Ned Lamont Gets Sucker-Punched
By Ned Lamont! I read the reports of Ned Lamont attacking Joe Lieberman's criticism of Bill Clinton in a speech to the Senate in 1998. I didn't blog about at the time. I thought it was pretty cheesy, but it really didn't seem to be worth the effort of posting about. Until now. Joe Lieberman just released an email that he received in 1998 praising his speech.
The email was sent by Ned Lamont.
“I supported your statement because Clinton’s behavior was outrageous: a Democrat had to stand up and state as much, and I hoped that your statement was the beginning of the end,” Mr. Lamont, then a cable television executive, wrote in an e-mail message to the senator’s Washington office on Sept. 16, 1998, two weeks after Mr. Lieberman’s speech.
This is absolutely classic. Lamont literally shot himself in the foot here. He and his campaign know it, too.
Casey Aden-Wansbury, a spokesman for Mr. Lieberman, said that after Mr. Lamont announced his candidacy, the senator recalled corresponding with him, and the staff culled old files. She said the 1998 missive was the only correspondence found from Mr. Lamont.
Mr. Lieberman’s campaign aides pointed out Friday night that Mr. Lamont contributed $500 to his campaign shortly after the speech, in 1999, and did not donate to Mr. Clinton’s legal defense fund.
Mr. Lamont, who declined to discuss the 1998 speech when an Associated Press reporter asked about it on Friday, was unavailable to explain the apparent discrepancy between his recent remarks and his e-mail at the time.
His campaign manager, Tom Swan, did not address the content of the message, but said in response: “It is clear that Senator Lieberman would prefer to try to cloud Ned’s statements from eight years ago, instead of talking about the important issues of national security, the war in Iraq and health care. It is shocking to see that his Senate staff, at taxpayer expense, is spending their time trying to make up dirt on Ned Lamont.”
Who's trying to blow smoke here, Mr. Swan? Your candidate got himself caught out on this and you know it. Nothing was "made up". The New York Times has images of both the email and Lieberman's letter in reply. Ned Lamont hiding right now indicates full well he knows he screwed up, too.
UPDATE: Tom Maguire blames the victim. Michael van der Galien is even more amused than I am. Welcome to the big show, Ned.
Other Links to this Post
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CALIFORNIA YANKEE — Saturday, 9 September , 2006 @ 1:13 pm
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The Moderate Voice — Saturday, 9 September , 2006 @ 1:18 pm
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Bizzyblog » E-mails Never Forget, Mr. Lamont — Sunday, 10 September , 2006 @ 5:15 am
By Bill Franklin, Saturday, 9 September , 2006 @ 8:54 pm
Outstanding! Those 70 million dollars in GOP raised funds (presumably given by donors who thought they were helping the GOP) is enabling Lieberman to dig up everything he can on Lamont. That plus those “swiftboating” commericals for Lieberman must be making Karl Rove smile confidently. Whatever it takes to maintain the Iraq occupation! That all Lieberman is useful for anyway.
http://www.insightmag.com/Media/MediaManager/Lieberman2.htm
File this under “RightLeft-Wing” — If such a catagory existed.
By Gaius, Saturday, 9 September , 2006 @ 9:07 pm
You know Bill/Jim/Whatever you are almost becoming a cartoon of yourself at the moment. If the Rovian hordes funneled millions to Lieberman, where exactly are the records of the donations? That would take a lot of maxed out donors wouldn’t it? I posted about this, by the way. Pointed out the obvious, too.
And a Senator who is *gasp* can actually search his own files! My God, man, do you know what this means! Not everyone in the world is clueless!
Not everyone is quite this gullible. Sorry you are.
By Mister Snitch!, Sunday, 10 September , 2006 @ 3:05 am
All you gotta do to save the situation is invoke ‘Rove’ and the usual cardboard catchphrases, huh Billy Boy? Dream on.