How Anti is Anti?

by Tess Wheelwright | May 20, 2006 5:20 AM | | Comments (4)

Did even our trustiest new Bring-the-Troops-Home-Now candidate shy away from making too stark an anti-war mark at a largely pro-Lieberman convention? Friday night convention programs promised that after Max Medina voiced nomination for Joe’s challenger Ned Lamont, we’d hear words from New Haven Reverend Allie Perry. Perry had been slotted to read off a list of Connecticut soldiers who have died in the Iraq war. But when she got to the convention, she found a message on her cell phone from Lamont’s campaign manager Tom Swan saying there had been a change of plans. Thanks but no thanks: You’ve been pulled.

Why? “It was internal development, a mix-up of communication,” explained Swan later, amidst post-session celebrations. In his first months, Lamont faced accusations of being a single-issue candidate. Was the decision to pull Perry a backing off from too much emphasis on the war? Swann said the campaign had come out plenty strong against the war on Friday, but said, “We did get a certain degree of blowback. From various people.”

Perry seemed disappointed. Active with various groups against the war, she welcomed the opportunity to remind the party of its heavy toll. “I was going to be a witness…”

“They chicken out at the last minute. They flinch. That’s why we’re greens!” said Charlie Pillsbury, Allie’s husband and a chair of the New Haven Green Party.

Platform Unchanged
by Melissa Bailey

Anti-war protestors showed up at the Democratic state convention in attempt to push the party to take an anti-war stance. Right now, the state party platform addresses the war with one softball sentence, advocating a “clear, safe and responsible exit strategy for American troops in Iraq.” Protestors moved to strenghthen the language in the platform — to a platform that opposes the war, like most Connecticut Democrats do — but when it came time to address the divisive issue, party leaders mysteriously tabled the matter.

Caitlin Welch-Rubin stood outside with protestors; click here to see who she met.







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Comments

Posted by: TrueBlueCT | May 20, 2006 2:12 PM

Democrats chickening out? C'mon. The Greens are the real chickens. They should come back into the Democratic fold and simply form their own caucus. I'd proudly wear the mantle of Green Dem.

But right now, they are just out there on the fringe, doing little but noise-making. The fight is for the soul of the Democratic Party, and I wish good people like Charlie Pillsbury would help us out.

Posted by: Charlie Pillsbury | May 21, 2006 11:30 AM

I thank you your kind words, but after fighting for "the soul of the Democratic Party" for 34 years: from 1967, when I went to work for Eugene McCarthy's anti-war campaign, until 2001, when the Democrat Party almost unanimously supported the illegal and immoral invasion of Afghanistan. In late 2001, I concluded, therefore, that the Democratic Party no longer had a soul over which to fight and decided to join a party that does. If you're looking for soul, you're welcome to join us.

Posted by: THREEFIFTS | May 21, 2006 12:52 PM

Help the party! open your eyes sir, both parties are crooked one is a fox and the other is a wolf
and both fox and wolf belong to the canine species
meaning that they are noting more then predator.
This is why i will write my vote in I will be voting for the teletubs and sponge bob.

Posted by: yoginiana | May 22, 2006 9:45 AM

THIS is the ONLY mention of the anti-war protestors that I have seen anywhere. On Wednesday at noon on 91.3, RadioActive, Hartford Independent Media Center's public affairs show, will be airing audio from the convention--including clips of one of our reporters getting assaulted by an undercover at the event.

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