in America's future, Ned Lamont is a candidate for Senate who I am proud to endorse.
Of course Ned's opponent, Joe Lieberman, after refusing to abide by the results of August's Democratic primary election, has decided to do his best to drag every Connecticut Democrat's electoral prospects down with him. He continues to provide political cover to President Bush and other local Republicans despite their clearly failed policies.
In Conclusion
We can do what we can do online and many of those action items are listed above. If you are from CT, there is nothing more important than signing up to volunteer in support of our efforts. If you don't feel like getting out from infront of the computer, use the family friends and neighbor tool. Otherwise, we can really use you in the field. That's where this race is going to be won.
If you aren't from CT, keep writing about the race. Keep telling your friends about the race. Contribute. Help us get names on our email list to spread the word far and wide.
But don't get discouraged. We have seen poll after poll after poll after poll after poll on this race, and each and everyone of them has shown the same thing:
We continue to move in the right direction.
We have a great campaign staff here. The field program and the netroots pulled off one of the greatest upsets in modern American political history this primary. We're going to do the same in November.
But we can only do that with your help.
Tim