Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo linked
this story about how national Democrats are
not supporting Lamont post-primary. Rather, they're putting up a facade of support while in reality remaining
neutral.
More, including my thoughts, below the jump.
Ryan Lizza's
New Republic piece explains that:
Some Democratic Senators will endorse Lamont this morning, but don't expect much more than a press release. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has no intention of throwing any real money at Lamont. "This race will have zero bearing on who controls the Senate after Election Day in November," says a top Democrat involved in Senate campaign strategy. "Why would we spend money defending a seat that will be blue either way? It just takes funds from important seats like Montana. It's counterproductive to the cause." The message to Lamont? If you want the seat so bad, spend your own money: "The fact of the matter is that Lamont has seven million dollars he can draw on."
This is music to the Lieberman campaign's ears. It's counting on top Democrats to change the subject quickly. "A bunch of Democrats out of obligation will endorse Lamont, and then they will disappear," says a senior Lieberman aide. "They will nominally endorse him and then head for the hills."
And what about Tuesday's primary result is making national Dems treat the general as a fight between two Dems instead of a Dem and a turncoat as Joe really is? Lizza explains:
Expectations are everything in politics, and Lamont's small margin of victory has failed to impress the commentariat, which was ready for a blowout after seeing Lamont's gaping thirteen-point lead last week.
Supporting this report that national Dems are remaining neutral in the race are Hillary's presser comments yesterday that disappointed me, but I looked past them at the time in my euphoria over Lamont's primary win:
Q: Senator, do you think Sen Lieberman should (drop his campaign?) ...?
CLINTON: He has to search his conscience and decide what is best for Connecticut and for the Democratic Party and then do what's right. But as I've said I will be supporting the person chosen by the Democrats in Connecticut. And I will do whatever I can to make sure we have a Democratic Senator from Connecticut....
Q: Do you think [Lieberman] hurts the Democratic party by staying in the race?
A: Well he's going to have to make that decision. And I hope he, obviously thinks hard about it. But, as I've said since the 4th of July, I will be supporting the winner of the Democratic primary and that is Ned Lamont. I am going to contribute to him, I'm going to do whatever I can to help him be elected.
What's disappointing about Hillary is that she made it clear she doesn't care who wins. If she did, she would have said unequivocally that Joe should drop out..."Joe has to decide for himself" really means "I don't really care who wins, I'm just going through the motions here." She verbally pledges support for Lamont and cuts him a $5000 check from her PAC out of ceremonial obligation, but don't count on her to help Ned beyond this unless she thinks she personally or the national Dems as a party will be hurt by not more aggessively helping Ned and moving against Joe.
This is going to be tough for Ned, and I hope he realizes it. I sure didn't completely embrace this reality yesterday simply out of denial.
But that doesn't mean Ned can't win or that he might not even be the front-runner. The first polling of the general election will tell a lot and will still be VERY encouraging if Ned is winning the 3-way or even just tied. Ned still has all the same strenghts in the general that he had in the primary: money (he can self-finance and still has grassroots money plus now will add some Dem political and interest group money); media (Hillsman is a great political admaker even if the Beltway boys hate him); and message and field (Hillsman and Swan are dynamite, plus more instituational Dems will lend advice with Ned as THE nominee). And Joe hasn't run a competent campaign and is uncertain to run a competent one now. Joe can't raise the same kind of money he did before, so he probably can't count on a financial advantage this time assuming Ned doesn't get cheap by resisting dumping more of his own money into this. Joe has dumped his entire organization and is starting from scratch, his new team leaders Sherry Brown and Gerstein are question marks as campaign heads, and as I diaried yesterday Joe continues to be his own worst enemy with his bad attitude and runaway ego.
But all that said, the ideological table in the general tilts toward Joe, especially with an insufficiently credible Gooper on the ballot who cannot count on siphoning away most of the Gooper votes from Joe. If the Goopers had a more serious nominee, that would help Ned since Joe would be effectively boxed in without either major party's tacit support.
Ned has a lot of qualities that will sell well with moderate, independent, and even some Republican voters, and he briefly tapped into that on "Hardball" last night by mentioning his business background and knowing about making a payroll, etc. Ned needs to talk about himself, about being a father, happily married for howevermany years, being a businessman who understands and has lived through the same concerns as not-so-liberal suburban folk, and any other stuff in his bio that will make non-liberals like him. Ned has to reintroduce himself to ALL CT voters in an entirely new, broader way. He could focus on his volunteer teaching in a predominately minority school in the Dem primary, but he needs to show more sides of himself now.
Ned can still count on my support, which consists of just a token few dollars, but he has his work cut out for him.