So You Don’t Have To
The 3 Republican candidates for governor are debating in New London tonight. It’s streaming on WTNHs website. I missed the first few minutes. Foley and Fedele are going at it. Foley is showing himself a skillful surgeon at dissecting Fedele’s vague claims on how he’d balance the budget without tax increases. Foley has also pointed out that Fedele’s part of an administration that’s made some very bad decisions.
Griebel sounds credible. He’s stayed above the fray between the other two, pointing out that he owns neither Ferrari (Fedele) nor plane (Foley).
Fedele is often inarticulate. He said there’ll be no taxes in a Fedele administration. He mean no tax increases. He often leaves out important words.
Foley is defending the closing of the Bibb plant two years after Foley left. He says he did not make $20 million off the deal. Instead, Foley says it was for the management team he put into place at the company.
Foley has become a good debater. Oz Griebel brings the most energy.
Griebel closes strong with a realistic survey of state’s problems and the promise of leadership. Foley stumbles several times in his closer. He seems befuddled trying to summarize what he’ll do as governor. It sounds like he’s tried to memorize too many talking points and squeeze them into 2 minutes. Fedele gives a biographical summation. It was crisp, and, unlike some of his answers, coherent.
The tone of tonight’s debate suggests that Foley knows his lead is in danger. If he were 30, 20 or even 15 points ahead of Fedele, Foley would brush him away as an inconvenience. He’d barely acknowledge him. Instead, Foley concentrated his fire on Fedele. Sometimes very effectively, too. It felt like both Foley and Fedele believe they are in a tightening race. Foley’s brought this on himself.
26 comments
The big question is how many people who are truly undecided actually watched this? Maybe a couple of hundred or so? And if they did see it, did any one of the candidates really outshine the other two? No so it’s a typical non-event. I watched Wheel of Fortune. I got most of the puzzles before the contestants. Then I watched Jeopardy! I did pretty good there too with most of the questions. Ya know what I find most amazing about Jeopardy! is that most of the information I needed to answer the questions came from by high school classes as opposed to college or other life experiences. This surprises me because I went to a lousy high school. Now I’m not saying that Jeopardy! has mostly high school level questions because that’s definitely not the case but again I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I learned in high school.
I’ve almost completely fallen off the Fedele bandwagon onto the Oz Griebel train…
Doesn’t really matter who wins the primary. The Democratic candidate will be the new governor.
EdM-
I agree, the sometimes strange easiness of being able to answer Jeopardy! questions from home is scary- Always wanted to make me give it a shot for real.
However, I did watch the debate tonight. And it was refreshing to see an actual “debate” rather than a glorified joint press conference. Other outlets sponsoring debates could learn from this “cumulative time” and “self regulated” idea.
Tom-
I agree that Griebel shone brightly tonight, although all 3 candidates did a much better job than the last debate. As I said in another post, Griebel seems to have that realist approach to the problems. Not everyone likes every idea, but he realizes they need to be talked about. He may just be the center-aligned person we need right now, to do whatever needs to be done, partisan politics be done- and let the party hacks straighten out the state GOP itself. He’s beginning to convince me.
I suppose it’s easy for me to say I can answer lots of Jeopardy! questions in the comfort of my living room but if I were in front of a camera, I’d probably freeze up solid….
Sounds like the format was actually more interesting than usual. I was at the Gubernatorial debate in New London in 1994 and didn’t think it was much of a “debate” but from what you guys are saying, it actually sounds like it was interesting. I may have had a different take on Greibal if I had actually watched it but I’m in no position to comment so I’ll just have to be quiet (for once, LOL!)
HA!
” I’m in no position to comment so I’ll just have to be quiet”
If this were facebook- i’d “LIKE” that comment!
But seriously- see if WTNH/MYTV9 is going to have the archived video available online. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by all candidates.
The gloves came off- and it was exciting to watch. Well, as exciting as 3 guys running for political office in the middle of July can be.
Thanks for the information about the archived video. Beware though because now that I know I can see it, odds are I’ll be giving my “opinion” on it then we argue, LOL!
Fedele’s supposedly thirty points behind and other guys are ganging up on him? Doesn’t make sense.
Probably means that the lead is a lot less than 30 points (maybe as little as 15) and sinking. Nothing last night changed that either way.
Foxxin,
The way the Democrats are going by August 11 either candidate will be unelectable.
I’m not sure why Mr. Rennie says the ‘tone of the debate’ suggests that Mr. Foley knows his lead is in danger. Maybe that tone came through on TV. It wasn’t evident to me at the event.
Like most conservative Republicans, Mr. Foley reacted viscerally to the brazen hypocrisy of a millionaire Lt. Governor using taxpayer funds – in the midst of the state’s financial calamity – to campaign for higher office. Mr. Foley is using his own funds. Mr. Fedele clearly has personal wealth, as evidenced by the Ferrari and Maserati, but is unwilling to put it on the table.
And his cheap shot at Mr. Grieble for not raising sufficient private funds in a crowded primary in the midst of recession was just that – a cheap shot from an obviously entitled politician.
It may never happen, but I think Mr. Grieble could make a very valuable contribution to the state by serving in the Foley Administration in a new business development role.
The state urgently needs to become business-friendly. A big part of that is eliminating red tape, taxes and onerous regulations. But there is also an important role in convincing our major businesses to remain and expand here, as well as recruit other businesses, especially those in Manhattan, to relocate here. If Mr. Foley, as Governor, focused on the huge task of pushing Hartford to create a job- and business-friendly climate, and Mr. Grieble served as his chief aide for new business development, the state would benefit from the combination of their unique skills and talents.
Mr. Fedele can then return to Stamford and enjoy his Ferrari and bon vivant lifestyle full-time.
Foley spending so much time refuting and attacking Fedele must mean that Foley thinks the lieutenant governor is closing the gap. Otherwise, why get into the muck with him? It’s not a winning for either candidate to stand next to each other and inventory and mock personal possessions. It was not uplifting.
I don’t get your point here Rennie. This is a political debate. That’s why the candidates are “getting into the muck” with each other. How many “uplifting” political debates have you witnessed in your time. What a strange post.
The candidates talking about who owns what model cars and which one has a plane is not the stuff of a normal political debate.
“Foley spending so much time refuting and attacking Fedele must mean that Foley thinks the lieutenant governor is closing the gap. ”
“MUST MEAN?” Really Kevin, and you know this how exactly? The reality is you’re just taking a wild-assed guess that’s based on no facts whatsoever.
“It was not uplifting.” Now hold on a minute here Kevin. You’re a drama queen of the highest order and this silly debate had lots of drama for you to get all excited about and now you’re gettin’ all snooty now? You can’t have it both ways Kevin.
“The candidates talking about who owns what model cars and which one has a plane is not the stuff of a normal political debate.”
But is makes for great DRAMA Kevin!! You love drama you little drama princess you!
It seems like EdMfromBranford is just as immature as Fedele was in the debate – pompous name calling.
I agree with George and all of his points, nice job.
The debate was very interesting and I truly believed it revealed each candidate’s true colors:
1. Fedele is a pompous, inarticulate, wimpy baby who is unfit for any position in government. As Lt. Governor – what did he even DO?
2. Foley was almost worse! Foley is trying to dodge all of these attacks on his businesses, but after awhile and with so many accusations, at least one of them must be true. And if that’s so, how is he going to help our state?
3. Griebel, the underdog, now has my vote. Before the debate, I liked him but still wasn’t sure if he was the right fit. But now that I’ve seen him talking about the issues most passionately, he clearly is the best man for the job. He’s ready to change CT.
Yeah, I couldn’t be any more sick of those two sitting there and talking about all of the stuff they have. It couldn’t have anything less to do with the governor’s race. It totally diverts all the attention away from the issues that they should really be talking about like the specifics of how they are going to cut the budget gap. Issues like that are what this debate should have been all about, not who owns what cars and jets. To be perfectly honest, it really doesn’t matter how rich he is, just the fact that someone who claims to be a fiscal conservative is using public money to fund his campaign is a complete joke. That fact that he easily could have funded it himself just makes it even worse. That’s pretty much all that needs to be said about his Ferrari, now let’s get back to the issues.
An important point to bear in mind is that with an event like this, it’s often not the undecided voters watching the debate that matters. In large part, it is the dozens of reporters across the state watching from home who are the key audience.
Foley gave a reasoned, cogent explanation around the Boibb matter. Extremely effective, I thought — and I expect it came across as reasonable to the reporters who will be covering the race in the weeks and months ahead. That was key for Foley, in my opinion.
Way2, you pretty much hit it on the nose. It’s kind of like a candidate’s announcement, who cares who actually shows up it’s the STORY in the papers the next day that is the goal of a successful campaign announcement. The same logic as you suggested applies here with these debates, what was the impression left by the candidates on those who are REPORTING the event more so than the event itself is the key.
I don’t know if I’d write off Foley’s jabs at Fedele as evidence that his lead is teetering on the brink of collapse. Right or wrong, the Fedele campaign is running a commercial that accuses Tom of single-handedly destroying an entire town while taking a massive profit from the whole affair. Foley would look like a complete pussy if he didn’t try to hit back hard.
Also, as far as the comparisons with Martha Coakley, it’s almost universally agreed that the biggest factor in her defeat was her shameful laziness (this and the brilliant tactical decision of the RNC to keep a low profile and let the whole thing look grassroots). As far as the current Republican race, taking your opponent to court four times doesn’t strike me as “checking out.” To the Democrats eventual advantage, I don’t think that Tom Foley is taking anything for granted in this primary, even a 35 point lead.
Yeah so this is just another example of making something up to see if it can get some legs. There is no indication that Foley’s lead is closing, and I would imagine that the next public poll that comes out will show that….I wonder if there will be another poll before the primary?
And luckychams is a loser if she’s voting for Oz Grebal. Kevin is just making crap up here for the sole purpose of creating drama, it’s as simple as that. It’s no wonder that luckychams isn’t bright enough to see this, after all she’s voting for Oz Grebal, what a joke! Ashlee, is that you in dress up?
Foley comes off as a prick and a guy with a real edge when outside his comfort zone. This might be what Connecticut needs as governor.
There appears to be a Q poll in the field, so we will know soon enough.
“Foley comes off as a prick and a guy with a real edge when outside his comfort zone. This might be what Connecticut needs as governor.”
Bill, what are you basing this on? If you can give and example it sure would help.