wow, i am rather surprised (in a GOOD way) by this

the state's two major teachers unions are going to back ned lamont!!! wicked cool is what i say. i also say, i'm so very happy mr lamont is making the liebs quake down to the bottom of his shriveled soul. it's absolutely time we had someone such as mr lamont represent the very good and very decent citizens of connecticut

2 State Teachers' Unions To Endorse Lamont Today By MARK PAZNIOKAS Courant Staff Writer June 15 2006 Ned Lamont today is to formally accept the backing of the state's two major teachers' unions, the first to endorse his Democratic primary challenge of Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman.A supporter of vouchers for private schools, Lieberman never has been a favorite of public-school teachers, and the unions - the AFT-Connecticut and the Connecticut Education Association - have not endorsed Lieberman in his three previous Senate campaigns. But the Lamont camp touted the endorsements as significant milestones."Joe has gone out of his way to alienate these groups," said Tom Swan, the manager of the Lamont campaign. "It still took a lot of courage for them to be the first ones out of the box."Lieberman's campaign manager, Sean Smith, said the senator is proud of his labor record and the support he already has received from 20 union locals, including Teamsters who recently struck Sikorsky over health benefits.By contrast, Lamont voted as a local official in Greenwich to increase the cost of health benefits to municipal employees, Smith said. Lamont served on local boards in Greenwich in the late 1980s and early 1990s.The AFT and CEA will present their endorsements to Lamont today at a press conference outside the Lewis Fox Middle School in Hartford.Sharon Palmer, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, said some union members were reluctant to go against the three-term senator. The union's political action committee recommended no endorsement, but its executive board voted 10-6, with three abstentions, to back Lamont. The choice was to endorse Lamont or no one, Palmer said.......