Sean Smith Dropping the Ball?

Sean Smith has one of the easiest jobs in politics: re-electing a sitting United States Senator. As history has noted every two years, it is extremely difficult for a senator not to be re-election. Even more unlikely is a sitting senator losing his re-election in the primary.

Given these odds, you would link Joe Lieberman campaign manager Sean Smith would be delighted to have a gravy train job the puts him in a situation where he is all but guaranteed a win.

Yet Smith hasn't been having a good month. First there was the whole flop at the Democratic convention and the resulting bad press, which has fed a media frenzy that is still going on.

But today was a very bad day. There was the new poll with Lieberman dropping 21 pts in a month. The poll broke on the same day as Ned Lamont's big rally with DFA and Moveon -- check out local TV coverage (lead 6pm story on WTNH).

And now, the local bloggers have an Open Letter:

Dear Sean,

If, as you claimed yesterday, Ned Lamont's candidacy "is supported mostly by out-of-state political activists," then why did 300-400 motivated Connecticut voters show up at today's rally in New Haven at noon on a weekday? Could you get even a quarter as many people to show up for Joe? (Without paying a bunch of college kids, I mean.) MoveOn and DFA have 60,000 members in Connecticut, almost all of them - unlike your candidate - committed Democrats. Only Connecticut members voted on these endorsements - and hell, Jim Dean even lives in Connecticut. Are they suddenly all "out-of-state political activists" because they are on an organization's national email list? Or are you just talking out of your ass again?

And if, as you claim, Joe Lieberman is so "focused on communicating to" Connecticut Democrats, why has your website been mothballed since May 19th? No news happening since then? Where are all of your campaign's "communications" with Connecticut Democrats? Where are the events? Where are the interviews? Where are the rallies and meet-and-greets? Not even one little diner stop? Oh, wait, I forgot. You did communicate with voters - by running a negative ad that backfired so badly that you've decided to stop running it.

You know what would be a good way to start "communicating" with Connecticut Democrats?

Promise them you won't betray them by leaving their party.

It would be a start, anyway.

It is starting to look like Sean Smith has dropped the ball.