Lamont Has a Rookie Week

Ned Lamont may have picked the wrong week to prove he's a political rookie. Though leading Joe Lieberman in the polls and with the "Joementum" seemingly on his side, he's made some real gaffes in these closing days of the campaign.

First we had the "blackface" photo incident created by a blogger with a very close association with the campaign. Then you had Lamont's lame "I don't know nothing about no blogs" disclaimer when he was confronted on the issue, despite the fact that the lefty blogs have been an integral part of his campaign. If he doesn't know about blog, he really hasn't been paying attention, especially since the head lefty blogger appeared in one of his first campaign commercials.

The latest goof-up is a campaign appearance this week to bash Wal-Mart. I could easily argue the stupidity of that move without any further embellishment, but Lamont "forgot" one more important fact: He owns Wal-Mart stock:

Connecticut millionaire businessman Ned Lamont, who sharply criticized the employment practices of Wal-Mart this week in his campaign to unseat Sen. Joe Lieberman in the Democrat primary, owns stock in the company, Senate records reveal.

"This is about waking up Wal-Mart, and this is also about waking up corporate America," Mr. Lamont said Wednesday at a Bridgeport rally against the retail giant, hosted by many of the same liberal bloggers who have boosted the former cable executive far ahead of Mr. Lieberman in the polls.

But Mr. Lamont and his family are part owners of the company, according to financial disclosure records he filed earlier this year with the secretary of the Senate. Mr. Lamont, his wife and a dependent child own as much as $31,000 in Wal-Mart stock.

Mr. Lamont and his wife jointly own two accounts containing as much as $16,000 in Wal-Mart stock. Their Wal-Mart holdings spin off as much as $3,500 in annual dividends. In addition, a trust fund he set up for one of his children contains as much as $15,000 in Wal-Mart stock and spins off as much as $1,000 in dividends.

In his remarks at the anti-Wal-Mart rally this week, Mr. Lamont never mentioned his shareholder status in the company. He did, however, criticize Mr. Lieberman for not doing more during this three terms in the Senate to help the workers he says are so mistreated by Wal-Mart.

"We believe that universal health care is a basic right for each and every American," Mr. Lamont said. "It won't take me 18 years to go down to Washington, D.C., and get that done."

Mr. Lieberman attended the same event and took similar whacks at Wal-Mart. But Lamont supporters mercilessly flogged Mr. Lieberman as a hypocrite because he had once received -- but later returned -- a $1,000 contribution from Wal-Mart's political action committee.

Both candidates are stupid to bash a retail chain at which 100 million Americans shop every week, but that being said, Lamont should know better than to try and play political games against a company in which he's still a stockholder. That's a rookie mistake.

Lamont may still win in Connecticut, but the voters have to be concerned about his political savvy.

P.S. Look for the official HolyCoast endorsement in this race on Monday (it should be fun).