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True Blue, Or Too Blue?
Taking it to the streets: Ned Lamont gamely tries his hand at keyboards with Bruce John and the Eagleville Band at a festival in Willimantic, Conn.; at left, his July 6 debate with Democratic Senate opponent Joe Lieberman left him bloodied but unbowed.
(By Nick Lacy)
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Why the Flowerpots?
"I won't tell you," he says, and he doesn't.
"I can't say anything bad about him, even though he's a Democrat," says Chris Antonik, a Republican who worked with him on the town committee in Greenwich. "Democrats are like weasels, and he's not a weasel."
'Bring 'Em Home'
Before his turn at the keyboards, Lamont gives a speech on one of the half-dozen stages set up for "Third Thursday" on Willimantic's Main Street. He follows a band called the Afro-Semitic Experience (T-shirt motto: Oy Yo). Everyone in the crowd is drinking beer. A few supporters recognize Lamont and stop him on his way to the microphone. A guy with a beard tells him to hammer at Lieberman for criticizing Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
"By taking the moral high ground, he shifted the center to the right," yells the bearded guy, struggling to be heard over the music. "So today Democratic positions are viewed as extreme. You should say that at every speech."
Lamont nods politely. He's just getting accustomed to the flow of free advice offered by strangers. There's also the weirdness of introducing yourself to people who don't necessarily want to meet you. The campaign, he says, has turned him into an extrovert. As he winds through the crowd, he sticks a hand out to a woman with a Lamont pin. "I'm voting for youuuuu!" she says.
"Everyone is a supporter after a couple beers," he murmurs as he walks toward the stage, looking vaguely terrified. He knows to keep it brief.
"Look, everybody is having fun," he starts, warming to the 30-second version of his pitch. "As I go flat-out around the state, Democrats want us to stand up and say what we're for, what we're going to do. Universal health care is a basic right. We're going to fight for clean energy and we're going to invest our money in our schools."
The crowd is attentive but hardly moved. "And I'll tell you one last thing: America is only as great as our values, and for the last five years we've been compromising our values around the world. And I'll also tell you that if I have the opportunity to be your senator, we're going to start bringing home troops to the heroes' welcome that they deserve."
It's his only sure-fire applause phrase, and he says it at every stop. The heroes' welcome that they deserve.
"Bring 'em home," he half-shouts, over the clapping.
"My name is Ned Lamont," he says, wrapping it up after a few more lines. "And I approved this message."
