The other day my local paper printed an editorial parroting the conventional wisdom on Ned Lamont's victory. This is a signal of the great schism in the Democratic party, the anti-war voices are gaining control and 2008 will be a replay of 1972.
Below, I reprint my letter and ask for any last minute suggestions before I send it in. Keep in mind that it's already 330 words and that's even a little too long for a LTE.
Suggestions appreciated!
The Forum claims that Ned Lamont's primary victory has divided Democrats and threatens to consign the party to the political wilderness. This troubles me because these assertions were completely unsupported in the editorial. I understand editorials are not written at the level of journalistic pieces but I hold the Forum to a higher standard.
Senators Bayh, Boxer, Clinton, Dodd, Fiengold, Kerry, Obama, the chairs of the DCCC, DSCC, DNC, unions, Governor Tom Vilsack, grassroots activists and 2004 VP candidate Edwards are supporting Ned Lamont. These Democrats respect Connecticut voters and the candidate chosen in their primary. Mutually agreed upon, democratic mechanisms to determine what action to take seems like unity to me. I was never taught to quit if things didn't go my way. Lamont understands--he pledged to campaign for the winner of the Democratic primary. This does not sound like division to me.
Remembering 1972, perhaps the Forum's memories are foggy. That year President Nixon announced a peace plan and negotiated with North Vietnam. He decommissioned US Army HQ in Vietnam and the last American combat troops departed Vietnam. At the nominating convention Nixon said, "We have gone the extra mile... trying to seek a negotiated settlement of the war. We have offered a cease-fire, withdrawal of all American forces, an exchange of all prisoners of war, internationally supervised free elections with the Communists participating in the elections and in the supervision." That does not sound like "stay the course" to me.
Ned Lamont's victory remains by and large a Connecticut story. Last time I checked, only Connecticut residents could vote in a Connecticut primary for a Connecticut candidate for Connecticut's Senator. Lamont supporters range from 18-80, have jobs, families and go to church. If they were angry, they dealt with it by filling in a circle or connecting an arrow. If there is a bigger story, it's that they are ordinary Americans who decided to get involved, listen to the candidates and choose the one they thought was appropriate for their state and country.
That sounds like an ideal we should strive for to me.