New Haven Independent

New Haven was a major center of support for Lamont’s spirited antiwar challenge to U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman last fall. And it was the scene of Thursday night’s spirited reunion — with the Bush- and Lieberman-supported war in Iraq once again a central theme.

Although the reunion for the activists, volunteers, bloggers, and supporters of Lamont’s 2006 senatorial bid was not planned for the night after President Bush’s speech announcing an escalation of the U.S. military presence in Iraq, outrage at the news found its way into Lamont’s heartfelt thanks to his supporters. In his address Wednesday night, Bush singled out Lieberman as a supporter of his Iraq strategy.

“I was running against two guys who said that, yes, the troops might begin coming home in ‘07 or ‘08,” he said to a crowd made happy by plentiful pizza, beer, and wine. “But I didn’t know they meant 3008!”

Lamont announced no specific new initiatives he was working on in regard to the war or other matters, but his condemnatory remarks of the Bush escalation plan used language as stark, if not more so, than any that had emerged in his campaign.

“I think we should take the troops out of Baghdad immediately,” he said. “Shia and Sunni agree on only one thing, and that is that it’s OK to kill Americans. Bush doesn’t listen to his generals, to his commission, or to Maliki, who doesn’t want us, or to the votes of the American people. So, now, I think it’s time for Americans to stand up,” he said.

Then a voice called out from the attentive crowd: “We did, Ned, with you,” followed by rousing applause.

“Yes, he answered, “Now it’s time to really hold their feet to the fire.”

Among the celebrants was George Jepsen, an early Lamont supporter and former Democratic majority leader of the State Senate. He said that without the Ned Lamont campaign, the Democratic takeover of Congress would not have occurred.

In many ways, however, the party belonged to the bloggers and to the extensive netroots folks. They were there in abundance and declared, in interviews, that they are both staying involved in politics, still blogging away on nedlamont.org, and having fun.

Video blogger Bob Adams (shown with his wife Joyce), aka “CT Bob,” said the war continues to be a big focus of his interest, but that he particularly wanted to keep a bright light on the debate over health care. Adams said he had within the last few days alone interviewed Rosa DeLauro, Ken Krayeske, and Senator Lieberman.

“What’s it like,” a reporter asked Joyce Adams, “living with a mad video blogger?”

“Well, I don’t see him much,” she said, “and sometimes he forgets to take out the trash.”

John Orman, the affable professor of political science at Fairfield University and political analyst, was having a good time and proud to point out that he had run against Joe Lieberman years before Ned Lamont did. “Ned ran the dream campaign I would have liked to run, only he was much better.” As the new chairman of the Connecticut for Lieberman Party (!), Orman (who staged a takeover when the senator had stopped paying attention to the vehicle he created to run against Lamont after losing the Democratic primary), said that he could simply not allow himself to be photographed with Ned, a member of a different party.

Tim Tagaris, the architect of the Lamont Internet strategy, was most humble in recollection of the campaign. “I’m very proud of the Internet team we put together, and especially the hundreds of thousands of supporters who came online.” He said that he had just signed on to perform his Internet magic for the recently announced presidential bid of Connecticut U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd.

“And this,” Tagaris said, introducing a reporter to a tall, crew-cut young man, “is one of the three greatest video bloggers in the world.” Spazeboy, aka Beau Anderson, was one of the cadre of local bloggers who helped spread the word in the early days.

“I met Ned on January 17, 2006, almost a year ago when he was just getting started at these meet-and-greet events. I began to go to events when there were no cameras and I could post the images and get the word out. Tim facilitated all that,” Anderson said.

Anderson said he hoped to be transferring to Wesleyan University soon, and the plan afterwards was law school. Would he stay in politics? Yes, but as a communicator, not a politician, and the difference was important.

Twenty-two-year old Jason Morawski, of Tolland, said he was one of the most active members of the blogging team that defeated Sen. Lieberman in the primary. But he had never, until this evening at Bar, met Ned Lamont in the flesh.

And? “He’s larger than life, and he needs to keep going, keep going.”

Sten Westgard, who was the Lamont volunteer coordinator in Orange, had a personal reason for working with the Lamont campaign and being at the party.

“I just found out,” he said, “that my cousin, who’s in the Minnesota National Guard’s First Combat Brigade, Thirty-fourth Infantry Division, is being extended in his tour of Iraq. He’s there right now, been there for nine months, and now, due to this escalation, he’s being asked to stay on. Ordered to. I’m not even sure he knows it yet, and believe me, I don’t want to be the one to break it to him. He’s not a dovish guy or anything, but my sense of him is that he’s really uncomfortable in that the choices seem to be that you’re either fighting for some theocrat or for the next Saddam. What’s the point?”

Westgard said his cousin’s plight was a major motivator for his initial involvement with the Lamont candidacy. Would he work for Ned again on new initiatives? “If it’s specifically against the war, yes,” Westgard said. “Other issues, I’ll have to examine what he proposes.”