Tess Wheelwright checks in from the New Haven Independent with a story about Ned Lamont’s petition drive. Lamont must collect 14,000 signatures (or 2 percent of all registered state Democrats)to get his name on the ballot in an August primary against incumbent U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman. If Lamont receives enough of the delegates at the state Democratic convention May 20, he won’t need the signatures, ie the back up plan.