Convention live blog

4:35 MALLOY WINS! I'll report more later. I'm off to videotape Malloy's speech.



4:30 Hartford challenge has been denied, votes stays the same. Final count is being counted now. I'll have video of the final count once it's announced.

Who's the winner? Who's buying dinner?



4:20 Waterbury challenge was upheld and now we're dealing with Hartford. Right now, according to sources, Malloy and DeStefano are now tied.

4:15 An insider tells me that after the Waterbury delegation is done, we might have a tie vote. Wow, this is insane. There is suppose to be a motorcycle show happening here at 4:00 and it's alreaady 4:15.

4:00 Waterbury is still in conference and according to some of the delegates I've talked to, Waterbury might be the city that till tip the balance in DeStefano's favor but not by much.

You see, Malloy wasn't suppose to get that many votes in Waterbury but he received a high number of votes. Oh, there's activity on the floor again...Dan's firing up the crowd while DeStefano supporters are chanting for their man.

Eveything is very confusing and I'll get back to everyone once I have more information. Word has it that DeStefano might not have the votes but this is a rumor...Oh no, now John DeStefano is jumping on his chair. This is nuts!

3:15 While we have some downtime (Waterbury's vote is being challenged), here are some scenes from the last hour.

Diane Farrell is psyched as she gets another vote for Malloy



Former Danbury Mayor Gene Eriquez challenges Danbury's vote submitted by Danbury DTC chairman Joe DaSilva.



Dan Malloy fires up the crowd!


3:05 Danbury's challenge has been denied. Waterbury is next with their challenge.

I've given up videotaping for blogging but CTBob is on the case.

3:00 High drama with the Hat City delegation as the Danbury challenge is still being debated. This place is out of control...I'm so happy I have a media pass. This is good stuff :-)

2:55I've named this picture CONFUSION. More later.
2:50 There's only one word to describe what's happening here...DRAMA! Maloy's people are REALLY twisting delegates arms on the floor and Dan is all over hteplace. No sighting of DeStefano on the floor.

2:44 Challenge to East Haven is upheld. New challenge made to Danbury's and Waterbury's vote.

2:30 Challenge has been made to East Haven's vote. No one has any idea on the count at this point and everything is up in the air.

2:15 It's a madhouse here. Genghis has it for DeStefano while I have it for Malloy by my count but now there's challenges being made and things are out of control. Having a hard time blogging due to all the confusion and the fact that I'm in the middle of a Malloy mob.

I'll report back soon. I hope CTBob wasn't trampled on my the delegates...

1:30 Second and third district leaning to DeStefano big time. DeStefano 52%, Malloy 48%.

1:15Voting is happening now. This is going to be close. According to Genghis, here's the count so far.

After the first CD: DeStefano 48%, Malloy 52%

12:30 Susan Bysiewicz wins the nomination over Norma Rodiquez by a wide margin. I'll get the numbers later.

John DeStefano press conference will happen after the vote is done. I'll videotape his announcement and bring it to you soon. The nomination of DeStefano is happening right now. Both camps are still twisting arms on the floor looking for every delegate vote. Oh my, DeStefano comes in with an entire high school band behind him. he can put on a show.

Now, Diane Farrell is at the podium now doing entering a nomination for Dan Malloy with Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez seconding the nomination. I'll report back soon.

11:40 Wow, there is a great deal of arm twisting going on here. The Malloy and DeStefano camps are working the floor scrambling for delegate votes. DeStefano and Malloy are also working the floor shaking hands and seeking votes. It's amazing to see these two camps work the floor and I think it's fair to say that this is going to be a long day.

Volenteers between the DeStefano and Malloy camps had a few words to say to each other and for a moment, things became somewhat ugly before security seperated them. Like I said, these camps are working hard for the vote and are taking no prisoners.

John DeStefano will be announcing his running mate soon and I'll update everyone once he makes the announcement. I'm hoping to catch it on video but there is no guarentees.

Right now, delegates are casting their votes for Secretary of State. Norma Rodriquez is challenging Susan Bysiewicz and I'll post the final count as soon as the voting is over.

Democratic convention Day 2

Day two of the convention and now that I have a better set-up, I'll be able to live blog. The convention hall is still buzzing over the amount of delegate votes Ned Lamont received last night. Wonder how many votes Ned would of received if the ballots were not done publically. One thing is for sure, the primary battle between Lamont and Lieberman will be very interesting.

I'm here with CTBob, Genghis Conn from Connecticut Local Politics, and a host of other bloggers from around the state. I'm sure between everyone here, we'll have every angle covered.

Here are some pictures from this morning.

We have a primary!

It's not a happy day for the Lieberman camp.

Sorry for the delay, traffic has been a problem and getting on line was a hassle but I'm on now.Here's the tally:

1509 votes count
Ned Lamont - 505 (33.4%)
Joe Lieberman - 1004 (66.5%)

I'll post more later. Man, I hate the traffic on I-84.

I'm off to Hartford

Driving from Danbury to Hartford sucks. I'm sure I'll get stuck in traffic once I hit Waterbury.

I'll do anything just to have better rail service in this state!

While I'm on the road, check out Connecticut Convention Blog, MyDD, and Connecticut Local Politics for the latest convention info.

Pre-convention live blogging

I won't be at the convention until 7:00 but Matt Stoller from MyDD is there and you can read his report on what's happening by clicking here.

Also, it seems like we're a go for the live blogging and all the local bloggers are on the scene. Between my photos, Bob, Beau, and my video taping, and all the bloggers reporting on what's going on, I can promise you that we'll have every angle at the convention covered. Oh, this is going to be fun.

Stay tuned! I'll report back once I get my credenitals and computer up and running.

UPDATE: Spazeboy has the first pictures from the convention and you can view them here. Nothing much happening so far except for the Hartford delegation bloodbath. Things won't get going until 6:00 and I should have my first report by 8:00 (hopefully). For those not in CT, you can watch everything over at the CT-N website (love that channel)

Why do I have the feeling that this is going to be an all-nighter?

Malloy picks Glassman as his number two

From Dan Malloy's press release:

Democratic candidate for governor Dan Malloy, Stamford's mayor, today announced his selection of Mary Messina Glassman of Simsbury as his running mate.

Malloy will make the official announcement at a press conference with Glassman in Hartford this afternoon.

"Mary Glassman has dedicated her life to public service, working hard to make our state a better place," said Malloy. "She has experience in state government and as a local elected official. She will be a tremendous partner to me, both in this campaign and governing this state, and I am proud that she will join my ticket as our candidate for Lt. Governor."

"Mary began her political career by pulling off a stunning political upset by beating an incumbent Republican to win an office that no Democrat had won for decades -- and I know that together she and I are going to do it again!" said Malloy.

[...]

"I have been impressed with Dan's vision for the future of Connecticut and by his record as Mayor of Stamford," said Glassman. "I am proud to join his ticket because I believe Dan Malloy has both the ideas and the track record of getting results that we need in our next governor -- and I believe he is the one candidate who can win against Gov. Rell and restore Democratic values to the Governor's Office."

Convention day

Well, today is the day.

I probably will not be posting much this morning but hopefully, I will be able to live blog from the Democratic Convention today. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Stay tuned.

Lamont's delegate count does not matter

An excellent post from DavidNYC at Swing State Project. Read and learn.

Connecticut's state Democratic convention begins tomorrow. The main event is candidate selection, which is done by a vote of the delegates. If any candidate gets 15% or more, s/he wins at automatic spot on the August primary ballot. Unsurprisingly, Joe Lieberman is trying to play the expectations game, making ridiculous, grandiose predictions that Ned Lamont will take 30% or or move of the delegates. To its credit, the Hartford Courant is aware of the shtick Joe is trying to pull, but I wouldn't be surprised if other tradmed outfits fall for this pathetically transparent gambit.

[...]

But there's also some very good news: Getting 15% doesn't matter. Not only does it not matter, it might even be salutary if Lamont doesn't hit that mark. No, I didn't just get fitted for rose-colored contact lenses. Here's why: Lamont has been working hard to get on the ballot via an alternate route: gathering signatures from 15,000 of the state's Democrats. It's an expensive and difficult process, but well worth it.

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.

Bingo! DavidNYC gets it.

DeStefano and Malloy invade Danbury

(This is a partial cross posting from Hat City Blog. Since the convention is fast approaching, I thought it would be great to show some video highlights of both candidates attempt to attract delegates at the Danbury DTC last week).
With the convention fast approaching, Democratic candidates are traveling across the state meeting delegates at the various monthly town committee meetings. Since both candidates know that in this tight primary race and since every delegate votes counts, it came to no surprise that both Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy and New Haven Mayor John DeStefano paid a visit to the Democratic Town Committee and each candidate made their case to the committee while looking for support from the public.

It was a rare chance to see both candidates in person and it gave the committee and the public who attended the meeting a opportunity to hear each candidate make their case get them to answer questions on a wide range of topics. If you couldn't make the meeting, don't worry because we recorded the entire meeting just for you.

Here are some video highlights from both candidates:

First candidate: Dan Malloy:

Clip 01: Malloy stump speech:

Clip 02: Malloy explains how he can beat Gov. Jodi Rell:

Clip 03: Malloy addresses health care:

Clip 04: Malloy tackles immigration:

Clip 05: Closing remarks:


Next up: John DeStefano:

Clip 01: DeStefano stump speech (1 of 2):

Clip 02: DeStefano stump speech (2 of 2):


Clip 03: DeStefano explains how to beat Gov. Rell (or DeStefano meets Lynn Taborsak (1 of 2):

Clip 04: DeStefano explains how to beat Rell (2 of 2):

Clip 05: DeStefano answers question regarding health care:

Chris Murphy's big night

Monday night was a big moment for Chris Murphy.

The fifth district Democrats nominated Murphy as the Democratic challenger to Republican Congresswoman Nancy Johnson at their state convention held at Crosby High School in Waterbury.


Addressing an audience of over 300 people, Murphy pledged to run a positive campaign against Johnson focusing on issues that are important to people in the fifth district such as health care and education. For the most part, Murphy's speech was very positive as he let the other speakers rip Johnson apart (don't let it be said that Democrats can't throw out the red-meat).

Murphy wants to keep on a positive note distancing himself from the negative attacks that have been launched against Johnson in the media. Although I don't see a problem highlighting the hyprocisy of Johnson nor do I have a problem attakcing politicians (it's pretty obvious), one must respect the way Murphy is running his campaign and hopefully voters will notice this as well during as the election season heats up.

I arrived several minutes late (I’m not familiar with Waterbury) but I was able to videotape all the speeches as well as meet with several readers of my site (sorry I didn’t get a chance to talk in more detail. I hope you all understand that running around video taping and taking photographs takes a great deal of energy and if I don’t stay focused, I’ll miss something). Although I was unable to get an interview with Murphy, I was very pleased with what I saw from the young challenger and I’m looking forward to covering his campaign as he travels across the district over the next few months.

Sadly, the mainstream media wasn't present to witness Murphy do his thing. Even the Waterbury-Republican skipped out on the event and the convention was held in Waterbury. As far as I can tell, I was the only "media" person on hand which is a shame since there are several newspapers in the area that could of sent a reporter to the scene instead of being lazy and picking up the story from the AP wire (look here, and here).

It’s funny how newspaper editors and publishers wonder why their circulation is decreasing. Here's a hint: maybe if you cover the news instead of writing endless feature stories, fluff pieces, and AP stories (which you can read anywhere), and focus on hard news and stories that mean something to your readers, people might buy your paper(s) again.
(UPDATE: I was wrong, the Waterbury Republican did cover the convention. My appoligies to the paper).



Due to events today and tomorrow, I not going to post all the highlights from the convention now but here is the video of Murphy's acceptance speech. Due to the large file size, the video was broken into four parts (if you experience any playback problems, hit the pause button and give you computer a couple of minutes to download the file). I’ll add the video from the other speakers at a later time.

Murphy acceptance speech part 1:

Murphy acceptance speech part 2:

Murphy acceptance speech part 3:

Murphy acceptance speech part 4:

New Lamont ad

Ned Lamont new ad entitled "Changing minds" is now avalible for viewing and you can check it out by clicking here.

So much for that Lieberman support from labor

Seems like the unions are distancing themselves from President Bush's favorite Democrat.

"I was the first union leader to endorse Joe Lieberman against Lowell Weicker" in 1988, says Steve Perruccio. Eighteen years later, "I'm very disappointed in his years in the Senate." Perruccio's 7,000-member Connecticut Employees Union Independent hasn't gone so far as to endorse Lieberman's Democratic challenger, upstart Ned Lamont. But CEUI president Perruccio says that whatever his union eventually decides, "it won't be endorsing Joe Lieberman."

Perruccio and his union of state and municipal employees have lots of company. As Democratic delegates prepare to endorse a Senate candidate at Friday's party convention in Hartford, organized laborincluding unions that have supported Lieberman beforehas largely decided to sit out the Lieberman-Lamont contest.

[...]

About a dozen unions, mostly smallish locals, have endorsed the the three-term incumbent. But Lieberman's in-your-face support for an unpopular war and an unpopular president has turned many working people against him, especially union activists.

At the same time, labor Democrats are more interested in unseating a Republican governor and three Republican members of Congress than in replacing a generally pro-labor Democrat Lieberman's lifetime AFL-CIO voting record is 84 percentwith a kinder, gentler Dem.

Paul Filson of the Service Employees International Union sums it up:

"Joe Lieberman's support of the war and many of the Bush initiatives and nominations have been bad for workers in general. That's caused a lot of consternation and concern and anger among members," says Filson, director of the SEIU's 55,000-member Connecticut council. "On the other hand, on many direct labor votes, Joe Lieberman has as good a record as Chris Dodd or any other Democrat in the Senate. So it's hard for the union to figure out what to do."

As a result, the SEIU will probably do nothing.

Oh Joe, you have problems.

Desperate

Oh, it's you again.

He was leaning the other way weeks ago, but Bob Sanchez of New Britain intends to vote for Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman at the Democratic nominating convention Friday, rewarding Lieberman for a diligent piece of one-to-one campaigning.

"He actually called me four times," said Sanchez, a Head Start administrator who had been angry with Lieberman over the war and skeptical of his commitment to Democratic ideals. "I had four conversations with him."

Sounds like Lieberman is running like a desperate man...and he should be.

Polls show voters are in a nasty mood, having little faith in President Bush's ability to manage Iraq. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll found dissatisfaction with the Republican governance of Congress - and an anger that might spill over to Democratic incumbents.

Lamont, 52, a former Greenwich selectman and the founder of a company that installs cable television systems on college campuses, is tapping into that anger, describing Lieberman as Bush's favorite Democrat. Lamont's supporters wear buttons picturing the infamous kiss Bush planted on Lieberman's cheek after the 2005 State of the Union address.

I can't wait to watch all the drama unfold at the convention this Friday. Word on the street is that Lieberman is pulling out all the dirty tricks to grab as many delegates as he can.

Tom Swan, the campaign manager for Lamont, said the depth of the anger against Lieberman is reflected in the effort the three-term incumbent has had to expend to win over convention delegates.

"I have never heard of an incumbent working as hard on individual delegates or pulling as many tricks to try to force delegations to vote as a bloc as Joe Lieberman has done," Swan said.

Oh, Friday night is going to be interesting to say the least.

Katie Couric is an idiot

Why am I not surprised. CBS, please don't give this moron a position on 60 minutes. She is by far one of the most clueless news broadcasters out there today.

ALmost 24 hours after Tony Snow makes a off hand racist remark (which was both notes in the New York Times and Washington Post) and Couric completely avoids questioning Snow about the comment while interviewing him today.

In interviewing new White House press secretary Tony Snow on the May 17 broadcast of NBC's Today, co-host Katie Couric allowed Snow's misleading claims -- as well as his use of a racially charged term in his first live televised White House press briefing -- to go unchallenged.

Although the May 17 New York Times and Washington Post both had reported Snow's use of the term "tar baby" during the press briefing, Couric did not question Snow about this remark. As the Post's Dana Milbank noted, "[o]f the National Security Agency's telephone espionage program, he [Snow] risked some loaded language: 'I don't want to hug the tar baby.' " The Times reported: "The tar-covered doll that Br'er Fox used to ensnare Br'er Rabbit in an 1881 Uncle Remus story is used as a metaphor for a sticky situation, but for some it also carries vague racist connotations -- it has been used as a derogatory term for a black."

Check out Media Matters and watch the video clip.

New Lamont commercials and new blog premiere

Ned Lamont launched his new blog today and the first entry is the long awaited commercials created by Bill Hillsman. As expected, these commercials are just great (I love Markos peeking through the window).

You can check out the commercials by clicking here. As a bonus, Tim Tagaris gives the behind the scene of the making of the commercial which you can view by clicking here.

Weicker: Enough of Lieberman

Fomer Senator and Governor Lowell Weicker wrote a stinging op-ed in today's Hartford Courant tearing apart President Bush's favorite Democrat while endorsing challenger Ned Lamont. It's a must-read.

The majority of Democrats say they support Sen. Joe Lieberman in spite of his backing the war, since Iraq, after all, is only one of many issues facing voters.

Hello! To characterize the most monumental screw-up of our times as "only one of many issues" is like admiring the theater marquees on Broadway with King Kong on the loose.

Iraq is a war based on falsehood for which thousands of young Americans have been killed and wounded. It is a policy mistake that has drained the life's blood of financial resources from all our endeavors here at home. It is the issue that shapes all other issues.

Ned Lamont has taken a clear stand on exiting this insanity. Sen. Joe Lieberman has made staying the course the cornerstone of his term. In his TV advertisements, Sen. Lieberman belatedly pleads for a civil dialogue on the war issue. How do you dialogue on a mistake based on a lie? A candid and wise man would have admitted his error and moved on in a new direction. Not so the incumbent senator.

[...]

I want to see brave men and women stand up with Ned Lamont in the days ahead and say: Enough! We don't want to be cast in the image of President George W. Bush, of whom Sen. Lieberman is so enamored. America is better than the portrait painted by this Republican administration.

I speak as an independent who has seen the two-party system corrupt itself to the point of irrelevance during a dangerous time in our history. Ned Lamont can start the reform process by providing opposition to a Republican Party too long in power. What is needed is Ned Lamont's voice for health care for all, funding for our cities, and public education from kindergarten through college that works for our children.

Tar baby

Are you fucking kidding me?!?

CBS REPORTER: Why not declassify [the NSA's call records database]? I mean, the President did talk about the surveillance program a day after the New York Times broke that story. This would seem to effect far more people and it did sound like the President was confirming that story today when he was answering questions.

SNOW: If you go back and look through what he said, there was a reference of foreign to domestic calls. I am not going to stand up here and presume to declassify any kind of program. That is a decision the President has to make. I can't confirm or deny it. The President was not confirming or denying. Again, I would take you back to the USA Today story to give you a little context. Look at the poll that appeared the following day [...] something like 65% of the public was not troubled by it. Having said that, I don't want to hug the tar baby of trying to comment on the program... the alleged program, the existence of which I can neither confirm or deny.

Tony Snow sure knows how to make the headlines. You have to see this to believe it.

UPDATE: For those too young to understand the meaning of the word "tar baby" here's a clue. It's the second most offensive thing you can say to an African-American. If you're still clueless, check out these pictures and maybe you'll get the idea.

Pentagon release 9-11 video

I don't know if this will stop the conspiracy theories or just raise more questions.

The Pentagon on Tuesday released the first video images of American Airlines Flight 77 crashing into the military headquarters building and killing 189 people in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The images, recorded by Pentagon security cameras outside the building, were made public in response to a December 2004 Freedom of Information Act request by Judicial Watch, a public interest group. Some still images from the video had previously been leaked and publicly circulated, but this was the first official release.

[...]

"We fought hard to obtain this video because we felt that it was very important to complete the public record with respect to the terrorist attacks of September 11," said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch.

They're two video clips and you can view clip one by clicking here and view clip two by clicking here.

Lisa Moody on the hot seat

Oh my, this is great television. Get over to CT-N and watch as Lisa Moody get grilled by the Democrats. Okay, maybe grilled is too strong of a word but it is amazing watch fall on the sword for team Rell.

Here's what the Hartford Courant had to say about Moody's performance. Again, it's better if you just watch the proceedings on CT-N as you can view the entire thing online (what a great newtwork).

Gov. M. Jodi Rell's chief of staff apologized publicly several times today for distributing invitations to a Rell fundraiser being investigated by a legislative committee.

The Government Administration and Elections Committee wants to know what role Rell's campaign played in a settlement between the state Elections Enforcement Commission and 16 state agency commissioners and deputy commissioners accused of illegally distributing the fundraiser invitations to subordinates.

Chief of Staff M. Lisa Moody was the only witness on the fifth day of the hearing. Most of the questions from committee members Tuesday focused on the events leading up to the fundraiser rather than the settlement.

Moody acknowledged that she gave 13 commissioners and three deputy commissioners invitations to a December fundraiser and asked them to distribute them.

It was not illegal for her to give the invitations to the commissioners, but it was illegal for them to hand them out to subordinates.

[...]

"I will never forgive myself for that," she said. "Having been through what I have been through for handing out invitations is frankly, in my opinion, incredible, but it was my responsibility and I take the blame for it."

Moody said that when she heard a reporter was asking questions about the fundraiser, she called elections commission Executive Director Jeffrey Garfield to find out if she had done anything wrong.

When she learned it might have been illegal for commissioners to hand out invitations, she said she wrote him a letter explaining her role.

"I frankly brought the complaint myself," she said. "I turned myself in. There was an investigation because I brought this to their attention."

I'll post highlights from the entire proceeding later.

Gore for President

I'll gladly vote for him as long as he doesn't pick Lieberman for his VP again.

Former Vice President Al Gore gave yet another vague hint yesterday in Atlanta that he might be open to a run for the presidency in 2008, RAW STORY has found.

Gore told a reporter for the Atlanta Progressive News, a nascent politics site, that he was a "recovering politican," but added, "You always have to worry about a relapse."

Oh, I'm crossing my fingers...

NOTE:Check out the trailer for Gore's new movie, An Inconvenient Truth.

CT-NOW to endorse Lamont

It all started with Lieberman making this stupid statement.

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.

You're a class act Joe. I'm sure you're now regretting making that remark as the Connecticut chapter of the National Organization for Women will announce their endorsement of Ned Lamont today at 1 p.m.

After extensive research and discussion, the National Organization for Women's (NOW) Political Action Committee (PAC) has made a decision about an endorsement for the US Senate seat in Connecticut.

NOW PAC will hold a press conference on Tuesday, May 16, 2006, at 1:00 PM to make official NOW PAC’s endorsement for the Democratic nomination to the US Senate seat in Connecticut.

Melody Drnach, NOW Vice President – Action, http://www.now.org/officers/md.html, will announce this important endorsement. NOW PAC will mobilize both political resources and grassroots activists in order to make a difference in this critical Connecticut Senate race.

UPDATE: Below is the text of NOW's endorsement letter (click here for .pdf version of the original letter):

The National Organization for Women Political Action Committee is pleased to announce its endorsement of Democratic candidate Ned Lamont for the United States Senate. The purpose of NOW PAC is to advance women's rights through electoral activity. NOW PAC is the only political action committee that bases its endorsements on a candidate's support of the full range of feminist issues, including (but not limited to):

• Support for reproductive rights without restriction
• Economic equality for women
• Civil rights for all
• Constitutional equality for women
• Affirmative action
• Elimination of violence against women.

Our endorsements go to the strongest feminist candidates. We listen to our membership and respond to their requests for action in races in their states. Therefore, pursuant to the request of Connecticut NOW, NOW PAC is endorsing Ned Lamont for the U.S. Senate.

Ned Lamont ardently supports a full range of reproductive choices for women. He certainly understands that reproductive justice includes full access for rape victims to emergency contraception. Ned Lamont recognizes that "civil rights for all" encompasses the right of everyone to marry the person they choose regardless of gender. He acknowledges that support of the continuing war in Iraq continues to decimate our economy and our standing in the world. Finally, Ned Lamont knows that allowing Samuel Alito's Supreme Court confirmation vote to proceed in the Senate has put Roe v. Wade in extreme jeopardy.

The stacking of the courts has emboldened those who wish to turn back all progress in the area of civil rights, privacy rights, and of course reproductive rights. The attack on Roe in South Dakota was predictable and a direct consequence of the confirmation of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. The strategy to pack the courts with right-wing judges who are committed to overturning Roe is no secret. Yet, Senator Lieberman is one of seven Democrats who have promised not to filibuster any of President Bush's judicial nominees, except under "extraordinary circumstances." Well if packing the Supreme Court with abortion opponents like John Roberts and Samuel Alito is not an extraordinary circumstance, then we don't know what is.

These are precarious times for women. We cannot be satisfied with a senator who votes for women much of the time, or even most of the time. We need courageous leaders who will protect and advance all of our rights all of the time. The winner of this election will have profound influence on national policy which directly affects women and girls in Connecticut, in the nation and throughout the world. We are confident that we have found principled leadership in Ned Lamont and are proud to endorse his candidacy for U.S. Senate.

Rell picks her new number two?

From the Danbury News-Times

Former state Rep. Michael Fedele of Stamford will be the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, The News-Times has learned.

The matter is not official yet, but Gov. M. Jodi Rell is expected to make the formal announcement at a press conference Thursday.

Two high-ranking Republican officials, who requested their names not be used, said members of the Rell campaign staff told them Rell made her final decision last week.

Further, former state GOP chairman Richard Foley said reports of Rell's decision were solid.

"It's as much a certainty as there can be in politics," Foley said. "If you want guarantees in politics, buy a refrigerator. I had a conversation with someone of significance involved with the campaign this morning about it."

Fedele couldn't be reached for comment Monday.

Remember

An excellent video from Scarce which brings the Iraq war into perspective.

Lieberman can't fool CTBlue

Oh Joe, what were you thinking...

“There are some who say, 'Well, I'm just puzzled by your position on Iraq. And I want you to explain it. Why have you done this?,'” Lieberman said. “Well, we have very good conversations. And I hear them. I listen with appreciation to both their kind words and their critical words, and I find that most of the cases, even when there are questions, people will say — and I really appreciate this, this is what our political system is supposed to be about — 'OK, I disagree with you about Iraq, but I agree with you on most everything else and I feel it would be foolish to not have you as our senator because we need you in the years ahead.' So, that's why I'm encouraged.”

He would be well advised not to try that line on John Wirzbicki.

Wirzbicki is an attorney from Groton, Lamont-committed delegate, and author of the liberal Web log CT Blue, which maintains an entire section of news and commentary under the heading “Joe Must Go.”

“I think that Lieberman essentially doesn't understand the people who are backing Lamont, in that he thinks the only problem that we have is his position on Iraq,” Wirzbicki said. “I think the overriding problem with Lieberman is that he has taken great pains to undermine the Democratic Party's ability to advance a message. He is almost always the first to undercut the Democrats by trying to support Republicans.”

The issue, to Wirzbicki and others, is one of Lieberman's perceived attempts to pragmatically align with Bush and the Republicans on some issues.

That includes issues on which Lieberman now appeals to Democratic voters for support, like the party's opposition to the Republicans' proposal to partially privatize Social Security.

You see Joe, you're not fooling everyone.

Meet Ned Lamont's staff

Great video courtesy of MyDD. Click here to watch.

Bush administration monitoring press phonecalls

The more we learn about the NSA secret monitoring, the scarier the story becomes.

A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we call in an effort to root out confidential sources.

"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.

ABC News does not know how the government determined who we are calling, or whether our phone records were provided to the government as part of the recently-disclosed NSA collection of domestic phone calls.

Other sources have told us that phone calls and contacts by reporters for ABC News, along with the New York Times and the Washington Post, are being examined as part of a widespread CIA leak investigation.

Be afraid.

Ned Lamont for U.S. Senate Introduction Video

This evening, Ned Lamont released his new video to the public. With the convention less than a week away, this 10 minute video introduces Connecticut voters to the Democratic candidate for senate and includes interviews from people across the state who upset with the performance of President Bush's favorite Democrat.

Overall, the video is a well-done, and informative. It should help those undecided voters understand where Lamont stands on the various issues that are plaguing our state and nation. Click here to view the video.

More dirty tricks from Lieberman

The Greenwich Time did an article on the Democratic primary for senate and I noticed this interesting quote.

Although Lamont could force a primary by collecting nearly 15,000 signatures of registered Democrats, he also could accomplish the same thing by receiving at least 15 percent of the votes cast by 1,607 delegates attending Saturday's convention.

Lieberman's campaign predicted that Lamont will force the primary at the convention by landing 30 to 35 percent of the votes.

The Lieberman camp is up to their old (Karl Rove) tricks again by inflating the delegate numbers for Lamont. Thankfully, Tom Swan caught onto the dirty trick.

"That's crazy," Lamont's campaign manager, Tom Swan said, saying Lieberman's people were inflating the numbers to raise expectations.

"If they raise expectations, when we do it, they can say it's not a big deal," Swan said.

You see, if Lieberman's camp inflate the numbers and Lamont gets a low delegate count (lets say 17), they can say that there isn't a need for a primary because Lamont has no support in the state. Between the shameless Lieberman mail he sent to delegates that smeared Lamont, and his latest dirty trick, it seems that Joe is very worried about the Lamont challenge and he should be concerned. Although Lieberman has the big cities such as Hartford and New Haven, Lamont has the support of smaller towns in the state and that can be a big factor come August.

"We don't feel a real connection with Joe Lieberman -- although he's a fine man with integrity," said Dorothy Grady, chairwoman of Coventry's Democratic Town Committee. "I don't think he represents our view anymore."

Grady also said she was surprised at the warm reception Lamont has received from party members.

"I'm a real liberal Democrat so I was surprised to hear more moderate Democrats in our town committee say they had a hard time or didn't vote for Joe Lieberman the last time," Grady said. "I was like 'What?' I couldn't believe it."

Lamont's support in small towns should not go unnoticed or taken for granted. Lieberman better come to the conclusion that he's facing a serious challenger in Lamont or else he can kiss his senate seat goodbye. Remember who comes out to vote in primaries (hint: it not the people in big cities).