While many Connecticut voters spent the summer glued to their televisions following the highly anticipated Democratic Primary Election, Keith Schumann ’09 was making headlines working for Ned Lamont, candidate for United States Senate.

Schumann began interning for Lamont in May, when the Lamont-Lieberman race had received little national attention, and followed the candidate’s rise to Connecticut’s democratic nominee for the Senate.

Lamont’s primary win has been attributed to the candidate’s clear stance on ending the war in Iraq and his ardent pursuit to improve the public school system.

“Connecticut has become the center of the American political universe,” Schumann said. “But this isn’t just about symbolism. Ned is producing real solutions to the many issues the nation faces — issues that at one time or another have impacted, or will impact, the lives of students.”

Since the 2004 election, Schumann felt that the country was headed in a very disturbing direction.

“Hearing Ned speak was the first time that I ever felt it possible to recognize the state of the country and still be sure that things could be set on the right crack,” Schumann said.

In the primary race, Lamont narrowly defeated the incumbent Senator Joe Lieberman 52 percent to 48 percent. According to The Washington Post, it is rare that Senate incumbents lose their primaries and even rarer that they are taken out by the kind of challenge that Lamont’s liberal candidacy represented.

In his three terms in the Senate, Lieberman became one of the party’s most prominent hawks on military matters and an advocate of bipartisanship. He sometimes crossed party lines on matters of principle, although he did vote with Democrats 90 percent of the time last year.

“I have always felt that Senator Lieberman is a Republican dressed up as a Democrat,” said Connecticut resident Shira Knishkowy ’10. “He does not represent the Democratic majority of Connecticut and should give up his candidacy before taking more Democratic seats in Congress.”

After his loss in the primaries, Lieberman decided to run as an independent. According to The Washington Post, Lieberman’s advisers said that they doubted that the incumbent could be turned back for running as an independent, and he seemed almost liberated by the ability to run without having to stand for any party. Lieberman’s defeat was the result of many factors, including perceptions that he cared more about his national agenda and ambitions than he did about Connecticut.

The bitter rerun of the primary and continued divisions within the party worry some Democrats who fear their chances of capturing three closely contested Republican-held U.S. House seats in Connecticut.

“I do not believe that Lieberman has been the progressive voice in the Senate that Connecticut needs and deserves,” Packman said. “I also am extremely disappointed in the way in which Lieberman has handled this situation—he is proving that he has absolutely no party loyalty and is hurting the other Democratic candidates—and as a result only support Lamont more. That being said, that is my position, not the position of the WesDems necessarily.”

Schumann’s personal commitment to the Lamont campaign has generated a large contingent of supporters on campus. Working with WesDems, the University democratic student group, Schumann initiated canvassing and phone banking opportunities for students and is currently actively seeking to bring Lamont to campus in the next few weeks.

“It’s wonderful that we have direct student connections to the Lamont campaign right here on campus,” said WesDems President Betti Packman ’07. “Keith should be helpful in bringing various candidates to campus to raise awareness of their issues, which is a great way to introduce students to the campaign.”

Although Schumann’s most recent attempt to bring Lamont on campus this Friday with Immortal Technique, a rising and controversial hip-hop powerhouse, was cancelled due to the candidate’s last minute scheduling conflict, Lamont’s staff confirms that he is looking forward to visiting in the future.

As the Lamont campaign transformed and expanded, so did Schumann’s position on staff. As an intern, Schumann often manned the phones calling volunteers to host meetings in their districts. However, recently Schumann became a more visible campaign member distributing literature at events, translating to Spanish-speaking voters, and overseeing the candidate’s bookkeeping.

“During the campaign I did just about everything. My time was divided between field staff work and finances work,” said Schumann. “Lamont can speak with clarity about how many of us feel about the state of the country, but he is very much about real solutions. That is what is so compelling about him and that is why I wanted to commit my summer to getting him elected.”

As elections get closer, Schumann encourages students to be active in the campaign process. Students interested in volunteering for the Ned Lamont campaign should look out for flyers on campus.

“There’s, of course, the message that Lamont sends the country and the world: policies such as those championed by Senator Lieberman are absolutely unacceptable,” Schumann said. “We need another direction. We, as students, are going to have to bear the brunt of all that’s happening right now. I don’t like the world that’s taking shape under the current powers-that-be. Ned Lamont is about recognizing the state of things and matching a passionate desire for change.”