Wednesday, August 02, 2006

If a Campaign Fell Apart and No One was Around to Hear...

According to LamontBlog, no one is showing up for Lieberman's farewell "Tomorrow" tour. Actually, based on several reports from blogs and newspapers I've read, this is quite true. Lieberman isn't encountering big crowds, or attracting hordes of cheering supporters to his rallies.

The New Haven Independent reports on a rally in New Haven which seems to be about par for the course:
Joe Lieberman failed to attract even a dozen genuine neighborhood supporters to an anemic reelection campaign rally in his New Haven hometown's Dixwell section Monday. (Bass


This could be because the Lieberman campaign is operating the Diners of Connecticut "Tomorrow" tour under an odd cloud of secrecy. They aren't posting the information on Lieberman's official website. Most campaigns have an extensive events section on their sites, because, well, they'd like people to attend their events. Lieberman's campaign has avoided doing this, probably because they're desperately hoping that those guys with the truck won't show up (they do anyway).

In fact, the schedule isn't even released to the media until the day before. Usually there is less than 24 hours' notice. The schedule rarely gets published in local or state papers, so even if Lieberman supporters who weren't tipped off ahead of time wanted to go to these events, they would have a difficult time finding out where and when they were happening.

It's a bizarre way to run a tour that is supposed to be Lieberman's final burst of sustained campaigning. This tour is supposed to get him back in the race. If anything, it's going out of its way to try to avoid the primary altogether.

Which may be the point. The Lieberman campaign may just be trying to get past August 8th, win or lose, so they can concentrate on the general election. Depending on how bad the polls are for them (we'll see tomorrow when Quinnipiac releases it's latest), a primary victory may be out of the question anyway. Petition gathering has quietly been stepping up, and although the campaign denies it, preparations for an independent run must be underway.

In any case, the bus tour will continue today in southern Connecticut. If you want Lieberman's schedule, ConnecticutBLOG has graciously posted it for you.

Source

Bass, Paul. "Lieberman 'Rallies' Dixwell." New Haven Independent 31 July, 2006.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Word in New Haven is that DeStefano's campaign is polling the race at within 5 or 6 pts, and they're completely panicking. As they probably should be.

Anonymous said...

If LaMont wins on AUgust 8th, what does that mean for close state house and state senate races in CT? Will it help R's by keeping people off one line or will it hurt R's by bringing more D's out in the General Election? THoughts, comments?

are there ever any close State Senate races out there? I know there are a few close House one? Seems like a good year for Incumbents. Many good candidates (challenegers) waited to run I think until 2008 when public financing comes into play?

Anonymous said...

Destefano's Walmart commercial comparing Malloy and Bush is laughable.. and proves that his internals are much closer than the 20 points he claims they are. And my father has gotten numerous calls from local doctors praising Destefano's health care programs and slamming Malloy's. Desperate campaigns do desperate things. Funny part about all of this, my father's a republican.

David said...

I would once again ask both Malloy & DeStefano to tone down the attack mail/TV ads. Some of Malloy's mail pieces are unduly harsh - DeStefano's photo in red, scary type font, shrill rhetoric. I do think there is a legitimate criticism of DeStefano's New Haven Administration and some of his policies, but Malloy needs to be able to unite the Democrats AFTER the primary to have any shot of beating Rell. DeStefano should also heed these observations - winning the battle (primary) and setting yourself up to lose the war (general election) is not the right strategy.

GMR said...

Lots of wildcards about who is helped and who is hurt down the ticket if Lamont wins the primary and Lieberman runs as an Indy.

Turnout: Has to favor the Democrats. All the Joe folks and all the Ned folks will be there. Presumably, both camps will lean more D than R in down ticket races.

Fundraising: Definitely a Republican edge, but probably not that huge, since both Lieberman and Lamont are raising a lot of money out of state. This may be a more national thing than a local thing.

Straight Ticket. Helps Republicans. Many Dems will vote for Rell and some of those will vote for Lieberman. Will they then move to Line B for the rest?

Volunteers. Probably the biggest Republican advantage. All the dem grassroots people will be working on Ned's and Joe's campaign, and so State Senate candidates will have a hard time finding candidates.

TV Ad Time. TV stations win big time, as Ned and Joe buy up lots of TV slots. Since down races don't use TV, this doesn't affect them. But locally and nationally, don't expect the governor's race or other races to get much attention.

National Reputation. Out of state, Dems will look crazy. This huge infighting cannot be good for them. Various Democratic senators will campaign for Joe, others for Lamont. If the Republicans can highlight this, that could make the Democrats look like they've got no central agenda. Will a pullout from Iraq become the new litmus test?

After November: If Lieberman wins, Republicans will constantly mention that Dems can't trust their own party members. If Lamont wins, the purge is on!

Anonymous said...

The late announcements plus the tour's title are causing them a problem: everyone's showing up to his events 24 hours late.

Oxford County Liberals said...

I'm curious about the "purge" meme. I dont see anyone mentioning there being a purge of liberal senators vis-a-vs the Akaka primary in Hawaii. His oppoennt is considered a more conservative Dem, yet no one is making a hue and cry over that.

GMR said...

If Lieberman loses the general and Lamont is elected, that's going to give DailyKos a huge boost (current record is something like 0-12). Don't think that they'll be targeting every Democrat who even pays lip service to working with Republicans on anything.

Anonymous said...

Bluecoat -
Since you are a Destefano supporter, I am surprised that you would want to dig into the past, and question a candidate's past reputation. It is obvious both campaigns have turned negative, but I think Malloy's team has been generous in not focusing on a certain LCI loan scandal, among other past misdeeds.

"Indeed, incidents of corruption, or at least dubious legitimacy, characterize the DeStefano administration. Lowlights include the mayor's choice of a housing inspector who, within a year, was accused of larceny and accepting a bribe, a missing $2.3 million of city housing money that has never been accounted for, a salary paid to his ally, the Reverend Bosie Kimber, though there is no paperwork proving any work was ever completed, and a slew of shady loans to entities already owing the city money. The most shocking of these was the loan to Joe Nacca, a businessman to whom no bank would lend money because he was convicted of a felony and risked going to jail in the immediate future."
http://www.yaleherald.com/archive/xxvi/9.4.98/news/scandals.html

Anonymous said...

Hey chris mc, come out come out where ever you.

Now that I have received at least one "negative" Malloy mailer and seen a negative TV commercial, where for the first time in US political campaign history a candidate has stooped to the incredible low of dressing his male opponent in a dress (not that there's anything wrong with that!), I thought it would be a good time to review some of your greatest hits!

So here they are, in no particular order (and my apologies to Letterman for not doing a Top 10 List).

#1 "Look at Malloy's campaign commercials and strategy. Its all positive."

#2 "The Malloy campaign hasn't resorted to attack ads, and Cooney's now stated flat out that, whatever actually happened, there is no push polling coming out of their campaign nor anybody supporting Malloy."

#3 "Nothing out of the Malloy campaign has been negative. They have been srupulous with their message and tactics."

#4 "Malloy's campaign has been anything but 101, and it has been entirely positive."

#5 "Malloy and Cooney have run a remarkably effective campaign and kept their eye on the prize in November, making every effort to avoid alienating DeStefano supporters whom they know are allies come August 9."

#6 "That they continue to do that when some polling suggests their opponent is substantially ahead demonstrates their professional integrity and discipline, and is entirely consistent with these guys as individuals as well."

#7 "By contrast, Malloy's campaign has been above board and impeccably ethical. The choice between these two gets clearer every day."

We await your response.

P.S. Please don't fall back on the "he started it first" excuse. Maybe JDS did start it, maybe not. Regardless, a campaign of "integrity and discipline" and one that "is entirely consistent with these guys as individuals as well" would not resort to this stuff, would it? Certainly, a campaign that is "above board and impeccably ethical" wouldn't do this, would they?

Maybe Sam G. made this up too!

Genghis Conn said...

nd seen a negative TV commercial, where for the first time in US political campaign history a candidate has stooped to the incredible low of dressing his male opponent in a dress

?

Haven't seen this. Link?

Genghis Conn said...

And it's got DeStefano in a dress? ...Wow. This I have to see.

Anonymous said...

Obviously the Malloy talking points have not been distributed by Roy O yet or we would have heard from his "supporters" about how the ad is not negative and that JDS really started all of this.

Anonymous said...

Bluecoat,
I apologize for wrongly assuming that you are a Destefano supporter. That was my first post. If I participate again, I will not make the same mistake. As for Malloy's Brooklyn DA past, I only know what I learned from a recent Connecticut Post article. "As an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn from 1980 to 1984, Malloy tried 23 felony cases and won 22 convictions."

Anonymous said...

The DeStefano campaign is doomed has been from day one they have no campaign management,Their Press Secretary what a putz he should of stayed at Channel 30,they ran the worst convention strategy and they couldnt even pick a LG Candidate without a lot of cloak and dagger crap.

To me this shows what a DeStefano Governorship would be like. If DeStefano wins Gallo and The GOP have a field day.

Dan Malloy is the ONLY Candidate for Governor that will bring Leadership and determination to the table. He also picked a Lt Governor Mary Glassman with much experience in Government compared to the Slifka choice Destefano made who has very little to no experience that DeStefano chose to go with.

So vote for Malloy/Glassman on August 8th

Anonymous said...

the Love Affair With John DeStefano is over as Dandy Don Meredith used to say"Turn off the Lights The Party's Over.

Anonymous said...

DeStefano and Slifka......The Campaign is sinking. Derek Slap that prettyboy hasnt been helping you much these days...What to do???

I hope DeStefano will like running Fort Apache the Bronx I mean New Haven for a while longer and Slifka can slink back to West Hartford and open supermarkets in his role as ceremonial mayor and he can thank his pals Kevin Sullivan and Town Chair Maureen Magnan for talking him into running with DeStefano

Anonymous said...

The silence from the Malloy camp over why their man (who does not engage in negative campaigning) has decided to hit below the belt is deafening, isn't it?

Anonymous said...

Dan Malloy is going to win on Tuesday and close the DeStefano for Connecticut Campaign down.

Anonymous said...

The losing [CT-Gov] candidate should run as an independent. It's the only chance we have of taking back [the Statehouse] from Republican control.