New Haven Independent

Joe Lieberman, Ned Lamont, and their campaigns went to work on their second most important task as soon as Channel 30 the camera lights flashed off at the close of their debate. They entered the spin zone, to try to cast the debate in the most favorable light for the public, then to gird their own supporters for the final weeks of political combat before the Aug. 8 Democratic primary.

The first spin zone was inside WVIT’s West Hartford studio, where dozens of reporters from around the country were let out of small viewing rooms liked caged pups to descend on the candidates and their allies for sound-bite analyses. The two main topics: Three-term incumbent Gentleman Joe’s decision to go into attack-dog mode. And Lamont’s refusal, in the face of Lieberman’s taunts, to agree to release his personal income tax returns.

The spinning continued over the Hartford town line, where Lieberman forces occupied a back room at the Wood ‘n’ Tap restaurant (pictured; no Internet access) and the web-savvy Nedheads swarmed through the Tisane coffee bar (wireless equipped) six-tenths of a mile down the road. Both in the studio and at the parties, Lieberman made brief appearances, the first tightly controlled by aides who shooed him away after a few questions. Lamont lingered in both venues for more relaxed, extended, free-flowing conversations.

Give-‘Em-Hell Harry

“You frequently interrupted your opponent. You scolded him,” remarked one reporter to Lieberman. “Why?”

“This is the old Harry Truman [line],” Lieberman responded, invoking one of his fellow conservative Democratic Leadership Council members’ favorite presidents: “‘Give ‘em hell.’ I’m just telling the truth, and they think it’s hell.”

Lieber-spinners at the Wood ‘n’ Tap characterized Lieberman’s aggressive strategy as a successful way to demonstrate his greater command of the issues in the campaign and his decades of experience, in contrast to a challenger whose only elected office was on Greenwich’s council.

Lamont acknowledged it took him a little while to gain his bearings in the debate. “It started out a little intimidating,” he said. But he and his spinners made the case that he did BTE — better than expected — against someone with more than three decades of practice in the political limelight. He needed to show he could go toe to toe with Lieberman, they claimed.

The Lamont-spinners at Tisane (pictured in the parking lot: Edward Anderson of New Haven) argued that Lieberman looked desperate for someone who’s supposed to be an elder statesman. They argued that he came off as arrogant and mean. “This is a guy who debated Dick Cheney, who debated John Kerry,” said Lamont campaign manager Tom Swan. “There were times when I felt sorry for Joe Lieberman — the schoolyard bullying and the lies.”

One aide who prepped Lamont for the debate characterized Lieberman’s aggressive strategy as a gift: “Joe did something I couldn’t get Ned to do for two days — he got his dander up.”

Return to Sender

Unlike Lamont, Lieberman came to the debate prepared with two simple themes to hammer continuously, with the effect of having the press follow up on them: Whether or not Lamont keeps changing his position on how the U.S. should proceed next in Iraq; and whether Lamont should publicly release his personal income tax forms. (Lamont had a more powerful theme with which to pound Lieberman — Lieberman’s decision to petition onto the November ballot as an independent in case he loses the primary. Lamont could have raised that point with every answer, and made that the theme of the debate, but chose not to.)

Lieberman repeatedly asked Lamont during the debate whether he’d release his returns. Lamont never directly answered. Instead, he said that he has released “hundreds of pages” of personal financial information that’s required of sitting senators. He charged that Lieberman was using a “personal” “attack” to avoid discussing real issues.

So of course reporters asked Lamont again after the debate whether he will release the returns, and what may be considered a non-issue began snowballing into one. “No,” Lamont finally answered.

And of course Lieberman addressed the issue again with reporters. “Everybody does this now,” he said of releasing income tax returns.

Lamont turned the issue back on Lieberman, by referring to the millions of dollars his campaign receives from corporate special-interests and lobbyists. “The conflict of interest is taking all this lobbyist money. Taking this PAC [political action committee] money,” he said. “I can’t be bought.”

In private conversations at the after-party, some of his supporters stuck to the argument that, on the merits, this is a non-issue. At least one supporters acknowledged that, genuine issue or not, Lamont will need to release the returns in order to defuse it and try to turn it back on Lieberman — perhaps by comparing how much each candidate gives to charity, if that proves favorable to Lamont; or by coupling it with scrutiny of the special-interest money flooding Lieberman’s campaign coffers and noting that Lieberman never accepted Lamont’s challenge to cap spending in the race.