I’m sure you’re familiar with the tradition of the humble slaves warning conquering Roman emperors:

In imperial times the conqueror was crowned with a laurel wreath and wore a purple tunic (!) embroidered with palms under a purple toga embroidered with stars. Sometimes his children, robed in white, stood with him in the chariot, or rode the trace-horses. A slave stood behind the conqueror, holding a golden crown over his head, and whispering in his ear a warning that all glory’s fleeting.

That came to mind when I read a recent profile of Ned Lamont, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Connecticut last year, currently teaching as a fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard’s Kennedy School.

Lamont recently endorsed Senator Chris Dodd for president, and his act was virtually unnoticed, except for the blog of The Nation and a liberal blog or two. Even after the TNR article came out pointing out no mention of the endorsement on Dodd’s site, the only mention of Lamont I could find on the site was from October, when he was running against Lieberman.

One minute you’re a little known executive, the next you’re taking the political world by storm, the next you’re back to being a little-known executive. I almost feel sorry for Ned.

Anyway – let his story be a warning to all political flavors of the month…