The Week Ahead.
There’ll be a lot politics all week as the August 10th party primaries near. The airwaves are crowded with ads. New ones, mostly negative, join the cycle each day. Some commercial blocks on local broadcast television feature only political ads. These competitive August contests are a boon to local television in the traditionally slow summer schedule.
Expect to see more of Dan Malloy’s Stamford home in a Ned Lamont ad that links the expensive house and Malloy’s tenure as mayor of Stamford. Malloy continues to deconstruct Lamont’s claims to have built a successful business. These will compete with former Bibb employees excoriating Tom Foley’s stewardship of the textile company. Foley’s responses over the airwaves are growing stronger and more pungent. His emphasis on Fedele’s support of Governor M. Jodi Rell’s startling 2007 tax increase proposal is simple to understand and has the added advantage of the unvarnished truth. That out of the blue declaration of an education emergency remains one of the most perplexing decisions Rell has made as governor. Fedele will struggle to provide a credible explanation for his support for his partner in government’s plan to raise the income tax 3 1/2 years ago.
The candidates will get a chance to talk about these and other issues on Tuesday (for the Democrats) and Wednesday (the Republicans) afternoon when they participate in a debate sponsored by WFSB and WNPR. Submit questions by sending an email to debatequestions@wfsb.com.
The Republican debate in New London included several contentious exchanges between Foley and Fedele. Malloy is a former prosecutor whose training and instincts will allow him to bore in on Lamont’s charges and insist on specific answers.
Mailboxes will continue to shake, rattle and roll with searing brochures. Kevin Lembo and Mike Jarjura are in the political equivalent of a knife fight by post. A Ross Garber mailer lets prime Republican voters know that his opponent, Martha Dean, wants to legalize cocaine. It’s a dramatic piece that doesn’t seem credible. Martha Dean supports a lot of nutty stuff, but that?
Linda McMahon may want to engage Rob Simmons now that he’s back in the game. A reminder of his previous support for what’s now Kryptonite to Republican candidates wouldn’t come as a surprise. Cap-and-trade, huge deficits, pork, and ending secret ballots in some union elections provide an opportunity for McMahon to remind Republican voters that Simmons dwelled in a different political era.
There’ll be a Q-poll, too. Its results, along with campaigns’ deeper internals, will help set campaign strategy in the final days. The state’s lavish campaign financing program and four wealthy candidates mean there’s plenty of cha-ching about. Phones will continue to ring with survey, persuasion, and, and Identification calls. You may even get a lit drop or a knock on your door. Newspapers will provide candidates with an opportunity to respond to endorsement decisions, which out to provide some pungent commentary.
Speaking of endorsements. Gerry Garcia ought to be the happiest candidate who didn’t get one. The Courant endorsement of his opponent, Denise Merrill, ended with this: “But if passion for the job is the measure, Mr. Garcia is your man.” That wounded like an enthusiastic seal of approval for the former New Haven alderman.
8 comments
“Martha Dean supports a lot of nutty stuff…”
Please explain.
Allow me to predict some winners of the GOP primary based on the facts right now. Bear in mind that this has nothing to do with the merit of any one candidate and everything to do with how the GOP works.
Congress –
1 st District – No prediction/tossup
2nd District – Janet Peckinpaugh
4th District – Dan Debicella
5th District – Sam Caligiuri
Governor – Tom Foley
Senate – Linda McMahon
Attorney General – Ross Garber
In the general election, all of these candidates would be lucky to receive 35% of the vote.
Overall, the reason the GOP is so small here is because people see the writing on the wall. There are (and were) plenty of good and halfway decent candidates. The party said “thanks, but no thanks”.
If you see higher than usual turnout this year, that will be far more true in the general than in the primary. “Why is that?”, you may ask. It’s really simple.
Major party candidates approved by the establishment would rather accuse their opponents of being for cocaine use and condone merciless attack ads that have nothing to do with addressing the problems of the day in any substantial detail. To the detached observer, this is akin to running ads where your opponent crushes puppies with a fridge. Call me an idealist, but while we all agree that there will be a degree of mudslinging and sensationalism, this is indeed over the top.
If anyone reading this disapproves of the likely winners, by all means, have at it. Work yourselves to the bone on this to make sure the outcome is to your liking. But after you do that and the CT GOP loses anyway, know that you have the closure you need to move on and find another party.
You’re the guy running as a petitioning candidate for Congress in the 2nd, right? Yes “petitioning” because you Libertarians didn’t nominate a candidate in this race in 2008.
You know you can’t win so you run to pull Republican votes away from Republican candidates so Democrats will win, nice job you moron.
And you can knock of the “establishment” crap anytime now you little twerp. The nominees will be decided by a PRIMARY which is the best way to nominate candidates because ALL REPUBLICANS have an opportunity to decide who the nominee is.
You’ve got the winner in the 2nd wrong, it’s going to be Novak and the only reason you didn’t call one in the 1st is because you aren’t smart enough to know who the supposed”establishment” candidate is in your simple little mind. Brickley will win that one.
I also think your Garber prediction is wrong but we’ll see.
What ever happened to newspapers vetting the truth (or untruth) of the claims candidates made in their commercials. We have Fedele claiming that Foley was arrested and jailed (true, but misleading), Foley claiming that Fedele “presided” over deficits and tax increases (flat out untrue) and the Democrats making the Republicans look restrained. But, not a word from the Courant or anyone else…..
Source, so-called “media outlets” these days are more interested in drama and selling newspapers and advertising than actually reporting the news. Drama, gossip and sensationalism gains readers and viewers. Kevin Rennie is a perfect example and one of the largest contributors to the very problem you mentioned. Thanks for bringing it up.
Ed…
Is Ann Brickley really the establishment candidate in CT-1?
Chris Healy and Art Mocabee unveiled Mark Zydanowicz at a presser on the steps of the State Capitol.
Brickley was alone with her kid behind her.
Brickley has had to lend her campaign about $70,000.
She did win the convention, but only due to a fumble by the Zydanowicz camp.
Tom, I don’t think she is nor did I say or imply she was.
I don’t know how Zydanowicz became a candidate but I do know that when his name was being floated around and before his formal announcement, there were no other candidates.
Brickley literally came out of nowhere quite some time after Zydanowicz’s announcement.
Having Art Cockabee’s endorsement or support is a liability, not an asset and unfortunately Mr. Zydanowicz learned that the hard way. You’re being far too kind when you call what Mocabee did a “a fumble by the Zydanowicz camp.”
EdMfromBranford,
We petitioned because we didn’t have ballot access. That’s the way it works for our nominees – myself included. Unlike the GOP, we actually don’t have ballot access welfare. And unlike the GOP complaining about welfare, we reached across the aisle with the Green Party and actually did something about the Citizen’s Election Program.
And maybe you have better intel on the 1st district, in which case, good for you! Glad to hear it.
Otherwise, sit down and read this –
http://realedealforcongress.com/handouts/offertoGOPcandidates.pdf
No takers. Not one. So if you had someone who wanted to follow the Constitution and win the election, that was the chance. So quit whining about spoilers.
“Twerp” or not, it’s all on you guys at this point. Go forth and do great things… or continue making things up and building strawmen, in which case you end up with another Joe Courtney with an R next to his name. That’s up to you.
danny, did any of the candidates even know about your blackmail document? Even if they did, I can’t blame them for signing it because it’s painfully obvious to everyone who reads it that you can’t be taken seriously.
I’m not “whining about spoilers” you moron, I’m simply telling you the facts of life. If you supposed “Libertarians” want to keep on being stupid, by all means have at it, I’m not losing any sleep over it.
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