I'm gonna keep this brief, there's a lot of work to do today as you can imagine. A few notes I'd like to hit on in this entry:
- 2008: Who's helped, who hasn't, who has hurt
- Polling
- Anti-war Joe's national embarassment
- They're mocking Kos at Joe's site
- Homegrown field vs. Mike Bloomberg's field for Joe
- Wes Clark Ad
- Petty Cash
- Kiss Float Update
Here's a few things you can do to help if you are are from CT or nearby
Let us know if you can volunteer next weekend (link)
Send a personalized physical postcard to folks you know in CT (link)
Invite folks you know in CT to fill out postcards online (link)
Check the calendar for upcoming events (link)
2008: Who's helped, who hasn't, who has hurt
I've seen the entries, I've been part of back-channel discussions on the topic, and I know it's on a lot of people's minds. Let me just clear a few things up, and know that I will go into tedious amounts of detail (along with Swan) post-primary. Let me start by saying this has never been about a $5,000 PAC check or high-dollar fundraisers.
John Kerry and Wes Clark have been nothing short of amazing. If you are the type of person keeping score at home, note that please.
It's also important to note that Russ Feingold is taking a bit of undeserved heat. That's partially my fault. I didn't find out until after the original post went up on Firedoglake that we had only asked the Senator to visit 48 hours ago for the first time. By then, his schedule was full inside his home state of Wisconsin. We are looking to involve him in other ways.
We have an open invitation to Senator Obama and John Edwards to appear in Connecticut down the stretch as well. A lot of people would like to know about the Clintons as well. Well, more on those stories post-primary. Ultimately, it would have been great if others chose to stand up to Senator Lieberman as he continually throws the Democratic Party under the bus. It's symptomatic of a party perpetually bullied by the right-wing that only a small handful have chosen to. But that's alright, we're still going to win this thing with you and a few friends. Finally, the DSCC sent out an email to their entire CT list (50,000 I'm told) asking them to volunteer down the stretch.
Polling
Again, not going to get into specifics but like I said last time, it's closer than the latest polls indiciate. Our internals show it, Senator Lieberman's admitedly show it, other internals show the same thing. Don't believe me if you like, but when the q-poll showed us down 17, I told you the same thing and a new poll came out showing us down 12. I'm telling you its closer than that today, and some polls show us a lot closer than 12. We need to be within 4 on election day ... if we are, and we put in the hard work we've been building towards -- it's time for Senator Lamont.
Anti-war Joe's national embarassment
Did you know Joe Lieberman wanted to "bring the troops home as soon as possible?" For a guy who talks a lot about not playing politics with the war, he sure is doing a lot of it. The past few months have seen Nixonian declarations like the one above and Joe's faux plan for peace. It was almost as if we couldn't believe what he was trying to do... But now everyone is on to his game, and he is beginning to get called out by the local and national press for his political calculus on the nation's most pressing issue.
Senator Joe Lieberman's simultaneous efforts to push President Bush's "stay the course" Iraq policy while denying he's for "stay the course" last night became fodder for national ridicule, with Lieberman's deception taking center stage on one of television's best rated national cable shows. Specifically, MSNBC's Countdown aired clips of Lieberman telling America "we have to stay the course in Iraq " and now, days before the election, saying "I am not for stay the course" [Senate debate, 10/23/06]. The deception closely tracks President Bush's similar contradictory declarations, and highlights what General Wes Clark says in a new ad for Ned Lamont: that Lieberman has altered his talking points but not his stay the course policy. You can view the national television segment at: LINK
They're Mocking Kos over at Joe's Site
In case you needed more inspiration. From Joe's blog today:
Either way, at least Ned has the consolation of knowing that his friends in the Netroots will be there to retire his debt after Election Day. You know, the people who powered his people-powered campaign and who really came through him for this fall.
We can't wait for the first Daily Kos Karwash.
Homegrown field vs. Mike Bloomberg's field for Joe
When I say we need to be within 4 or 5 on election day, it's because our field campaign will simply blow the doors off Joe's effort. What's more, his ballot placement won't help at all. In the primary, Joe fought our ground game by spreading nearly $400,000 in cash around the streets of Connecticut. This time, he's turning to good friend and host of three fundraisers for Joe, Republican Mike Bloomberg.
This is all well and good, but for someone screaming ad nauseum about Ned's personal contributions to the campaign, relying on Bloomberg so heavily reaks of hypocrisy.
Either way, won't be the first time Joe's out of state minions are destroyed by a homegrown field campaign.
Wes Clark Ad
"I'm retired General Wes Clark. Joe Lieberman introduced the resolution authorizing the war in Iraq. That was a mistake. Joe Lieberman voted for that resolution without asking the tough questions. That was also a mistake. And now, three and a half years into a failing mission in Iraq, Joe Lieberman can't seem to say we should change the course, and that's a real mistake. Re-elect Joe Lieberman? Well, there's a word for it: mistake."
Watch the new television spot
Petty Cash
In the primary, Joe Lieberman put nearly $400,000 on the streets of Connecticut to complement his anemic get out the vote effort. He'd pay poll-standers, and they took the cash and just went home. It was pretty funny.
Here's a visual representation of Joe's petty cash spending in comparison to other candidates running for election this cycle.
Fact is, they got a free pass on this story, which is a shame. I mean, it's no website hack that wasn't, but it is what it is. Good thing the hack didn't absolutely consume every single news outlets attention ... on election day itself. If it did, we might have a gripe.
Kiss Float Update
They hate the kiss float. HATE IT! So much that when it shows up at Joe events, they park trucks infront of it to block the view. They stooped to a new low last week as well ... they sent out one of their "volunteers" to pretend like he got hit by the float. You can read the story in all its glory right here.
So that's the update. This took me a bit longer than I had expected. I'll check back in periodically while I am writing emails for the week. Hope you all feel up to date now.
Tim
Update [2006-10-28 17:34:17 by ttagaris]: Because I believe in using every tool at our disposal to fight Joe Lieberman's DC lobbyist money and $387,000 slush fund. The more comments you add, the better.
Joe Lieberman - "Seasonal Memory Lapses" by Paul Bass (Hartford Courant)
Joe Lieberman - "Truth About Joe"
Joe Lieberman - "Lieberman Wins Republican Friends, Democratic Enemies... (WaPo)
Joe Lieberman - "Joe Lieberman is a Big Oil Republican" (LamontBlog)
Joe Lieberman - "Kerry Calls Lieberman the New Cheney" (ABC)
Joe Lieberman - "Joe Lieberman Doesn't Care About Handicapped People" (Wonkette)
Joe Lieberman - "Joe Lieberman is Running With a Bad Crowd" (Firedoglake)
Joe Lieberman - "116 Reasons Not to Vote for Joe Lieberman"
Joe Lieberman - "How Joe Lieberman Tried to Kill Rock 'N Roll (Huffington Post)"
Ned Lamont - Official Campaign Website
Ned Lamont - Ned Lamont, the Political Entrepreneur
Ned Lamont - "Democrats Back Lamont; Lieberman Files Independent Run" (F0x)
Ned Lamont - Unofficial Ned Lamont Resource
Ned Lamont - Unofficial Lamont Blog
Ned Lamont - "The Democrats Mean Business" (WSJ)
Ned Lamont - "Ned Lamont vs. Joe Lieberman" (The Nation)
Ned Lamont - "Lieberman Loses Debate With Challenger Ned Lamont"
Ned Lamont - "Lamont: Lieberman Sounded Like Cheney"
Ned Lamont - "Lamont Fires Up Naples" (New Haven Independent)