I have been following the Lamont campaign since it was only a dream. I saw the campaign grow as the liberal bloggers found an outlet for the anger they harbored towards Joe Lieberman (often nicknamed Joe LIEberman on local Connecticut blogs). I watched him build a campaign machine from scratch like he did the cable company that now pays the campaign's bills. I watched him rally the Democratic base, sway the Democratic centrists, register thousands of new Democrats and, with the highest turnout in recent Connecticut primary history, win the Democratic candidacy for the US Senate.
Ned Lamont represents the modern Democratic party: moderate yet steadfast in it's beliefs and loyal to the core American values held by our found fathers. I will not, in this opinion, parrot Ned Lamont's platform on the issues. Nor will I list the many ways he differs from Joe Lieberman. If you're looking for that, visit his campaign website or attend a speaking engagement. Instead, I would like to address what this race means to the future of this country.
As I see it, Connecticut is a fairly accurate microcosm of America. We have some of the wealthiest suburbs and some of the poorest cities. We have all types of industry from the smallest mom and pop store to the headquarters of international corporations; from the tiniest privately owned farms to the largest industrial factories. Connecticut's citizens are from all cultures, races, religions and backgrounds. Even our landscape (the beaches of the coast to the very rural fields) is like a mini America. This fact makes the results of polls and elections from the state of Connecticut very representative of America as a whole.
When Ned Lamont won the Connecticut Democratic primary this past August the National Democratic party took the cue. Now we have a national slate of candidates who are not afraid to stand up for a new direction in Iraq, so our troops can come home to the hero's welcome they deserve. Not afraid to stand up for better public transportation, higher emission standards and cheaper, alternative fuels, so getting to work is faster, cleaner and more affordable. Not afraid to stand up for universal healthcare for each and every American. And, most importantly, not afraid to stand up and provide the constitutional check on the executive branch that the founding fathers intended.
Who would have thought just one year ago that little old Connecticut would be the focus of an election? The citizens of this state are proud of their moderate and rational approach to politics and the core Democratic values we live by. Each year we have humbly and unassumingly turned Connecticut blue on the election night map. But now, weather we like it or not, it is our vote on November 7th that will dictate to this nation and its leaders weather Americans demand a change of course or are willing to tolerate the Status Quo. With all eyes on us, I challenge you, my neighbors and friends, to vote for change.