Lieberman Campaign II: Once More, With Sprinkles

[Larkspur]

by Michele Jacklin, Hartford Courant's political columnist
http://www.ctnow.com/news/politics/hc-jacklinopedwedoct15.artoct15,1,1872165.column?coll=hc-utility-news-politics

In a presidential campaign in which the "flavor of the month" and the public's incessant craving for new and exciting candidates have dominated the media chatter, Joe Lieberman's brand of vanilla has seemingly vanished from the menu.

Howard Dean's cherry Garcia and Wesley Clark's four-star raspberry mint have had lip-smacking appeal, but Lieberman's plain-tasting vanilla just hasn't been a big hit, especially in the states that count.

Thus, Connecticut's junior senator found himself Monday in the curious position of having to relaunch his candidacy, even though he kicked off his campaign nine months ago with a small but healthy lead in national polls. Since then, Lieberman has been on a downward trajectory, overshadowed by five of the nine Democratic aspirants.

Most everyone agrees that Lieberman's early lead was primarily a function of his landing on the national ticket in 2000, when Al Gore plucked him from the Senate and made him the top vice presidential vote-getter in U.S. history. Alas, the only thing that distinction earned Lieberman was a return engagement on the Environment and Public Works Committee.
<SNIP>
I find it interesting that the only candidate whose re-announcement strategy worked was Howard Dean's. He did it in June about 2 weeks before his big 2nd QTR fundraising success. None of the others have made as impressive gains as Dean has with their re-announcements.