Clinton Stumping For Lieberman
Former President Bill Clinton will be appearing tonight to stump for Joe Lieberman. The Hartford Courant is reporting that Clinton is expected to call for party unity and calling on the faithful to focus on defeating Republicans rather than trying to oust a fellow Democrat.
On the Palace Theater stage in Waterbury, former President Clinton is expected today to urge Democrats to redirect their anger over the war in Iraq away from Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman and toward Connecticut's three congressional Republicans.
Clinton previewed his message in a speech earlier this month: "If we allow our differences over what to do now in Iraq to divide us instead of focusing on replacing Republicans in Congress, that's the nuttiest strategy I ever heard in my life."
But Clinton's visit, while a timely boost to an incumbent suddenly struggling to stay even in a Democratic primary with an anti-war challenger, Ned Lamont, offers multiple story lines and imagery, not all of which will be flattering to Lieberman.
One of the scheduled speakers is Waterbury Mayor Michael Jarjura, re-elected as a write-in candidate last fall after losing a Democratic primary, a reminder that Lieberman is prepared to run as a petitioning candidate should he lose the Aug. 8 primary.
This is the Democratic party's biggest gun, it should be interesting to see what effect it has. One rumor I have heard is that there have been a fairly large number of Connecticut voters suddenly switching party affiliations (sorry, no citation, I can't remember where I saw that. It was more than one place, though). This could get interesting. Anyone who thinks the DLC wants Lamont to win is nuts. It's about the very last thing the centrists want to happen.
By curtis kreutzberg, Monday, 24 July , 2006 @ 7:10 pm
Herself just came aginst whinin’ Joe. Interesting.