Journal Inquirer: Wesley Clark offers support to Lamont

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Wesley Clark offers support to Lamont

Journal Inquirer

By Don Michak, Journal Inquirer

09/30/2006

Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark, a former Democratic presidential candidate who commanded NATO forces in Europe during the conflict in Kosovo, is helping antiwar Democrat Ned Lamont raise money to unseat U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman.

In an e-mail message sent this week to his own supporters, Clark, who is said to be considering another run for the White House in 2008, lauded the Greenwich cable company executive for “running the type of campaign all Democrats can be proud of.”

“Standing up to President Bush’s failed policy in Iraq, dispensing with self-serving and wishy-washy notions of ‘independence,’ and pledging to invest in America’s future, Ned Lamont is a candidate for Senate who I am proud to endorse,” he wrote.

Clark also took a swipe at Lieberman, now running as an independent, saying the senator had “decided to do his best to drag down every Connecticut Democrat’s electoral prospects down with him” after “refusing to abide by the results” of the party primary in August.

“He continues to provide political cover to President Bush and other local Republicans despite their clearly failed policies,” Clark added.

Clark and Lieberman competed briefly for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination before each withdrew from the contest won by Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.

Immediately after an initial candidates debate in 2003 – from which Clark emerged relatively unscathed – Lieberman charged that his rival in the upcoming New Hampshire primary had joined the Democratic Party only months before for “political convenience, not conviction.”

Lieberman also said Clark previously had been “working to forward the Republican agenda by raising money for the Republican Party” while he was fighting the “reckless economic strategy” of President Bush.

Lieberman’s campaign spokeswoman, Tammy Sun, on Friday dismissed Clark’s endorsement of the senator’s opponent.

“Joe Lieberman is running for Senate because he’s trying to change the kind of partisan name-calling apparent in Wes Clark’s recent statement supporting Ned Lamont,” she said. “This is just more of the same negative attacks from the Lamont campaign.”

Lamont’s campaign spokeswoman, Liz Dupont-Diehl, said Friday that Lamont appreciated Clark’s efforts and that the retired general may campaign in Connecticut for Lamont.

©Journal Inquirer 2006