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August 11, 2006

An upstart candidate defeats an incumbent U.S. Senator. It happened in Connecticut, where Ned Lamont beat Joe Lieberman in that state's Democratic primary. And Lamont's victory is giving Jonathan Tasini some hope as he aims to take down Senator Hillary Clinton. NY1's Molly Kroon filed this report.

"I believe this war should never have happened," said Jonathan Tasini.

Hoping to ride the wave that took Ned Lamont to victory in a Connecticut primary, Sen. Hillary Clinton's little-known challenger tried to back her into Joe Lieberman's political corner Thursday.

“That vote in Connecticut had at its core a larger message: Something is amiss in our country, and pro-war, pro-corporate Democrats must be held accountable for their votes and their actions," said Tasini.

But while Tasini's banking on the hope that the political winds have changed enough for voters to throw Clinton out of office, he hasn't been able to take his anti-war message to the bank itself. While Lamont had $4 million of his own money to spend on his campaign, Tasini has less than $150,000.

That’s a drop in the bucket to Clinton's more than $22 million war chest, and not enough to qualify him for a televised debate on NY1, something he takes serious issue with.

“If all it comes down to is money, than this is really about politics becoming a class war," he said.

And Lamont had more than just bucks, he had the liberal blogs, which have been slow to jump on the Tasini bandwagon, as Clinton has been stepping up her criticism of the handling of the war, just recently calling for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation.

It’s something Tasini calls political smoke and mirrors.

“It was just gorilla dust thrown up there to confuse people,” said the candidate. “It was simply a political ploy."

While Tasini hopes he's now going to be taken more seriously, it's doesn't seem to be working with the person he's criticizing. While campaigning in the Bronx, Clinton sounded unfazed by his rhetoric.

“I’m running for re-election. I'm running as hard as I can based on my record, and I'm having a great time going around the city and state meeting with a lot of different people," said the senator.

An election in which polls show her with a comfortable lead over all her challengers.

Tasini says he's roughly in the same spot Lamont was before he surged forward and toppled a Democratic icon.

- Molly Kroon