The LieberMachine at Work
by Matt Stoller, Sat Oct 21, 2006 at 08:06:26 AM EDT
According to ARG, Lieberman has a lead of 12 points on Ned Lamont, 49-37. That sounds about right to me, much better than the silly Q-Poll. We'll see how the ground game goes - I'll do some phone banking next week to get some anecdotes about whether there really is softness in the Joe numbers.
And now we're on to money. Apparently, Karl Rove's phone call to Lieberman was a key signifier for Republican donors, according to David Lightman at the Hartford Courant.
The effort to get Bush loyalists into Lieberman's camp was triggered by White House political guru Karl Rove's Aug. 8 phone call to the senator, just before Lieberman learned he would lose to Ned Lamont in the Connecticut Democratic Senate primary.Rove did not promise any help, or offer any support. "I called him. He's a personal friend, and I called him," Rove said later. "It was a personal call. Look, [Senate Democratic Leader] Harry Reid's been at my house for dinner. So I actually do have friendships on the other side of the aisle."
That call, said Republican strategist Scott Reed, "was a signal to a lot of the Republican faithful to get engaged in the Lieberman race."
The White House has kept up the drumbeat, consistently sending other signals as Lieberman continues to push for funds in the campaign's closing days. Thursday, for instance, Bush praised Lieberman at Republican rallies in Pennsylvania and Virginia, and Vice President Dick Cheney has made it a part of his standard stump speech to decry how the Democratic Party has "turned its back" on the senator.
...
In Washington, that translates into a lot of power over legislation and money, and the special interests have poured cash into the Lieberman campaign.
The list reads like a Who's Who of players at the Capitol: American Council of Life Insurers, John Deere, MetLife, GlaxoSmithKline, Phoenix Companies, KPMG, Raytheon, Heineken, Bechtel, Laborers, American Federation of Government Employees, Honeywell International, Constellation Energy, AT&T, Walgreens, Friends of American Hospitals, Friends of Israel, John Hancock Financial Services, Allstate, Pfizer, BMX Technologies, Lumber Dealers, Northeast Utilities Employees, the Farmers Group, American Apparel and Footwear, Real Estate Investment Trust, American Bankers Association and others.
The senator also benefited from political committees set up by Republican politicians. Former Tennessee Republican Sen. Fred Thompson, who worked with Lieberman for years on the homeland security committee, made a donation.
So did the Big Tent Political Action Committee, which is controlled by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa.; Impact America, controlled by Sen. Gordon H. Smith, R-Oregon, and the Hawkeye PAC, run by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles R. Grassley, R-Iowa.
And where is the money going? Have you heard of 'walking around money'? Here are Joe's petty cash disbursements.
7/27 - Petty Cash / Stipend Volunteers - $32,500
8/02 - Petty Cash / Stipend Volunteer Payment - $67,500
8/04 - Petty Cash / Stipend Volunteers - $135,000
That's more than $200,000 in petty cash. Hmm. Interesting.
Colin McEnroe is predicting a Lieberman victory, 42-39-17. Lamont has been in the low 40s since the primary, and his numbers should start moving this week. If they don't, then he's got to really hope that Schlesinger takes share from Joe.
Tags: Alan Schlesinger, Connecticut, CT-Sen, Joe Lieberman, Ned Lamont (all tags)
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