Who knew we’d show up in Connecticut and things would get cooking so fast?  Thanks, Joe.  Some random notes from the front: 

.  Ned had a press conference today in which he made the point — and I think quite forcefully — that Lieberman wants to "have it both ways." Absolutely.  He’s trying to walk out the back door of the party but still be considered a Democrat.  He said it over and over during the press conference today — he believes in the values of the Democratic party, and he’ll run as an "independent Democrat."  Hogwash.  As Digby reminds us, this is what Chuck Schumer said recently:

Schumer said that the DSCC "fully supports" Sen. Joe Lieberman in his primary bid, and he refused to rule out continuing that support if Lieberman were to run as an independent.

There were degrees of independence, Schumer said. "You can run as an independent, you can run as an independent Democrat who pledges to vote for Harry Reid as Majority Leader."

Which says to me that they’ve been coordinating this little hair-splitting act for quite some time. If Joe wants to run as part of the "Independent Democrat" party, he has to gather signatures to create such a party (and I’m not even sure he can).  He won’t.  If Joe bolts the party, he will be an Independent.  Period.  There will be no "Democratic" about it.   I’m sure his internal polling tells him that if people don’t consider him a Democrat any more his numbers abjectly suck, and he certainly wants to retain all the perks his seniority in the Senate would grant him as a Democrat.  But why does anyone believe he would do anything but auction himself off like a two-dollar whore to the highest bidder once elected?  If we’re counting on his principled commitment to the Democratic party, color me skeptical.

.  Despite this, sources say that Hillary Clinton believes that it’s important to respect the will of Connecticut voters and that she will commit to support the Democratic candidate — whoever that is — in November. It should be interesting to watch and see if others follow suit.

.  Crooks & Liars has Joe equivocating on The Situation Room.  Pretty sad, really.

.  Jesus’ General observes that although Ned Lamont has 5000 donors on ActBlue and has raised $246,641, Joe has only 9 and has raised a grand total of $359.  The General has a few suggestions as to what he can do with it.  (As Watertiger notes, "is there an ActYellow page?")

.  My companion for the days’ adventures, Paul Bass, has his coverage up at the New Haven Independent.   

.  Matt Stoller is collecting "Memories of Lieberman" over at MyDD."  Before any big Dems show up in Connecticut trying to spread the delusion that this is "all about the war" and that Joe’s a wonderful progressive on every other issue (as Joe told us today at the presser), they might want to familiarize themselves with this rap sheet before they step into the line of fire.  Everyone here in Connecticut is amped, and there will most certainly be salvos flying in the direction of anyone so foolish as to show up unprepared. 

You can support Ned here.