Senator Joseph Lieberman is taking the anti-war primary challenge of Ned Lamont seriously.
Yesterday, in a Hartford union hall, nine politicians and a dozen union leaders took turns singing the praises of Connecticut's junior senator.
In a bad omen for the nascent Lamont campaign, the Hartford Courant reports Lieberman, accepted endorsements from an "extraordinary assemblage of political figures:"
"I think my fellow Democrats, my friends in the labor movement are saying, `That's one part of a long record of service in the United States Senate. Even if we disagree with him on the Iraq war, we agree with him on everything else,'" Lieberman said.
Nine politicians, including every statewide Democratic officeholder except Treasurer Denise L. Nappier, and a dozen union leaders took turns praising Lieberman. Nappier campaigned with Lieberman Wednesday.
A number of officeholders endorsing Lieberman disagree with the Senator about the war in Iraq, but that will not cost Lieberman any support from Democratic power brokers:
"I said to Joe when he came in today, `Joe, you and I don't agree on the war in Iraq, but you are a great United States senator. You toil every day,'" Lt. Gov. Kevin B. Sullivan said. "For 99.99 percent of things I think are important in this world, I can stack Chris Dodd and Joe Lieberman up against each other and they are both there on the things that count."
Senator Dodd, continued the Lieberman love fest he started Wednesday:
"You need to have more of a case to make than a disagreement on one issue to justify the kind of effort, expense and cost to divide a candidacy and party," Dodd said. "I don't think that makes a lot off sense."
As I have posted before, the Democratic leadership is not going to let a single issue cost Lieberman his senate seat. Now it looks like you can include labor in Lieberman's camp.
More thoughts at Connecticut Local Politics and CT News Junkie.
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