The official blog has the announcement that Ned Lamont and Republican candidate Alan Schlessinger have accepted an invitation from the local Fox affiliate to have another debate.  Minor party candidate Joe Lieberman has been invited, but no word yet on whether he will accept.

This diary is prompted by complaints I'm seeing that basically say Ned Lamont is a bad candidate.  The Q poll is out that clearly shows Ned is going to lose, people fear.  So, now they are doing the post-mortem already and complaining about all the things Ned did wrong.  You people are BREAKING LAME!!(Copyrighted to TheC, 2006)  First, this thing ain't over... not by a long shot.  Second, Ned is not a bad candidate.  He is the ONLY kind of candidate that could have brought us to where we are today.  

As you may have heard, the Lamont-Schlesinger-minor party candidate debate occurred today in Hartford.  It was closed to any cameras or recording devices, but there is a clip from a backstage monitor at [http://www.mydd.com/...]

Ok... so my only diaries these days are about the Lamont race, but I live in CT, so its what I know.  By reading the fine CT blogs like My Left Nutmeg, I learned this.  There is a great new development in the race.  An organization of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans have assembled an activist organization called VoteVets.  Now they are in CT to talk to Joe Lieberman.  

Ned Lamont's campaign has a new ad up in Connecticut that is available for viewing in a 30 or 60 second format on their website.

This is a very hard hitting ad, with great Hillsman visuals.  But the words spoken by Ned Lamont in the ad are what really grab you.  They should serve as the template by which Dems run nationally.

Today's Hartford Courant has a story that asks the question, "Would Party Forgive Joe?"  We are starting to get hints that the answer is no!  But Joe doesn't seem to agree.  What does he know?

Scanman's diary is in danger of falling off the page, so I am going to start a new diary about reports from CT with my own.  If folks go back to check out his diary and rec it up, I'll delete this.  Now for my story so far...

Like many here, I have had enough of Joe Lieberman.  I have had enough of a so-called Democrat who tells me, "It's time for Democrats who distrust President Bush to acknowledge that he will be the Commander-In-Chief for three more critical years.  And, in matters of war, we undermine Presidential creditability at our nation's peril."  Having moved to Connecticut two years ago, I found myself in a position to be directly involved in doing something about it.  All we needed was a candidate.

We are coming down to crunch-time in this exciting Democratic Senatorial primary race in Connectiuct.  In addition to the excitment building to a fever pitch, all the big guns on the establishment side will be blazing in a final attempt to save their dear, entrenched Joe Lieberman.  Annecdotally, it sure appears the corporate media outlets throughout the state are doing their best to paint Ned Lamont in a less than favorable light, while highlighting Joementum acting Senatorial whenever they can.  But will it get even worse?  Will we see the establishment Dems in CT and beyond try to do to Ned Lamont what they did to Howard Dean in 2004?

I'm not trying to totally hijack this blog for the discussion of Connecticut politics, but this diary may have broader implications for Democratic politics and those who care about it.  (And, let's face it, a lot of Nutmeggers are intensely following this blog these day.)  While the Dem primary between Ned Lamont and Joe Lieberman is the main event in CT right now, there is another vote on August 8th - to choose our Dem nominee for Governor.  Tonight, the two Dem candidates had their only (I think) televised debate... and kudos to the local ABC affiliate for broadcasting it in primetime.  I wonder if the pundits tomorrow will call it boring, but I thought it was inspiring.

Ned Lamont's campaign is seeking donations to keep this new ad on the air in Connecticut.  See the ad for yourself first, but the basic premise consists of George W. Bush speaking Joe Lieberman quotes.  It is pretty effective and hits Lieberman where he is weakest - by pointing out that Joe is George W. Bush's favorite Democrat.  How do we know this approach hurts?  By checking the mail!

Last night I met US Senate candidate Ned Lamont at a small gathering in a suburb of Hartford.  I was excited about the opportunity to meet the latest hero of the blogosphere.  And, as a Democratic voter in the state of Connecticut, I wanted to hear the man I plan to vote for in the August primary.  

My overall impression after hearing Ned Lamont last night - he's not a hero.  He's not a celebrity.  He's not a savior.  He's just a guy who had enough with a government that wasn't doing its most important job - working for the common good.  

I am writing to ask you all for your help.  This week the House of Representatives will take up an ammendment to add $7 billion to the House Budget Resolution for Health and Education.  This ammendment mirrors a similar one passed in the Senate previously.  That ammendment passed the Senate because enough of us called, wrote, asked nicely... and convinced all Dems and a few Repubs to beat back the "Compassionate Conservative" agenda of the Republican leadership.  But now we have our work cut out for us in the House.  Our victory in the Senate, though, proves that we can win this.  Please visit this site to easily send an email to your Rep., or for those of you who are more acquainted with your Rep (and their staff), please call today and ask that they support Rep. Mike Castle's (R-NH) ammendement to the House Budget Resolution.  

The House Budget committee recently voted down an ammendment that would increase the budget in the areas of health and education by $7 billion.  No surprise - all the Dems voted for the ammendment while all the Republicans voted against.  Must be more of that compassionate conservativism at work.  But that doesn't mean we're entirely defeated yet.  Grassroots action got this ammendment passed in the Senate as enough Republicans were convinced to cross over in favor.  Now its time to go to work on the full House and convince them to ignore the recommendation of the Budget Committee.

I know the latest email from Howard Dean and the DNC was diaried earlier, but it has since scrolled off and I think it warranted more visibility.  And I rarely write diaries, so I can push down that guilty feeling a bit by telling myself I have some clutter capital to spend here.  And since I was against the illegal war from the beginning, I don't have to spend my capital on Iraq.  Anyway, the latest email from Dr. Dean is about a great event scheduled for April 29th.  The first 50 State Canvass.  Now this is why we supported Dean for DNC Chair (and President, for that matter).

Here is George W. Bush's response to allegations that he authorized the NSA to spy on Americans without a warrant, "we do not discuss ongoing intelligence operations to protect the country. And the reason why is that there's an enemy that lurks..."  Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez responded with this dire warning, "We are dealing with a patient, diabolical enemy who wants to harm America."  I know many of us have commented on the 1984ishness of comments coming from the Administration in their pathetic 5-year reign, but it is beyond 1984-like now... this is just like some bad fiction.

We always talk about how Repubs have a simple message of cut taxes, limit government.  And we struggle to find our own simple message.  Howard Dean has begun to effectively lay out a pretty coherent vision for a Dem platform but it is still a list of issues - not a slogan of any kind.  Nevermind that the Republican slogan is full of horse manure when compared to their actions...

So.. reading over Dean's statement, it pretty much sounds like our slogan should be that the Democratic Party supports a government that works for the people.

Since at this point we're just picking apart each new little tidbit in this story and speculating what it means, lets go for broke with Plamegate.  This goes all the way to George W. Bush.  You know it.  I know it.  The American people know it.