The Microscope
One thing that makes it very difficult to get really first rate political candidates is the media microscope people get put under when they run for office. Literally everything one has ever done or said is picked up, turned over and over and discussed in detail. It happens to every candidate. And the attention can turn on a dime, from one candidate to the other.
It must be kind of uncomfortable for Ned Lamont to have to find that out.
Democratic Senate candidate Ned Lamont is having trouble moving from the small stage of a primary campaign with its appeal to partisans to the main stage of the general election, which requires the attention of the state's 2.1 million voters. Since the Aug. 8 primary, Lamont has done little more than repeat his opposition to the war in Iraq and carp about Sen. Joseph Lieberman's independent bid for a fourth term.
Part of the problem in getting to know more about Lamont is that he has no record in a public office that required him to take stands on issues. He is mostly free to make it up as he goes along. Lamont did get nabbed when he recently took a swing at Lieberman for criticizing then President Bill Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal. Oops, turns out he sent a rambling letter to Lieberman in 1998 praising Lieberman and calling Clinton's behavior "outrageous."
The public has to look at the fragments it can find of Lamont's private life to figure out what sort of public figure he would be. The man who seemed a fresh force in the spring is starting to look like a contrivance as the fall begins. Here are some examples:
Lamont, like all Democratic candidates, has been in hot pursuit of union endorsements. Lieberman snagged most of them in the primary campaign. Most, but by no means all, have stuck with Lieberman.
In his cable business, however, Lamont has not been so eager for union attention. At one conclave, Lamont gave the cold shoulder to Bill Henderson, president of Communications Workers of CT Local 1298, when Henderson had the temerity to suggest to the cable executive that he ought to let the union into Lamont Digital.
When Henderson, a Lieberman supporter, complained in public about Lamont's anti-union attitude in his own business, registered lobbyist and Lamont campaign manager Tom Swan called it a "red herring" because Lamont's employees are well compensated. But Henderson points out that unions aren't only about wages. They also secure better working conditions and the dignity of their members. Lamont and, suddenly, Swan aren't interested in the union credo.
There's more as well. These types of small things can add up. Joe Lieberman has endured the media microscope for many years. Lamont had it actually pretty easy during the primary. Now the media is looking a bit more.
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The Real Ugly American.com » Blog Archive » The Microscope — Monday, 25 September , 2006 @ 12:57 pm
By Dan, Monday, 25 September , 2006 @ 8:14 am
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Ned Lamont is a clown.By Dan, Monday, 25 September , 2006 @ 8:51 am
“Clown” wasn’t an acceptable replacement. You are twisting my words. Ned Lamont is a stupid face. There.