Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Paul Vance Q&A Tonight

This is just another reminder that the question and answer session with Congressional candidate Paul Vance will take place tonight from 7-8pm.

His interview, which was done Friday, is here for your reference.

If you can't make it and have questions for Paul (and you haven't posted them already), post them here or email them to me.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Have you been involved with the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC)? If so (or if not), why would progressives prefer you as a candidate over State Sen. Chris Murphy, who has a fairly strong progressive record?

Anonymous said...

Disclaimer: I should say that I'm not involved with the Murphy campaign!

Anonymous said...

If Nancy Johnson decided to run as a Democrat, should Democrats support her? There are plenty of Johnson, Shays, Simmons and Bush look-alikes in the Democratic Leadership Council.

Aldon Hynes said...

Questions:

You mention that your ancestors were immigrants in your interview. Currently the issue of immigrants is getting a lot of attention, especially in the Danbury area. What are your thoughts about dealing with immigrants, particularly in terms of drivers licenses, amnesty and related topics getting a lot of coverage?

Back in April, The Hill reported that Rep. Chris Murphy has met with the DCCC, seeking their support and that he hopes to raise between $1.5 and $2 million. Have you met with the DCCC, how much do you expect to raise, and do you believe it will be sufficient?

I'm told that in 2001 you were the deciding vote in Waterbury between Jarjura and Napoli. Can you comment on what led you to support Jarjura over Napoli?

Anonymous said...

It is nice to have some young blood taking a stance for the citizens of CT. Some questions that my husband and I have that we would like to hear your thoughts on

-How do you plan on dealing with the diversity of issues that pertain to such a large distric such as the 5th?
-Any ideas on how to bring industry and businesses back to CT (we are located in such a great location between two major cities, there must be something we can do).
-Do you support Attorney General Blumenthal's quest to challenge the federal government on the "No Child Left Behind" issue?
-And last but not least any thoughts on bringing toll booths back to CT to help generate some revenue?

Anonymous said...

With all due respect to CTMike, campaigns are not about hypotheticals and there is not one member of the DLC who is a Bush-clone, the Southern white Democrat is now extinct, and with it, the Democratic majority in the House and Senate ... purity tests are great in the classroom but they are no fun in politics when every vote counts for Speaker ...

Paul Vance said...

OK, I am here and ready to go. Thank you to everyone for the questions and to the Blog Master for running the show.

Paul Vance said...

dumbruss--

There may be competition for the Democratic nomination- but the good news is that we can all agree that we need a change in this district. We need someone who will be open and accountable to the people of this district.

Paul Vance said...

Second question- dumbruss--


I know the party had a difficult time in the last election cycle. The original nominee dropped out in September, but Theresa Gerratana represented us well. She ran a spirited race without the luxury of time or huge Washington money.

Nancy Johnson has been careful to cultivate friendships with many wealthy interests down in Washington DC. This has allowed her to raise a sizeable amount of money. Both of these factors have scared many potential opponents away from challenging her.

However, I believe it is her position has a “safe” incumbent that will prove to be her undoing. Because Nancy Johnson thinks she can serve in Congress for as long as she wants without having to be accountable to the voters in her district, she has strayed away from representing the values of our district and instead has spent her time currying favor with the Republican leadership in Washington. She longer feels the need to be accountable to her constituents.

I laughed earlier today when I read an article in the Hartford Courant about how a group of protestors from the Connecticut Citizen Action Group wore costumes that resembled milk cartons, with a picture of Johnson and the word “missing.” That is a very clever way to explain Nancy Johnson’s stance on a lot of the major issues facing us. She no longer feels that she needs to share her opinion with us, and her constituents are going to hold her accountable for that.