i was unable to attend ned lamont's declaration speech on monday

(due to circumstances beyond freedom and dignity) BUT he did it, he's in the running!
ned lamont

Lamont Opens Senate Fight Calls Lieberman `Republican Lite'
By MARK PAZNIOKAS Courant Staff Writer March 14 2006
Ending two months of exploratory campaigning, Ned Lamont debuted Monday as a full-fledged challenger to Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, promising a debate on the war in Iraq and a fight for the soul of the Democratic Party.Lamont, 52, a Greenwich cable television entrepreneur with deep pockets and liberal politics, promised a hard challenge from the left for a Democratic nomination that has gone to Lieberman without opposition since 1988.Lieberman's support for invading Iraq may be the catalyst for a challenge to a three-term incumbent whose candidacy he once supported financially, but Lamont said his differences with the senator go deeper than the war.He described Lieberman - an iconic politician who was the first Jew on a presidential ticket as the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000 - as a "Republican Lite" and "George Bush's favorite Democrat," too cozy with the GOP and too distant from his Democratic roots."We're going to fight for the heart and soul of the Democratic Party," Lamont told more than 100 supporters at the Old State House. "With your passion, your enthusiasm, the grass roots, the Net roots - we're going to show people on a hot day in August that we can win. We can win not by being Republican Lite, but by being proud Democrats."A primary would be held Aug. 8. Lamont is expected to qualify for it easily, either by winning support from 15 percent of the delegates to a nominating convention May 20 or by gathering signatures from 2 percent of registered Democrats.Lieberman's campaign monitored the announcement and quickly accused Lamont of negative campaigning, signaling that the senator views Lamont as a serious threat in a Democratic primary, where the voters tend to be liberal........