CBS

Aug 25, 2006 5:55 pm US/Eastern

Sen. Clinton Shows Support By Meeting With Lamont

Tony Aiello
Reporting

(CBS/AP) CHAPPAQUA, NY They say, "time is money." Sen. Hillary Clinton is giving CT Senate candidate Ned Lamont both.

Shortly after his upset Democratic primary victory over Sen. Joseph Lieberman, Clinton gave Lamont $5000 from her political action committee.

Friday, she gave him more than an hour of her time. Clinton and several staffers met with Lamont, his wife, and his campaign manager at the senator's home in Chappaqua.

"It was a great meeting. Senator Clinton thinks Ned Lamont did a fabulous job in Connecticut," said Howard Wolfson, spokesman for the Clinton campaign.

"They talked about what Mr. Lamont can expect from the George Bush-Karl Rover attack machine," Wolfson said. "She told him Republicans were invested in defeating him."

The 90-minute sit down ended with a drive-by. Reporters outside the Clinton home watched as an SUV carrying
Lamont sped by, without stopping.

Clinton has moved quickly to ally herself with Lamont, who used an anti-Iraq war platform to defeat Lieberman in the
Connecticut Democratic primary.

On paper, at least, Lamont has much more in common with Clinton's primary challenger, veteran union organizer Jonathan Tasini. "She voted for the war, and she supports the occupation, she just doesn't want to talk about that in New York," Tasini told a potential voter during a visit to the weekly farmers' market in New Rochelle.

Just as Lamont slammed Lieberman for his support of the Iraq war, Tasini is attacking Clinton for her support.

Trailing badly in the polls, Tasini tried to laugh off the Clinton-Lamont sit down, and claimed he'd like to meet Clinton, too, preferably in a debate.

"She's running from New York voters, she's hiding," Tasini said. "She doesn't want her record to be examined outside of spin and sort of a PR machine."

Politically, avoiding a debate makes sense for Clinton. Lieberman debated Lamont several times, and lost the primary. Clinton gives a standard non-answer when asked about debating Tasini.

"We'll see how the campaign develops over the next weeks," she said Friday during an appearance in Amityville.

Clinton basically is ignoring Tasini, just as she ignored the woman holding up an anti-war sign during her stop on Long Island.