New Haven Independent

Gingrich, the former Congressman from Georgia who engineered conservative Republicans’ House takeover in the 1994 elections and authored the “Contract with America,” endorsed Lieberman’s third-party bid. The endorsement came last week as Lieberman made an effort in public appearances to characterize himself as an opponent of the Republican White House’s conservative agenda.

“I’m not going to accept or regret” Gingrich’s backing, Lieberman said in comments to reporters as he left an upbeat union campaign rally on New Haven’s Wall Street Tuesday. “Look, he doesn’t vote here. I’m looking for the support of Democrats, Republicans, independents, in Connecticut.”

“It wasn’t my choice not to win the Connecticut primary,” Lieberman continued. “A simple twist of fate has” led to his third-party candidacy. He said that candidacy “has allowed me to be what I’ve always been — a Democrat who is anxious to work across party lines.”

Contacted later for a response, Lamont’s campaign manager, Tom Swan, said, “The fact that Joe Lieberman thinks that losing the primary was a ‘simple twist of fate’ proves once again how out of touch he is from the voters of Connecticut and probably helps to explain why Newt Gingrich would endorse him.” Why is that? “Because he would choose to continue to support Dick Cheney’s stay the course policy in Iraq instead of being able to listen to Democratic primary voters who turned out in record numbers to vote for the change that Ned Lamont’s candidacy represents.”

The Distancing Game

The three-way (sort of) Senate race has transfixed politics-watchers across the country. Both Lieberman and Democrat Ned Lamont have attracted supporters with agendas ranging from reforming, to squashing, the Democratic Party or the war in Iraq. National Republicans have organized a veterans group in support of Lieberman. Peace activists Monday asked New Haven’s registrar of voters to remove the Democratic affiliation from Lieberman’s name on the local rolls, under the provisions of a little-known state law. Both the Lieberman and Lamont camps have sought to distance themselves from the actions of outside groups, while linking their opponent to the actions of outside groups. The Lamont group seeks to associate Lieberman with George Bush Republicans in order to pry away Democratic votes. The Lieberman group hopes to link Lamont to left-wing groups to pry away centrist independent votes.

Lieberman Tuesday didn’t accuse the Lamont camp of organizing the peace activists’ effort to remove his party affiliation. He did note that the group consisted of Lamont “supporters.”

“It reminds me,” he said, “of some things that used to happen in the former Soviet Union, when they purged the lists of people they thought had misbehaved. This is America. This isn’t going anywhere.”

At least Tuesday, it wasn’t. New Haven Democratic Registrar of Voters Sharon Ferrucci (pictured) said she still hadn’t made up her mind how to rule on the request to initiate procedures that could lead to the party revoking Lieberman’s affiliation under state statutes for failing to support a party nominee (in his case, running against one).

“Not today,” Ferrucci reported. “I hope tomorrow. Because the whole world is waiting for this. It’s a heavy decision.”

Ferrucci said she knows of no previous case in the state in which a politician’s party affiliation was removed under the statutes. She has heard a lot from other registrars. “The support is nice,” she said. “But no one wants to be in my shoes right now.”

Lieberman Tuesday also repeated his campaign staff’s statement a day earlier that the affiliation-removal move was reminiscent of attempts by Florida’s Republican secretary of the state, Katherine Harris, to deny people to right to vote in the 2000 presidential election.

Responded Tom Swan from the Lamont campaign, “They’ve called us weirdos. They’ve called us terrorists. It’s not surprising. If anyone’s actions on this is a reminder of 2000, it’s Joe’s: When he doesn’t get the decision he wants, he goes to the next level. I have to wonder, when he loses in November, whether he’ll take it to the Supreme Court.”