Dear Ned,
First off -- I support you and have since you announced. I was an easy sell. I'm against the war and I want the Republican regime overthrown. And I've never voted for Joe Lieberman. Al Gore didn't need my vote to win Connecticut in 2000 and I freely confess to voting for Ralph Nader that year.
Second -- I think you can and will win this race. I'm looking forward to you being the junior Senator from Connecticut.
But (you saw that coming, I know) you're coming from behind, it looks like, with three weeks to go. Maybe the "Schlesinger Factor" has tipped the race even. Maybe not. We'll see.
I'm sure you've got more advice than you can possibly evaluate and heed. I'd like to offer three quick points, anyway. Who am I? Well, I'm a voter with 30 years experience in Connecticut ... and a quasi-ex-journalist who has reported or edited political news for about 20 of those years. I'm writing you here because I can let a community decide if my points are even worth noticing ...
So here we go. Three weeks, three points. No, I'm not suggesting "themed weeks." That's too hokey for anyone except maybe Joe. But these are the messages I think Connecticut voters need to hear, and why:
1) The most telling and cutting meme on Joe Lieberman is not a line-item by line-item recitation of what you differ on. It's not how long he's been in office or how many votes he's missed.
It's this -- "Joe Lieberman doesn't care what you think." He doesn't care that you want an end to the war in Iraq. He doesn't care who the Democratic Party chose in a primary. His call for bipartisanship is a mask for not being responsible to voters at all. He won't do anything you want. He can't be trusted to represent your views. Democrats who are still supporting Lieberman need to hear that, over and over again. So do Independents.
2)The logical segue is -- that you alone in this race represent the mainstream of political thought on the issues. It isn't Joe in the middle. Every lurch Joe has ever taken out of the mainstream is well documented and you know them better than I do. Remind voters of where they stand and that you stand with them.
3) Remember that you're still the populist outsider. And flaunt it. Joe. Isn't. That. Guy. He's the consummate insider, out of touch, hands dirty. Matching up your business experience against his Senate experience isn't the winner. Voters want changes in Washington. You offer that. Joe doesn't. He's getting away with this stupid trick of presenting himself as the "not the business as usual, bipartisan" candidate. You're the new guy. Work it.
I'll now resume haranguing the handful of undecideds I know personally, and step back ... I'm one voice, one vote. But I'd like to know what others think.