Blogswarm - Online Political News Magazine

On Friday, Connecticut Democrats said, "Enough." The Connecticut Democratic Convention was the first opportunity for an open vote between Joe Lieberman and upstart challenger Ned Lamont. With the process heavily stacked toward insiders, Lamont was expected to collect just a handful of votes. Instead, he shocked the establishment and won more than twice the number of votes he needed to qualify for the August primary ballot.

Ned Lamont has won the support of DFA members across Connecticut and now he's won a place on the ballot to challenge Joe Lieberman. When he's elected in November, Ned will oppose the Bush administration's misguided policies and he'll stand with other Democrats for clean government, universal healthcare, and a moral foreign policy. I urge you to join me in supporting Ned Lamont today:

www.democracyforamerica.com/nedlamont

Joe Lieberman has won strong support from Republicans. Vice President Cheney calls him "a fine U.S. Senator." Republican Congressman Chris Shays and Fox News Commentator Sean Hannity have both endorsed him. Even President Bush loves Lieberman—there are rumors he has been considered for a post in Bush's cabinet. Is that the kind of Democrat that we want in Washington?

Ned Lamont won't have any Washington Republicans fighting for him. He's only going to win through thousands of grassroots donations from DFA members like you. We need to show Ned that the grassroots will stand with him. With your help, our goal is to raise $25,000 from 500 donors today. Can you make a donation of $100, $50, or even $25 to make it happen?

www.democracyforamerica.com/nedlamont

Ned will be a progressive voice in the Senate. He'll speak out against the destructive Bush administration policies that threaten our moral and economic future, our civil liberties, and our nation's security. He has opposed the Iraq War since the beginning and he'll advocate a new direction in Iraq. Let's make it happen.

The official statement reads:

“Ned Lamont has been loud and clear about America’s position in Iraq and world affairs, one of the most important concerns for voters,” said Jim Dean, Chair for Democracy for America. “Senator Lieberman has been a broken record supporting broken policies.”

Democracy for America will help raise money, media, and volunteers for Lamont’s campaign from across the nation.

Expect more whinning from the DLC...

I just got back from volunteering for Jon Tester. Lit drops are nice because they’re quick. One of the reasons they’re not as great as other forms of field work, though, is the limited voter contact. As a result, few direct conversations with voters happen.

Still, things looked good today. The neighborhood where I was had more than twice as many Tester lawn signs for every Morrison sign. I had several people hand my lit back because they had either already voted for Tester or knew they would be and they wanted me to spread the word to someone who was still undecided.

One man came running out of his house after he saw what I’d left in his door, asked for two yard signs, made a contribution, and then told me that he was glad to finally see an honest man running for office.

A few houses later, a woman gardening told me that she had grown up in Havre and that she trusted “a good hi-line boy” like Tester to do right by Montana just like the Governor is. She also took a sign (even better, she’s on a corner house) after telling me that she had already voted for Jon and that her friends were all doing the same.

A couple blocks down the road, a highway patrol officer working in his garage told me to keep the literature, that he knew Jon, and that everyone in the house was already voting for him.

These four principles guide my health care policy:

• I support affordable health care for all Montanans and Americans
• We must ensure families have choice in doctors and plans
• We must control costs of health care
• We must use more preventive care to improve health and control costs

In the 2005 Montana Legislature, here’s what we did:

• Passed a comprehensive prescription drug program that provides more prescription drug coverage to Montana seniors – Big Sky Rx. We took on the big pharmaceutical companies and created a good program that benefits Montanans. I worked closely with AARP to pass this legislation and enact one of the most comprehensive state prescription drug programs in the country.
• We fully funded the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
• We provided tax credits and pooling to small business to provide health insurance to their employees. We worked with State Auditor John Morrison, Governor Brian Schweitzer and Democrats and Republicans in the 2005 Montana Legislature to pass this measure to help small business across the state.
• In 2005 we increased provider rates to improve health care accessibility.

I will take that leadership to the federal level. Here is what I plan to do in the U.S. Senate:

• We must fix the Medicare Prescription Drug Program

–Simplify the Medicare Prescription Drug Program so seniors can make wise choices

–We should allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices to cut drug costs

–Provide more federal resources so counselors can help seniors with the complicated program

• I intend to expand the successful Children’s Health Insurance Program to all children under 18. This federal-state program works.
• I will staunchly protect Medicare, Medicaid, and the Indian Health Service from federal cuts.
• As we did in Montana, we must provide tax credits to businesses that provide health care to workers.
• We must invest in preventive care to improve health and control costs.
• We must ensure state regulation of insurance because some, like Senator Conrad Burns, want to allow cuts in health care benefits to families and workers through federal control of health insurance.
• We must invest in public health infrastructure because it is a first line of defense in health and our national security. The federal, state and local governments must work together to ensure a strong public health infrastructure.
• Like Montana, we must ensure gender equity in insurance. That is why I asked the Montana Attorney General to rule on whether contraceptives for women must be covered under Montana health insurance plans. The Attorney General agreed. I will advocate for gender equity in insurance at the federal level as well.

While it would be terrific if Lamont got 15%, and extraordinary if he did hit 30%, we need to be realistic here. Lieberman has been an institution in CT politics for decades. There is a tremendous amount of pressure to support him. Anyone interested in a future in Connecticut politics has to realize that if they back Lamont and Lamont loses, they'll be pariahs for as long as Lieberman is alive. Backing Joe is the safe move. Remember, we're talking about Democrats here - these are not the people who are usually inclined to ever take risks.

Could losing the convention vote be good news?

When you have to petition to get on the ballot, that does two things for you. First, you're forced to ramp up your field operation early. That means you've got a bigger volunteer base, more experienced campaign workers, and a field team that runs like a proverbial well-oiled machine months ahead of schedule. Second, you get the names of tons and tons of supporters. The law requires 15K sigs, but because of the inevitable challenges and invalid names, you generally want about twice that. And psychological research shows that the mere act of getting people to sign a statement of support (which is what a petition is) makes it much more likely that they'll continue in that support at a later time.

Successfully petitioning to get on the ballot would also be a nice feather in Lamont's cap because it would be the first time any major-party statewide candidate has done that in CT. Connecticut used to not have a petition process at all - you had to get 15% at a convention or you were out of luck. That system was recently ruled unconstitutional, so Lamont could make a little bit of history here.

Lieberman said he believes hospitals that refuse to give contraceptives to rape victims for "principled reasons" shouldn't be forced to do so.

"In Connecticut, it shouldn't take more than a short ride to get to another hospital," he said.