Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Open Forum

The end of the legislative session has prompted a bit of a lull in political news. I am reformatting the state House of Reps. map, which is the map I am least happy with, and it should be done and posted in a day or two.

What's happening in your part of the state?

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have to say that Speaker Jim Amman is more at fault then Sen. Williams for Campaign Finance Reform. I think Democrats have given an issue to Governor Rell to run on and if Democrats were smart they would pass Campaign Finance in the special session coming up. Too much is a sake, I think Democrats were on the road to becoming more progressive and then went back to (my favorite word I love to hate) "compromisers". What are all the Democrats Republican Lite in Connecticut or just Liebermen Democrats. Sen. Williams seemed a little willing to discuss bringing up campaign finance for a vote in the special session. I think State Chairwomen Nancy Dinardio is at fault as well, as a represenative of the democratic party in Connecticut, she should have been speaking out loud for Publicly Financed Campaigns (not trying to kill it behind back doors) especially after this years budget was passed. The corporate tax that was apart of the budget effects small business and there are a lot of people from the small business world that contribute money to the Democrats who might now not want to. If campaign finance had passed we would not have to rely on the business world as much for donations. Democrats lets say running for state rep would raise $5,000 and then get a grant for the remaining $20,000 it cost to run the race. This is an average of what it cost to run a house race $25,000. Instead Nancy wants to continue to make the decision on what races are important and which races get the money. Instead of giving an eqaul share to all Democrats. Furthermore, Republicans would all be restricted to raise that same $5,000 and so Democrats would have a more even playing field. But, I guess there is to much greed at the top. Sorry Connecticut..

Anonymous said...

John Picard is a Democratic candidate for Mayor of West Haven, challenging incumbent Democrat Rich Borer. According to some reports, Borer has been busy
* spiking critical newspaper columns,
* violating state laws and engaging in secret deals,
* and yet more secret deals.

See more accusations of mismanagement on the Picard site.

Anonymous said...

Campaign financing is not a matter that the courts have settled clearly, but some reforms are needed.

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/state/hc-15224200.apds.m0865.bc-ct--campjun15,0,5095657.story?coll=hc-headlines-local-wire

Which the courts would uphold are the question.

Ed said...

Going to a meet and greet with Dan Malloy on monday night. ITs kind of a q&a session where hes hoping to lay out his agenda and try and make some connections.

Any ideas what to ask him?

Anonymous said...

Ed, can you ask him what he thinks of the state spending cap? Is it a "suggestion" as some House Democrats call it or a real mandate from the people to control spending?

On another note, does anyone know anything about the 5th district race? It will be an interesting primary between Paul Vance and Chris Murphy. Who is the favorite and can either of them really threaten Nancy Johnson? I was an intern in her office a couple summers ago and from what I gathered she was fairly popular in her district. She also has a ton of money so any Democrat challenging her has to know that they will be heavily outspent.

Anonymous said...

If God Himself challenged Nancy Johnson, He would probably lose. Seriously, she didn't even really have to try to win a landslide victory last year. Just look at the election map. Waterbury is a pretty big city and pretty blue, but it still went to her.

Anonymous said...

Quick follow up to something I posted yesterday-

The danmalloy.com blog, talkCT, is now up and running. Please stop by and check it out if you have time:

talkCT

Ed said...

I think Quinns right, nancy Johnson isnt going anywhere. Its a shame because ever since she turned into Newt Gingrichs lapdog and purposely slowed the ethics investigationa agaisnt him in the ninties(she was ethics chairman at the time) i dont have much respect for her.

Anonymous said...

Defeating Johnson will be tough, but I think that if anyone can take her on, it is State Senator Chris Murphy, a strong progressive and tough campaigner. He managed the campaign of Charlotte Koskoff, a relative unknown who came astonishingly close to toppling Johnson several years ago, despite the fact that the Democratic Party did not prioritize the race and pundits did not give Koskoff much of a chance. I’ve also heard that during his own first campaign he knocked on the door of every voter in the district 2-3 times. Not necessarily practical in a Congressional campaign, but the right grassroots spirit. The New Britain Herald also covered Murphy’s announcement.

Anonymous said...

Ed,

I'd like to ask Malloy if as an especially favored member of the Democratic Leadership Council and founding member of their Local Officials Network, he shares their Republican Lite philosophy and whether he is concerned that such a philosophy is out of tune with the Democratic base in these changed political times.

Anonymous said...

Murphy certainly seems both competent and charismatic. But the 5th District is the most conservative of the CT districts, (and trending further to the right, IMHO) and Johnson has a lot of cash to back her up if all else fails. Apparantly she has $1.3 million, and the campaign hasn't even really kicked off yet.

That said, Murphy has a good chance to be the one that actually ends up challenging her.

Anonymous said...

There is an article in the Hartford Courant today that says that Lt. Gov. Sullivan is on the verge of declaring his candidacy for Governor. It also says that Rell will let us know of her plans after her July vacation. Sullivan might have some problems catching up to the other three Democrats. They've raised a ton of money at this point and are already getting their names out.