Inside Politics

Conspiracy theory

Retired Air Force officer Bob Bowman won Tuesday’s Democratic primary to challenge Rep. Dave Weldon, Florida Republican. Mr. Bowman got 55 percent of the Democratic vote to 45 percent for John M. Kennedy in Florida’s 15th District.

Mr. Bowman, a Vietnam veteran, unsuccessfully sought the Reform Party nomination for president in 2000. “Among his more controversial positions,” the Stuart (Fla.) News reports, “is that some members of the U.S. government may have had some complicity in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and he wants another investigation into that incident.”

After learning of Mr. Bowman’s primary victory, blogger Rusty Shackleford (http://mypetjawa.mu.nu) posted video of Mr. Bowman speaking at a June “9/11 Truth” symposium.

“The official story … of 9/11 is a bunch of hogwash — it’s impossible,” Mr. Bowman told the symposium. Referring to a “cover-up” of the facts about the 2001 attacks, Mr. Bowman said that “high levels of our government don’t want us to know what happened and who was responsible.”

Who was responsible? “I think the case is pretty clear that it’s highly placed individuals in the administration, with all roads passing through [Vice President] Dick Cheney,” Mr. Bowman told the gathering in Los Angeles, suggesting that the Bush administration was guilty of “high treason and conspiracy to commit murder.”

Branching out

Ned Lamont, who defeated Sen. Joe Lieberman in Connecticut’s Democratic primary, said yesterday that he will reach out to centrists and Republicans as he seeks to broaden his appeal.

“Amongst moderates and Republicans, I’ve got to get more in front of them and introduce myself, because they didn’t have a chance to pay as much attention to the race,” he said.

Mr. Lamont was in Washington for meetings with party leaders and union officials.

Voter ID opposed

Opponents of a Georgia law requiring voters to present photo IDs at the polls asked a federal judge yesterday to prevent the new state law from being enforced during Sept. 19 special elections.

The American Civil Liberties Union, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and other groups oppose the ID requirement. The law took effect July 1, but state and federal judges blocked its enforcement during the July 18 primary and Aug. 8 runoff elections.

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