i saw ned lamont speak last night - and he WILL be connecticut's next democratic senator

well, it wasn't quite a speech, more stream of thoughts, a QUICK stream of thoughts

a couple of days ago my friend "s" (please note, i've invited "s" to post HIS views of the meeting right here on the nutmeg grater. we shall see if he takes me up on it or not) sent me an email saying mr lamont was going to be in west hartford on thursday night. it was being sponsored by democracy for america (well, an offshoot group of that dfa of greater hartford). i joined the group and signed up to meet mr lamont. a group of us, i'd say 15 to 20 met at a local west hartford restaurant. mr lamont was coming from another engagement so he arrived a bit late. he presented himself very well. he briefly talked about what got him started on his senate campaign (for the record he has not declared yet) then asked for questions. right before he left, he happened to sit down at my end of the table and the question i asked was, 'excluding the war, what do YOU feel most strongly about - regarding you and your family'. his first answer was he felt strongly about his NATION's health care system (or rather the lack thereof. i LOVED that answer because it is a passion of mine). he also mentioned education (as an aside mr lamont volunteered to teach a class or two at BRIDGEPORT HIGH SCHOOL a couple of years ago. that sure did make me smile), another thing i too feel passionate about (i personally think the lack of education is responsible for almost all of the ills of the world). then poof, mr lamot had to dash (he had a long drive home).
i liked what i heard and mr lamont has my FULL support and yes, i've volunteered already

the following email was in my inbox yesterday and i wanted to share it:
Dear Friend,
Since I said I was willing to challenge Joe Lieberman in the Democratic primary, we've been overwhelmed with notes of encouragement and people signing up on NedLamont.com. I've been traveling around the state too, listening to voters, and finding an outpouring of intense frustration with many of Senator Lieberman's votes. Democrats, Independents and even many Republicans desperately want a Senator who will stand up to the President's wrong-headed fiscal, judicial and foreign policy choices.
It will take an unprecedented grassroots movement in Connecticut, and unprecedented support from Americans everywhere, to beat an entrenched and well-funded incumbent like Joe Lieberman.
It's going to take numbers:
At least one hundred thousand supporters from across America to sign up to support us with a contribution.
Tens of thousands of people in Connecticut to sign up to help spread the word to their friends.
And I've promised I won't even begin this campaign until we have 1,000 dedicated volunteers signed up to work on a regular basis in every city and town across the state. (We're a little more than half way towards that goal right now.)
So today, I'm asking you to please forward this email to friends and family who you know would like to get involved. We need donors, volunteers and people who are just willing to spread the word up to election day.
Please ask your friends to sign up here:
http://NedLamont.com
Sincerely,
- Ned
PS: I thought I'd pass along this letter that has now landed in my inbox several times and been posted on some local Connecticut blogs...
_____________________
Maybe you realized Senator Joe Lieberman had to go when he voted for George Bush's war in Iraq. Or maybe it was for the poor job he did vetting Bush's FEMA appointee Mike Brown when he chaired FEMA's oversight committee. Or maybe it was his vote for cloture on a bankruptcy bill that will impoverish families unlucky enough to lose a job, or lose a wage-earner to illness or death, while enriching credit card companies. Or maybe it was his flirtations with privatization of Social Security and with joining the Bush administration. Or maybe it was his opposition to universal health care in 1994. Or maybe his flip flops on school vouchers. Or maybe his support of ruinous free trade agreements in Central America. Or maybe it was his countless appearances on Fox News, undercutting opposition to the Bush regime. Or maybe it was his op-ed piece in the Wall St. Journal with wild claims of success in Iraq. Or maybe it was his vote for the Defense of Marriage Act and his unenthusiastic support for civil unions for gays and lesbians. Or maybe his reluctance to condemn George Bush for misleading us into war, even though he loudly condemned Bill Clinton about misleading us about an extramarital affair. Or maybe it was his vote on giving huge tax cuts to oil companies in last year's energy bill. Or maybe it was kissing the President after his State of the Union speech last year.
Or maybe it was his vote yesterday to clear the path for Judge Samuel Alito to sit on the Supreme Court of the United States. Twenty five Democrats sought to have an extensive debate on the merits of a judge who would roll back Roe protection, a judge who is a proponent of giving limitless power to President Bush. Predictably, Joe Lieberman wasn't one of them.
Rather than stew about this loss, there is something you can do to change the way our country is run. There is a candidate, Ned Lamont, who is considering entering the August Democratic primary for US Senate. Ned is a successful businessman, comes from a progressive background (his uncle led the fight against McCarthyism in the 1950's), is against the war, against the culture of corruption and for turning our country around.
Ned will enter the race if there is enough initial support for his run. He has a goal of 1000 Connecticut residents who will commit to volunteer on his campaign. You can be part of efforts to take back our state and country by going to NedLamont.com and signing up as a volunteer today. Tell your all your friends, and your friends' friends, to sign up too. Can Ned win? Maybe, but only if you and other concerned Connecticut citizens get involved now. This race will galvanize Connecticut politics and garner national attention. Many folks traveled to battleground states in 2004 because they wanted to make a difference, because they wanted to change the course that the nation was heading. But this year, the battleground state can be our own. The difference we can make is right here. I urge you to join me and hundreds of other Connecticut residents to sign up at NedLamont.com. Maybe, just maybe, we can make a difference this time.
- A Connecticut Activist


_____________________________________ PAID FOR BY NED LAMONT FOR SENATE
info@nedlamont.com