Edward M. "Ned" Lamont '72 Visits Campus

April 11, 2007

Ned Lamont's speech brought Assembly Hall to life with rapid-fire questions and applause

Ned Lamont, famous for wresting the Democratic nomination for Senate from Connecticut incumbent Joseph I. Lieberman during the last election, connected immediately with Exeter students during Monday's assembly. His straight-talking, high-speed, no-nonsense presentation brought Assembly Hall to life with questions and applause.

In less than 30 minutes, he talked about his great grandfather's days at Exeter, how his Senatorial campaign got started (in two words: political blogs), the Iraq War, a recent visit to El Salvador, anecdotes about campaign trips around Connecticut, the need for bold leaders in politics, his experience as a debater on Exeter's Branch-Soule Debate Society, the issues that tripped him up during his campaign, changes to the political landscape and much more.

At the end of his speech, students peppered him with questions. "Would you run for Senate again?" "Could the type of reconciliation that happened in El Salvador be repeated in Iraq?" "Could you have run your campaign without your own resources?"

The biggest moment came in response to this question: "Who do you support for the '08 election?" "Let me tell you who's going to win, because I know," Lamont said to loud, appreciative laughter from the audience. He then laid out the next 18 months, in detail almost commensurate with a movie script. He predicted that the Republican front-runners will fall to the wayside, and Fred Thompson will get the nomination. "The Democratic side is going to be fascinating," he said. Hillary Clinton will make the early gains, with Barack Obama "continuing to speak up." The Democratic Convention will be a deadlock, broken by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who will give his office to Clinton. Obama will be elected president. 

Lamont many times urged the students to get involved and to speak out. "Take a look at that ball coming over the plate, give it a swing and run with it," he said. "You are lucky," he said. "You're in New Hampshire on the eve of the most important primary in the country…"

After assembly, Lamont met informally with students over lunch.

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