Cluck Cluck Cluck

Is Joe Lieberman too chicken to debate?

Lamont and Republican Alan Schlesinger, meanwhile, have accepted an invitation to a fourth debate Thursday, but Lieberman declined. His press secretary, Tammy Sun, said the campaign was sticking to the agreement to hold three debates.

It was unclear whether the debate at Quinnipiac University, which would be televised live by WTIC-TV, Channel 61, would go forward without Lieberman.

Being a minor party candidate, his decision to not participate won’t preclude the debate from going forward. Despite what the Courant article cited above says, as noted on the official Ned Lamont blog:

Let me be clear, this debate will proceed whether or not Joe Lieberman accepts the invitation. We do, however, expect Joe to attend since he gave every indication he was willing to continue debating when Alan Schlesinger raised the question infront of a live television audience at the third debate last week.

I think that MikeCT’s video speaks for itself. Here is the contact info provided in his diary at MLN:

WFSB TV
News Department:866-289-0333
newsdesk3@wfsb.com

WTIC AM
News Department: 860-677-6700
wticnews@cbs.com

Hat tip to JET_powered in the comments of the previous debate post (at My Left Nutmeg) for pointing out the official Ned Lamont blog’s statement (emphasis added):

Two quick points before I head down to the post-debate conference.

1.) Joe dug his heels in on Iraq. Remember during the June debate when Joe said things were getting better in Iraq? Well… different story tonight.

2.) Charles, a campaign staffer and LamontBlogger, is actually the guy who helped physically remove the heckler from the hall. Our staffer.

Update:  I just heard from someone who is THERE that the hecklers were hanging around outside after the debate with a LaRouche PAC banner.
The hecklers were not Lamont supporters, and were in fact removed with help from a Lamont staffer, Charles, of the official blog.

Update II:  Hat tip to MikeCT for pointing me to Genghis at CLP, confirming that the hecklers were LaRouche (NOT Lamont) supporters:

[A] group of LaRouche supporters started singing an insulting and loud song about Lieberman when the senator was speaking. The first happened during a routine answer to the question: the second during Lieberman’s closing statement. All the candidates asked the hecklers to stop, and audience members started shouting for them to shut up.

Update III:  The first MSM report, from The Day:

The senator raised a finger to his lips to quiet the crowd, when a small clutch of people – who later said they were supporters of LaRouche – stood and began to sing to the senator, over the increasingly angry complaints of the rest of the crowd.

• Alan Schlesinger challenged Ned Lamont and Joe Lieberman to more debates. I hope there are some more.
• Video of the pre-debate surprise
• Sound-off on the debate at the WTNH blog
• Join the discussion at FireDogLake