We’re not neglecting “the green,” believe me. In fact, this is going to be the first place I post an entry about Ned Lamont’s newest commercial. I know Martin (and others) have written about the campaign several times, but maybe this is a good time to introduce the campaign, and myself, to the rest of you.
Ned Lamont. Maybe you’ve heard of him? =)
We’re going to beat Joe Lieberman on August 8th. And we’re going to win again this November. When the ballots are cast and counted, no one will be able to refer to CT’s Junior Senator as “George Bush’s favorite Democrat.” 
Hi. I’m Tim. I haven’t appeared in any television shows with Kent Brockman, but I have worked for a favorite candidate or two of yours in the past on the Internet side of things. Paul Hackett and Chuck Pennacchio, for example. I went to work for Chuck because I hoped that campaign would be the fight for the heart and soul of the Democratic Party. And while that one never quite materialized into all that I had hoped it would, this campaign in Connecticut is.
You see, everywhere Ned travels, the house is packed. The picture to the right was taken at one of our Saturday morning volunteer meetings. This campaign is not just about Senator Lieberman dissapointing Democrats time and time again, it’s about Ned Lamont — and electing a Senator we will all be proud of in Washington, D.C. The picture below is from a David Sirota book signing. The campaign expected about 20 visitors — 60 to 75 showed up. There was so little room, I had to step outside and snap this photo:
And while supporters of Ned believe in what we are fighting for — Senator Lieberman’s supporters mock us. They have litterally called us “weirdos” and “radicals” seeking to “terrorize [the senator] throughout the summer.” Senator Lieberman called our campaign a “jihad.” The choice of language and framing is no mistake.
But we march on, and election day is on August 8. Senator Lieberman has promised to run as a Democrat, but refuses to rule out a potential Independent bid. It will undermine the party yet again if he chose to do so, but I think we’re all quite used to that by now.
But back to Ned, the person, and the commercial linked above the fold in the image. In addition to being a successful businessman, Ned is a volunteer teacher at a Bridgeport, CT inner-city public school. Today, we released the campaign’s newest ad, featuring some of his students.
Students: 30 Seconds
(Quicktime | Windows Media | YouTube)
I hope you take a look at it, and if you aren’t one of those online already sold on Ned, here are some other resources you might peruse:
Bio
Online Resource Center
10 Minute Video Intro (produced by robert greenwald
Campaign Blog
Oh, I’ll be back. But before I start spamming ya’ll — I thought an introduction would be appropriate. I’ll be around to answer any questions you might have about the candidate or the campaign.
Tim
I kind of burried it in the post, but that’s alright — the introduction was more important. Here it is for the comment gazers:
Students: 30 Seconds
(Quicktime | Windows Media | YouTube)
thanks for the links and the diary. I think the Lamont story dovetails nicely with a series I’m doing here at BMT while I sub on the FP for Steven D.
We didn’t get a chance to meet at Ykos…but it’s nice to see ya’ here. Keep up the good fight.
Thank you, Tim. I’m really happy to know we’ll be getting front line reports from the campaign.
P.S. I just watched the ad. Love it! I also love that business in each ad of the people with him saying, “So do we!” It really smooths over and humanizes that usually rough spot in an ad. Kudos to whoever thought of that.
Hi Tim,
I’ve been following this campaign as closely as one can from the other side of the country and am pleased to report that you and the others on the staff are doing an excellent job. I’m not overly fond of most of the on line operatives and consultants but you’re the rare exception.
Tim’s a great guy, but don’t put him on TV because it makes him nervous.
BTW- Colleen, am I an online operative? Are you really no so fond of me?
indeed, Booman. Good point.
The problem with guys like you is that you tend to fail miserably at the very job you’re trying to hire yourselves out to do and then hold others (readers, voters and so on) responsible for your failure.
I’m not the cause of your meltdown here, you are.
Colleen, am I an online operative? Are you really no so fond of me?
I don’t think of you as an employee of a candidate, politician or political party and it’s only in the past few days that I’ve become aware that becoming one is a goal of yours so no, I guess I don’t think of you as an operative.
I don’t think I’d lump Boo in the same category as thereisnospoon who most certainly wants to become a DC power broker while crushing pesky little things like dissent and facts as he goes.
Boo did say that he would of course consider any job offers, as would the majority of us who need to pay bills, but that he’d want to know exactly what was expected of him and would ask questions (I have a feeling he’d probably ask them of the community as well) before making a decision. I don’t think that means he wants to become an operative, but that would be something he’d have to consider if the opportunity presented itself.
Hell, I myself, as liberal as all but the folks from LSF (btw, marisa’s posts on the whole affair are a wonder to read), would consider an offer from, say, Gore. Not Feingold mind you, I don’t support his “Iran is the real problem’ bullshit, but a Gore, yeah, I’d be hard pressed to say no. Of course I’d disclose everything, and ask for community input into how to proceed, as I suspect Boo would too.
But then again, that’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.
I don’t think I’d lump Boo in the same category as thereisnospoon who most certainly wants to become a DC power broker while crushing pesky little things like dissent and facts as he goes.
Oh, I completely agree.
Tim here has consistently been an example of ‘how to do it right’ in precisely the same way that men like spoon, RonK and DHinMI are examples of the opposite.
I’ve been saying for quite some time that I believe much of what ails the Democratic party is the exceptionally poor quality of it’s consultants and operatives, inside and outside the beltway. I mean Dick Morris is not an anomaly.
What was the difference between the two campaigns, in your opinion?
Why were progressives so successful with Lamont and so not successful with Penacchio?
Well, I’m not Tim and I’m not working on the Lamont campaign, but I did put in a few hundred hours on the Pennacchio campaign and I know a little bit about the Lamont campaign [surely not as much as many others here].
I think one of the most important differences is that the incumbent in the PA race is a disgusting, hated Repug and the incumbent in CT is a “Democrat” so if we, the netroots, lose in CT to the incumbent, he’s still a “Democrat” whereas if we lose here [I live in PA] in PA, we lose to a Repug. I think people are more likely to go out on a limb and take a stance where the outcome of the race will be a Dem anyways. People were so fucking scared of losing to Man on Dog, they [Schumer, Reid and Gov. Rendell] went looking for the biggest, baddest, most viable dipshit they could find and they found him in Casey. Rendell put in personal phone calls to the rest of the field as Casey refused to run without a cleared field and basically a 100% backing from the rank and file elected Dems across the state.
The sheer size of PA compared to CT is astounding. PA is a solid 8 hour cross-state drive. I grew up right on the NY-CT border, I could drive through CT by accident it’s so small. The Philly metro area has twice the population of the entire state of CT. The Pittsburgh metro area has about 2/3 the population of all of CT. In square milage, you can fit 9 CTs into 1 PA. Getting a candidate to all the nooks and crannies of a state the size of PA is insane, but Chuck went to 300+ events over 24 months or so; how he did it, I have no idea. Organizing across the state was/is logistical madness. I can’t imagine running for statewide office in places like FL, CA, TX. I think IL is roughly the same size as PA so I can imagine what it would be like there.
And now, we’re stuck here in PA with a shit choice. Casey has, at just about every turn, failed to differentiate himself from his opponent which should be a pretty easy thing to do. His campaign has basically become, “I’m not him, vote for me” and Man on Dog is so fucking crazy, it may actually work. If that happens, I think the country will be shocked [but not me] at his actions in the Senate.
Staff.
I dont know if you’re gonna see this answer, cause the diary scrolled into oblivion, but the short answer is staff… and organization.
Chuck had a hardcore network of supporters, to be sure. But Ned has no less than 7 field offices open and staffed everyday. We never had that with Chuck. For most of the time I was there, I was the only full-time staffer. That was unfortunate.
Also, money. Ned was able to raise that early seed money which the traditional media equates with viability — we were never able to do that with Chuck. hence, the media rarely took Chuck seriously, while Ned (by virtue of the money and staff, and eventually polling numbers) is taken very seriously by the press.
Chuck just needed that spark early, and for many reasons, Ned got it while Chuck didn’t. Of course, it didn’t hurt that some of the best organizers in the state jumped on-board the Lamont campaign early as well… including the campaign manager.
hope that helps.
Tim