Lots of news out of California helping us track the run-up to Super Tuesday there. But what about in a state 3000 miles from California that is multiple times tinier?
In Connecticut, we find netroots darling and Democratic primary winner for the 2006 U.S. Senate race in Connecticut, Ned Lamont toiling for Barack Obama.
Though Lamont failed to beat Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent, in the general election, after that race ended he used his antiwar cachet to campaign for a handful of New England Democrats. He also campaigned for Sen. Chris Dodd until his withdrawal from the presidential race a few weeks ago.
That’s when Lamont threw his support to Sen. Barack Obama, and became his campaign cochairman in Connecticut, which goes to the polls on Feb. 5. This past Tuesday morning, Lamont played Obama in a mock debate he’d organized at Central Connecticut State University, where he is an adjunct professor. Tonight, Lamont will host Michelle Obama at a fundraising reception at a Greenwich home.
“I’ve fallen for him,” said Lamont of Obama. “I like the fact that he brings a fresh perspective to Washington. I love the idea he gives us a fresh start around the world,” he said. “He just seems to be able to bring people together.”
Reports say that Lamont’s former campaign staff are split between Hillary Clinton, Obama and Edwards (who has withdrawn since the reports were published), much the way Connecticut’s elected officials are.
The splintering stretches down through the ranks of onetime Lamont supporters, said former campaign manager Tom Swann: most support Obama, but many support Clinton and also Sen. John Edwards.
…
In a Jan. 9-17 poll by the Hartford Courant/University of Connecticut, 41 percent of voters said they would choose Hillary Clinton; 27 percent said they would choose Obama; 9 percent said Edwards. But 23 percent were still undecided.
Statewide, state representatives and state senators, local mayors and Democratic party state reps, have divided between Clinton and Obama.
The New Haven Advocate has more of the same here.