Is Lamont Ready?

That's the question Lamont must answer. Let's look at how the Washington Post writes about Lamont's victory:
Democratic Senate nominee Ned Lamont will launch a general election bid in Connecticut next week with an expanded campaign operation of Washington-based reinforcements, in preparation for a bitter brawl with Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman over the Iraq war and national security.
Doesn't it seem odd to you that the anti-establishment candidate sends to Washington for "reinforcements"? For all Lamont's railing against inside-the-beltway types, it's now obvious what he means by that: He just distrusts the establishment types that aren't working for him. How convenient.
The political novice is seeking help from party veterans in fundraising and communications, and in answering Lieberman's increasingly aggressive war defense.
Lamont's seeking help "in answering Lieberman's increasingly aggressive war defense" now? Isn't it a bit late for that? Aren't primary campaigns supposed to teach candidates how to answer policy questions?

Excuse my cynicism. It just comes out when a naive political wannabe thinks he's a real candidate because people to the left of Katrina vanden Huevel pump him up and tell him that he's their kind of candidate.

The reality is that he's just a bored millionare who thinks he can do whatever he wants just because he wants to try it. He doesn't come with understanding of the world's hotspots as shown by his 'remedy' for Iran:
"We should work diplomatically and aggressively to give them reasons why they don't need to build a bomb, to give them incentives. We have to engage in very aggressive diplomacy. I'd like to bring in allies when we can. I'd like to use carrots as well as sticks to see if we can change the nature of the debate."
It wasn't Karl Rove that dug that up on him; it was liberal Cold Warrior Martin Peretz, writing an op-ed for Opinion Journal.com. Here's the best shot Peretz takes at him:
Oh, I see. He thinks the problem is that they do not understand, and so we should explain things to them, and then they will do the right thing. It is a fortunate world that Mr. Lamont lives in, but it is not the real one.
Mr. Lamont best get used to getting bloodied like that because he won't get kid glove treatment from Lieberman like he got from his Kos Krowd gang of groupies. There's another question Mr. Lamont must answer to 'seal the deal': will he be able to hold his cool when Sen. Lieberman starts putting the pressure on him for some of his lame declarations?

Until now, the Kos Krowd buried those comments. Now the spotlight's on him and it's anybody's guess how he'll handle the bigtime. To me, the question is whether he's got a Deaniac's temper. If yes, which I suspect, then he'll stumble badly in the eyes of independents, costing him the election.

It couldn't happen to a more deserving fellow.

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Posted Sunday, August 13, 2006 9:19 AM

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