SENATOR FINCH RESPONDS TO READERS!

Good Lord, I almost dropped my coffee this morning.

Bill Finch finally responds to readers' complaints regarding "the simple question."

Well, he sort of replied...

I have known Joe Lieberman for over 30 years. Sometimes I agree with him sometimes I don't. But he is a progressive with great credentials as State Senator, Attorney General, and US Senator.

Joe's views are nearly identical to President Clinton. Sure we don't know how Clinton would have voted on issues like Alberto Gonzalez, but they are real close nonetheless.

I believe that only a centrist progressive coalition can take back the White House, Senate and Congress. Combine that with my long standing friendship with Joe Lieberman and you can understand why I will support him wholeheartedly in the primary. I am sure he will win.

You ask me to comment on the unlikely event Joe were to lose - would I support the winner? I cannot conceive of either event.

I am not certain if I can stop supporting Joe. I will let you know a day or two after Primary Day.

Although it is nice that the senator responded, his answer is still confusing. Again, I'll point everyone to my original post regarding Finch's answer to the simple question.

Received this from Bill Finch's office:

Sen. Finch supports Joe Lieberman, believing that he is in lockstep with the democratic platform and the DLC 90% of the time, and that the 10% where Lieberman breaks from his party is on personal principle.

Now, based on this response, I posted the following and placed Finch's name under "undecided" or "on the fence"

In my opinion, this is about as close as you can get to being classified as a Liebercrat without actually saying that you're a Liebercrat.

Finch's stance on the question was never in dispute. What is in dispute was Finch's claim that this blog (and the readers who've called politicians and asked them the question) are out to "sandbag them."

From Senator Finch:

Recently, someone contacted my office to make an inquiry into a particular position of mine in one of the upcoming primaries. When my aide responded in a timely fashion, accurately stating my position, he was quoted on a blog as me. While I support the efforts of my aide, I would have appreciated the opportunity to respond to something that was going to be quoted myself.

The problem with Finch's statement is that in my original post, I clearly stated that this statement came from his office and furthermore, not only does he not dispute the statement his aide gave to the reader, he stands by the statement while attacking this blog.

Again, I don't really have a problem with what he said, he's a Lieberman supporter and he might feel that he's in a tough bind but, answering the question shouldn't be hard. What Finch (and others who refuse to answer the question) fail to realize is that this isn't about Ned Lamont or Joe Lieberman, it's about the Democratic Party and what is more important, personal loyalty or respecting the wishes of the Democratic voters and accepting the outcome of the primary.

For me, it's simple and I've stated this countless times, I will support whoever wins the primary as I feel that a Democratic majority on Congress should be our ultimate goal. Isn't this the type of response every Democrat should respect and admire? I (as well as others) want to know where our representatives stand on this issue and as Dan Malloy even stated, it's a fair question.

Senator Finch,

Your reply to the question was never in dispute (not for me). What was (and still is) in dispute is the claim that I (or anyone who questions a politician with this question) is out to sandbag them based on their support for Senator Lieberman. This simply is not true and for the life of me, I can't understand why people don't get it.

For me, it's simple, you do what you want to do during a primary but we all come together as Democrats after the primary is over for the good of the Party. Why is this so hard to understand? Why is this so difficult to state?

Why have people like Dan Malloy, John DeStefano, Richard Blumenthal, Susan Bysiewicz, Joe Courtney, Chris Murphy, Diane Farrell, John Geragosian, Peter Tercyak, Michael Cardin, Robert Duff, Tom Colapietro, Martin Looney answered the question (many of whom are presently supporting Senator Lieberman). They answered the question because they know the unity is supperior to any disagreements we might have. That's a hallmark of a true Democrat and the type of people I want representing me in Connecticut and Washington.

Again, while I thank you for personally clarifying your position (which again, was never in dispute), your characterization that bloggers and people who read blogs are out to sandbag people.

From the beginning, I've always tried to take the high ground even asking my readers to be polite in responding to your claims about me. I'm simply asking for the same in return with a simple retraction of your claim about me, my site, and the faithful, loyal, Democrats who read this site and are interested on the responses to the simple question which has caught so much attention, that the mainstrem media has picked up on it and adopted in their interviews with politicians.

Maybe you were pissed over the picture I used of you, Ernest Newton, and Mayor Fabrizi, maybe you were upset over getting dragged into anytihng relating to the senate race, honestly, I don't really know. What I do know is that your repsonse to my post was wrong and I'm simply looking for you to do the right thing.

I thought we were on the same team?