Larkspur - you were right, I was wrong

[NewJeffCT]

When we originally had gone back & forth on whether somebody should challenge Lieberman last year, I was skeptical that any challenger (outside of a celebrity) could get even 1/3 of the vote in a Democratic primary.

You had been confident that discontent with Lieberman was more extensive than polls were showing...

And, obviously with the polls today showing Lamont leading 51-47, it seems almost a lock that Ned is going to get way more than 1/3. And, hopefully, more than 50%!

[Larkspur]

1. Thanks for the compliment

Now I can put out my professional political analysis shingle -- "Tarot Reading for Politicians and Political Junkies" </sarcasm>

I knew that if Tom Swan found a credible candidate he and the CCAG leadership would be able to put together a great campaign plan that would show how shallow Lieberman's support was. All they needed was money to go along with that candidate and Ned Lamont ended up being that candidate and personal bank. Swan and Lamont have done a great job of building their infrastructure. The bloggers have done a great job creating excitement for Lamont that led to more money and more importantly to Bill Hillsman, Lamont's ad maker.

Actually, Lieberman surprised me by throwing temper tantrums. Swan was smart in using those tantrums to feed his campaign strategy.

The only thing I was concerned about was would Lamont & Swan have enough time to cut into Lieberman's lead? Deval Patrick spent a year touring Massachusetts and building an infrastructure. Lamont didn't test the waters until January 2006 and he didn't file as a candidate until March 2006. I was worried that the late start would have Lamont come up short, but CCAG sure is a great progressive grassroots organization. Swan & Co more than made up for the late start with their experience, game plan, and capitalizing on Lieberman's self-destructive behavior.

The next 2 1/2 to 3 weeks will be interesting as Lieberman brings in a hired gun to lead his field plan and more hired guns to execute their field game plan.

[NewJeffCT]

2. The Courant called me today

I sent them a LTTE to respond to one by Al Heisler in today's Courant where Heisler criticized people who dump on Lieberman for being pro-war when so many other Dems voted for the war. The editor from the Courant called me in under an hour after I submitted it.

[Larkspur]

3. Congrats!

Let me know when you get it published.