(This was a terrific event. Thanks to mbair for the video and diary. Sue has more about the "Honk for Piece" premiere here. - promoted by CaptCT)
Last night I was invited to attend a screening of the new movie, Honk for Peace, in Greenwich CT as part of the Connecticul Film Festival. Ned Lamont, Alan Schlesinger, the filmaker Corey Boutilier, the whole Lamont crew and of course, Hollywood Bob, all come out to see the film and enjoy some Q & A with Ned after the screening.
So imagine my surprise when Alan Schlesinger, the Republican nominee for the Senate race in 2006 completely repudiated the Bush administration on Iraq seen through the light of Iran
Follow me below the fold for another shocking repudiation of Bush foreign policy by a self-admitted former acolyte.
The documentary provided an indepth look at the story of the Ned Lamont/Joe Lieberman/Alan Schlesinger campaign, starting from the anti-war protests in 2003 to the changing political climate energized by Connecticut's efforts.
We all wondered how Corey Boutiller could get such close access to the likes of John Kerry, Chris Dodd, Alan Schlesinger and Lieberman - some people just have that magic touch.
A quickie quiz:
1. In what group shot was Kim Hynes in?
2. What location had a shot of the Kiss Float?
3. CTKeith was also spotted. Where?
The fourth debate of the campaign took place at Yale tonight. Well, sorta.
The Yale Daily News Political Union hosted a sparsely attended debate between the three candidates, but only one was there, Alan Schlesinger. Lanny Davis stood in for Joe Lieberman, with Irv Stolberg doing the same for Ned Lamont.
It was, as all good political debates must be these days, kinda boring, except for the policy wonks. At its best, the three panelists came across like Borscht Belt comics with table manners. Most of the time they came across as the highly intelligent, polite, and committed partisans they are. They all showed the sincerest respect for each other and, as they say in showbiz, when you can fake that you've got it made. At its worst (and this was mercifully brief), the conversation descended to petty remarks about "personal shots." When it was over, I wanted to go to the nearest bar for my own personal shot.
Matt Stoller was there (and asked a profound question that I found profoundly incomprehensible), so I will direct you to MyDD for the "official" version of the night's conversation. I suspect the Yale Daily will have something up tomorrow. Also, TrueBlueCT was running video in the back of the room, so maybe there'll be video as well. I will content myself with a few inane and snarky remarks.
And now for a more "in-depth" quick overview of the debate, which I was pleased to have attended. (One out of three ain't bad.)
Joe was once again dead center, although apparently position in all debates was determined by lot. He's one lucky guy.
The first thing that struck me was how true to form Lieberman was. Apparently, by mutual consent of the participants, there was to be no opening statement. Joe went first and prefaced his answer to the first question with an extended opening statement in which he said something to the effect that he hoped there would be "no finger pointing" and complaining about each other, but that "we will talk about what we will do for Connecticut."
When he finally got around to addressing the question -- so much later that it drew laughter -- he immediately began finger pointing and comjplaining and did virtually nothing else for the entire evening.
The crowd was very clearly Lamont's. It seems Lieberman had so few takers that they had to give tickets to people whose allegiance they didn't know. Several people sitting near me, who were Lamont supporters, had gotten their tickets from the Lieberman camp.
The result was an imbalance that was clearly obvious in the crowd reaction -- and Lieberman gave them plenty of reason to groan and even hiss. Add to this the disruption (already noted below) by a bunch of nutjobs from the LaRouche cult and I'm afraid the Lieberman campaign will spin the evening as yet another example of those wild-eyed leftists who have taken over the Democratic Party disrupting Joe's freedom of speech.
Still Joe got the able assitance of press questioner Mark Davis, who served as a surrogate attack dog for Joe, needling Lamont and exchanging nods, winks, and smiles with Lieberman when others were speaking.
Schlesinger seems to have made an attempt to rein himself in and be more "senatorial," but he was at his best when his irrepressibility refused to be repressed. He had the best lines of the debate, including spinning Joe's promise to serve only three terms: "He meant he wanted to serve three terms as a Democrat and three terms as a Republican an Independent."
George Stephanopoulos did a pretty mediocre job of moderating and it was fun to watch Schlesinger cut him down to size (if that's the right expression).
The hottest moment came when Lieberman as much as called Lamont a liar and Lamont called him on it. Lieberman's own lies and prevarications were on abundant display and regularly drew boos, hisses, derisive laughter, and even the occasional shout of "Shame!"
The most bathetic moment came when Stephanopoulos held Lieberman to a 90 second statement and Joe whined that he was being unfair (because the LaRouchies had drowned him out earlier). Just pathetic.
The debate ended with Lamont calling for more debates and Schlesinger readily agreeing (or was it vice versa?). Lieberman seemed none too interested. If I was advising the Lamont campaign, I'd suggest they arrange a debate with Schlesinger for Thursday. Let Joe show if he wants.
I urge you to seek out the video when it becomes available. The consensus of everyone I spoke to was that this was the most entertaining debate of the bunch.
It could be the most important one liner of the debate.
"You goddamned son of a bitch, how dare you accuse me of voting for the Energy Bill because I got a contribution."
Those were the words allegedly spoken by Joe Lieberman to Ned Lamont immediately after tonight's debate at the Garde Arts Center in New London. And although Lieberman cupped his hand over his mic, looking for all the world like he was taking the Pledge of Allegiance, his bitter remark was picked up on the audio feed, according to the report I heard. It didn't make the air (that had already been cut) but, if the report is accurate, WTNH should have the audio.
Well, lordy, lordy. I may have to take back al those nasty things I've been saying about the New Haven Register. Their headline today gets it exactly right.
Mark Pazniokas of the Courant apparently couldn't ignore Schlesinger, but also couldn't resist trying to marginalize him.
Andy Warhol was almost right, except that in the U.S. Senate race, everybody gets 17 minutes of fame - even the neglected Republican nominee, Alan Schlesinger.
Still, he had the good sense to continue...
With a forceful debate performance, Schlesinger reminded voters, the media and possibly his own party Monday that Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman and Ned Lamont are not replaying their Democratic primary.
Meanwhile, the newspaper of record continues doing its best to peddle the little Joe David vs. Greenwich Goliath story line. The headline on the edition deliverede to my door this morning reads, "Lieberman and Lamont Turn Debate To Home Front." There's a more accurate head on the online version.
Schlesinger makes his appearance in the second graph as the inevitable "little-known Republican." Well, duh! When every major papaer in the region pretends you don't exist, of course you're going to be "little known" by people who foolishly rely on those papers for what passes for "news" these days.
Finally, Shelley Sindlund of Fox 61, who is IMHO the best political reporter in the state, nailed it in her report on the debate on last night's 10 o'clock news.
[B]oth Ned and Alan stuck around to speak with the media. Joe, unfortunately, literally cut and ran (with pep in his step) out of the hall, refusing to answer questions and went right up to his room.
One of the moderators was just scouring the hall looking for ANYONE from the Lieberman campaign, but can’t find anyone. Word is that Joe ran up the back stairway. Out of sight, quick as a flash.
It will be interesting to see if anyone in the so-called MSM to reports this.
I am going to send you over to Connecticut Bob to watch an amazing in-depth interview with Republican candidate Alan Schlesinger. He did the heavy lifting and he deserves the traffic.
This video illustrates perfectly what "people=powered media" is all about. Schlesinger has been all but ignored by the so-called MSM. He has also been royally shafted by his own party, which is so devoid of principle that it would rather back a shill like Lieberman than its own candidate.
If Lieberman was an honorable man, he would have honored the verdict of his own Party primary and this would be a race between Lamont and Schlesinger. After watching this interview, I wish more than ever that that had been the situation. At the very least, Ned Lamont would be facing an honorable and credible candidate.
Based on Schlesinger's performance here, I am willing to predict that he will get a HUGE boost from the debates and that the next poll numbers will reflect that.
While I really want you to watch this over at Connecticut Bob, you should be aware that Bob has uploaded the video to You Tube. Follow that link, rate it up, then copy the link and share it with all your Republican friends (we all have some).
Finally, a word of warning. You will find yourself agreeing with an awful lot of what Alan Schlesinger has to say. It's a little bit scary.
Tim Tagaris, over at the offical Lamont campaign blog, hits the nail on the head about why the Repugs are ditching Alan Schlesinger.
What price tag can you put on continuously regurgitating talking points that read “reasonable Democrats like Joe Lieberman recognize the importance of staying the course” or “Look how divided Democrats are on Iraq” or “Some Democrats are open to changing Social Security…” or “Moderate Democrats like Joe Lieberman recognize Samuel Alito is fit to serve on the Supreme Court.” What price can you put on Joe helping three Republican House incumbents against change agents from the Democratic Party?
You think Alan Schlesinger was cast aside because he counts cards? Give me a break.
You have criminaly convicted congressmen like Duke Cunningham, and “public servants” like Bob Ney and Tom DeLay receiving unwavering public support till the very end. You have Republican candidates for re-election in close races brandishing shotguns at dinner parties who received more support.
And you think a Wampum card is the reason Republicans decided not to play within their own party in this race?
Spare me.
I think Alan's skill at counting cards should make him a folk hero among a wide swath of the Republican electorate. They all believe they deserve something for nothing.
Poor Joe. Seems like Alan Schlesinger -- the other anti-war candidate -- doesn't like him either.
Schlesinger handed out small American flags on the Green to anybody who would take one during a mid-day stop here in his campaign for U.S. Senate. He told everyone who took a flag how Lieberman voted against a proposed constitutional amendment to protect the flag from desecration.
"It failed by one vote, Joe Lieberman's vote. I am going to be there next time," Schlesinger told Nick Stanziano.
Perhaps Schlesinger will vote to impeach Bush for his flag desecration
(Fascinating! This will make Joe the true one-issue candidate in a three-way race. - promoted by BranfordBoy)
Alan Schlesinger, the Republican candidate competing for second place for Senate, supports plans to bring back half of the troops in Iraq in the coming year.
I just find it interesting that even the Republican candidate in this campaign doesn't support the White House's dreams of keeping the troops there for several years, while the technically registered as a Democrat Mr. Lieberman still does.
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