Jim Amann talks about my video

Hoo boy. This thing just won't go away.

ConnecticutBLOG and My Left Nutmeg both ran detailed articles on the recent developments.

This last Sunday Kevin Rennie, a columnist for the Hartford Courant, wrote in this article:

Technology is freedom's friend in the battle to protect liberty from those who see themselves as our betters. So on this Thanksgiving weekend, give a nod to the essential YouTube.com. If you would like to see the veil slip on Williams' counterpart in the House of Representatives, go to YouTube and type in the name "James Amann" in the search box.

Thanks to videographer CTBob, you'll see that tribune of the people, Amann, announce to a local interlocutor that he would "crush" anyone who would dare to run against him in his Milford district. Amann has essentially become a bully of the most pompous sort. And there it is for all to see in two minutes.

We don't need fewer opportunities for candidates to reveal themselves, we need more. These moments of candor always tell us more about our leaders than they intend. And for that we are grateful.

Yesterday, the local talk radio station had a field day talking about my video (link) that pokes a bit of fun at House Speaker Jim Amann. Which is fair, in my opinion. If I'm going to express my point of view publicly on the internet, then it's fair for talk radio people to discuss my work.

Of course, I don't REALLY think that he's Tony Soprano; he just talks like him sometimes.

Actually, he reminds me a little of John Gotti. But in a good way.

So on WTIC, there were TWO shows that featured ME, "Connecticut Bob", prominantly. First, Jim Amann called in to the "Ray & Diane" show, and he had some interesting things to say about the video. Then, on "Sound Off Connecticut" with Jim Vicevich, the host had a few things to say about the situation. I don't have a copy of his show, but I do have the Amann interview mp3 right here.

Basically, Jim has a faulty memory of the event. But's that isn't surprising. He talked for nearly a half-hour non-stop, and even though I taped the entire thing, I didn't remember everything he said.

Here's a partial transcript from Jim's radio interview with Ray & Diane yesterday:

Amann: "When the press conference was over, I was leaving and a couple of the bloggers were there. Actually, the interview...you know, there was about five minutes of it, of course, they edited it, the interview actually was very good, the asked me some pretty direct questions about my support for Joe Lieberman.

About three minutes into the interview this individual started heckling me, basically yelled at me as I was leaving "You're a leader" and you know, "when the party tells you to walk one way, you've gotta walk lockstep with them".

And my response basically was at first, it was kinda humorous, I was a little bit taken aback by it, but then I said the last time I heard about party leaders walking lockstep they were walking into Poland from Nazi Germany."

Besides the obvious insulting nature of what he's saying, it's faulty memory. Nobody but Jim Amann mentioned the word "lockstep", and that was once at the very end of the interview. I guess he confuses Democratic Party loyalty with Nazi invasions.

Let me try to help. Here's the Nazi invasion of Poland:

And here's Democratic Party unity:

I hope that clears things up for you. Now let's continue with the radio interview:

"I said as a leader, I don't think I don't always have to, you know, do everything that the party tells me. You know, I think this guy is a good man and I support him, and he just came on snapping back.

So I went to walk away...when I walked away he basically in my opinion kind of threatened me, you know, we're gonna go after you next. I think that's what really aggravated me, mostly because I feel 25 years in politics, and I think I've been a pretty good Democrat, and for a fellow Democrat to say, because I support another Democrat, that they're going to threaten to do the same thing to me that they did to Joe Lieberman. It just kinda irritated me."

This photo was taken minutes after the alleged "threat". I dunno, but does Jim look like a guy who's been threatened? Someone threatens me, I'm not going to shake his hand and smile. Seems he's not even making a mountain out of a molehill...he's trying to fashion a molehill out of thin air.

That's CT Keith and my bestest buddy and interview-ruiner Branford Boy, with Speaker Amann. (BTW Kelly, I'm not really pissed at you; I just had a bit of fun at your expense in the video below)

Interviewer: So, you essentially said "Bring 'em on, I will crush 'em!"

"Yeah, I said that. It wasn't my brightest moment in front of a video camera, that's for sure." (laughter)

Interviewer: "You know, a guy gets angry."

"You know, the age of video papparazzi, I didn't realize I was going to be constantly looked at."

There's nothing "papparazzi" about someone being interviewed WHILE HE'S LOOKING DIRECTLY INTO A CAMERA AT A PRESS CONFERENCE! Jesus!

Then they briefly discussed Amann's reasons for abandoning the party's chosen candidate, and then he then went on to say how people with cameras don't respect other's privacy, but Diane Smith brought up the fact that this occurred at a press conference.

Listen to the entire interview HERE.

So that's what happened yesterday. I decided to put these allegations to rest by uploading the entire UN-EDITED video here. I shot a continuous, non-stop video, and damn my arms got tired holding that stupid camera! It's about 27-minutes long, so go make some popcorn and grab yourself a beverage before watching it.

There's a lot of fun stuff in this video. You get to see Jim Amann's charm up close. Plus, you see Branford Boy cut me off several times while I try to ask questions during the interview I'm conducting. The last time I saw something that rude, it was Dickie Goodstein butting in on a TV interview in Greenwich. Sheesh!

You also get to witness the unmitigated brilliance of CT Keith. The man is relentless and has the reasoning of a pit bull! That's why we love him. In fact, people respect CT Keith so much that even Branford Boy doesn't deign to interrupt him.

If you've been reading this far, you deserve what you're going to see next! Here's the video you've been waiting for! Enjoy; and please leave a comment below.

Secretary of State Bysiewicz certifies House winners

Secretary Bysiewicz signing the certification of the election of Joe Courtney and Chris Murphy as United States Congressman, around 10:45 a.m. today.

I dunno, but I'm more interested on the other stuff on Susan's cluttered desk. I wonder what's the story with those photos scattered around. And I can't quite read any of the other things besides Joe Courtney's certificate, but I'll run the photo through my image processing software and see if I can bump up the quality. I'll post what I find here.

Or not. Just typing that creeped me out.

I have to stop being silly like that.

LA-2: You are the gap

Well, that was fast! Tim just posted another article on MyDD.com tonight, and I'm putting it up in it's entirety because it's timely and they can use your small-dollar online donations ASAP. It doesn't have to be a lot, anything will help!

It's a fantastic way to help a TRUE Democrat defeat an alleged corrupt Democrat (remember, he's innocent until proven guilty; hey, it's entirely possible Congressman William Jefferson kept $90,000 in undeclared cash in his freezer because, you know, banks are such a risky place to keep your money).

Read the article, then CLICK HERE TO DONATE to Karen Carter's campaign.

This is a GREAT way to get rid of that pesky extra cash I'm sure you have anywhere but in your freezer!

by Tim Tagaris, Tue Nov 28, 2006 at 06:59:45 PM EST

Tray.com beat me to the punch, but Karen Carter and William Jefferson both filed their latest campaign finance reports today. This is the last full report before the run-off on December 9.

First things first, Karen Carter out-raised Congressman Jefferson by nearly a five to one margin in the month between 10/19 and 11/19. Carter netted $320,741, while Jefferson brought in a meager $72,485. That said, the report shows Jefferson with a healthy cash on hand advantage: $117k to $58k. All signs point to Carter narrowing that margin significantly -- the first signal being that Carter has reported $17,500 in mandated 48-hour reports. Those are disclosures candidates must file for every contribution over $1,000 in the two weeks before an election. Finally, the netroots have almost hit the $30,000 mark for Carter's campaign, most of that coming after the closing date for reporting funds raised. Obviously money is still coming and going into and out of campaigns, but all things equal, this would decrease the CoH margin from to around $59k to $12k.

Basically, it's going to be netroots contributions that close the gap between Carter and Jefferson in the final days before the election.

As a side note, small dollar contributions have totally changed the way campaigns are able to (or unable to) track the amount of cash an opponent has right before an election. The 48-hour reports used to allow campaigns to monitor cash coming in for their opponents, giving them a rough estimate of what they are going up against down-the-stretch. Since you don't have to report small dollar contributions on a 48-hour report, it can create a situation where the opposition is totally caught off-guard.

With Paul Hackett, for example, Jean Schmidt's campaign manager had absolutely NO IDEA how Paul was able to dominate the airwaves in the final week and a half of the campaign. None. Their campaign manager even said it to Paul's Finance Director after the final OH-2 debate. That was us. Online. And they had no idea what hit them. Of course, they were too stupid to check ActBlue and watch the numbers skyrocket. But in the case of candidates like Ned Lamont, where we raised a lot of money online, most came in through our own website and there was no public tracking for that. Now we spent ungodly amounts of money in that race, so a mere million or two here wasn't going to change much, but imagine how an extra few hundred thousand dollars could blind-side a candidate in the final days of a campaign. Just small piece of the puzzle in regards to why a broad small-dollar donor base is so important.

Tim Tagaris covering the LA-2 contest

Tim Tagaris, who was largely responsible for the Lamont campaign's inspired presence on the net, is currently down in New Orleans covering the Karen Carter effort to unseat allegedly corrupt (does $90,000 of unmarked bills stuffed in his avocado side-by-side refrigerator/freezer ring any bells?) Democratic Congressman William Jefferson in Louisiana's devastated 2nd District.

The 2nd was first decimated by Hurricaine Katrina, and then further decimated by the abominably inept and borderline criminal mis-handling of the disaster by FEMA (does Joe Lieberman's 42-minute vetting of Michael Brown ring any bells? In Joe's defense, it WAS getting near lunchtime, and if you don't make it down to the Senate cafeteria before 11:55, you end up in line for a half an hour and by the time you get to the dessert section all the peach cobbler is gone!) and the Department of Homeland Security.

Anyway, Tim was sent down there on behalf of MyDD, and he's been doing some great reporting. I'm going to include a link here that goes directly to all of Tim's articles on LA-2 so you can get up to date on the situation there, and then I'll post periodic updates as we approach the election on December 9th.

December 9th, by the way, is a Saturday. I think it's a good idea to have elections on a Saturday, rather than a weekday. Here in Connecticut, I think the voter turnout would be better; people either going to work or coming home from work often are in too much of a hurry to be bothered to vote. The "rush hour" of 6-8AM and 5-8PM can often lead to long lines and voters who become "voluntarily disenfranchised" because they're tired and see a big crowd at the polling place and don't want to wait in line for 20 minutes after a long day of work, so they go home.

I'd like to see turnout statistics from states that changed election days held traditionally on Tuesdays to Saturdays. I'd bet the turnouts would be higher on the weekend.

For political junkies: 2008 Primary Schedule

LATEST UPDATE:
June 3rd, 2008

BARACK OBAMA CLINCHES THE NOMINATION!!!

Clinton won South Dakota, Obama prevails in Montana
Barack crossed the 2,118 threshold, securing the Democratic nomination! It's done! Obama vs. McCain is ON!!!

The New York Times has an excellent webpage that shows how each super delegate is leaning, and it's searchable by name or state. It also includes quotes from the delegates. Very interesting.

The current CNN delegate count for the Democratic nomination stands at the following:

June 1st (after P.R.)
Obama - 2070 (1741 and 329)
Clinton - 1915 (1624 and 291)

May 31st (after MI & FL)
Obama - 2051 (1724 and 327)
Clinton - 1877 (1586 and 291)
Obama leads Clinton by 174 delegates

May 21st
Obama - 1962 (1656 and 306)
Clinton - 1777 (1498 and 279)
Obama leads Clinton by 185 delegates

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(If this is your first time here, click THIS LINK to see the "Connecticut Bob" home page and join in all the fun!)
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Later events

* August 25 to August 28, 2008 - 2008 Democratic National Convention, in Denver.
* September 1 to September 4, 2008 - 2008 Republican National Convention, held in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
* November 4, 2008 - Election Day.
* December 15, 2008 - Members of the U.S. Electoral College meet in each state to cast their votes for President.
* January 6, 2009 - Electoral votes officially tallied before both Houses of Congress.
* January 20, 2009 - Inauguration Day. A New Beginning for our nation.

Sources of Primary/Caucus Data: New York Times Election Guide, NASS (National Association of Secretaries of State), Project Vote Smart

Take a look at a plan that might remedy this silly "front-loading" of primaries that we've gotten this election cycle. Here's the link to the article: Plan for primary reorganization

PRIMARY WINNERS
Detailed results at this excellent New York Times Primary page.

(Comments will be purged every week or so, as necessary)

Awwwwwwwww!

CT Lauryn makes her online debut at age One Week on ConnecticutBLOG!

Congrats to Mr. & Mrs. CT Blogger on their wonderful addition to the local blogging community! I wonder...how long before those cute li'l hands will be able to hold a video camera?

Being Thankful

I have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, although I have learned to be thankful on a daily basis -- as I work with the elderly and the poor who have so many challenges getting through a day at home, I am thankful not to have to worry about how I will pay for medicine or food or fuel to stay warm.

I am also thankful for this blog and all of the Connecticut bloggers....except maybe...(no, I'll be good, it's a holiday weekend). And I am incredibly thankful for the number of Connecticut democrats who got involved this year -- registered for the first time, changed affiliation from un- to democrat, or woke up and paid more attention to this election than they might in other years.

I am thankful that the Dems have a majority in both the Senate and the House as of January, and with that, the opportunity for very real oversight of this administration.

I'm thankful for CTBob, who lets me play here, and to you, our readers, for making it worth our time to post (and Bob's time to product such amazing videos!) I'm also thankful for the long holiday weekend, so we can both recover from the craziness of the past 5 months and spend time with people we love and we didn't spend enough time with during those 5 months.

Have a safe and peaceful holiday. And tell us what you are thankful for.

Will Lieberman use his HS Chair to protect CT?

When Congress reconvenes in January, Sen. Joseph Lieberman will have a unique opportunity, as Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, to make Connecticut safer in the event of an emergency.

From today's Hartford Courant:

Federal Funds Unlikely For State's Disaster Plan
November 22, 2006
By DAVID LIGHTMAN, Washington Bureau Chief

WASHINGTON -- A major goal of Connecticut disaster watchdogs is to have one desk in Hartford to keep an eye on statewide threats 24 hours a day.

If a train derailed near New Haven, an explosion rocked New London, or disaster jolted any other town, the command desk would instantly be able to tell whether the problem was an isolated event and suggest ways to respond immediately.

But under the current system of distributing federal funds, that desk is not likely to get the $1.5 million or so it needs anytime soon - not even with Democrats now controlling Congress and promising to make implementing recommendations of the 9/11 Commission one of its first priorities.

So, according to the current system, we can't get a lousy $1.5 million to fund a single emergency desk.

Does that strike you as slightly crazy? In this climate of heightened threat levels and endless Administration talk about the imminent dangers of terrorism and natural disasters, we here in Connecticut don't even rate a crummy million and a half from the Federal Govt. to have a single department monitor our state? Jesus.

Speaker-designate Nancy D. Pelosi, D-Calif., lists the 9/11 panel's suggestions as one of the six items she plans to have the House address, and probably pass, during its first 100 legislative hours after Democrats officially take control of the House Jan. 3.

[...]

But one major suggestion has not been passed and probably faces a rough time: "Base federal funding for emergency preparedness solely on risks and vulnerabilities, putting New York City and Washington, D.C., at the top of the current list. Such assistance should not remain a program for general revenue sharing or pork-barrel spending."

Yes please. If there's any single area where pork ISN'T a good idea, Homeland Security is it.

Connecticut could benefit from a new system that sets tight standards for giving out money, though success is not guaranteed. While the state has heavily traveled interstate highways, the Naval Submarine Base at Groton and nuclear power plants, it also lacks the big urban areas that experts say are attractive terrorist targets.

So far, nothing has been done to implement the commission's suggestion. Before it went out of business 11 months ago, the panel issued a final report card on the recommendation's progress.

[...]

Helping lead the Senate charge has been, and will be next year, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, D-Conn., who will chair the Homeland Security Committee. He maintained this week that the legislation he has pushed in the past "is by far the best solution for a state like Connecticut, which has a number of high risk factors but has been denied high risk funding because our urban centers do not meet arbitrary population cutoffs."

Here's your chance to shine, Senator. Show us doubters and skeptics that you really DO have our best interests in mind. Nothing would make me happier than to be proven wrong about you. Go ahead and be my frickin' guest, would you?

Lieberman voices a common New England complaint about the current system: No one understands completely the rules for awarding money, and the Department of Homeland Security's explanations of how it gives grants remains vague - or, as the senator put it, "constantly fluctuating and ... a work in progress."

Local officials and independent analysts agreed.

You're at the helm, Senator. Steer this ship safely into port. Make us proud.

Oh, and please Senator, no more 42-minute FEMA appointments.

Try asking questions about stuff like experience in disaster management; plans for improving disaster response; proposals for integrating all the various sub-agencies into a single, cohesive group...you know, all the obvious stuff.

Read the entire article here.

Lieberman on Hannity & Colmes

If you needed any more evidence that Joe "Nobody Wants to End the War in Iraq More than Me" Lieberman has already broken his campaign promises, feel free to watch this FoxNews exclusive interview with Senator "Forgive But Not Forget".

Lieberman has pretty much proven an aging leopard can't change his spots...they just become a little stodgier-looking.

How long before Joe reiterates his view that "we criticize the President at our risk"? Nothing at all has changed, except the size of the chip on the Senator's shoulder.

And something tells me that the Iraqi people and our brave soldiers will pay the price for that.

The NY Times discusses Joe's hired Mouthpiece

A tip o' the hat to Jane at FDL, who posted a link to this article in the comments section of T-Rex's Late Night FDL post.

In this article, The New York Times deconstructs Marshall Wittmann so expertly you can't even see the scalpel marks:

An Ideologue for Hire Gets New Alliance
By MARK LEIBOVICH
Published: November 22, 2006

WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 — Senator Joseph I. Lieberman announced Tuesday that he had hired a new spokesman, which is not in itself that noteworthy, except that the said spokesman, Marshall Wittmann, is one of the great career vagabonds, ideological contortionists and political pontificators ever to inflict himself on a city full of them.

To say that Mr. Wittmann defies classification is like saying Paris Hilton defies modesty. But in his peripatetic soul, he is a Washington Original, a man without a political country going to work for a senator without a political party.

[...]

Mr. Wittmann, meanwhile, is a Trotskyite turned Zionist turned Reaganite turned bipartisan irritant turned pretty much everything in between — including chief lobbyist for the Christian Coalition, the only Jew who has ever held that position.

“Jewish mothers do not raise their Jewish sons to work for the Christian Coalition,” said Mr. Wittmann, offering one of many explanations for why that job was not an ideal fit.

You absolutely need to read the entire article to appreciate the subtle (and not-so-subtle) humor in Mr. Liebovich's writing. Definitely worthwhile.

The BBC Blogumentary

Spazeboy got a scoop about the supposed "blogumentary" that the BBC/Sundance boys are putting together.

James Rogan of Brook Lapping (a posh, extremely British documentary company), along with Will Dixon, were in CT for the Primary, and Will returned for the Election. The apparent subject of the blogumentary is going to be how bloggers operate in the political arena, and what influence (if any) we've had on the campaign.

Judging from the amount of footage they've shot, along with tape we've provided, there is every chance we'll look like citizen heroes on the forefront of a new wave of participatory political journalism.

Or, we may look like a bunch of total douchebags.

Really, they have enough video footage to easily create either impression, depending on their whims and the amount of revenge James wishes to exact upon me for the way I treated him, Will, and any loyal subject of the entire British Empire that happened to annoy me. My guess is we'll fall somewhere between the two extremes.

But if we end up looking like douchebags, I'm sure I'll be the one to get the most screen time!

Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing it. Tentative airdate is December 13th on The Sundance Channel. I'll post more info when I hear anything.

UPDATE: Word from Scarce is that the airdate will be on December 28th, and it'll be a one-hour documentary. I'll double check with James as we get into December, since he's probably still editing it.

Photos from the Naples post-mortum

As requested, here's some photos I took at the Naples gathering two days after election day. I'm still sick with a rotten cold that I've had for a whole week now, so I'm going to let the photos speak for themselves. Sorry things have been slow around here; hopefully I'll be back up to speed later this week.

Oh, and Tessa thought it would be cute to give me a Jim Amann hat, so of course I had to pose with it.

"The Good Fight"

Here's a little video scrapbook of Election night...a sort of happy, bittersweet memory. It's a bit of an exercise in video effects editing and musical scoring that I wanted to put together in advance of a more comprehensive video that I'd like to create at some point.

If you were there that night, or if you worked/supported the campaign, this might even bring a tear to your eye. The music is sort of a "Field of Dreams" sentimental score. I got it from an automated scoring program called "SmartSounds", and it makes adding appropriate (and royalty-free) music to your video very easy. Let me know what you think.

Don't say we didn't warn ya!

(Two infamous leaders - GW Bush and HC Minh)
Here we go. The election is over, and George knows he can count on Lapdog Lieberman's vote when this bill comes up before the Senate. Joe already made it clear how he'd vote when he said yesterday that we MUST stay the course in Iraq.

Which would mean (if you're keeping score at home) that the Senate will be divided 50-50 on the bill, giving Dick Cheney the tie-breaking vote.

Anyone care to guess how ol' "Eagle-eye Dick" will vote?

Military may ask $127B for wars
(CT Bob: or is it $160B?)
Posted 11/16/2006
By Richard Wolf, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is preparing its largest spending request yet for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a proposal that could make the conflict the most expensive since World War II.

The Pentagon is considering $127 billion to $160 billion in requests from the armed services for the 2007 fiscal year, which began last month, several lawmakers and congressional staff members said.

That's on top of $70 billion already approved for 2007.

Since 2001, Congress has approved $502 billion for the war on terror, roughly two-thirds for Iraq. The latest request, due to reach the incoming Democratic-controlled Congress next spring, would make the war on terror more expensive than the Vietnam War.

Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., who will chair the Senate Budget Committee next year, said the amount under consideration is "$127 billion and rising." He said the cost "is going to increasingly become an issue" because it could prevent Congress from addressing domestic priorities, such as expanding Medicare prescription drug coverage.

Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., who put the expected request at $160 billion, said such a sizable increase still "won't solve the problem" in Iraq.

Bill Hoagland, a senior budget adviser to Senate Republicans, said: "At a minimum, they were looking at $130 (billion). If it goes higher than that, I'm not surprised."

The new request being considered for the war on terror would be about one-fourth what the government spends annually on Social Security...

(CT Bob: Gee, think your mom & pop might like to see their S.S. increased 25% instead of wasting the dough on that bottomless money pit in Mesopotamia?)

...and 10 times what it spends on its space program.

The White House called the figures premature. "They don't reflect a decision by the administration," said budget office spokeswoman Christin Baker. "It is much too early in the process to make that determination."

Before the Iraq war began in 2003, the Bush administration estimated its cost at $50 billion to $60 billion, though White House economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey had suggested in 2002 that it could cost as much as $200 billion.

(CT Bob: and Larry Lindsey was asked to resign from the White House in December of 2002 after giving that estimate. If you don't agree with the Emporer, you lose your head.)

Growing opposition to the war contributed to Democrats' takeover of the House and Senate in this month's elections. Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha, an early critic of the war who lost his bid Thursday to be the House Democratic leader, vowed to use his clout as chairman of the House panel that reviews the Pentagon budget "to get these troops out of Iraq and get back on track and quit spending $8 billion a month."

"The war's been an extraordinarily expensive undertaking, both in lives and in dollars," said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg, R-N.H.

The new request is top-heavy with Army and Air Force costs to replace and repair equipment and redeploy troops, Hoagland said. That's why the 2007 cost is likely to top the war's average annual price tag.

Overall, he said, "we're easily headed toward $600 billion." That would top the $536 billion cost of Vietnam in today's dollars. World War II cost an inflation-adjusted $3.6 trillion.

Leon Panetta, President Clinton's former chief of staff and a member of a bipartisan panel studying recommendations on Iraq for President Bush, said the Pentagon needs $50 billion to $60 billion to "restore the units that are being brought back here, to re-equip them and get them back to a combat-readiness status."

I have a question for all you Lieberman supporters out there.

It's a simple question. Just try to answer it.

How are we supposed to pay for this war?

Do I need to tell you that there won't be a single valid response to that question?

Speaking of Dr. Orman...

I think it's about time I posted this image, taken at a little blogger's gathering at my house way back when Ned Lamont was just a longshot with a strong message. A lot has happened since then, but this was a moment in time that I'll always treasure:

(Clockwise from Lower Left: Maura from CT/VA, somebody's Left Arm, Internet Wizard Tim Tagaris, the ubiquitous Spazeboy, a portion of CT Keith, and a bit of MLNer Neal Fink)

Dr. John Ormand new CFL Party Chair

This is taken verbatim from My Left Nutmeg, and boy, did it make my day! Thank you Nutmeggers for this!

You're gonna love this.

John Orman, esrtwhile Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, has bolted the party and joined the Connecticut for Lieberman party. Then, since he is the only member of the party (he checked with the Secretary of State), he called a meeting of himself at which he was democratically elected to be the Chairman of the party.

His complete statement follows:

Press Release November 16,2006

Orman Elected New Chair of Connecticut for Lieberman Party

I called the Secretary of State's Office in Connecticut to find out how many people joined the Connecticut for Lieberman Party and I was told that no one had joined, not even Senator Joe Lieberman. I went down to Trumbull town hall and changed my registration to the Connecticut for Lieberman Party. Then I went home and called a meeting of all the registered Connecticut for Lieberman members to reflect on our party's victory in the U.S. Senate race with Senator Joseph Lieberman. Senator Lieberman did not attend the organizational meeting for Connecticut for Lieberman because he no longer wants to be labeled as a member of the party.
In order for the CFL to keep the great ballot spot that Joe Lieberman earned for us, our party had to organize and submit rules to the Secretary of State of Connecticut. Senator Lieberman did not do this when he ran so there was work to be done like platform and rules.

Minutes from first organizational meeting of Connecticut for Lieberman, at John Orman's house in Trumbull, November 15, 2006

At the first meeting I nominated myself to be party chair for Connecticut for Lieberman. I seconded my own nomination and then I voted for myself. I was selected unanimously as Chair of Connecticut for Lieberman on Novemeber 15,2006.

These new rules were adopted:
1. This party is open to every citizen who wants to keep Senator Joseph Lieberman accountable. It is open to critics, opponents, bloggers and everyone else who will work to provide citizen oversight for Lieberman's actions, words and deeds over the next six years.
2. The chair of the party shall be elected for a period of six years until Lieberman decides to run again.
3. Party history: This party was officially formed the day after Joe Lieberman was defeated in the August Democratic primary in 2006 by Ned Lamont. Lieberman
turned in the required signatures to go with his party organizing committee to declare their intent to form a new political party. Senator Lieberman and his committee did not change their party registration so some suggested that Senator Lieberman may have used the CFL as a gimmick to run twice for the same Senate seat within three months. We who are members of the CFL do not care.
4. We at CFL do care that Senator Lieberman is now turning his back on our party and wants to be called an "Independent Democrat" even though he was not the nominee from the Democratic Party. He was from our party, Connecticut for Lieberman and he should be identified that way.
5. Many citizens complained about our CFL and one citizen (me) asked the Secretary of State and the Elections Enforcement Commission to rule that the CFL was a fake political party contrived to allow Senator Lieberman to be a sore loser and to keep running after he lost. It was argued that Senator Lieberman had no intention of forming the CFL. State officials ruled that Connecticut for Lieberman was not a one man fake party and that it was legitimate.

New Connecticut for Lieberman Rules:

a. If you run under Connecticut for Lieberman, you must actually join our party.
b. The party will nominate people for office who have the last name of Lieberman and/or who are critics and opponents of Senator Lieberman.
c. If any CFL candidate loses our party's nomination in a primary, that candidate must bolt our party, form a new party and work to defeat our party endorsed candidate.
d. We in the CFL intend to run the same candidate for three different jobs at the same time, ie. House, Senate and Governor.

The meeting closed by observing that Senator Lieberman was threatening to caucus with the Republicans. One member said, "How can he turn his back on the CFL? We got him to where he is today."
Another member asked "What if state election officials rule post election that there is no such legal entity as Connecticut for Lieberman and that it is not a legitimate third party since Dr. Orman is the only registered member? What if they rule a party for one is not allowed in our state?" No chance of them going back on their previous rulings for Joe Lieberman, right.
A member asked, "What if election officials won't let us run for three different jobs by one candidate at the same time because we would be making a mockery of the electoral system in Connecticut?" No chance of that happening either.

These are the new rules for my new political party that I am working to keep alive so it will not be some fake gimmick that Senator Lieberman used to get elected. Thank you,

Sincerely

Dr. John Orman
Chair, Connecticut for Lieberman

Don't Miss This Cartoon!

Many thanks to mui for bringing this to our attention.

How do we get open hearings on what is really going on in Iraq and how do we declare victory and leave? Dem majorities in both houses of Congress that will hold witnesses' feet to the fire and get some answers so we can explore options out in the open instead of cooked intelligence and a "make-it-up-as-you-go-along" war plan. As gchaucer2 said in the comments of the last thread, the Westmoreland/McNamera fog must be front and center of this discussion, for if we do not learn from our past, we are doomed to repeat it.

I know I sound like a broken record, but I strongly believe Joe's threats to caucus with the other side and change control of the Senate is completely out of line right now. To quote a time-honored phrase from this election cycle, "What message would that send to the Iraqis?"

Well, this didn't take very long

Senator Lieberman, true to form, decreed today that if we begin to withdraw from Iraq any time in the foreseeable future would be a disaster of such unimaginable magnitude that it staggers the mind. Or something to that effect.

Joe was the same guy who said, repeatedly, that "nobody wants to end the war more than" he...well, I'm starting to think that by "ending the war", Joe means either when the entire Middle East will be a smoldering pile of charred rubble; or when the entire populace of Iraq will suddenly put down their weapons and immediately embrace Western-style Democracy and wave U.S. flags with wild abandon (and go against centuries of culture and religion).

From CNN.Com (h/t to Matt Browner-Hamlin over at MLN)

Lieberman: Withdrawal would be a 'very serious mistake'

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Joe Lieberman, may have agreed to caucus with the Democrats in the next congressional term, but the Connecticut independent made it clear Wednesday he would not hold the party line on a call for phased troop withdrawals.

"Both general Abizaid and Ambassador Satterfield were quite clear and to me convincing, that for congress to order the beginning of a phased redeployment, a withdrawal of American troops from Iraq within the next 4 to 6 months would be a very serious mistake and would endanger ultimate the United States," Lieberman told reporters after the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Iraq.

Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, who is to become the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee when Democrats take control of the chamber in January, said Tuesday a phased withdrawal is the only way Iraqi forces will take responsibility for their country.

Lieberman's comments are a sign his defeat in the Connecticut Democratic primary has not weakened his hawkish stance on Iraq. Connecticut Democrats voted Lieberman out of the party in August, opting for vehement antiwar candidate Ned Lamont. Lieberman, running as an independent candidate, defeated Lamont in the general election.

So, anyone who voted for Joe because they believed him when he said he wanted to get our troops home safely, well...those ain't HIS kids dying over there.

Simmons concedes

In this article in the Hartford Courant, Congressman Rob Simmons has announced that he'll accept the results of the recanvass and not challenge the election.

This makes Joe Courtney (CT-02) officially the next Democratic Congressman from Connecticut.

At a late afternoon press conference today in Mystic, Simmons said he doesn't intend to challenge the election results which had him losing to Courtney by 91 votes.

"Any effort to do so would only be self defeating and destructive to the people we serve," Simmons said.

Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz made the tally official Wednesday. The deadline to file any legal challenges is Nov. 21.

Courtney's win is a bonus for national Democrats, who already had all of the seats they needed to reclaim the House.

Final Recount Numbers

I just got this email from Dan Tapper at the SOTS's office, making the final tally 100% official. And my 91-vote margin from last night held up, too.

There was a one-vote discrepancy between our numbers and the AP numbers earlier; it has now been resolved (our office was off by one number). The final tally in the Simmons-Courtney race is now:

Courtney - 121,248
Simmons – 121,157

Courtney wins the race by 91 votes. The town-by-town breakdown is (not) attached. (I can't figure out how to format it - CT Bob)

SOTS chooses random audit precincts

(A League of Women Voters official is drawing the names of the precincts from a ballot box, while Secretary Bysiewicz, various Town Clerks, Andy Sauer of Common Cause Connecticut, and others look on.)

An important issue with regard to the new voting machines is to be able to verify their accuracy. When the SOTS's office selected the Diebold OS machines, they also decided to manually audit 20% of the machines to make sure they reported the totals accurately. This audit is completely separate from the 2nd District recount, and was scheduled months ago.

Here is the press release from Dan Tapper, Communications Director:

SECRETARY BYSIEWICZ: TOWNS RANDOMLY CHOSEN TO HAVE OPTICAL SCAN VOTING MACHINES AUDITED

In an effort to ensure the security and integrity of Connecticut’s new optical scan voting machines, Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz said today that numerous polling places where these machines will now be audited to determine how well the new technology worked. Officials from the League of Women Voters randomly chose these precincts at a news conference today in the Office of the Secretary of the State.

The precincts chosen for the audit are included in an attached chart. The audits will be performed by the Office of the Secretary of the State with the assistance of the University of Connecticut’s Department of Computer Sciences, which has helped Secretary Bysiewicz’s office in the selection of optical scan technology as an eventual replacement of all of the state’s lever voting machines.

These seventeen (17) polling precincts represent twenty percent (20%) of the eighty-seven (87) polling precincts in the fifteen (15) cities and towns which used optical scan technology this year in the First, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Congressional Districts, Secretary Bysiewicz said. As most are now aware, the ten (10) cities and towns in the Second Congressional District reviewed every ballot in the context of the recount already. UConn will assist with a technical review of those machines.

“Security is paramount when it comes to the integrity of our elections, which is why we chose optical scan technology to ultimately replace all of our state’s lever voting machines in 2007. As a result, we will work with UConn to perform random audits on twenty percent of the machines used this year, in order to see how well and accurately they worked on Election Day,” Secretary Bysiewicz said. “This way, we will know what issues need to be addressed prior to the 2007 elections, and will be able start addressing them right away.”

Municipality and Polling District numbers:

Wethersfield 10
South Windsor 3
East Hartford 5
Middletown 8
East Hartford 3
Hartford 3
Hartford 12
East Hartford 6
Wilton 2
Monroe 2
Newington 3
East Haven 1
Wethersfield 5
Newington 5
Monroe 1
Newington 1
Middletown 12

Just received from SOTS office

UPDATE 10:08PM - FoxNews-61 just reaffirmed Courtney's claim that he is 91-votes up, but there won't be an official announcement until tomorrow, at the Secretary of State's press conference, scheduled for 11:00AM. But it looks good for Courtney.

Now we'll wait and see if Rob Simmons accepts the results of the recount, or challenges it and pushes for a full recount. The end result of a 91 vote lead in an election with nearly 250,000 votes cast is an .04% margin.

UPDATE 9:37PM - It appears that the Courtney campaign website has called it over and done with. There were no details of the recount listed, just a claim that it was successful.

UPDATE 9:12PM - I just got word from our comments (Jordan Jacobs, Hampton DTC) and also via MLN that the Courtney campaign is saying the recount is complete and Joe Courtney won by 93 votes. Keep in mind this is unofficial, and I'm trying get confirmation asap.

UPDATE 9:08PM - WFSB-TV Channel 3 says "As of 8:20 p.m. Tuesday, Courtney was leading by 88 votes. The towns of Somers, Ashford, Caterbury and Chester had yet to submit results. Bysiewicz scheduled a news conference to discuss the outcome of the recount for Wednesday at 11 a.m."

UPDATE 7:42PM - Shawn MacFarland put up a cool Google Spreadsheet that is tracking the results of the race. You can see it by clicking here (you might have answer some questions, I just clicked through).

UPDATE 7:02PM - Democratic Party officials say the lead is now 91 votes with four towns to go. From the New London Day.

UPDATE 6:03PM - 60 Towns reporting, Courtney by 90 votes; he gained one by a provisional ballot in Ledyard.

With 6 towns still having not reported in to our office (Ashford, Canterbury, Chester, Haddam, Ledyard, Somers) Courtney now leads Simmons by 89 votes. 59 towns (out of 67 total) have now reported into our office.

The total as of right now, without those 6 towns:

Courtney – 121,244
Simmons - 121,155

This will probably be the last update of the day from our office.

Thanks.
Dan Tapper
Director of Communications
Office of the Secretary of the State

So You Wanna Know What Really Happened?

(I don't know why you wanted me to change the picture, Tim;
the other one looked just like you! hee-hee)

Tim Tagaris wrote a brilliant diary on MLN and KOS about the campaign. That, coupled with David Sirota's piece, pretty much cover the campaign to the point that I've decided not to write an opinion piece on the election; these guys got it knocked.

I'll probably just do a post-mortum from my own perspective, and not try to analyze the shananegans that went on in the corridors and back rooms of power.

Or maybe I'll express myself through video. If I can take going over all that old footage yet again.

Read Tim's diary over on MLN.

And if you haven't yet, read David Sirota's piece on the aftermath.

They tell it pretty much like I guessed. The outcome of the election was clearly affected by National Democrats, National Republicans, and Joe Lieberman's relentless lust for power.

Sadly, there's just not much room for an honest, decent man like Ned Lamont in that equation. Sure, some mistakes were made by the campaign; but the deck was obviously stacked against us. It was a million-to-one shot to begin with, and we've made it farther than I ever thought possible.

All the same...I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Watchdog group will watch audit

I received an email today from Michael Fischer, Professor of Computer Science, Yale University, and one of the organizers of True Vote CT.org, a group tasked with making sure the new voting technology is fair and secure.

When I asked him about the manual audit, Michael told me that his group was a bit behind on updating their website but that they're still working with the SOTS's office; and he also wrote some general comments about the optical scanners:

The UConn team showed that they can be seriously compromised by anyone with access to the memory card.

Procedures to seal the card in the machine help to prevent tampering after the card is inserted, but the issue of corrupt "programming" on the card by the preparer of the card (LHS Associates, Inc. of Massachusetts), or by anybody while the card is in transit from LHS to the towns, has not been addressed. In short, LHS has the power to completely control the election outcome of any voting district in the state that uses the new electronic equipment.

(CT Bob: "Yikes!")

The only way such voting fraud would be detected is by hand-counting the ballots. The recanvass procedures currently being used, to run the ballots through the scanners again with a different memory card, are ineffective at detecting deliberate misprogramming of the memory cards, since presumably the "spare" card to be used in the recanvass is just a copy of the one used in the first place.

The recanvass may "settle" the election outcome, but it won't give us confidence that the votes were counted correctly.

Clearly, these are issues that must be addressed with secure procedures and manual audits.

I'm still waiting to hear from the SOTS office, but something tells me we'll have a firm canvass number sometime tonight. Regardless of the spread, it's likely that Rob Simmons will have every right to demand a full recount, which could take much longer.

Updates as I receive them (and if Blogger works; it wouldn't let me post for 2 hours today!)

Secretary of State's audit of OS machines begins soon

From the Office of Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz
________________________________

***MEDIA ADVISORY***
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
CONTACT: Dan Tapper

SECRETARY BYSIEWICZ MOVES FORWARD WITH POST-ELECTION AUDIT OF OPTICAL SCAN TECHNOLOGY

Public random selection of towns to be audited

HARTFORD - Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz will hold a media availability on Wednesday, November 15, 2006 at 11 a.m. in her State Capitol office, at which polling precincts from throughout the state will be randomly selected to be audited to see how well their optical scan voting machines worked last week.

Secretary Bysiewicz will also discuss the outcome of the recount in the 2nd Congressional District race at the availability.

DATE: Wednesday, November 15th, 2006

TIME: 11 a.m.

PLACE: Room 104 (1st Floor)
State Capitol

Latest report from Sec. Byziewicz's office

(Photo from Hartford Courant: Courtney casts his vote)
Via Dan Tapper, spokesman for Susan's office:

As of 10:35 this morning our office has received results from 43 of the 65 2nd Congressional District towns, meaning there are still 22 towns which have not yet reported to us. Of those 22 towns, the following 9 towns were scheduled to do their recanvas today:

Ashford (5 pm), Canterbury (6 pm), Chester , Deep River (9 am), Haddam (10 am), Ledyard (2 pm), Old Lyme (9 am), Somers (7 pm), Stonington (9 am)

It is our understanding that the remaining 13 towns – Bolton, Bozrah, Brooklyn, Clinton, Durham, Griswold, Groton, Hampton, Montville, North Stonington, Norwich, Preston, Windham - have done their recanvas; we are waiting to get their results.

With these 43 towns having reported in, we show Courtney right now leading by 76 votes. These are the results we have as of now:

Courtney – 121,197
Simmons – 121,121

I will have more updates as we get more results in.

FYI, of those remaining towns, only Ashford has the new OS machines. All the other towns use the old-style lever machines. More as I get it.

(Hopefully I won't get called into work today; I have a vicious cold and really don't want to go out. Plus, this is kind of fun keeping track of the recount.)

Lieberman Supporters Please Respond

Just a quickie here to follow up on my post from yesterday. Lieberman supporters -- a simple question: which party do you want to hold the chairmanships in the Senate? Democrats or Republicans? Are you happy with how things have gone for the past 6 years under Bush and the Rs running the Senate? Or do you think there is a need for change with Dems as the committee chairs and in charge of the agenda? Simple question -- please let the readers here know your take on this.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled reporting on the 2nd CD from our intrepid reporter, Bob.

Canvassing update

OK, a few corrections need to be made that justifies a new article. Thanks and h/t to Gabe for his feedback over at My Left Nutmeg.

The latest number is Joe Courtney by 109 votes, which reflects the +100 error for Simmons and the +37 error for Courtney.

The procedure going on right now is called a "canvass" rather than a recount. The canvass has to be completed by Wednesday night. From what I understand, the canvassing includes checking the totals reported by each lever-style mechanical machine against the reported totals. This is where the +100 vote Simmons error and +37 vote Courtney errors came from.

The larger numbers were most likely transcribing errors. The other 1 and 2 vote errors may be overlooked provisional ballots, or minor transcribing errors. Many of the towns have reported these kinds of small errors, and they tend to balance out between the candidates. There is no significant sweep going toward either candidate.

The OS machines are canvassed by re-scanning the ballots through the machines and checking the figures reported. In the event of an actual recount, which the loser may request after the canvass is completed should the difference remain this close, each paper ballot will be manually tabulated. I think a recount can be requested any time the margin is withing 1/2 of 1%, but I'll have to check that. It may be as high as 1%.

All of this is separate from the random audit of 25% of the OS machines that Secretary Bysiewicz's office will perform at some point to verify the accuracy of the machine totals themselves; this was planned before the election and has no connection at all to the canvassing or potential recount. I'll try to find out when the audit is scheduled to take place. Obviously, the canvass and possible recount take precedence.

I'm waiting to hear back from the Secretary of State's office on more details.

Recount Update

I just received an email from the Secretary of State's Office Communications Director Daniel Tapper showing the current status of the 2nd District Congressional recount. Presently there is a roughly 62-vote difference, down from original results of about 170 votes in favor of Courtney.

Now please be aware that I've got a serious head cold that is lessening my cognizance of simple facts, so forgive me for any errors I make here. But just for the fun of it, I compared the list of 2nd District Towns in the Current Recount Totals against the list of 25 towns statewide that are using the new Diebold Optical Scanning voting tabulators, to see if any of them had been involved in the recount.

Out of the 65 or so towns in the 2nd, only nine have the new machines. And out of those nine towns, only Mansfield, Tolland, Vernon and Westbrook have completed their recounts as of late today.

Some interesting facts emerge. All four towns had changes made in their results. Now, Secretary Bysiewicz's office hasn't released the reasons yet for these changes, and they could range from simple transcription errors, uncounted provisional and absentee ballots (I think; are absentee ballots counted yet?), and other factors.

They can also have been caused by tabulating errors in the machines. We'll have to see.

But Mansfield ended up changing +2 for Simmons and +3 for Courtney; Tolland +1 for Simmons and 0 for Courtney; Vernon -2 for Simmons and -2 for Courtney; and Westbrook 0 for Simmons and +1 for Courtney.

So that shows miscounts for a total of 11 votes in four small towns using the OS machines. In an election where just under 250,000 votes were cast, and a 62-vote difference remains.

It's way to early to know what caused these descrepancies, but I will be in touch with the Sec. of State's office tomorrow to follow up on this, and at least ask them where the changes originated (miscounts, transcibing errors, machine errors, etc.) I also think if the election stays this close, the Secretary may want to have a manual recount of ALL the paper ballots in the district, to compare the results of those nine towns using the OS machines to the reported figures.

Not only is this a necessity, but it's also a great opportunity to see how the Secretary's office deals with a close election using the OS machines. Better to have this happen now than to have a future presidential election turn into a "Florida 2000" nightmare!

We all know how well THAT turned out!

9:25PM - MY LEFT NUTMEG's comments thread has newer unofficial info from local recounts; one town (Lyme) added +39 for Courtney, so Simmons lost a lot of the 100-vote misread he got earlier. Boy, this is exciting! And it's getting to be NyQuil time for me soon!

(more info as it develops; discuss while I slug down some more DayQuil)

UPDATE: Just received a final update from Daniel Tapper

"This will likely be the final update for the night. 29 towns have now reported to us and 3 6 still have not. The margin is now Courtney by 66 votes. In the latest town to come in since my last update to you ( Coventry ), Courtney gained 3 votes and Simmons lost 1, which brings the margin to 121,221 to 121,155 in favor of Courtney."

And just for fun yet again, here's the awesome video I made of the new OS machines in action, at the Bridgeport City Hall annex in early September when Susan Byseiwicz visited for a demonstration:

Why oh Why, Joe?

This is what makes me crazy about Joe Lieberman (from the AP):

If that's [being the I/D] not confusing enough, the three-term lawmaker who will caucus with Senate Democrats would not rule out entertaining entreaties from the GOP if he starts to feel uncomfortable among Democrats...

He said that because voters returned him to Capitol Hill as an independent, "I am now an Independent Democrat, capital I, capital D. Matter of fact, the secretary of the Senate called my office and asked, `How do you want to be identified,' and, and that's it. Independent Democrat," the senator said on "Meet the Press" on NBC.

With many Senate Democrats having campaigned or raised money for Lamont, as the party's nominee, Lieberman acknowledged it might be "a little awkward" for him back in Washington.

"They played by the traditional partisan political playbook. And I can't say I enjoyed it, but we're all grown-ups, we've got a job to do, and I'm going to do my best to get that job done," Lieberman said...

He was asked about a scenario in which he might become uncomfortable as Democrats sought to enforce party discipline and then the GOP offered to keep him as a committee chairman and respect his seniority if he switched.

"I'm not ruling it out, but I hope I don't get to that point. And, and I must say, and with all respect to the Republicans who supported me in Connecticut, nobody ever said, `We're doing this because we, we want you to switch over,'" he said.

I just have to wonder if this preening is making even the Lieberman supporters a bit squeamish. He makes up new party affiliations like most people change their underwear. My father used to say to me, "If you don't stand for something, you're likely to fall for anything." Picture this scenario: Hillary is Senate Majority Leader and Joe does an interview that throws her and the rest of the Senate Dems under the bus -- how will those people who kept the gloves off here in CT to let the Rs fund Joe's campaign feel then?

I just don't get it. But capct in the comments may be on to something:

Joe's new party: I/D, (or ID) couldn't better describe the man, at least in Freudian terms:

THE ID: functions in the irrational and emotional part of the mind. At birth a baby’s mind is all Id - want want want. The Id is the primitive mind. It contains all the basic needs and feelings. It is the source for libido (psychic energy). And it has only one rule --> the “pleasure principle”: “I want it and I want it all now”. In transactional analysis, Id equates to "Child".

Id too strong = bound up in self-gratification and uncaring to others

What do you think? I would really appreciate some reasoned arguments from Joe supporters -- not pot shots -- about A. Joe knowing what is best for CT and the nation without any input from his constituents, and B. his inability to commit to anything -- hence, instead of I, for now it has to be I/D, but then if the Ds piss him off, it could be I/R. Why can't he just be I or CFL since that is the party he created for August 9- November 7?

Joe Lieberman I/D

Senator Joseph "Second Time's the Charm" Lieberman was on "Meet The Press" today.

The network engaged in a little truthful journalism, obviously. (h/t Scarce; I still can't decide if that's a doctored image or not)

And be aware that while watching Joe Lieberman on TV, you may experience possible side effects:

Viewer discretion is strongly advised.

Link coming sometime soon.

Update from Kirby: Here is the portion of today's transcript with the Joe interview. I don't know how it reads, but when I watched it, his comments made very little sense except for his intentions to use the D party to get his seniority recognized -- and then threw them under the bus by insisting there be a BIpartisan Senate committee on Iraq to make decisions about the war. Because remember folks, Joe knows what's best for him, Connecticut and the nation -- and nobody is going to change that. Let us know your take on the video or written versions of Joe's remarks.

Our Veterans

These are the soldiers who created "Lazy Ramadi" a musical tribute to their time in Iraq. They are safely home now.

You can check in with VoteVets and see which veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq, running as Democrats, will be in the new Congress.

The United States Wounded Soldier Foundation is collecting clothing, shoes, CDs, CD players, and much more for the soldiers airlifted to Landstuhl Air Base in Germany for medical care. They don't have carry-ons when they are evacuated, so they need clothing to wear during their recovery and items to help them pass the time. Monetary donations are also welcome.

Saturday and Sunday, CNN will broadcast "Combat Hospital" a documentary about the nurses, doctors and medics who work the front line care centers in Iraq. I've seen clips on CNN this week, and it looks like an amazing program. You'll learn that the suffering over there is not limited to wounded service members. Check the link for times.

And finally, I am asking for your thoughts and prayers for a nurse with whom I work and her son, now in Baghdad. He started in Afghanistan, and felt a real sense of accomplishment about the progress they were making in that country. However, before they were able to reach a point where they could turn things over to the Afghani citizens, they were pulled out and sent to Baghdad. Now he has no sense of satisfaction, he doesn't see progress, and he just wants to end each day alive. His mother, who met his father because her brother and he were POWs together in VietNam, is afraid to watch the news because she can't bear to hear it was "another bloody day in Baghdad," yet not knowing is even worse. She can hang on for Sundays when her son can use phone cards to call home (we're spending how much every day over there and we still can't let these guys and gals call home for FREE???) I didn't like the idea of invading Iraq from the beginning, but knowing this incredibly brave woman and what she is going through (multiplied by 100,000 more) is what makes me continue to work to end this war. Remember her and all those like her on the Veterans' Day.

Not What You Say, but How You Say It

The mighty message boys have their talking points out and boy, are they in lockstep. Pay attention to these two words:

Investigation:
(standard definition) the work of inquiring into something thoroughly and systematically
(new) the act of a Democratic member of Congress who asks a question about what happened before

Together:
(standard) in contact with each other, in each other's company
(new) in lock-step, following orders, reading the same talking points without dissent

Use our new vocabulary words in a sentence:
The Democrats in charge of congress ARE investigating, but are NOT together.

It was fascinating to have the TV on in the background while this meme was pushed forward by every single talking head speaking on behalf of "the Republicans" today on CNN and MSNBC. I am in awe of how quickly these wheels are set in motion and how they become the new lexicon. As a Democrat, I wish every person speaking on behalf of Democrats today had a similar vocabulary of code words to push. As I have posted here before, our greatest strength is also our Achilles heel.

As a party, the Democrats have always seen things in a thousand shades of gray. We believe in examining different aspects of issues, listen to people with different points of view, and cobble together a position. While I consider those strengths, the problem we have as a result is that we do not see everything as black and white, or good and evil. And the one time we tried it, Dems voted for authorizing military action in Iraq.

Joe Biden would like to start the next Congress as chair of the Foreign Relations Committee by holding a week of hearings to hear from people involved in the situation, ask questions, expect truthful answers, and try to figure out how we got to where we are, so that can lead us to a way out. I call that doing his job under the "oversight" role of Congress. If others think that is an "investigation," they're in for a big shock if a real investigation is ever needed in the next two years. (And I don't mean the R version of an investigation that put the nation's business on hold while they investigated Bill Clinton's sex life. Oh, no. Gee, what message did that folly send "the terrorists"?)

Biden thinks that in the end, a 3-state political solution may be the most effective way to deal with the violence there. According to the new meme, any Dem who disagrees with that concept is proof that our leadership is not "together."

"Not Together" now means not being in lock step, not seeing the world in black and white, holding more than one thought in your head at a time, and considering that you might have made a mistake in the past. The meme today is that's unacceptable, and suggesting it means "weakness" to "the terrorists."

So, readers, how do we challenge the newest meme that questions are investigations and disagreement is dangerous? Why is it that Dem pundits don't get the same talking points, the way the Repub pundits do and they all spout them on the same day on different TV shows? Help me try to figure this out in our comment thread.

"Learning From Lamont"

In this David Sirota article, he discusses some of the implications of the Lamont campaign. As good a post mortum as has been written yet.

And yes, it's early...I'm sure we'll see a lot of in-depth articles discussing "The Lamont Factor" and how it will relate to the political landscape of future campaigns.

The article is too long to quote here, so click on the link above to read it in it's entirety. David pretty much nails it when it comes to why Ned trounced Lieberman in the primary, but didn't have the strength to overcome the lack of support in the national election. My anger at the National Democratic party is quelled by the fact that ultimately we did win control of both Houses, so I'm holding it in for now.

At least until we see how Joe really represents when the important issues come up.

If he lets us down, I'll have plenty to say.

Our Speaker of the CT House

Lest anyone forget, Rep. James Amann (D-118th) is the Speaker of the House for the Democratic Party in the State House of Representatives.

Yet, Speaker Amann turned his back on the party to support independent ("Connecticut For Lieberman" party) candidate Joe Lieberman for Senater, even AFTER Ned Lamont beat him fair and square in the Democratic Primary.

Why do we even HAVE political parties if our representatives aren't going to stand by the will of the voters? What's the point, James? For someone who has enjoyed the benefits of the Democratic party as Jim Amann has, it's a slap in the face to the majority of Democratic voters that he broke with his party to support a turncoat like Joe Lieberman who brazenly ignored the results of a legal, democratic election.

Lieberman took advantage of a legal loophole to get to run for the same office TWICE in one year. You KNOW this guy was an attorney before he became a career politician.

Yeah, Joe won it. Good for him. Sucking up to the Bush/Cheney cabal all these years has served Lieberman well. At the citizen's expense.

Mr. Amann, your betrayal has been noted.

"Donkeys have memories just as long as Elephants."

Can Anyone in the Senate Trust Joe?

Well, it worked out just the way Joe wanted it to. He is now the man in the middle who can be for sale to the highest bidder. I have lost track of who he's "gonna remember" for not supporting him in the way he wanted, with whom he will caucus and who he's forgiven. I suppose we don't have to try and keep track because what matters is how he votes on a given day, not promises or any statements ahead of time.

Joe is now in the best barganing position he will ever be in. In order for Dems to keep the majority, he has to vote for the D majority leader (we know Sanders-I will vote with the Dems) But, if he gets a better deal from the other side, and votes for an R as majority leader, then the Rs stay in charge because Cheney will break the tie. So, who is going to come up with the best deal? I don't think it would be hard for the Rs to put the pressure on Collins to give Joe the chair of the Homeland Security committee to entice him their way. Or, do the Rs want the Ds in charge of both chambers so it's all the better to run against the Ds in 2008? It seems to me that is the strategy, otherwise, Allen wouldn't have conceded today. (That, and Warner is retiring in 08, so Allen can run for that seat since his presidental prospects seem to be somewhere near the toilet right now.)

That's why holding Joe accountable is such a problem -- if Ds play hardball with him, he'll take his mitt and his ball and go across the aisle. And I, for one, think that every single vote that is divided by party in the Senate will leave Joe in the "what's my vote worth to you" seat. I'm not talking about cash for votes, (Heavens no!) but other perks.

I like the idea of making Hillary majority leader if Joe will vote for her. I would much rather have her in the bully pulpit (imagine women leading both chambers) and not running for president in 08. We need someone who's not a Bush or a Clinton -- give another family a chance.

What I do not like is Joe's paternalistic attitude that he, and he alone knows what is best for Connecticut:

"I don't feel that I owe anybody anything but a hearing and then the confidence that I will make the judgment of what I think is right and what I think is best for the people of Connecticut. Watch me," Lieberman said." from the NH Register today (h/t gary in the comments)

Oh, yeah, Joe? How many people in CT loved that Cheney energy plan you voted for that can put a gas platform in Long Island Sound? How many people in CT support torture, Joe?

Joe, here's another idea -- how about LISTENING to your constituents -- for whom you work? How about asking the PEOPLE of Connecticut what they think is best? I know that's hard to wrap your head around, but give it a try -- you might learn something! An election does not mean we trust you to treat us like children who need a daddy to tell us what is good for us. You keep that up Joe, and you're going to have a miserable six years because we won't sit back and take it like we have in the past.

Joe -- the choice is yours. Make the change and be responsive to the people of the great state of Connecticut, or live in your own little beltway world of money and power. You have a chance now to make amends for your arrogance of the past.

Proverbs 10:17 People who listen when they are corrected will live, but those who will not admit that they are wrong are in danger.
Proverbs 29:23 Arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.
Proverbs 19:25 Arrogance should be punished, so that people who don't know any better can learn a lesson. If you are wise, you will learn when you are corrected.

Readers: what do you think?

Spazeboy's "Thank You's"

I'd like to make a list of all the people I should thank for being a part of this amazing campaign, but I'm scared to death that I'd forget somebody. So my strategy is to thank Kirby and Ned, and let Spazeboy cover the rest.

So pop over to Spazeboy.net and read his list of thank-you's, and know that I concur.

How can I possibly argue with someone who refers to me as "Butt-head"?

"Team Connecticut Bob"

This is what it was all about. Kirby, Ned and myself; all working together as hard as we possibly could to get better government.

We might not have won this race.

But did we succeed?

Absolutely!

John Murtha - Majority Leader?

Not only has the man earned it, but it would be awesome to see how much it would cause Bush to panic. Murtha would be a giant-sized Democratic burr under the saddle for the boy-chimp.

Comments?

Sheer Brilliance

"Fight It"....

"F*ck It"!

LOL!

UPDATE: This was Colbert's "Word" last night: "Sigh".

The direct video link is gone, but click HERE TO D/L THE C&L VERSION

(h/t to Scarce)

Lieberman exhausts Universe's supply of irony

In today's Hartford Courant, Joe Lieberman was asked if he would caucus with the Republicans. Lieberman was quoted as saying:

"The answer is no," he said.

Then he continued with a statement that depleted every last bit of irony left in the Cosmos:

"When I give my word I stick with it, and I am definitely going to organize with the Senate Democrats."

Of course, we don't need to go over a list of Lieber-lies, do we?

"Eighteen years is enough"
"I will not run as an Independent"
"I was never in favor of privatization of Social Security"
"Ned Lamont said 'partisan frenzy', I didn't say that."
"I won't miss more votes than my predecessor"
"...it shouldn't take more than a short ride..."
etc. etc. etc.

No, Joe's lies are very much out there for anyone to see. He sucked all the irony out of the Universe with that one statement. From now on, everything has to be taken completely literally. There's simply no irony left after Joe got done with it.

When it comes to Joe Lieberman, you can be absolutely sure of one thing:

"When Joe gives his word, you can be sure there's a very slight chance he might stick with it."

Note of thanks from Ned Lamont

Of course, www.nedlamont.com is the place to see more of Ned.

We all have the feeling (and fervent hope) that Ned won't go away. He won the first one, lost the second one...

They say the third time's the charm.

What's it All About, Bushman?

A very interesting choice for the SecDef nominee. If confirmed, it will put a 4-star in charge at the CIA and a CIA chief in charge at the Pentagon. I stand by my analysis of Lieberman I posted earlier today before Gates was announced -- I think that would have been the Rove call, no question. Now, I think Rove and Cheney are sleeping on the porch, and this proved that Bush wants to save his legacy more than anything. I will be particularly watching if there is still such a push on unitary executive -- or if Bush is now seeing that he sat in the back while the big boys drove him off a cliff, and Bush loyalty is all about the family -- and Cheney is not a part of the family.

A psychologist would be on the couch with all the father-son weirdo stuff going on here -- but how interesting that Bush 41 looks a whole lot better to us than he originally did because Bush 43 is so bad. Maybe 43 figures going back to the daddy well (Gates, Baker, Scowcroft, Condi) and kicking the neocons to the curb is his only chance at any legacy rehabilitation.

For once, the blogosphere rapid response that was so important during the election cycle is not as essential here -- I will be looking forward to the long-range analysis that will take a week or two to put together.

In the end, keep in mind Chairman Conyers, Judiciary, with subpoena power. Now that's what I think of when I think of checks and balances. Those rubber stamps are running out of ink fast.

Speaker Amann on loyalty

Just a reminder: the very first guy Senator Lieberman thanked last night has some advice for potential future opponents in his town.

Breaking News: Rummy's replacement named

In a startling chain of events, President George W. Bush has received a letter of resignation from Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of War Defense.

In a surprise announcement, President Bush then named Microsoft Billionaire Bill Gates as his replacement. Bill Gates has absolutely no foreign policy or military experience, giving him the necessary lack of experience to ensure his rapid confirmation by the Senate.

Mr. Gates is expected to be at least as unsuccessful as Secretary of Defense as Donald Rumsfeld, gauranteeing 2 more years of total disaster in Iraq, and soon, in Iran.



UPDATE: I've just received corrected information that Sec. Rumsfeld's replacement will be ex-CIA director BOB Gates, not billionaire BILL Gates.

Sorry for any confusion that arose from this report.

Holy Crap! Rummy's Gone!

Now the chess match begins. I thought all along this was an option if the Senate was iffy -- give the job to Joe (who won't say no to Bush) and then our Republican governor, Jodi Rell, gets to name Joe's replacement -- and I guarantee it won't be Alan Schlesinger (if only!)

Right now, Tester declared victory in MT, and at a noon press conference, Joe said he talked with Harry Reid about his chairmanship in the new Senate. Currently, it is 49 R, 48 D 1 undecided (VA) and 2 "independents". We know Bernie Saunders will caucus with Democrats, which makes it 49, 49, 1 and 1. If Joe goes D, Webb or Allen will be the deciding vote. But, who wants to wait that long (recount probably through Christmas -- all the 2000 election lawyers are already jetting in).

So, if Joe goes to Defense, and Rell puts in someone like, oh, maybe Nancy Johnson (who got creamed last night after 12 terms) that brings it to R 50, D 49 and Virgina. It gives Cheney the tie-breaking vote and even if Webb wins....

Talking heads are already talking about Lieberman as a leading candidate....stay tuned.

Thank you, Ned

You've given us all hope for the future, and it was a real honor to help with your efforts to take back America from the conservatives.

Thank you, Mr. Lamont.

And everyone whose been so supportive of our blog, thank YOU.

Things will slow down a bit for a while, to give us time to rest and recuperate. But we'll stay active, don't you worry one little bit.

Once the "inner activist" in a person wakes up, it's unlikely for him to go back to sleep.

Thank you Kirby!

Once again, it's been a sublime pleasure and tremendous honor to work with you this election night.

You are awesome! Thank you.

It's Time for Goodnight and Good Luck

Not my best side, but here is the last picture and post of the night -- Kirby, Ned and Bob.

We told Ned we are with him for the next adventure, and he loved that. He is not happy, but not at all bitter -- he is the same Ned he has been throughout the campaign.

This group is not done for the long run, but we are for tonight. Again, thanks for everything -- your support has meant the world to us.

Ds in the House

We just heard that the Ds now control the House. Whew! As CTBlogger just said, "Subpoena power, baby!" Lieberman is holding a press conference tomorrow to talk about his plans -- his acceptance speech stressed his independence. I'll bet he is waiting to see how the Senate goes to decide whether he will be better off for himself as and true independent so he can be with the Rs when it benefits him, or if the Ds take control, he'll be back to being a D.

Swannie just came in to say hello and thank you for everybody and he doesn't know right now about any plans by Ned to start an organization but they will be regrouping tomorrow and talking later in the week. We are hoping Ned will still be a strong voice and a man we can continue to work with here in CT.

Chris Shays gave the weirdest victory speech we ever heard, and it's only been now, a half hour later that we heard from a reporter that Farrell is going to concede. Does that mean Shays just wanted to be on TV in prime time straight up at 11?

Joe Courtney is making a speech of optimism, saying it will be a late night -- and I am betting a recount.

Shays win is certainly Joe coat tails. Fortunately, Nancy Johnson is gone, and we may yet pick up Courtney -- CT-02

Class

Ned's great concession speech

I'm so proud to have been a part of the campaign for a guy like Ned Lamont, and we expect to see a lot more of Ned Lamont in the future. We're going to need a few days to recover from this hectic campaign, but we're looking forward.

What a gentleman and good sport Ned Lamont is, and what a real pleasure to have been a part of this.

Now it's time to start holding Joe Lieberman accountable for all his promises. Let's start getting out of Iraq immediatly, like you promised. Let's work on getting national health care, like you promised. Let's see about keeping Social Security solvent without privatization, like you promised.

Time to keep those promises, Joe.

And not just those promises he made to the lobbyists, the corporate sponsors, and the special interests.

Keep the promises you made to the people of Connecticut.

Ned's Speech

It was a great speech. Ned is as classy in defeat as he was in victory and challenging the status quo. Bob and Spazeboy video taped the speech -- so it will be available for all to see tomorrow. Ned did not sound like he was going to go away and back to a quiet life running Lamont Digital Systems.

We are ROFLOL because the governor is giving her victory speech at the same time Joe is at the podium. The local channels are split on which to carry -- two on Rell, one on Lieberman. That is nice to see.

We feel like we have to listen to his concession speech -- and hoping he can find a gracious way to accept victory. He just said that God was with him, funny -- that's not the message I got from God just this afternoon He is reading a speech that says he will do what is best for Connecticut -- funny how he has to read that.

Conspicuously absent is his thanking Ned and Alan for conceding. Hey, actions speak louder than words -- let's see if he got scared enough by losing the primary to actually do what he promises tonight. We'll see.....

Joyce with a cute dog

OK, as bad as this night has been, I'm blessed to have a gal like Joyce who for some reason loves me and stands by me.

All things considered, I'm a very lucky guy.

Some Good News

We just watched Nancy Johnson's concession speech. Cheers all around here. I live in that district, so I have a real D representing me.

In follow up to comments on the last post, the problem with Joe is that he is such a hypocrite. He'll suck up to the Ds to get his committee chairs if the Ds are in charge, but if not, then he's for sale to the highest bidder. I wouldn't even be surprised if he cut a deal with the Rs if it worked best to his advantage since this is ALL ABOUT JOE.

We're getting the word Ned in 10min on the podium. Don't know where you can see it streaming so Spazeboy and CT Bob will be filming it. Ned has called Joe to concede

I am off to the ballroom with all the other bloggers -- more later.

If You Don't Buy an Election, Guess You Can't Win Today

It's over.

I can't tell you though, with the screaming and throwing things at the television screen here -- I am so proud to be associated with a campaign that would not lie, cheat, steal and buy votes to win. That's it.

This was about the politcal machine pulling out all the stops in the incumbent protection racket to stop Ned, and try to stop the Nedroots and the Netroots.

Now, the question is -- do we want a majority in the Senate so Joe gets his chairman's seat or do we take the House and be happy with Joe not sleazing his way into everything....

We were intially stunned and it is very quiet in here.

It looks mighty over, based on what's going on here

Tensions are running high here in the blogger's war room. We're all pretty bummed right now, and it's gonna be hard to smile and find anything to feel good about right now.

My feelings are way too raw to detail here. This is hard.

More soon.

9:20PM

Lamont 199,771 39.5
Lieberman 255,708 50.6
Schlesinger 50,047 9.9

43% reporting

Waiting to Hear Here

Yes, we know that CNN, MSNBC and public radio have called for Lieberman. We are waiting to get a word from the inside here. We are sick -- Dan Lothian from Lieberman HQ are saying not ready to declare victory.

Hold your horses on this one -- Lieberman HQ also thought it was going to the wire -- we need to start checking with local sources here.

Impressions

Things are a little weird here; some people are walking around feeling like we're in deep shit, while quite a few others are still optimistic.

A lot of the precincts reporting are Lieberman strongholds. So we might do a bit better as the evening progresses.

At the very least, it's going to be an exciting night, and if it gets closer, it'll be a looonnnng night.

8:57PM

Lamont 90,272
Lieberman 113,076
Schlesinger 21,075

22%

Results

We are getting a percent of precincts reporting -- to clarify. Each precinct has equal weight, regardless of size so it is not a percent of total votes -- percent of total precincts.

Figure it this way -- 2mil voters ballpark, if the turnout is 70%, that will be 1.4 million votes, so you can interpret that way.

Forget about local media web sites -- they are all streaming from the Sec of State, and that's already way behind.

Results

Lieberman 50%
Lamont 41%
Alan 9%
14% in 8:47

8:47PM

Lieberman 91,550
Lamont 74,300
Schlesinger 17,050

Good news for Dems

CNN called Menedez for NJ -- MSNBC Ohio for Brown.

We are getting raw numbers here with Joe ahead but it is the Naugatuck valley, where Joe's strength is.

Hurry up and Wait

Well, I just pissed off a bunch of people from MSM -- we closed our door to keep them out -- we feel like animals at the zoo the way they come in here. And, we have quite a media central set up here with multiple TVs and multiple computers and such that we do not want them to steal.

First numbers from here
42 Lamont
49 Joe
9 Alan

With 10% reporting

Live Blogging in minutes

The polls are closing as I type this, and we're using walkie-talkies to transmit the latest results that are posted in the ballroom on the big screen.

No more video blogging for a while because Youtube has slowed to a crawl. I'll (CT Bob) will be shooting photos and calling in from the ballroom, and Kirby will be live blogging from the war room.

Tally ho, folks!

Make that last minute call!

Report from Lieberman HQ

I just talked to a reporter at Joe's HQ and the press there are totally isolated -- they are in a bullpen on the other side of the hotel. Lots of people there, but probably all paid (maybe they need to hang out there to collect their cash!)

We do not have anything else here, but what we are hearing is that it is razor-thin...

We haven't left!

We just don't have any special information. There is a guard standing outside the war room here at the hotel. Swan stopped by to say thanks (and eat OUR pizza). We did get official word that this is going to come down to every last vote -- so we are making phone calls to everyone we know to make sure they voted -- and to encourage them from there. This is going to be a very long night, it appears. I predicted a week or two ago that I don't think Joe will concede -- so it could be a really long night.

If we don't post it's because we have no news -- we will keep you posted as soon as we know something. You tube is not being particularly cooperative -- so videos here may have to wait till AM. It could well crash tonight. In case blogger goes south, we have an alternative at ctbob.wordpress.com if blogger crashes, too.

Turnout numbers continue to be amazing...which is great news on our side. Thirty minutes till exit poll results are available, but take them with a grain of salt -- there's going to be all kinds of crap going on with vote counting in CT tonight.

Outside the War Room

I'm totally stealing that sign at the end of the night!

We're looking at record turnout for the election; this bodes well for Ned's chances. If we pull 74-75%, we're in very good shape. It's THAT close right now.

Polls close in just over an hour and a half. Time to eat something and take a deep breath before the big finish!

If you HAVEN'T called everyone you know in Connecticut and asked them to go out and vote, DO IT RIGHT NOW! We're at the point where EVERY VOTE may count! Tell them they can make the difference in this election.

Do it NOW.

What an ass

(video by RevDeb)

Report from the Field

I just talked with Peter Tercyak, D-New Britain in the state house. (We went to nursing school together). He said, "Since 1994, when I was involved in my first state-wide election, I had not seen even half of the complaints that have come from the polling places today." He described reports of moderators offering to show voters where Joe's name is on the ballot (whether they asked or not), people being told polling places were "out of provisional ballots," people being given absentee ballots and told to mail them in, and other horror stories. I'm nervous that Lieberman's goons have gone dark today -- have they already made certain arrangements?

CT Bob & Kirby in the Blogger's "War Room"

We're in the "war room" right now. I'm with Kirby, Spazeboy, Will from the BBC (he always says he's from "the BBC", but he's really from this little production company that's located in a garage somewhere in Exeter), Caffeinated Geek Girl & Geoff.

The War Room is a lot less crowded than last time, because there are so many other elections going on nationwide right now. Which is good, because the MSM isn't bothering us as much as back in the primary. Thankfully.

We're talking about getting some pizza now, and getting ready for the excitement when the polls close in 2-1/2 hours. And laying in a supply of beer.

The Official Countdown Begins -- NOW

Ok folks -- exit polls are being reported on CNN, but only voter characteristics. Bob, Spazeboy and I are sitting in the blogger room with our special access passes around our necks. They are still sitting up the ballroom, and admission to the ballroom tonight is by pass only. More security this time around -- and a lot more tension. The sense here is that there isn't much more that we could have done here on the ground. Drudge is worthless -- no numbers yet. And we have none here. There is a room down another hallway with Garfield, the security man at the door -- and that's where the magic is happening.

MSNBC is streaming -- we're watching CNN and local TV here. Tim is being cautious -- but he is waiting for numbers, too. Two things have me confident -- another record turnout (people don't come out in record numbers to support the status quo) and look at the photo I posted below -- that shows Joe's actual spot on the ballot -- from the booth.

As things heat up, we will drop the pictures so things will load faster and we can post faster. Stay with us for the CT Senate latest news!

Matt Stoller, Tim Tagaris & David Sirota

At Lamont Election Centraol, 4:10PM

If that isn't hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil, I don't know what is. (Kirb)

How Low Can You Go?

The top row is Republicans, the second row is Democrats. This is a shot I took while in my voting booth -- see that little box on the verrrry verrryy bottom? That's Joe! Even I had to search -- I had no idea it would be THAT bad. Rejoyce, Lamont backers!

Spazeboy radio interview

Spazeboy will be interviewed by Colin McEnroe on WTIC-1080 around 3:35PM, in just a few minutes.

Listen live HERE!

"Bathroom Blogging"

I'm sorry I haven't posted this yet, but it's worthy of a mention.

When Connecticut Joyce and I were driving to New London for the 3rd Senate debate, we stopped at a highway rest area for a break. CT Joyce went to the Ladies', and was in there for quite a while.

When she came out, she was laughing. I asked what was going on, and she said that in each of the stalls, someone had written graffiti that said, "A Vote For Joe Is A Vote For Bush".

She wanted to check to see it was on all five stalls (it was); I guess she would have come out for a Sharpie if the message didn't appear in all of them.

So, we have "Freeway Blogging", and now we have "Bathroom Blogging". Funny how things eventually come full circle.

And I don't have a photo of the one CT Joyce saw, but the picture below is one of my favorite examples of "bathroom blogging" (people used to call it "graffiti").

Is Ralph A. Ferrucci going to be the new Pat Buchanan?

(Spazeboy's image of a sample ballot)

Joe's ballot placement is so pitifully low, that many people may inadvertantly vote for the Green Party Candidate, Ralph A. Ferrucci.

Wouldn't it be hysterical if Ralph accidently pulled 30,000 votes from Joe? Imagine the irony:

Lieberman getting screwed TWICE in his life due to poor ballot placement!

Where does Joe live?

Joseph I. Lieberman Voter Registration information:

Voter is registered under 10 Alston Ave. New Haven address.
(source: State Candidate List)

House at 10 Alston St. sold and closed on August 10th, for $455,000.
(source: MLS Multiple Listing Service)

Joe voted today in the New Haven Hall of Records today.

The question that needs to be answered is:

Is Joe legally registered to vote?

Comments and info welcome.

(h/t to Jen from Denmark, a former CT resident who flew back here on her own dime to help Ned win!)

Ned video from Foran HS

Along with Ned, a local Republican is asked who he's voting for in the Senate campaign.

His reply is...priceless!



Stay tuned; my next report will be from Lamont HQ in Meriden.

Calm Before the Storm

I am taking just a breath here before I load the car, vote, run some errands, and then set-up shop at the Four Points HQ hotel. I know this will get lost in the shuffle today, but I had to put up a post to thank Bob for this opportunity to work with him on what is the most important election of my life. I cast my first vote at college in 1976 -- and voted for Jimmy Carter -- it was the first presidential election after Watergate and the feelings I had then are back today -- 30 years later.

I still shake my head at how the Bush administration and the rubber stamp Congress has destroyed so much in just 6 years. I didn't think it was possible. And 2 more years of this frightens me more than I can explain. This is our chance. Our chance to speak loudly with each vote we cast. It's up to the people now to decide whether we are going to allow our Constitution to be shredded, to send more soldiers to Iraq -- and if these people remain in power -- Iran. It will take a very, very long time to right the wrongs of the past 6 years, but we can start today.

I support Ned Lamont in particular, because we need a break from life-long politicians who see their office as a path to riches. I want sensible people in there, with new ideas from outside the beltway. People who aren't afraid of standing up for us. SCREW BIPARTISANSHIP! We need strong Democrats to stand up and hold the Republicans accountable. I know people complain there is not much difference between the parties, but this is when we have the chance to make that difference count. Not the incumbent protection-racket cronies in there now.

I was the national co-chair of Nurses for Dean. Yes, I am a dreamer. I am hopelessly romantic and optimistic that each of us can make a change in our little corner of the world and beyond. You readers have helped we CT Bloggers do that. And for that, we are blessed.

And just keep this in mind...how scary would it be if there were 49 Rs, 49 Ds and 2 independents -- Bernie Sanders of VT, who we can count on to vote D, and, um, Joe Lieberman. That would make it 50 D, 49 Rs, Joe, and Cheney to break ties. We already know Joe is for sale to the highest bidder -- imagine if he was in a position to cast a deciding vote. Let's make sure that doesn't happen.

Report on local news -- some precincts are above 50% of registered voters that have already cast their ballots (!!!) This will be the highest turnout ever in a mid-term election. People who are satisfied with the status quo do not get out and protect it in record numbers.

Ned visits Milford this morning

Ned Lamont stopped by Foran High School about an hour ago, to greet supporters and voters. I shot some fun video that I'm working on right now; hopefully it will be up within the hour. Then I'm going to get ready and drive up to HQ. Once I'm settled in up there, the posting will get more frequent.

Get what I just did?

(Yes, I completely stole borrowed this idea from Kirby...)

BTW, did anyone notice how LOW Joe's name is on the ballot? I actually had to bend down to see it, and the way the light is mounted in the voting booth, you almost couldn't read his name!

This is FANTASTIC! Karl Rove might have flooded the state with Republican operatives, but the one thing that mushy fucker COULDN'T do was help his buddy Lieberman get a better spot on the BALLOT!

WOOO-HOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

It's SHOWTIME!

Good morning, fellow Democracy fans!

Time to get up, vote, and then volunteer to help at the polls. This is the time to make a difference!

Later today, Kirby and I will be up at the Lamont HQ in Meriden, in the Blogger's War Room, doing the live blogging thing, with photos and video as the day goes.

We've created a backup blog on WordPress, located at:

http://ctbob.wordpress.com

And a link will exist at the top right of this page, but jot that URL done in case Blogger craps out later today due to high traffic volume. This is just for use in an emergency if Blogger locks up and nobody can access it. Right now there's nothing on the blog, but we'll just pick up and start posting there if we can get in here. If by tonight you're not seeing posts appear here, or if you can't get into blogger because of traffic, go see what's happening at http://ctbob.wordpress.com. We want to help keep you informed.

I'm going to vote in about 45 minutes, then I'll post something here, and then I'm volunteering to poll watch for a few hours before heading up to Meriden. Expect updates around noonish, then after 1PM when I arrive. And Kirby will be posting today also.

Let's have some fun and WIN this thing!

Danbury Rally for Ned Lamont

Today was the final big rally for Ned, up in Danbury. This video celebrates what Ned is all about, and shows quite a few characters who have been around the campaign pretty much from the start. Enjoy!

"We didn't do it!"

Whatever it is the Lieberman campaign is going to accuse us Ned Lamont supporters of doing, I'd like to say right now that...

"We Didn't Do It!

Honestly. We didn't do a thing.

You can trust us.

Really.

Just look at this picture of me:

Do you think I would lie to you?

So...

Whatever it is that you're going to accuse us of, Senator, please keep in mind...

We didn't do it.

Hedging their bet

Seen outside Alan Schlesinger's HQ today. No comment on who might own this vehicle.

Danbury Rally Photos

Shot some great video at the event today; it's transferring to my computer right now...I hope to have something edited and uploaded later this evening. But first, some photos:

This afternoon Ned Lamont attracted a loud and enthusiastic crowd of well over a hundred supporters at this last-minute rally before Election Day in Danbury.

Ned has grown tremendously as a communicator in this campaign, and anybody who hears him speak and then hears Joe Lieberman speak can tell immediately who's the guy with their interests at heart, and who's the washed-up obsolete self-serving hack.

We've run a good, clean campaign (compared to Senator "Me-Me-Me's" mud-slinging festival) and we can all be proud of a race well run.

Tomorrow it's all GOTV! Let's bring this baby home!

Chris Murphy for Congress

Here's a video by Carter showing why you should vote for Chris Murphy in the 5th District rather than Nancy Johnson (as if the picture of her with Lieberman wasn't reason enough!)

A Thousand Words worth of betrayal

Joe "I'm Still A Democrat Even Though I March With Arch-Conservative Republican Nancy Johnson" Lieberman pretends to give a crap about American troops at a Veteran's Day Parade, while chumming it up with probably the WORST Congresscritter this state has ever produced.

Does anyone besides me see the irony of Joe marching in a parade to honor veterans that he played a large part in helping get killed?

The "Freeway Blogger" strikes again!

Sources tell me that the mysterious "Freeway Blogger" has struck again somewhere in Connecticut!

My anonymous source "ned_op" sent me these exclusive pictures of the culprit's latest endeavour:

The Freeway Blogger stirs up some old Dutch Boy Premium Interior Latex paint.

The blogger's identity is carefully disguised, making identification of the perpetrator all but impossible. Federal, State and Local authorities are investigating this as soon as they finish with the alleged "Lieberman website hacking" that occurred back in August.

The blogger purchased a 5'x7' blue tarp from Ocean State Job Lot for a total of $1.59. He was tempted to stop at this point, having realized that the incomplete poster already portrays a valid political statement.

The finished poster, located in the blogger's secret underground hideout, which is very far from wherever Connecticut Bob lives, and you can trust me on that one, yessiree!

The finished result, displayed on a prominent Connecticut highway, where approximately 80,000 cars an hour pass by. Even though the sign is partially obscured, I'm pretty sure people will get he point.

Everybody who looks at that sign today will have a thought, however brief, that "Joe Equals War!" 80,000 undecideds an hour will lean in a positive, non-warlike direction when entering the voting booth tomorrow.

Anybody with leads regarding the identity of the mysterious Freeway Blogger is encouraged to drink heavily until they forget them.

Screw the Q-Poll; GOTV!!!

GOTV will win this thing!

We've known for months how lopsided Doug Schwartz and his push-polling organization can be, so we're not surprised that he managed to fudge yet another poll in favor of his chosen candidate, Joe Lieberman.

You know...Lieberman, the guy who ALREADY LOST once this year!

You can help prevent Senator "Mulligan" from being returned to the Senate by focusing on GOTV efforts.

Fuck the Q-Poll and the Conservative high horse upon which they sit.

GET OUT THE VOTE is all that matters. Remind EVERYONE you know to vote for Ned Lamont tomorrow! Tell them that the polls can't take a massive GOTV effort into account, and most of those old biddies they call are longtime Joe fans from back during the Depression, when Senator "Do-Over" promised them "a chicken in every pot". (The historical accuracy of that last statement isn't 100% guaranteed)

Do what you've been doing, and we'll WIN this thing!

And, in the process...we'll save the country.

Lieberman Endorses Lamont

Senator Joe Lieberman was quoted in today's Hartford Courant as saying he thinks you should vote for his political rival. Lieberman was quoted saying this:

"...you should vote for Ned Lamont," Lieberman said.

The entire article is available here.

=======================================

Funny, isn't it?

Not really.

This is an example of the same way Joe Lieberman distorts Ned Lamont's stance on the issues. He takes something Ned says completely out of context and presents it as if it was exactly what he means.

Karl Rove taught his pupil well.

How many times has Lieberman tried to mislead the voters by repeating what he knows is inaccurate by saying that Ned Lamont wants the troops out of Iraq "by July 1st, 2007, no matter what!"

This has been repeated endlessly by Senator "Will Trade His Soul For Six More Years" in his commercials.

We all know that Ned supports a firm deadline for withdrawal, and was in favor of the Kerry-Feingold amendment last summer, when it would have been ONE YEAR from the date it was supposed to be adopted. But Joe Lieberman, in his campaign of corruption, knowingly spins the truth into something that resembles a lie.

We know, Senator.

So, if you want to fight this sort of lying, help get everyone you know to do what Joe says you should do:

"...vote for Ned Lamont."

Your senator wants you to.

Big New Haven Rally for Lamont

NOTICE: Youtube is acting "squirrely" (not to mention "nutty" and "zippery") tonight, so if the video says it's not available, try again later. Thanks!



The I've had more fun the last two days than I had the entire campaign! Friday Spazeboy and I got to drive the Kiss float, and yesterday was the giant Rally in New Haven. This video captures some of the fun of the night.

Thank you Tim Tagaris and Tom Swan for thinking of us bloggers last night and letting us finish the campaign with Ned. We had CT Blogger, Spazeboy, DeanFan84, CTKeith, Caffeinated Geek Girl, myself, and at the last minute they found space on the bus for my wife CT Joyce! Thanks, guys!

Creepy Joe Video

MikeinCT has done it! The absolute BEST parody to come out of this campaign. The contest is over, we have a winner. This is good enough for Colbert or TDS.

"Knock & Rock" with Black 47

Yesterday the 4th district celebrated what may have been the most successful day of canvassing in CT history! This event, coordinated by Maura Keaney and hosted by Tiernan's Pub in Stamford, featured appearances by Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy and Governor's candidate John DeStefano.

And of course, Ned brought it all home with his message of Joe Lieberman's undying support for the War in Iraq, and how it WAS a mistake, and CONTINUES TO BE a deadly mistake.

Black 47 rocked the place! My ears are still ringing. Get ready for your computer to ROCK!



And here's campaign volunteer Harriet, turning on her "1000-watt smile" as the band rocks!



LYNDON LAROUCHE UPDATE: I just got an email from Spazeboy this morning with a link to an article in the Hartford Courant. The Courant reports that the LaDouche-bags are still being held in jail!

I told you guys; you don't want to get arrested on a Friday afternoon/evening. Especially in Hartford...the cops weren't amused by those idiots.

And Spazeboy has made a .wav file of me expressing my displeasure with the LaRouche supporters...maybe he'll send you a copy if you ask him nicely! :)

Debate Marathon Streaming Video

While Bob gets some much needed rest this AM after covering the New Haven event last night, I discovered that CT Network (our state version of C-SPAN) is running a debate marathon all day. You can watch it on local cable if you're in-state, otherwise, you can catch streaming video here

If you are able to watch Fox61 this morning, the Thursday debate between Alan and Ned (that Joe skipped so he could spend 15 min in a bar in Hartford) will be on both Fox61 and WTXX (over the air channel 20) at 11am. This was by far the best of the four debates. Whining was not permitted.

Final push to the New Haven Rally

Tonight was a great night! I'll be brief. Cause I'm tired.

I rejoined the campaign at the Milford Democratic HQ, where the campaign bus had it's second to last stop.

(L to R) Jon K, CT Blogger, Tessa, CTKeith, CGG, Spazeboy, CT Joyce, and BBC documentarian Will Dixon.

Ned spoke to an enthusiastic crowd at the Milford HQ, along with Governor candidate John DeStefano.

The campaign awarded us local bloggers with a dozen seats on the bus to New Haven. It was really nice of them choosing to end the campaign with many of the people who were with it from the start. Will gave me his expensive BBC camera to shoot some video for the documentary on the bus.

So now I'm going to demand TWO credits; camera operator and contributing producer!

On the bus with Ned, Spazeboy, CT Joyce, CGG and CT Blogger. It was cool to sit and chat with Ned in this informal setting among friends.

Ned, Annie with John DeStefano and his wife at the triumphant New Haven rally. Wow, was it great! I'm reminded of the convention when Malloy won the party nod for Governor; their party was fun, but this was even better!

More details and video tomorrow AM probably...we'll see what I can get to tonight.

Stamford post-canvassing party with Black 47

Black 47 rocked out Tierney's Pub in Stamford after the "Knock & Rock" 4th District party.

Mike from FDL stands with CT Blogger at the pub.

Ned with Norwalk HQ Coordinator Maura Keaney. Maura, if you recall, was simply an interested Democrat who asked Joe Lieberman a question about being a Democrat. Of course Joe got upset about that; we mustn't question the Clown Prince!

Black 47 was jamming loud and strong when I had to leave to get to the Milford Democrats for a stop, and then the big New Haven rally later.

"Don't mess with the bull, young man..."

"...you'll get the horns!"
(in memory of Paul Gleason, who played Principal Richard Vernon in "The Breakfast Club")

Yes, these idiots got the horns.

I hope they're STILL in jail! Enjoy the bologna sandwiches, dumbasses!

Spazeboy has the scoop from his perspective...you'll get to see me being my personable self that everyone loves so much. (I couldn't type that without laughing!)

The Courant reported this morning that four LaRouche singers were arrested in Hartford yesterday:

Police arrested three protesters from Brookline, Mass., Myles Robinson, 23, Hans Wendlandt, 22, and Michael Kirsch, 25; as well as Jonathan Stewart, 22, of Oakland, Calif.

Wendlandt, Kirsch and Stewart kept throwing the paper at people, Deputy Chief Lopez said. When asked to stop, they refused and resisted arrest. They were charged with interfering with police, breach of peace and resisting arrest. Robinson was charged with breach of peace.

Bob Adams, a Lamont blogger known as ConnecticutBob, cheered on the police who came to Lieberman’s rescue. He said the LaRouche group had harmed both Lieberman and Lamont - Lieberman was harassed, and Lamont was unfairly blamed by some onlookers.

“I was so happy to see those guys arrested,” he said.

This video sorta kinda tells the story of one of them:

Kiss floating

(Photos by Spazeboy!) Yesterday Spazeboy and I had a really great time driving the Kiss float around the state. We were both pleasantly surprised at the number of people who saw the float, and their reactions.

The first reaction was from Senator Cheney Lieberman himself. I was taping two posters to the side of the Kiss float, which said "DUMP SLUSH FUND JOE!" and "SHOW ME THE MONEY, JOE!", and the "Number 2" car (appropriate on SO many levels) drove by, looking for the entrance to a parking lot.

Joe flip-flopped and came back, and I waved at Senator Slush Fund and he waved back. If you look closely at Spaze's photo, you can see Droopy waving from the passenger seat. That might have been the last time he smiled that day.

But we got a lot of other great reactions, too. Cars would honk their horns and give the thumbs up. People on the street would stop, do a double take, and then start laughing. One guy was getting out of his car as we drove by, and we both heard him say "Holy shit!" in an incredulous voice! Dozens of people took pictures of the float, even flagging us down and yelling for us to stop so they could get their cameras ready.

One or two people gave us the thumbs down, but they were frowning and looked like miserable people anyway who rarely, if ever, find humor in life.

This is the difference between the two campaigns. The Lieberman people use thuggish tactics to disrupt and annoy people. We use humor and good sportsmanship to make our points.

But then, is ANYONE surprised that Senator "Win At All Costs" wouldn't play fair?

Any bets on Lieberman's election day stunt?

It's reader participation time!

Here's YOUR chance to write a blog entry for Connecticut Bob. What you do is make a comment about what YOU think desperate Senator "Petty Cash" Lieberman will pull on the day before election day or election day itself, in order to blame the Lamont campaign. I'll compile the best of them, and put them in a post on Sunday. The winner (judged by me and Kirby) will received a special, limited edition pair of "Groucho Glasses", just like the ones we wore on Primary Night! (color/style may vary)

We all know that on the night before the Primary, Senator "Can You Spare $387,000 So I Can Buy A Decent Internet Provider?" Lieberman's crappy website crashed, and rather than fix it within a couple of hours, they squawked loud and long to the MSM, which of course picked up on it and spread it all over for the next day and a half. Even CNN reported on the "outage" hourly until Ned won the primary.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said last week that the FBI and state investigators were still working on the allegations. What this means is that Al Quada can use the Internet without worry, because if the FBI can't find some alleged hackers in THREE MONTHS, they're never going to catch the terrorists. And Dick Blumenthal lacks the spine to push the investigation forward and clear Lamont's good name, as well as the names of the bloggers that Gerstain insulted.

Glad you're working for us, Dick.

So, aside from the inevitable "website crash" that will occur probably in the early evening before the election, what other desperate stunts do YOU think Lieberman's cronies will pull? Keep in mind that Senator "Terrorizing Senior Citizens is FUN!" Lieberman has the very best Rove-tested minds working for him. So try to be creative.

You know they'll be.

LaRouche singers fail to amuse police

I fear that my holding a video camera may have prevented the brave Hartford PD from dealing out an immediate and justified punishment to the LaRouche singers yesterday.

For that I apologize.

But these annoying, caterwauling, audio-wrecking idiots are the same morons who disrupted the 3rd Senate debate in New London, causing Senator "Slush Fund" to accuse Ned Lamont's supporters of the despicable act.

So when the LaDouche-bags got too cute (and by "cute", I mean overly aggressive by flinging their literature onto the Senator), the Hartford police showed up and started cuffing those cretins. And with it being a Friday afternoon and all, I can only hope that they won't be arraigned until Monday morning.

I have to say, I was quite pleased with that.

I'm not too proud of the gloating, but damn, did it feel good!

How's about a song NOW, fuckers?

Lieberman Thugs scare Seniors

Absolutely disgusted.

That's how I feel about Senator Lieberman right now.

This is a man who will stop at NOTHING to win!

At a campaign stop for the "Stand Up For Change" bus tour earlier today, about 30 paid Lieberman operatives showed up at a low-income housing complex to protest the Democratic nominee for Senate.

I just got off the phone with Rep. Evelyn C. Mantilla, Deputy Majority Leader of the State House of Representatives, and she told me about the event. She is the Rep for the 4th District in Hartford, and she represents the people in that complex. She sent them invitations to see the candidate.

Shortly before the bus pulled in, the Lieberman supporters were massing on the sidewalk. Rep. Mantilla assumed they would behave like lawful citizens, so she didn't worry about them. But when the bus pulled up, they started screaming and chanting very loudly, and surged toward the bus door, preventing it from opening and generally frightening the senior residents of the complex.

Some of the residents said they were disturbed and startled by the display. Rep. Mantilla said the complex was generally very quiet, and the 30 vocal and noisy Lieberman supporters succeeded in preventing the residents from meeting Ned Lamont.

This disgusting and horrific behaviour is apparently completely endorsed by our Senator, Joseph I. Lieberman.

What would your mother say about this, Senator?

Did she bring you up to encourage the bullying and terrorizing of elderly people? Is THIS something you think is proper, Mr. Lieberman?

For shame, Senator Lieberman, FOR SHAME!

We demand that you immediately condemn the actions of your campaign operatives and forbid them from further acts such as this.

Rep. Mantilla is a 10-year Rep. for her district and has chosen to leave her seat after this term is over. But she STILL cares deeply about her constituents and wants them to have all the necessary info for them to make an informed choice next week.

Sadly, Senator "Win At All Costs" won't ever go away unless we vote him out (or he is convicted of the corruption that some people suspect him of). Either way, we need to get rid of this person who has lost his moral compass, and values his position more than the common good.

Evelyn C. Mantilla's state website is here, and you can email her at Evelyn.Mantilla@cga.ct.gov

Please let Rep. Mantilla know how much you appreciate her concern for her constituents.

Lieberman evasive yet again

Senator Lieberman sends in his minions yet again to attack my midsection (the side show refugee he sics on me can't reach any higher) while I tape him not answering a valid question again.

And I might say a naughty word at the end.

Two, in fact.

Sorry.

And yes, those words are "Karl" and "Rove".

Lieberman on the missed debate

Threatened by Lyndon LaDouche-bags and 5'4" female stacks of cat guano who feel it's OK to elbow honest journalists in the sternum repeatedly while they try to cover the story of a corrupt Senator, your humble narrator manages to turn in a video worthy of viewing:

UPDATE: Spazeboy captured this image of me trying to get an answer about my debate question. Yes, it's not as easy as it looks to be shooting video, dodging martial arts gals with bad attitudes, and responding to the Senator's lame answers all at once. And then STILL manage to come up with a good comeback.

I know, I'm great. Me and my ego will be needing two seats on the bus tomorrow. If it makes you feel better, my chest is still sore where I got elbowed today. Twice.

What an amazing day!

Spazeboy and I were given the honor of driving the Kiss Float around central Connecticut today, so we made it our mission to be the absolute BEST Kiss Float drivers ever!

And, as you'll see from the videos to be posted later, I think we did a pretty good job.

After several close encounters with Lieberman supporters (close enough that I got elbowed in the sternum twice by a female Lieberthug, and later once more by a Lieberdwarf), we needed to see some friendly faces. So we attended one of the Ned Lamont "Stand Up For a Change" Bus appearances in Bristol.

We took a few minutes to listen to Ned speak, and I have to say that my friend Mr. Lamont is starting to look..."senatorial". These last few days of the campaign are going to go down in history as the final act of the Greatest Upset in History.

Joe's people are scared and desperate, because their internal numbers show a huge Lamont surge that will peak on Election Day with a huge victory! That's why they're starting to act like the savage morons that appeared at Ted's in the closing days of the Primary campaign.

They can see the trend; the surge that will put Ned in the Senate!

(video as soon as I can put it up; it's gonna be a fun night!)

Friday Afternoon Update

Just talked to Bob on the phone -- he has been in the KISS float for 8 hours and he is beat! He has lots of video of his adventures today, including LaRouche supporters getting arrested, Joe answering a question and and afternoon rally with Ned. He's on his way to garage the KISS float in inner Blogtopia, and will be posting later tonight about his adventures -- with video!

Meanwhile, Mr. Kirby and I are going to see the Capitol Steps at the Shubert Theatre -- I really need some political humor at this point.

Another Great Endorsement for Ned

The Meriden Record-Journal (my hometown paper and the temporary hometown paper of Lamont HQ) endorsed Ned for Senate this AM in an editorial that nails Joe oh, so well. Since it is behind their #@&% subscription firewall, here it is for your enjoyment

For U.S. Senator: Lamont’s the choice
Editorials

For U.S. Senator: Lamont’s the choice
As the vice presidential candidate in 2000, Joseph I. Lieberman had a choice. He could either seek re-election to the Senate at the same time, or leave the field open to another Democratic candidate. He chose to run for both. Had he won the vice presidency, his Senate seat would have been vacated, and filled at the discretion of Connecticut’s Republican governor, John Rowland, who very likely would have inserted a Republican. By insisting on having it both ways, therefore, Lieberman cost Democrats an opportunity. He chose his own interests over those of the Democratic
party.

Once again. ..
This year, Lieberman has done it again. The senator who sought his party’s presidential nomination in 2004 made preparations to abandon his party even before the outcome of the August primary, by lining up enough signatures to run as an independent. In his strange concession speech on primary night, Lieberman compared the loss to a football game, saying he was only down after the first half. By refusing to cede his interests to the decision of Connecticut Democrats, Lieberman also prolonged a headline-grabbing race that continues to draw attention away from other Democratic efforts in this election. Once again, his self-interest has cost Democrats opportunities. The three-term incumbent has since campaigned on experience and on a message of bipartisanship, saying his focus is on representing the people of Connecticut. But his track record on the loyalty front makes such pronouncements suspect, at least.

What changed?
During his successful bid to unseat Lowell P. Weicker Jr. in 1988, Lieberman pledged to limit himself to three Senate terms. He was asked recently by the editorial board of this newspaper what had changed his mind. He said that when he’d made that pronouncement he wasn’t sure he would get to serve even six years. He also said he felt Weicker had stopped producing and didn’t feel that was true in his own case. In any event, it was another example of a senator willing to rewrite the rules, even his own, to suit himself. Dissatisfaction with Lieberman’s performance is precisely what led to Ned Lamont’s victory in the primary. Lieberman’s stubborn support for an increasingly unpopular war in Iraq and his perceived too-cozy relationship with the Bush administration was a vulnerability the senator either failed to recognize or refused to take seriously until it was too late. During the primary he appeared surprised, even miffed, that his re-election was not going unchallenged. Now the senator wants a do-over. Ned Lamont’s campaign has never had the seasoned slickness the senator’s has displayed since the primary. On occasion, he still comes off as a neophyte. But his earnestness and commitment have never been in doubt.

Stared down
Lamont may not have political experience, but he has successfully stared down a Juggernaut. Until his primary victory, there was little encouragement for his campaign outside the grass-roots convictions from which it was born. In fact, there was considerable pressure on him not to pursue his challenge to Lieberman. But during an otherwise slow summer, Lamont’s unlikely campaign drew the national spotlight and the newcomer performed admirably under the pressure. Lamont’s lack of political polish has also been a charm. His attack on insider Washington has never appeared to come from a less-than-genuine conviction and he has maintained his poise as he refined his message. The U.S. Congress is indeed in need of a change. For the past six years, bipartisanship notwithstanding, Lieberman has been part of the problem, not a sign of its solution. Lamont brings a fresh perspective, not the result of naivete, but a concern that the future and health of the nation requires a challenged status quo.

Focal point
Lamont wants to establish universal health care. He wants to use funds now being misspent in Iraq to bolster educational and employment opportunities at home. Experienced in running a business, he does not want to see children inherit the misfortunes of profligate and irresponsible budget practices. Significantly, the Democratic candidate sees Meriden as the focal point for manufacturing and distribution in the state, a perspective he’ll be urged to remember should he arrive in Washington. Lamont, whose only elected experience was as a Greenwich selectman, has a genuine claim to being a Washington outsider, a claim too many others try to make for political expediency. He can be counted on to help re-establish the checks and balances the country desperately needs right now. We endorse Ned Lamont for the U.S. Senate.

Post-debate gathering with Ned

Senator Cluck Cluck Bawk!

Here's a clandestine picture taken last night of our brave junior senator. This is why he couldn't make it to the debate.

(someday I may learn Photoshop, but until that day comes, I will continue to use LView, an old 16-bit Windows 3.1 utility...hey, I'm a retro kind of guy!)

A few more pictures from Hamden

These are more or less self-explanitory. CGG takes a picture of Ned in the 2nd image; then I offered to take a picture of her WITH Ned. She was thrilled!

CT Bob's report

This will be short, because it's getting late and I'm exhausted.

First of all, thank you Kirby for doing such a great job tonight! I still haven't seen the debate, but reading her amazing live blogging felt like being there. Absolutely fantastic job, Kirby.

You deserve 387,000 thanks! :)

I was driving the Kiss Float tonight. Taking it from it's secret location in a cave somewhere north of Patagonia, I drive it to Hamden for the debate. Along the Wilbur Cross Parkway, people were slowing down and gawking at the float. Then laughing. It's pretty cool how many people get the message when they see it.

I got to Quinnipiac U, but the guard wouldn't let me take the float in. I said I was here to support the debate, but he said he's have to call in on his radio. Then he called whoever, and said I was here with a truck with campaign literature all over it!?! (Just because someone's a guard at a college doesn't make HIM smart!)

Of course the radio replied that I wasn't allowed on the campus. So I turned around and went up to the debate-watching party place at Aunt Chilada's Mexican restaurant to wait for everyone to get there.

Around 10 minutes to 7, a bunch of cars with Lamont supporters streamed in. Quite a few familiar faces were there, and at 7 sharp they all went inside to watch the debate. I sat for an hour, waving at the occasional cars that drove by honking their horns, and my stomach started grumbling.

Finally the debate was over, so I called Caffeinated Geek Girl from Connecticut Local Politics, and asked her to bring me a menu. She said they had free food in the bar, and offered to bring me a plate. Her and Geoff (they wrote and recorded the "Bottom Feeder on the Bottom Line" song) brought me a plate of food, which I noisily gobbled down.

Then *xyz from FDL agreed to relieve me so I could go inside, grab a beverage that's known for it's hops, and videotape Ned and the bus arriving. There was a lot of applause as Ned pulled up and got out, and I followed him into the bar and taped him greeting the supporters and speaking to the crowd. I'll get some video up sometime in the morning. Thanks for the help, *xyz!

Tomorrow, Spazeboy and I will be taking the Kiss float on a journey to find the elusive "Chickenus Hawkus", which is rarely seen these days (especially around debates).

Debate Update

Update: Just got a phone call from Bob -- said there was great turnout at the post-debate party (he had someone else guard the KISS float so he could go inside) Ned did a couple of interviews in a private room upstairs, and everyone agreed this was the best debate yet. He will have video tomorrow, and maybe some stills tonight. To answer questions that have come up --

Ned and Alan were seated next to each other on chairs (not quite as high as bar stools, but they are close to the same height, much taller than Joe). Water pitcher, but I didn't see any of them take a drink, but easily could have while the other spoke. They were on the left side of the TV picture, moderator was at a podium in the middle, questioners very chummy behind a small table across from the candidates.

Good posture, but very relaxed. I can't properly express what a different tone and debate this was without Joe. While with Joe there is tons of tension and attacks, these two men, Ned and Alan, stood by their positions, talked ISSUES, and had a great dialog. Alan had a couple of jokes, including "The Lieberman Newsletter...oh, I mean the Hartford Courant..."

Only reference and totally inside on the Petty Cash is when Alan said, "If Joe were here, he'd have to take the 5th..."

Thanks for the comment from CTBlogger -- he is working on the video version as we speak -- check for it here later.

I thought it was great for Ned and Alan, both. For people who are undecided -- the absence of Joe really said something if you watched the other debates. WHO is negative???

Spazeboy and our Bob are in Hamden -- Bob has the kiss float -- he will be shooting video at the after-party so check here and with Spazeboy for more coverage from the scene.

If you liked tonight, this is what I'll be doing election day/night. Bob and I are setting up info central in the blog room -- same bat time, same bat channel as primary night. We will be literally plugged in to national and local results. Bob will do the roaming reporting with his camera -- but we may not post images when it gets hot and heavy and I want to post every 5-10 minutes. May just give you links in text to YouTube and Bob and I will go back later and add in the pictures of the moments to give it full context.

Also, we are working on an alternate blog site in case Blogger crashes. We're nervous. We'll give you the alternative URL Monday of where to check just in case.

Bob has his new computer and equipment with your generous contributions via our PayPal button above. We could use a bit more because we want to each get a wireless card direct Internet so we do not have to count on the hotel WiFi (bandwidth got a little dicey on primary night). We cannot thank you enough for your help!

Debate is Done -- Whew!

In the interest of getting info up ASAP, I typed and published. I missed some things, but overall -- a terrific discussion between two sensible candidates with very different approaches, but they know the issues and make sense when they talk. It was so refreshing not to have to listen to Joe whine and filibuster throughout. Alan and Ned have obvious respect for one another -- amazing how the discussion went back and forth and a moderator was really not even needed because no one tried to hog the time and lie and misrepresent -- in fact, when Alan had used up his time, Ned offered him a couple of minutes to continue the discussion, rather than a Ned monologue. I thought that was TRUE bipartisanship -- respect for the other side, not owned by the other side.

The reason for all the commercials in the beginning is because Alan was stuck on I-95, where there was an accident, so they held it up -- and it also ran past the top of the hour. So if you recorded it, you'll miss the last two questions and closing after 8pm -- it will re-run locally on Sun AM on Fox 61 -- don't know the time.

I will go back now and correct typos, etc -- please remember, this is not a transcript -- best I could do -- I'm sure video will be available by tomorrow.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE DEBATE?

Debate Last Q on Lobbyists and closing

Q. You each have former lobbyists advising each of you...

NED
Lobbyists corrupting the process -- used to provide info, now it's all about $$
I won't take PAC or special interest $$

ALAN
I may have lobbyists advising me, but Joe is indebted to lobbyists

NED CLOSE
People take a look at us and decide
This election will make a huge difference
Vote your heart, vote your conscience and vote for change
Tell your kids you were proud of this vote

Vote for afforable healthcare
People stand up against lobbyists, special interests
This is a land for the people and by the people, and I promise that for CT -- not special money
We're going to bring our troops home to a heroes welcome
My strongest obj to L is not that he is WRONG (lists issues) but when anyone stands up, military, citizens, vets, to say there is another way -- he always questions motivations -- dead wrong.

ALAN CLOSE
Please don't vote tactically
Lieberman votes with Hillary
Heard what's wrong from Lieberman and Lamont
I'll go to DC for one thing -- to make sure money owed to you gets to you
Soc Sec -- I'll make sure it is put away for your future through mortgages (like Ginny Mae and Fannie Mae)
No empty promise, like from Joe
I care about CT
I care about you
We are the greatest people in the world
We cannot throw these things under the rug

Lieberman not here because he would have to take the 5th --

Don't vote for the big money people -- vote for me -- Vote your conscience.

Debate Q ??

Sorry - I missed the question -- this ran past the top of the hour, and I ran over to pop the tape back in the VCR (no, I don't have a TiVO yet)

NED
I'm running against a guy who's been politican all his life
Three great candidates for Congress -- need checks and balances
L says more bipartisanship, I think we need better choices

ALAN
I agree, let's go to the next Q

Debate Q Mistakes, regret saying something?

NED
I can't think of something
I've loved traveling the state, meeting people,
Learning and listening is the most I have learned
Wish Sen L was here today -- for debates, town meetings
Every once in a while, I'll step in it, God Bless, but you know where I stand and we just move on.

ALAN
Don't regret anything, except maybe accepting this nomination.

ALAN's out of time
Ned: I'll share to keep the discussion going.

Debate Q Save Jobs

ALAN
Lost P&W, Lost Sikorsky, almost lost sub base --
We need to be more competitive
We need to have the best workers and the best production in the world

NED
Sen L has missed key votes to bring jobs back to CT
Long term, must fix transportation -- not bottleneck to NE, gateway to NE
Improve ports
Upgrade education system -- think pre K to post HS
Fix healthcare
Need the best educated, most capable workers in the world
These are the big issues to keep jobs in CT and to keep us competitive

Debate Q How Media has Handled Race

Q. Media: what do you think? Internet, blogs? Recommendations?

NED
MSM focus on what they want
Internet new tool -- new grassroots support for all people across political spectrum
Primary registered 30K new voters -- 80K on this election -- yes, driven by Internet
People want information -- go on issues not process
Too often media talks down to people
Internet does not get filtered by media

ALAN
Laughs
The Lieberman newsletter...no, I mean the Hartford Courant...
I got 1% of coverage as a major party candidate
Media decided this is 2 man race -- you voters should be like sheep to slaughter
Media needs to really re-assess
Rennie -- has re-assessed me over and over....or was that assassination over and over?

Debate 2nd Q on civil rights

Q. Penalties for crack v. powder cocaine posession -- at state level
Federal disparity -- slams people of color -- more people of color in prison than white even when more white arrested -- would you support changing sentencing guidelines?

ALAN
State problem, not fed

NED
17 & 18y/o go to jail for mistakes -- dealers set free
Schools shut down -- go home to empty houses -- how kids get in trouble
Need activities to give kids opportunities -- some hope, some future

Neither came near to answering the question

Debate Q on civil rights

I missed the Q when Bob called to say Ned is going to the viewing party in Hamden right after the debate is over!

Something about civil rights --

Missed Ned's response

ALAN
I don't see color or pander to the likes of Jackson/Sharpton -- bring about race divisiveness -- sorry to see that come in here
People of color particularly at risk from Soc Sec mess

NED
Country consistenly living up to potential
Invest in education
Invest in creating jobs
I believe in affirmative action -- Joe is on both sides
Provide all people with more rungs on the ladder

ALAN
Against affirmative action -- detracts from fairness

Debate Q Name 3 you could work with across party

ALAN
No problem, sometimes easier for me to work with Ds than Rs

Q Specifically name names--

ALAN
Haven't been in touch, could work with Chris Dodd for CT, could reach across to Joe Biden, since he has come to my position on Iraq -- presumptious since I have not been elected.

NED
I'll be presumptious -- I want to work with John Warner and Chuck Hagel on Iraq. They understand the situation -- they make sense.
Orin Hatch leader on health reform
Small business guy -- double health care costs
Bankrupt working families who go without -- bankrupting businesses
Many R remember their fiscal conservative roots -- corruption, pork, I can work with those people to bring spending under control as it should be

Debate Q energy independence

Q Carter said if our oil supply is threatened, we have the right to use military force "Carter doctrine" (Harris)

NED
Strongly supported desert storm 1 under GHWB
He did it right, was measured and brought our troops home
Carter did use that situation in the 70s to double fleet mileage standards and push industry to be more fuel efficient
If we can get from 28 miles per gal to 33 (35?) we would not need any of the oil we import
We can do better than this

ALAN
Only candidate to offer solutions
Tax fossil fuels differently -- biodiesel, ethanol, some cases nuclear
We must make sure we have our own energy -- second highest national security priority
Low gas prices and people will not conserve
Put in 2 tier profit --fossil fuels higher tax rate -- other alternatives lower

Alan has 5 min left -- it is 7:42

Debate Q Darfur

Q. Darfur

ALAN
UN is impotent with genocide there. US has responsibility for the world, we do lead the world this way, but we still have to care about our own interests
Corrupt people at the UN giving money to friends and sons instead of to reduce murder, genocide
About time UN steps up

NED
But we can do more -- moral leadership -- Clinton regretted not getting involved in Rwanda
Time for us to step up -- maybe together with the Arab League to bring real peace to the region and some real hope

ALAN
I agree -- Sudan in murderous rampage -- Arab countries nearby should be pulled in -- neighboring weathy countries need to step up

Debate Q JL Seniority and Committees

Q What if CT loses Joe's position on Homeland Sec and Armed services

NED
Joe likes to talk about seniority, I like to talk about results --
He missed critical votes (named them)
Gotta be there, gotta show up every day and do what's best for CT
We've lost 1/2 of our transportation funding
Want to get trucks and cars off the road? Mass transport, other alternatives

ALAN
Unfortunately, the more Joe is involved in DC, the more he deceives the public -- part of the problem
Got up in 2 debates and said money is set aside in SS -- just not true -- he lied -- I hope he understands no money is put aside -- Joe is one of the leaders who wants to mislead
If I win, we will rock the foundations of DC, we'll throw grenades and get attention -- repeal Congress pensions and force them to live on Social Sec that doesn't exist. Joe decides to tell you everything is OK, "stay the course with me"
I don't owe anybody anything down there -- only owe people of CT

Debate Q illegal immigration

No empty chair, no empty podium for Joe

Q. On illegal immigration

ALAN
We are a nation of laws
Must preserve our borders
Legal imm is one thing -- makes our country strong, my father an immigrant
Ellis Island kept people who would be a burden -- people had to have a sponsor
Seasonal program for seasonal workers in SW US -- Pay taxes, no SS, good documentation so employers can't hide behind faked paperwork and then workers go back

NED
GWB doesn't get it -- militarizing the RioGrande makes no sense when employers wave $10K checks
Got to crack down on employers who hire and take advantage
Enforcement way down under Bush
Data base for legal immigrants
Guest worker program makes some sense with a legal set-up -- part of our growth and part of our future
Can't treat illegals here now as villans -- too many

ALAN
Joe wants to give them amnesty
Ned wants to give scholarships
I want to give the boot

Q. Ned, do you want to give scholarships?
NED
Kids who are here (referenced his HS teaching) need to find a way to make a living and contribute to our economy

Debate Q Causes of terrorism

Q. Causes of terrorism (Rennie)
NED
Poverty, despair,
Need to meet force with force greatest military in the world
Go after schools that teach sectarian hatred
Taken our eye off the ball in Afgh
Got to complete the mission in Afgh to stabilize country
More human intelligence on the ground
Intel says every day in Iraq increases terrorism

ALAN
Antagonistic to West, and way we treat women
Put violence where their mouth is -- fundamentalists want our downfall
The world will bow to Iran and if not, we will make them bow (amajinadad said)
Starts when children are taught hatred from the start
Just like the 1930s when the signals were there, we need to take action
These people are serious -- we must hold tight on Iran

NED
Both Alan and Sen L believe we need regime change -- I think they are dead wrong -- we need to negiotiate, engage Iran, Russia, China -- idea of war in Iran will make the world a much more dangerous place

ALAN
Iran thumbed their nose -- if you think we can negotiate with that -- will they negotiate with us?

NED
Baker said not to confuse negotiation with ......
And he was right -- Geo HW Bush

ALAN
One thing to say they can't have nuclear weapons
Negotiate while they build???
Iran is different from Iraq

Great interchange between the two

Debate: Alan on Iraq, Q National Budget

ALAN:
I think we need a tri=state approach -- give self gov to Kurds, Sunni and Shiites, with national council to distribute oil revenue. Will help buffer joining of Iraq Shiite with Iran.

Even though Kerry doesn't believe there are many bright people there -- I think they have done a great job, and did everything they were asked to do, which is not referee for tribal warfare.

We cannot pull out -- until we have everything under control, political solution and don't leave until all worked out.

Can we please talk about national budget?

Q. Repubs control both houses and we're in the budget mess -- why should we send an R from CT to add to it?

Alan:
Blame is equal between R & D
4.5 trillion debt owned by Japan, China and oil producing
another 4 trillion unfunded pensions, etc
Ulimate hypocracy -- this congress passes bills and puts pressure on us, but never fund

Joe says it's not about dollars and cents -- you better hope someone is elected who thinks dollars and cents are critical!

28 trillion for Social Security

If you write a check to Joe for $485K, there would be no problem -- that's how much extra money everyone would need to make up the difference.

Credit to Bush for recognizing the shortfall and exploring options for SS

Enron guy got 20 years in jail for the same phony accounting Joe and Congress use --
Joe lies about your money.
Interested to hear what Ned has to say...

Ned:
Let me jump in
Alan is right that we are leaving 8.5 trillion "mortgage" on the future -- we're going to fix that, not privatization, which would take more money out

I do look at the R admin -- we have turned surplus into deficit -- spending side
look at thousands of earmarks -- transpo bill billions and billions -- written by lobbyists and snuck into bill at the last minute

$250 mil/day Iraq prevents us from confronting real issues --
Stand up to the status quo, stand up to special interests

Debate Live Blog Q: 5 yr plan for Iraq

Finally on, after 8 min of commercials. Shelly Sindlun, a decent local political reporter is moderator Joe Lieberman, a long-standing incumbent running for re-election as an independent declined our invitation.

Disclaimer -- I may not spell names correctly - sorry; this is not a transcript -- I am doing the best I can on the keyboard.

21 minutes for each candidate to talk -- if they hit 21 min, they're benched.

Questions from

Kevin Rennie (in the bag for Joe)-- Courant columnist
Rick Hancock, formerly of Fox 61 as a reporter, now dean of the Ed McMahon school of communications at Quinnipiac (yes, the same QU as the famous crappy poll -- and that is the real name of the communications school)
Av Harris of WNPR (might want to check and see if there is streaming audio there) -- CT Public Radio.

Q1 : 5 year plan for Iraq

Ned: Where was Joe for modifications? Multiple where was Joe -- but, he was there to rush into war
They're going to be there "as long as it takes"
Deal with Maliki hard -- 1 year to redeploy for the Iraqis to stand up and make the hard decisions
Listen to our generals -- they're all talking about a timeline -- that's what we need to make sure the Iraqis stand forward and make political decisions

AL: banterning before answering -- he got stuck on I-95 and was late -- evidently, that's why we got 8 min of commercials.

Opening Debate Live Blog

Waiting for the debate to come on -- the commercials before were the Lieberman bloodhound ad, a Nancy Johnson ad bashing Chris Murphy and a Fox61 news promo, then a commercial for Everybody Loves Raymond. Now a daytime show ad, and now Ned's Patriot II. There has to be a problem since it is already 7:04. Now another ad for the Sentra....

Live Blogging Tonight's Debate

Hi Folks, Kirby here. As far as we can tell, there is no live stream and no evidence of C-span picking it up. Probably because it features the two leading party candidates -- not exciting enough without Joe. And, exciting it would be tonight with the revelations today that people are coming forward on the street money handed out and the Lamont campaign filed a subsequent complaint today, too. I'll get back with links in a little bit.

Bob will be giving me the flavor of what's going on pre-debate and during the debate-watching party -- and I'll pass that along as well as live blogging the actual debate. So, if you know any other blogs that might have people interested, send them here -- will start at 7pm Eastern. Back in a bit.

Live Blogging the Debate

Kirby will be holding down the blog tonight while I'm up at Q-U for the Debate between Ned Lamont, Alan Schlesinger and ...

... well, we know who ISN'T going to be there!

Senator Chickenhawk, that's who. He'll be clucking around the state, pecking at the voters, while two MEN discuss the issues.

Anyway, if you're in CT (or have access to a Russian Spy satellite), you can watch the debate on Fox Channel 61 at 7PM EST.

Or you can tune in here for frequent updates, and the occasional comment from me on the ground at the debate.

Sec. of State Final Voter Tally

Press release from the Secretary of State's office today. We have nearly 2 million registered voters in Connecticut:

SECRETARY BYSIEWICZ: MORE THAN 53,000 NEW VOTERS HAVE REGISTERED SINCE THE PRIMARY

“This is a magnificent showing by the citizens of Connecticut.”

HARTFORD – Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz announced today that 53,447 new voters registered in Connecticut between the August 8th primary and the October 31st voter registration deadline. Secretary Bysiewicz had previously set a goal of registering 35,000 new voters in that timeframe. “I am delighted that there is so much interest in the upcoming election and that more of our citizens are choosing to register and participate in our electoral process,” Secretary Bysiewicz said.

This impressive number of newly registered voters brings the state’s total population of registered voters to 1,937,692, the highest it has ever been for an election for statewide office. Since May 1, 2006, a total of 86,124 new voters have registered to vote throughout Connecticut. (A COMPLETE LIST OF NEW VOTERS BY PARTY IS ATTACHED TO THIS PRESS RELEASE).

“I want to thank every Connecticut citizen who registered to vote during our fall ‘Shape Tomorrow – Register and Vote” campaign, as well as all of those who have registered in the past six months. The registration deadline was on Tuesday night, and we know that there was a flurry of activity in Town Halls throughout the state that night, because more than 4,000 new voters were registered in the final five hours before the 8:00 p.m. deadline,” Secretary Bysiewicz said. “This is a magnificent showing by the people of Connecticut, and it bodes very well for an excellent turnout on November 7th. I am confident that we will see more than sixty-five (65) percent of our voters come to the polls next week, which would be our highest turnout for a statewide election in more than a decade.”

New Voters Since May 1
Democrat 32,724
Republican 12,666
Unaffiliated 40,307
Minor 427
TOTAL 86,124

New Voters Since August 8th
Democrat 18,263
Republican 8,739
Unaffiliated 26,192
Minor Party 282
TOTAL 53,477

TOTAL REGISTERED VOTERS IN CT
Unaffiliated 845,390 (43.6%)
Democrat 670,034 (34.6%)
Republican 416,767 (21.5%)
Green 1,918 (0.1%)
Independent 1,485 (0.1%)
Libertarian 840 (0.04%)
Independence 729 (0.04%)
Concerned Citizens 226 (0.01%)
Other Minor Parties 302 (0.01%)
Connecticut For Lieberman 1 (0.00000001%)

TOTAL 1,937,692

"Mr. Lamont Goes to Washington" (redux)

The Lamont campaign released a new ad today, based on the "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" story:



Hmmm...I wonder where they got THAT idea?



I made this from the original theatrical trailer for "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" way back in late May, right after the Connecticut Democratic Convention.

(...and truth be told, I stole the idea from "Scarce", I think. We're all in this thing together!)

Register story on Senator Slush Fund

Senator Lieberman's undocumented use of hundreds of thousands dollars as "petty cash" is examined in this article in today's New Haven Register:

Lamont files an FEC complaint over Lieberman’s expenditure of petty cash
Mary E. O’Leary, Register Topics Editor 11/02/2006

A review of the use of consultant services by Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman’s campaign, which in turn dispensed large amounts of petty cash, raises questions about the practice.

Lieberman’s Democratic opponent, Ned Lamont, has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission over the $387,000 in petty cash the senator spent in the waning days before the August Democratic primary.

Political committees may make expenditures of not more than $100 to any person or for a transaction out of the petty cash fund and are required to keep a written journal documenting the payments.

By the way, this is exactly how "street money" is distributed.

The Senator himself wouldn't stand outside the voting place, handing people twenty dollar bills; his campaign would hire a local "election consultant" to distribute the cash to people in exchange for their vote.

There's no concrete proof yet that Senator Lieberman's campaign has engaged in this tactic.

The campaign has said it is under no legal obligation to release the journal and has no plans to do so. Lieberman also said their attorney has assured him that they have done nothing illegal.

Of course not. They are keeping their journal private because it's filled with questionable entries about payments, or they're buying time to produce a "new" journal.

It's obvious the FEC won't be able to act on a warrant to have Lieberman release the journal until AFTER the election. The campaign is hoping for a Lieberman win, and a Republican-controlled Senate, and then maybe they'll quickly pass a law stating that large, undocumented expenditures of petty cash IS legal.

But interviews with some of the people who were brought in to help get out the vote for the campaign in the two weeks before the hotly contested Aug. 8 primary described situations that appear to be at odds with some campaign finance requirements.

At least one man who was hired as a consultant, Tomas Reyes of Oxford, said he has yet to be asked by the campaign to turn over material for the journal, which would justify expenditures of $8,250.

The FEC requires the treasurer of the political committee to keep a written journal of all disbursements out of petty cash, including names, addresses, dates and purposes.

The campaign failed to make campaign manager Sherry Brown available for an interview on the campaign report and the status of the journal. Treasurer Lynn Fusco also failed to return phone calls seeking comment.

Nothing looks more guilty than not addressing charges like this. What are you hiding, Sherry? Worried about keeping your butt out of jail, Lynn?

Also, Reyes and another man, Daryl Brooks of New Haven, who ran a consultant service, said they each got one check from the campaign for their services, but they are listed in the third quarter campaign finance report as getting two checks, for a total of twice what the men said they received.

The report lists Reyes as getting two checks for $8,250, one on Aug. 4 and one on Aug. 15. Brooks received $12,200 on Aug. 11 and another check for the same amount on Aug. 15, according to the Lieberman report. Both men said this was inaccurate.

Whoops, there goes another 12 grand!

Let's see, at twenty bucks a vote, that would equal 600 illegally gained votes for the Senator. Compared to the campaign advertising costs of over $100 per vote received in the primary, that's a pretty good investment. And completely illegal.

The Senator is approaching $20,000,000 in campaign expenses in this election. I wonder how much "petty cash" will be unaccounted for in the final FEC report, due early next year?

Several young men, who were paid $60 a day out of petty cash to canvass in Bridgeport, said they were paid in cash for aggregate earnings over $200.

Rob Dhanda, 18, of Stratford, said he earned $480 in cash over several weeks, while Walter Ruilova, 18, also of Stratford, said his total was an estimated $360 in cash. Ruilova estimated there were about 30 teenagers working out of the Bridgeport office, each earning $60 a day in cash, over a few weeks.

Michelle Ryan, a spokeswoman for the FEC, would not comment on specifics of the Lamont complaint, but said "in terms of itemization, it is required once the aggregate total to a recipient is in excess of $200."

Right there is undeniable evidence of FEC violations. This is just one instance of the ongoing law-breaking that is demonstrated by the Senator's "campaign of corruption".

Lieberman answered an inquiry about releasing the journal, by pointing to his history of compliance with campaign rules.

"I have an unblemished record of compliance with election laws. I always tell my staff at the beginning, whatever you do, just totally follow the law. I’ve never received anything approaching even a fine," the senator said in a recent interview.

By that rational, if you've never been caught committing a crime, that means you can't possibly ever break the law.

This is the kind of reasoning that sank Nixon.

The size of the petty cash involved raised eyebrows with the nonpartisan Public Campaign Action Fund, which asked the campaign to go beyond the legal requirements and disclose the particulars of the expenditures.

"No other senatorial campaign that we know of has ever left undisclosed to the public a sum as large as this," said the fund’s board Chairman Pete MacDowell, in a letter to the senator this week.

He said the issue could impact future elections if the campaign found a new loophole and is setting a precedent "of opening up a serious breach in the campaign finance disclosure laws."

The more we let the politicians slide on these violations, the worse our system of government gets.

Take a stand and fight back.

Vote for a Change. Ned Lamont.

Joe's Priorities

Joe's party is called "Connecticut For Lieberman"...

...not "Lieberman FOR Connecticut".

Alan Schlesinger "speed round"

Last night I asked Alan Schlesinger to give short policy statements on some important issues. Here's the result.

And for those of you who ask why I post these Schlesinger clips, I have a few reasons.

First, nobody else seems to be interested in covering the selected Republican candidate in a Senate election. I have trouble understanding that. So I'm filling a gap in the MSM coverage of this campaign.

Also, Alan's HQ is only about 5 miles from my house. It's convenient. (Hey, I didn't promise that my answers would be deep or anything)

Third, I asked to interview him, and he said Yes. That's worth going over there, setting up my mic, lights and camera, and running some tape.

Plus, I'm a big fan of this Democracy thing that everybody's been talking about lately. It's cool.

So, if you're concerned about my giving so much space to a Republican candidate...don't. Read the header on the top of this page. I welcome intelligent discussion of the issues from ALL sources, not just liberal Dems.

Ned isn't falling for it

"No, really, just pull my finger."


Joe's a real scream, isn't he?

Joe's new TV ad

One of Joe's faithful Kool-Aid drinkers uses a sad bloodhound to find his spot on the ballot.

What he didn't know, what that Joe was driving his car.

(if you don't get this parody, first check out the commercial that plays on the main page of the Joe2006 website, and then check out Ned's recent ad on Youtube. Then it'll make sense.)

Poor dog.

Schlesinger on Lieberman's missing "petty cash"

As I mentioned in the previous article, I interviewed Republican Senate candidate Alan Schlesinger at his Shelton, CT headquarters.

One of my questions pertained to Senator Lieberman's $387,000 in "petty cash" that some people feel might be a slush fund for illegal campaign operations.

Here's what Alan Schlesinger had to say about it:

Voting machines "safe", sort of...

Yesterday, Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz’s office (and yes, I still can't spell her name without looking it up) released the final report on the safety of the new Diebold Optical Scanning voting machines. To recap, Connecticut will use these machines in 25 towns, and next year throughout the entire state.

The OS machines are "tabulators" rather than touch-screen ATM-style electronic voting machines; the actual vote is cast by the voter manually filling in a circle on a paper ballot, which is then fed into the machine for counting and tabulating. The paper ballot is the actual vote and serves as the paper trail for the vote. To see the entire procedure, please view this video:



So the Sec. of State's office issued this press release yesterday:

UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT APPROVES STATE’S CHOICE OF OPTICAL SCAN VOTING TECHNOLOGY AS SAFEST AND MOST SECURE

UConn supports additional procedural safeguards issued by the Secretary of the State’s office

In a report released today by the University of Connecticut Voting Technology Research Center (VoTeR Center), UConn commends the Secretary of the State for her choice of optical scan voting technology to replace the state’s lever voting machines. According to the report, optical scan voting technology is safer and more secure than any other electronic voting technology available today.

UConn also emphasized the critical importance of tight physical custody procedures to ensure the reliability and accuracy of elections. The university has reviewed and approved the procedures put in place by the Office of the Secretary of the State to further safeguard the election process. Finally, UConn endorses Secretary Bysiewicz’s decision to conduct a random audit in the twenty-five (25) towns that will be using optical scan voting machines on November 7th to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the machines.

The cover sheet of the UConn report has more sobering observations:

We identify a number of new vulnerabilities of this system which, if exploited maliciously, can invalidate the results of an election process utilizing the terminal. Furthermore, based on our findings an AV-OS can be compromised with off-the-shelf equipment in a matter of minutes even if the machine has its removable memory card sealed in place.

The basic attack can be applied to effect a variety of results, including entirely neutralizing one candidate so that their votes are not counted, swapping the votes of two candidates, or biasing the results by shifting some votes from one candidate to another. Such vote tabulation corruptions can lay dormant until the election day, thus avoiding detection through pre-election tests.

Obviously there are important concerns that need to be addressed. Bysiewicz’s office will conduct a random manual audit of 20% of the voting machines to ensure they are properly tabulating the votes. But they still need to resolve the issues of machine security, "chain of custody", and the validity of the machine software.

The entire UConn study is available at this link.

Doug Schwartz is a Lieberman Activist

There's absolutely NO WAY a supposed independent pollster should make a remark like this when discussing a poll:

"Lieberman, the once and future Democrat, is winning 73 percent of the Republican vote."

How is referring to a turncoat independent outcast as "the once and future Democrat" in any way an unbiased statement?

Where the hell is the MSM on this kind of obvious bias by the director of the Quinnipiac Poll? If you're going to quote the results of the poll, you should also address the fact that Doug Schwartz is a Lieberman supporter who can't keep his favoritism to himself.

Doug Schwartz is working so hard for Lieberman that he's trying to INFLUENCE the outcome of the election with his low-ball figures for Ned Lamont. How is this fair?