Among the 10,000 people from all over the state, politicians show up, too. I was there collecting signatures for the Greens when I bumped into my friend, who told me Ned Lamont, candidate for U.S. Senate, would join a blues band on the stage we stood next to.

I laughed, thinking my friend was joking. Turns out, my friend was serious as death, as Lamont played keyboards and sang lead vocals for a cover of John Lennon's paean to peace, "Imagine."

To save us both the embarrassment, I avoided Lamont's Clinton-with-a-saxophone moment. I couldn't decide whether Lamont was motivated by vanity or self-deprecating humor, like that of his new "Bad Karaoke Singer" commercial.

In this 30-second spot, a stern narrator accuses Lamont of brewing nasty coffee, having a messy desk and being a bad karaoke singer. The camera pans to Ned belting out, off-key, the 1980s pop song "Wang Chung."

The final tag line challenges Sen. Joe Lieberman to stop attacking Ned and to start focusing on the issues. Ironically, Ned wastes 30-seconds of airtime and tens of thousands of dollars dodging issues in cute commercials.

After Lamont's Lennon impression, he schmoozed and shook some hands at Third Thursday – an event which was conceived by the Willimantic Green Party.

I wonder if Ned saw the dozen or so Windham Middle School students roaming around, selling Skittles, Snickers and assorted other candy bars to the crowd.

I wonder if he talked to them about how and why the Windham Board of Education had to cut $30,000 from its middle school athletic budget this year, thereby forcing the kids to peddle junk food to finance activities that instill healthy habits.

Instead of aspiring to American Idol status, imagine Ned delivering a stemwinder on the evils of cutting school budgets and then handing over a $30,000 check to the Windham Middle School athletic department.

It'd be nice to see campaign money flow into the community and not to the coffers of corporate television stations.

But I'm not expecting visionary leadership from a guy back in January who told the 40-Year Plan that he couldn't answer how he might run an energy-independent campaign.

Where America needs leaders who will seize every opportunity to model progressive behavior, or to confront shortfalls in educational spending, Lamont serenaded supporters with utopian platitudes, "Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try; no hell below us, above us only sky."

Imagine John Lennon's response to this absurdity, especially after someone tells Lennon that that same Thursday, Lamont's website condoned Israel's indiscriminate bombing of Lebanon.

"At this critical time in the Middle East, I believe that when Israel's security is threatened, the United States must unambiguously stand with our ally to be sure that it is safe and secure," Lamont's site proclaims.

Maybe Ned should have sung, "Imagine there's no Hezbollah, it's easy if you bomb, no Hamas or Syria, above us only American-made F-16s and Apaches"?

Sadly, on Middle East policy, Lamont doesn't present voters with an alternative to Connecticut's Senator from Likud. Nor does Lamont seek to alter the celebrity white male millionaire paradigm of the Senate.

This is why an overwhelming number, perhaps 75 percent, of Democratic voters will stay away from the polls on Primary Day, August 8.

As a social remedy, voting is deeply disconnected from America's daily reality.

Years ago, political parties organized to solve problems within the community. When the previous organization failed to address new quandaries, people started new parties.

For example, when established parties didn't challenge monopolistic shipping charges by the railroad industry at the turn of the 20th Century, the Populist Party and the Grange movement resulted from the farmers' rebellion.

During the past century, voting has evolved from a method of channeling anger into action into a symbolic civic solution. While electing Lamont changes the name and face of Connecticut's Junior Senator, for the 12-year-old in Willimantic, Hartford or Beirut, life remains the same.

The 40-Year challenge is to build a political system where voting is a by-product of community organizing. The modern political campaign can be a tool for empowering citizens and motivating them to act towards individual and community sovereignty and independence from fascist, corporatist, mercantilist rule.

We need leaders who will show us new ways of living. Imagine a candidate spending campaign funds on building commuter carpool networks, or organizing mass transit riders, or raising funds to save the Windham Middle School soccer team.

As politicians build community services that the state fails to provide now, citizens will abandon cynicism and reinvest trust into democratic action.

7/26/06

Email this to a friend.

Ned Lamont at Central Connecticut State University Wednesday, July 26, 2006.

Ned Lamont pinches himself to make sure his Senate campaign isn't imaginary as he addresses students at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, July 26, 2006.

Index Pages

Topics

Archives

Rock Star Politics