Jane Hamsher

Joe Lieberman's campaign staff is staying resolutely upbeat about today's Q-poll that has Ned Lamont leading by 54-41 -- to say nothing of the decision of SEIU Local 1199 to support Lamont.

Lieberman spokesperson Marion Steinfels actually went so far as to suggest that there's a bright side to all of it. "Many of our supporters weren't really aware of how serious the challenge was, and this makes them aware of how serious it is."

She also dismissed the notion -- okay, our notion -- that the poll results reflected somewhat poorly on the impact of Bill Clinton's recent visit to campaign with Lieberman:

"It had an impact we have seen it in the days before he came to down and ever since," she said. "We have people walking into office and the phones are ringing off the hook and people are writing checks."

Still, it is clear that the campaign is scrambling to make up some ground. Today, they're focusing on Lamont's connections to a blogger who depicted Lieberman in blackface on the Huffington Post.

You know, substantive stuff.  read more »

-- Jason Horowitz UPDATE Steinfels called in to take issue with the characterization of the blackface incident as anything less than substantive. "It's a very important and substantive issue," she said, contending that it directly reflects upon the character and trustworthiness of Lamont, who the Lieberman campaign accuses of having close ties with the blogger in question. The full Lieberman campaign release is after the jump. Judge for yourself.

 Out of the delirium of Judiana (Gawker’s coinage), a paradigm shift?  read more »

Out of the delirium of Judiana (Gawker’s coinage), a paradigm shift?  read more »