There's been so much about this race that defies conventional wisdom. Back in May, Ned was a "single issue candidate" with zero chance of beating a popular 18 year incumbent. On "HotlineTV" the keepers of conventional wisdom debated whether or not we'd get over 35% of the vote on August 8th.
A funny thing happened. They forgot to tell thousands of volunteers ... and we won.
The D.C. keepers of conventional wisdom give us little chance of winning on Tuesday. And again, they forgot to tell the thousands of volunteers this weekend canvassing and ID'ing voters. The most credible journalists in the state (McEnroe, Bass, Pazniokas) believe it will be a lot closer than polls reflect.
So here's my answer to the initial question: I don't know if we're going to win. I didn't know on primary day either. I do know that your participation increases our chances expontentially. So, if you are in a position to fuel our field campaign:
VOLUNTEER MONDAY & TUESDAY
There are few things I derive more pleasure from in this campaign than seeing enormous crowds of enthusiastic supporters rally for change in our drive to elect Ned Lamont. That's why I am eminently pleased whenever I hear Joe Lieberman alliterate that our "people-powered campaign is petering out." It's nothing more than a tacit acknowledgement of the tremendous amount of energy behind our effort.
I can't imagine how difficult it is for Joe Lieberman to watch our campaign. The massive amount of support behind Ned from within the grassroots is as formidable as it must be heart breaking to Joe. It's probably everything he hoped he'd see in support of him one day ... in any campaign. But it's not.
And after being rejected by the voters in three straight elections, his public support consists of fake photo ops hugging his own bus driver, buying ice cream cones for the siblings of staffers (and cameras) and generating a level of enthusiasm rivaled only by a warm bag of vaseline with crushed valium inside.
His earned media consists of little more than staged events and "major press conferences." His rhetoric reduced to mere repitition. A parody of his own book, "In Praise of Public Life." Devoid of grassroots support, his website functions as little more than a vehicle for spittle inducing rants against Lamont staffers. His party and people who pay attention have abandoned him completely. His field campaign passed out in manilla envelopes filled with cash. And if public enthusiasm for his events dictated press coverage, he'd be somewhere between the classifieds and real estate section every day.
No one really likes Joe Lieberman. His base of support is Republicans who see him as the lesser of two evils and low information voters aided by 30 second soundbytes and stenographers. His campaign is funded by those who see politics as little more than a public trough. The Last Honest Man is reduced to outright disengenuousness about his positions on Iraq, Social Security and the Energy Policy.
It's a sad campaign, and I couldn't imagine working for it. I prefer inspiration. It's why I left a nice cushy job at the Democratic National Committee. I prefer to believe.
And I believe in Ned Lamont.
But about that people-powered campaign petering out ...
Here's some photos and video from yesterday evening's rally in New Haven with Mayor John DeStefano. This is what it's all about. These are the people going to door to door, and toe to toe, with Joe's lobbyist funded campaign commercials. This is why we're going to win on Tuesday. It's the championship rounds. After six months of working towards this point, we're ready for the fight. And if tonight's crowd was any indication, we have a real opportunity to shock the world and bring some much needed change to Washington, D.C.
Watch the YouTube