The Political Parade

The Newtown Labor Day Parade got a little more media play than it is used to because of a flap over where a US Senator’s wingtips would walk in the line of march. Aside from the various media outlets in Connecticut, the story was covered on ABC News, CNN, Fox News, and in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsday, The San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Post Intelligencer, Forbes, The Benton (Iowa) Crier, The Prescott (Arizona) Herald, The Wyoming News, and scores of other newspapers and broadcast outlets listed on the unread back pages of Google.

Somehow, Senator Joseph Lieberman’s invitation to march with Newtown Newtown’s Democratic Town Committee (DTC), which was mistakenly issued and then quickly retracted, became a political issue worthy of national debate.

We believe we may have been among the very first to have answered “No” to the question: “Have you heard about the big controversy over Newtown’s Labor Day Parade?” The question was posed to us by Daniel Gerstein, communications director for the Lieberman campaign, who was clearly interested in seeing a story in The Bee about the Senator’s disinvitation to march with the local Democrats. We checked out the facts of the controversy-we-hadn’t-heard-about and reported what we found in our August 25 edition, the first of the long string of stories that was still unraveling around the nation this week.

In most years, the Labor Day Parade is not about politics. Candidates are always welcome and are given polite applause, but the heartfelt cheers are reserved for the Newtown High School Band, the Grand Marshal, and other local heroes. Politicians are received with some deference and tolerance, like eccentric relatives at a picnic. It would have been that way this year, but for a calculated comment by Mr Gerstein. In bringing the controversy-we-hadn’t-heard-about to our attention, he told us, “This infers that Senator Lieberman is not welcome at the parade.”

It was an inference that allowed the Senator’s supporters to take great offense at party functionary’s mistake, an inference that cast parade organizers and by extension the people of Newtown as being unfair to the Senator, and an inference that was never supported by the facts. But this inference had its desired result. It set the stage for a political showdown on Newtown’s Main Street. And the always-considerate people of Newtown, never wanting to give offense, greeted the Senator warmly beneath the gaze of what grew to be a national audience. It was deft political footwork that helped the Senator lead the parade in the media coverage, if not the official line of march.

Senators and their opponents are like comets, appearing in the Labor Day Parade on a predictable six-year cycle. The Senator we saw this year last passed through the parade route in 2000. So with luck, we should have five good years when the Newtown High School Band, the Grand Marshal, and other local heroes may once again take their rightful place at the head of our parade.