Lamont to meet Friday in N.Y. with Hillary Clinton

HARTFORD, Conn. --New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will meet Friday with Democratic Senate candidate Ned Lamont to discuss how she can help his campaign in a three-way race against Sen. Joe Lieberman, now an independent candidate.

"Sen. Clinton looks forward to meeting with Ned Lamont and discussing how she can be helpful to his campaign," Howard Wolfson, Clinton's campaign strategist, said Wednesday.

Tom Swan, Lamont's campaign manager, said Clinton reached out to Lamont on the night of the Democratic primary and later contributed money from her political action committee.

In an upset, Lamont, a political newcomer, defeated Lieberman by about 10,000 votes. He made the incumbent's support of the war in Iraq a central issue and attacked Lieberman as too supportive of President Bush and the Republicans.

Clinton, who is considered a likely 2008 candidate for the Democratic nomination for president, can help Lamont because of her position in the Party, her proximity in a neighboring state and access to campaign contributors, Swan said.

"We look forward to hearing how she's going to be helpful," he said, after hearing Wolfson's comment. "There are a number of people that can be very helpful within this campaign in a variety of ways."

Lamont plans to meet or talk with most Democrats in the Senate, especially nearby senators in Massachusetts and New Jersey, Swan said.

Clinton has stopped short of calling on Lieberman to abandon his independent candidacy. During the primary, she pledged to support Lamont if Lieberman, a longtime friend, lost.

The former first lady has angered many liberal activists and bloggers who campaigned against Lieberman with her refusal to call for withdrawal of U.S. troops in Iraq. Polls show Clinton holds a commanding lead over two little-known potential GOP challengers, but she faces her own anti-war Democratic opponent, Jonathan Tasini, in the Sept. 12 primary.

Tasini's campaign, however, has received little attention so far and he has struggled to raise money. Lamont, a multimillionaire businessman from Greenwich, spent more than $4 million of his own money in the primary and said Wednesday he'll likely spend more.

Clinton and Lamont will meet at the senator's home in Chappaqua, N.Y.

------

AP Political Writer Beth Fouhy in New York contributed to this report.