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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (75547)	8/6/2006 6:42:45 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 361168

A wild ride from obscurity for Lamont By Neil Vigdor Staff Writer Published August 6 2006 It's 100 degrees outside, and the Rev. Al Sharpton has just whipped a Bridgeport church hall into a frenzy with a seething sermon about the Iraq war and Hurricane Katrina. The Rev. Jesse Jackson picks up where Sharpton left off in front of the spellbound flock. Now it's Ned Lamont's turn. The Greenwich cable television executive survives this latest test of his public persona, holding the audience's attention in what might be a microcosm of his foray into national politics. He tells the churchgoers about being a Democrat who will stand up for them and bring the troops home. They oblige him with vigorous applause and handshakes all around. "Following Jesse Jackson at a historically black church? Old hat for me," Lamont said facetiously in an interview as he headed into the final weekend of his Senate primary challenge of Joe Lieberman. Nothing in politics is old hat for Lamont, 52, who received Sharpton and Jackson's endorsement Wednesday. Whether it's being called "brother Ned" by Sharpton, playing keyboard at a campaign rally in Willimantic, or looking into the wrong television camera during his only face-to-face debate with Lieberman, Lamont's ride has been wild. In six months, Lamont has defied expectations, going from obscurity to novelty pick to the cusp of knocking Lieberman, the candidate who came within a few hanging chads of becoming vice president in 2000, off the Democratic ticket. Lieberman's campaign has tried to portray Lamont as a politically inexperienced and opportunistic millionaire who has become a vehicle for liberal Internet bloggers and an extremist element. But the political novice enters Tuesday's primary leading the 18-year incumbent in public opinion polls, fueled by opposition to the Iraq war and President Bush. "We're five days away now. That's the only poll that matters," Lieberman's campaign spokeswoman Marion Steinfels said Thursday. With control of the House of Representatives in contention this year and a respected elder of the Senate in danger, the race has come to be seen as a plebiscite on the war in Iraq, thrusting Connecticut into the national spotlight as a bellwether state that many say could set the compass for Democrats heading into the 2008 presidential election. "There are a lot of politicians that are going to read the tea leaves coming out of this race and say the people of Connecticut think things are going well or the people of Connecticut want a change," Lamont said. He was cautious about his success, however. "Look, I feel like an underdog every day," Lamont said while being whisked by an aide between campaign appearances across the state. He has criss-crossed the state for months, trying to convince Democrats that his ideals are closer to theirs than Lieberman's. The senator, he said, has abetted the Republican pursuit of a right-wing agenda that rushed the country to war in Iraq, compromised civil liberties and gave tax breaks to the wealthy. "Hating the war and hating Bush have become everyday emotions, and he represents them a lot better than Joe Lieberman does," said Fred Barnes, executive editor of the conservative magazine The Weekly Standard and co-host of the Fox News Channel show "The Beltway Boys." "Senator Lieberman is pretty close to an icon in the Senate, and yet Democrats in Connecticut seem ready to dump him for an unknown," Barnes said. "It shows you how powerful the war issue is." A lifelong Democrat with an academic pedigree similar to Bush's -- Lamont holds an master's degree in business administration from Yale University, a bachelor's degree in sociology and history from Harvard University and a diploma from Phillips Exeter Academy -- the Senate hopeful is at the center of a referendum on the president's policies. Lamont has managed to convey his message throughout the state, from rural Goshen to the black Baptist churches of Bridgeport to his hometown, a GOP stronghold. "I think that Ned just tapped into this reservoir that's there," said Alma Rutgers, a Greenwich Democrat who backs Lamont. "Not just any candidate could tap into it. Ned was just the right person at the right time." next >> stamfordadvocate.com