Torrington Register-Citizen - Lamont Speaks in Goshen

Torrington Register-Citizen - Lamont Speaks in Goshen

09/18/2006

By KEVIN D. ROBERTS

Register Citizen Staff

GOSHEN - He may have arrived late, but Democratic senatorial candidate Ned Lamont impressed the patient crowd and talked with all who stayed after a town hall meeting at Camp Cochipianee Sunday.

"I've been going flat out," Lamont said to the crowd of around 100 people that gathered at the event.

Lamont said that the record turnout at the Aug. 8 Democratic Primary was not a vote against Sen. Joseph Lieberman, but was a vote for Lamont, because his campaign gave them something to vote for.

Lamont went back in history during his speech, where he said that the United States had had a bipartisan foreign policy since the beginning of the Cold War.

"This country had a bipartisan foreign policy going back to the Truman administration," Lamont said.

Lamont said that the key to winning the War on Terror was bipartisanship, which helped the United States defeat the Soviet Union in the Cold War.

The meaning of bipartisanship has been hijacked recently, Lamont said.

"If you don't support us, you're not bipartisan," Lamont said. "That's not the meaning of the word."

Lamont said that it was "high time" that the government started investing in the United States again.

"I'm so tired of the Democrats being so defensive on foreign policy," Lamont said.

Foreign policy wasn't the only issue that Lamont spoke about, using Bridgeport schools as an example of what he sees as a weak education system.

"Too often high school shuts down at 2:30 and these kids are going home to an empty house," Lamont said.

Lamont answered questions from members of the audience after his speech. One woman asked Lamont if there was an outside chance of impeaching President George W. Bush.

"I really don't (think there's an outside chance)," Lamont said. "I don't think the American people are ready to go through that."
He said that the American people were fed up from the Clinton impeachment trial.

Doyle Finan, Litchfield, will be voting for Lamont on Nov. 7.
"I am, and hopefully long after that," Finan said.
Finan said that Lamont's stance on the war was his main reason for supporting him, but health care insurance, preserving Social Security and Medicare and protecting the environment were also Finan's concerns.

"Ever since Lieberman ran for vice president (in 2000), he's become too big for his britches," Finan said.

While he is supporting Lamont, Finan said that Lamont has his work cut out for him. As for Lieberman, Finan said that he wants the incumbent senator to give back all of the money to the Democrats who had voted for him when he was a Democrat.
Pam Kelley, Salisbury, used to like Lieberman because of his positive stance on the environment, which is a very important issue for Kelley. She became angry, however, when Lieberman voted for the Bush administration's energy bill, she said. Iraq is also a major issue with Kelley.

"What (Lamont) has been able to do is take the war in Iraq and make it an overriding issue," Kelley said. "It's not just the war per se, but what the war is doing."

Jan Dudek, Sharon, will also be voting for Lamont and said that she is "sick" of what the Bush administration is doing.
"I really like the way (Lamont) speaks honestly about everything," Dudek said.

Dudek was infuriated by Lieberman's support of Bush with regard to the Plan B emergency contraceptive, where women have to go to certain hospitals to get the pill. She said that many people, who live as much as an hour away from the nearest hospital, cannot travel to that hospital.

George Rolfe, a resident of Torrington since 1971, said Lamont's campaign was part of an opportunity to "save America." Rolfe said that Lieberman forgot his constituents when he ran for vice president in 2000.

"I am looking for a representative that is going to fill that title," Rolfe said.

Rep. Roberta Willis, D-64, was at the event to support Lamont and talk to the crowd about her campaign against Republican Nancy Sieller. Willis said that the area hasn't seen the full impact of the federal government's policies on elderly nutrition, health care and education.

Lamont shook the hands of all who stayed for the speech, but then had to run to get to his next stop in Redding.
"I think right now we gotta start investing in our country again," Lamont said after the event.

When asked if he's going to return to Torrington, Lamont, who ate lunch at Hannah's, said that he was going to try.
"I gotta get back there soon because people want me there a lot more than I am," Lamont said.

Lamont had been to Dos Amigos in Torrington on March 8, days before he announced his campaign, Torrington coordinator Jeremy W. Kincaid said later on Sunday afternoon. The campaign is planning to expand into Torrington, Kincaid said.

Kevin D. Roberts can be reached by e-mail at litchfield@registercitizen.com.