Rosenthal Says Planned Appearance By Senator Will ‘Embarrass’ DTC—

Lieberman Controversy Attends Labor Day Parade Preparations

By John Voket

If US Senator Joseph Lieberman chooses to march in this year’s Newtown Labor Day parade, he will likely do so as a true independent. Local members of the Democratic Town Committee, including First Selectman Herb Rosenthal and former staunch Lieberman supporter Jim Juliano, agree that the Senator has no reason to believe he is welcome to march beside other endorsed party candidates.

“By marching with members of the DTC and invited Democratic candidates and state leaders, it would give the impression that we support his candidacy,” said Mr Rosenthal when asked about the issue late Wednesday.

“I told him through his office, that as a duly elected Democratic official, he’s putting me in an uncomfortable, almost embarrassing position. We have a duly elected candidate, who was endorsed by a historic turnout of state Democrats in the recent primary. I don’t have to march with [Sen Lieberman], the DTC doesn’t have to march with him, so why would he want to make it look like he’s in good graces with the Democratic Party?” Mr Rosenthal continued. “He is not in good graces with state Democrats.”

The controversy erupted this week when Sen Lieberman’s office received a form letter issued to him and more than a dozen other state and national Democratic leaders and officials, inviting them to participate in the Labor Day Parade, one of the largest activities of its kind in New England. The letters were written and sent by Christopher McArdle, a DTC member who has been charged with that administrative chore for at least two years.

Mr McArdle told The Bee Wednesday that since Sen Lieberman is one of the sitting Democratic Senators, he saw no reason to amend the list of invitation letters to extract the official. Mr McArdle said he can see where DTC members and other Democratic candidates and officials may not welcome Mr Lieberman to march among them, but the invitation has been issued to a standing list of officials, many of whom decline to appear.

In fact, Mr Rosenthal pointed out that since he was elected first selectman, Mr Lieberman only opted to march in the town’s Labor Day Parade once, prior to the 2000 election.

“He’s only come to the parade once before. He’s not coming here this year as the sitting US Senator, he’s coming because he’s a candidate in the fall election,” Mr Rosenthal said.

Mr Rosenthal said he would take issue with any candidate who failed to be endorsed at the statewide convention, who opted to force a primary, and then upon losing, continued to mount a full-scale campaign by petition for the general election.

“He was privately and publicly asked not to run by many state Democrats, and decided to run anyway even after he lost the primary. Philosophically, I have a problem with that,” Mr Rosenthal said. “And I’m not going to reward that behavior by marching beside him on Labor Day.”

A spokesman for the Lieberman campaign said the Senator takes marching in the Newtown parade very seriously, and that he works very hard for the people of Newtown.

“The Senator believes this [situation] is quite unfortunate,” said Dan Gerstein, a Lieberman press spokesman. “This is the kind of partisan game playing that has left Connecticut voters fed up with Washington.”

Mr Gerstein said he spoke with the Senator’s scheduling aide Thursday morning, and confirmed that Mr Rosenthal had called personally to say Mr Lieberman was not welcome to march with the DTC, and that the first selectman would not march beside the Senator.

“This infers that Senator Lieberman is not welcome at the parade,” Mr Gerstein said. “But the Senator believes there is too much at stake to walk away [following the primary], and he wants to give all Connecticut voters a real choice in November.”

Mr Juliano said that as the local DTC vice chair, he agrees that the Senator should march in a separate unit, if he opts to join the parade September 4, adding that he supported Mr Lieberman up to the primary but remains undecided about his endorsement going forward. As a former officer for the statewide Plumbers and Fitters Local 777, Mr Juliano admitted that the Senator may have single-handedly headed off a small scale depression in Connecticut and Rhode Island when he crossed party lines to oppose the closing of the Groton submarine base earlier this year.

“Mr Lieberman was able to save 600 ship-fitter’s jobs at Electric Boat, and 3,200 other jobs at that facility. I understand that a lot of people are sore about [his support of] the war, but closing that sub base would have triggered an economic depression that would have affected all of Connecticut and Rhode Island,” Mr Juliano said. “I don’t support the war…never did, but as a member of the executive board of the state Building Trades Association, I can’t ignore the fact that he saved a lot of jobs.”

Mr Juliano said he is supporting the DTC in refusing to march beside the Senator.

“He’s not the Democratic candidate, he didn’t carry Newtown in the primary, and he didn’t receive Newtown’s endorsement in the state convention. He’s an independent and he should march as an independent,” Mr Juliano said.