Lamont, Dems fight back against Lieberman and the GOP

Democrats Counter G.O.P. and Lieberman on Iraq - New York Times Democrats Counter G.O.P. and Lieberman on Iraq By JENNIFER MEDINA NEW HAVEN, Aug. 16 — Democratic leaders supporting Ned Lamont’s Senate campaign struck back yesterday at attacks suggesting that their party’s support of him portrayed the Democrats as weak on national security. White House officials, national Republican leaders and Mr. Lamont’s opponent, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, have said that Mr. Lamont’s position on the war — calling for a timeline for troop withdrawal in Iraq — would embolden terrorists. Mr. Lamont’s campaign has sought to identify Mr. Lieberman with the Republicans, saying that the senator’s criticism of Mr. Lamont shows his alignment with the Bush administration’s policy in Iraq. Asked about the attacks in an appearance in New York City, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said she had “deep regret that there’s any effort to politicize the war on terror,” but she did not actually name Mr. Lieberman or criticize Republicans directly. “I think every American wants to successfully prosecute this war, to bring to justice those who would attack us and our friends and allies around the world,” she said. “I just think we have to be united as a country.” Mr. Lamont held a press conference Wednesday afternoon specifically to counter the attacks from Republicans, calling them “outrageous” and “disrespectful” of Connecticut voters. “We don’t need any sermons on the meaning of 9/11,” Mr. Lamont said of remarks by Vice President Dick Cheney, adding that Mr. Lieberman was “becoming more and more the de facto Republican candidate.” Alan Schlesinger, the Republican running for Senate, has received little support from national and state party leaders and polls show him badly trailing both Mr. Lieberman and Mr. Lamont. While national Democrats lined up behind Mr. Lamont the day after the primary, it was unclear who would actively campaign on his behalf, either through appearances here or through fund-raising. Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, sent a fund-raising appeal via e-mail to millions of his supporters, imploring them to send contributions to Mr. Lamont, along with Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Senator Daniel K. Akaka of Hawaii. “Each of these candidates is making the mess in Iraq a central issue in their campaigns for the Senate,” Mr. Kerry wrote. “In the Senate,” he added, “Ned Lamont will go head to head with Don Rumsfeld, and our troops will benefit from Lamont’s leadership. He knows that patriotism isn’t reserved for those who defend a president’s position; patriotism is doing what’s right for our troops and our country.” Dan Gerstein, the spokesman for the Lieberman campaign, said that the support from Democrats like Mr. Kerry would have little sway in Connecticut. “This is no surprise, just partisan politics as usual,” Mr. Gerstein said, “We’re focused on speaking to voters in Connecticut about the issues that matter most to them and building a broad coalition of Democrats, Independents and Republicans.” The Lamont campaign, he added, was “twisting” Mr. Lieberman’s statements. “It’s the height of chutzpah of the Lamont campaign to talk about politicizing the issues of national security,” Mr. Gerstein said. Colin Moynihan contributed reporting for this article from New York City.