he knew daniel patrick moynihan. bloomenthal had a lot of contacts. but he said he used none of them when he got into the marine reserves. he said he got it out of the phone book. no special privileges, despite quite a background and resume he already had. >> woodruff: how does this affect the senate race? bloomenthal was running ahead in most of the polls? >> bloomenthal was definitely the frontrunner in basically all of the polls. he was the frontrunner in the democratic primary, and there may not be a primary if he gets the election. the republicans, there will be a primary in august. and the election in november. bloomenthal was ahead in all of the polls, both at the democratic primary level and the general election. obviously, this can't help him, but he was up by more than double digits over every other candidate in the race, and beating some candidates by 20 points, 30 points. >> woodruff: what sort of reaction are you picking up in political circles and among the public about this? >> many, many people are surprised. a lot of people did not se

this is something that did daniel patrick moynihan, another crazy neocon, has defined deviancy down. so we are not to think of it as is crazy regime whose president denies the holocaust, calls for israel to be wiped off the map, remakes whenever a simple agreement, has a 30-year history of rejecting an agreement with the united states, but look at it as an extremely complex and nuanced regime. and fact, what we have learned is that it is the bluntest blunt instruments. this is the point on which we will agree. there is no greater visual of that than the murder in the streets of tehran in 2009. [applause] >> so i guess we will have a debate after all. there have been a number of questions that have been filtering through. i am looking at one that comes from somebody in the audience who is asking about the iranian opposition to their own years of their nuclear program. there has been a focus on a -- there has been a focus attention to the need to a green movement. with that change the course of a nuclear program, one that even predates the current iranian regime? >> the nuclear program

this is something that did daniel patrick moynihan, another crazy neocon, has defined deviancy down. so we are not to think of it as is crazy regime whose president denies the holocaust, calls for israel to be wiped off the map, remakes whenever a simple agreement, has a 30-year history of rejecting an agreement with the united states, but look at it as an extremely complex extremelynuand nuanced regime. and fact, what we have learned is that it is the bluntest blunt instruments. this is the point on which we will agree. there is no greater visual of that than the murder in the streets of tehran in 2009. [applause] >> so i guess we will have a debate after all. there have been a number of questions that have been filtering through. i am looking at one that comes from somebody in the audience who is asking about the iranian opposition to their own years of their nuclear program. there has been a focus on a -- there has been a focus attention to the need to a green movement. with that change the course of a nuclear program, one that even predates the current iranian regime? >> the nucl

i left my job worksheet -- working for patrick moynihan at the white house, and the midnight, i got on a bus, and i went to boot camp at parris island. do you want to know how i got into the reserve? i look them up in a phone book. there was no special privilege. i joined the reserves by picking up the telephone and signing up. unlike many of the others -- i chose to join the military to serve my country. [applause] and as i joined the united states marine corps reserve, i was stationed at parris island, and then i served a six-year commitment. i was able to reach the rank of sergeant, and i was honorably discharged. i am proud of my service in the united states. -- the united states marine corps. i am it more proud that my eldest son, matthew, is serving in the united states marine corps reserve. i am just one of thousands of people across connecticut, and across the country who served in the national guard, or the reserve, or on active duty. and thousands of members of the national guard, and the reserves of us -- they are now serving and sacrificing a brought in iraq and afghanistan