Quiet day, politically speaking. At least around here.
Common Cause has been pushing for changes to the campaign finance bill passed last December, such as lower thresholds for minor parties and limits on town/state committee expenditures. Sen. Chris Caruso, however, wants to keep the focus on PACs.
Sikorsky workers are on strike today following the breakdown of negotiations over a new contract. Health care is the crux, here.
Sen. Dodd wants the federal government to pay troops so they can buy better body armor.
Lastly, Gov. Rell wants to get tough on meth.
Anything else happening?
47 comments:
This isnt really news, but I generally troll around through all the candidate blogs once a week or so. Dan Malloy's, which used to not do much of anything, is starting to document a lot of the events he is at, with photos and such. Considering it used to only update once a week or so, it's been shaping up nicely.
Oh yeah the blog is here.
Lamont, on Colin's show: "there's no turning back, I'm in."
Yee Ha! Here we go!
Here is a regionaliztion story
Snooze and you lose.
On the meth post I'm not convinced Rell is in synch with this from her DMHAASS Commissioner. I wonder if he was at Marco Polo with everybody else??
Rell car accident..Geez, thats about as close as it will ever get to having Malloy or DeStafano for Governor.
Another Advocate article worth reading today regarding Fairfield County and the Governor's race. Click here.
A couple thoughts:
1) While Rell's popularity obviously calls into question whether any Dem has a shot, there is little doubt in my mind that Malloy has much better chance than DeStefano for exactly the reasons the article lists. Republicans need that area, and he has a shot at competing for it. A business-friendly but socially progressive Democrat is the only kind that will have a chance in this state.
2) DeStefano's campaign manager continues to reveal her lack of experience, or atleast tact. If she is going to continue to manage that campaign, they have got to put someone else out in there in front of the press.
Dear Catain Obvious ( roy,Kathy or Chris) Thank you for the puff piece.
The fact is this operative believes that the 4th CD is the least Dem performing Cd and will not be enough to carry Malloy over the top in a primary....The Q Poll and the Courant Polls have DeStefano over Malloy 2 to 1...
DeStefano will win the endorsement and beat Malloy in a primary by about 2 to 1...any takers on a bet? say dinner?
State Police have released a new description of the assailant in today's gubernatorial car accident:
Tall, white, dark hair, nasty frown, ponchy, and goes by "Lieutenant Governor Sullivan."
Anon 11:57 - Dear Catain Obvious ( roy,Kathy or Chris) Thank you for the puff piece."
Ha! Nope, sorry! I fully admit I support Malloy in a primary though.
Not sure why my post would be taken as being spin or whatever, when I basically just agreed with what the article said.
I know polls aren't always an accurate guage, but with numbers like 2 to 1, I think DeStefano will most probably win the primary, even if the final numbers turn out to be tighter than the 2 to 1 that the polls indicate.
With 80% approval ratings, I think whoever the Democratic challenger is will have a steep, uphill battle in front of them against Rell. But Rell shouldn't get too complacent with her approval ratings because a lot can happen over the next eleven weeks plus the special session that seems to be inevitable every year.
I do think Dan Malloy would prove a better match against Rell and would capture more unaffiliated and Republican votes against Rell than DeStefano would. Then again, would Malloy lose more Democratic votes to Rell than DeStefano would?
Destefano's problem isn't his inexperienced campaign staff (although they're a bunch of amateurs), his problem is that he's slimey and women don't like slimeball men. And since women are going to be 52% or more of Election days voters, Destefano's finished before he gets started. Rell's favorable among women are 71/2. And when Destefano takes his first good shot at the female breast canver survivor/ governor and she reminds everyone (because everyone knows someone with cancer) that he's holding up the Yale Cancer Center because of the unions... Malloy's the better general election opponent.
Sanity, while the last poll was telling in some areas, one area it definitely was NOT was the primary. This is because the fact is neither Dem is well known enough right now to guage anything. Obviously that doesn't bode well for whoever has to run in the general, but for right now you really have to wait until at least the convention to know where the Demnocratic primary stands, in my opinion.
Anon 12:50-
You are missing the point. I think we all know DeStafano is going to win the primary but he is most certainly is not the better opponent for Dems. R's don't like liberal cry baby mayors. DeStefano is both; Malloy is neither liberal nor a cry baby. The man took a crime riden, economicly burdened city and turned it into a model for others.
DeStefano hasn't done anything aside from IKEA while crime is still a major problem and doesn't have any economic development to speak of.
Furthermore, R's are growing increasingly frustrated with Rell's sometimes liberal leanings. We dont know what to make of her after 10 years of Rowland the Republican hard ass.
Malloy would gain some Republican crossovers, and Rell would see less crossovers from moderate Dems.
DeStefano will get liberal left and thats it and Rell will keep the moderate D's and yes, the vast majority of women.
For Dems to succeed, they need to stop applying the liberal Lieberman theory to everything.
For the record, if Malloy somehow did win the primary, hands down he would have my vote. You show me a person who did what he did in his city with 1. crime 2. Economic Development and i'll show you a plethora of R's ready to pull his lever.
"I think we all know DeStafano is going to win the primary"
We do? Malloy has out-raised him the last 3 filing quarters. This thing is totally up for grabs right now.
Anon 220...keep telling yourself that. As my posting says if you read the ENTIRE thing instead of one line...I hope he wins but it ain't gonna happen.
Alright, while most of these ramblings do sound like a lot of campaign workers, and maybe some disgruntled onlookers I feel the need to add my independent 2 ¢.
Take a look at the numbers from the Quinnipiac Poll what you will probably notice is that there is no statistical difference between Malloy and DeStefano in their faceups against Gov. Rell.
Looking further, some make the argument that Malloy would do better amongst women – however the poll suggests otherwise. In a primary, DeStefano would win the votes of 40% of democratic voters versus 14% that Malloy would garner. Compare that to the 38% to 19% victory DeStefano would muster amongst all Democratic voters Malloy doesn’t look good – despite his looks.
Another tidbit – in Fairfield County – where Malloy touts a strong base: 71% of voters have not heard enough about Malloy to form an opinion VS the 77% who have not heard enough about the “outsider” DeStefano. If Malloy wants to win big in Fairfield County – maybe he should let people know he is there.
So- I figure there really isn’t much to look at here in terms of which Democrat will do better against Rell. I just know its unlikely that the 83% of people who don’t know enough about Malloy to form an opinion will vote for him in a primary.
Conclusions – name recognition is pricy so this will be an expensive race (okay so the money everyone’s raising is a good hit to that – excuse me captain obvious). As to the election my money is on Rell v DeStefano. And the results – too early – but I do agree with 27% of my peers – it’s the economy stupid.
Source: Q-Poll - http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x11359.xml
I agree with what Anon 12:57 said about the Yale Cancer Center. Did anyone else get the mailing that basically laid the blame for the center not moving forward at DeStefano and 1199's feet? Seems DeStefano opted to pander to the unions and put his political future ahead of cancer patient's and our entire State's needs. How unfortunate.
The union mob will choose DeStefano over Malloy so he will win the primary however, I too think that Malloy would stand a better shot in a head to head race against Jodi but franky, the winner of the Democratic primary only wins the opportunity to get slaughtered in the General election. The question is, Is winning the primary really winning?
Prediction:
Rell 63% VS DeStefano 37%
poll watcher-
First, I am not on board any campaign. I do have a meeting next week for potential work in the Simmons campaign but last check shows him running for congress.
Second, I see you are independent, where as I am Republican and have worked on or run numerous Republican campaigns. I know quite a bit about Republicans and what we are feeling and we like Malloy...as I stated in my last post. We also hate DeStefano. We dont all like him enough to vote for him over Jodi as I do but our ranks are growing.
That being said, wouldn't it be fair to assume that Malloy would have a better shot knowing he will pull some R's while DeStefano would not?
My, my, my, aren’t we a sophisticated bunch. I haven’t seen this level of sophistication since seventh grade. ‘Slimey’ and ‘Cry-baby’. Next thing you know someone will be saying, “Don’t vote for John, he’s got cooties”.
There are some people here that I disagree with strongly but that I appreciate their comments. Is doing away with the property tax on automobiles a constructive move for Connecticut, simply election year theatrics, or some combination of both? Is regionalism a panacea, a sham, nice idea that probably won’t work or something else? How can we get people to work together across the political divide or across town lines?
These are the sort of topics we should grapple with. As I’ve said before, I’m not a policy wonk and can’t dig as deep as some of you would like, but I am wonkish enough to know that people resorting to ad hominem attacks are not likely to get people to work together to make Connecticut a better place. Mayor DeStefano has spent time bringing people together, whether you talk about getting Yale to work better with the City of New Haven or getting the suburbs and the city to work together on regional magnet schools.
DeStefano has cooties?!?!?!??! this changes everything.
Aldon, please...
This no place for grown-ups, cry-baby.
Concerning the cancer center, I think it is as destructive to simply the matter of the largest development in New Haven’s history as DeStefano pandering to the unions. There are a lot of people who do not want the City of New Haven to rubber stamp the development proposals. Unfortunately, it appears as if that is what Yale New Haven Hospital is demanding.
No, like any development of that magnitude, there needs to be give and take on both sides. Mayor DeStefano’s successful dealings with Yale as well as the recent appointment of Bruce Alexander to mediate the disputes over Yale New Haven development plans lead me to believe that Mayor DeStefano is supporting the give and take that is necessary and not simply caving to one side or another.
I must admit that living in Stamford, I don’t know the details of current negotiations or much about Mr. Alexander’s background, however it doesn’t sound like those who are trying to oversimplify the matter are doing anyone much of a service. The Cancer Center is too important for people to play that sort of rhetoric with.
Poll watcher-
I don't recall anyone saying that Destefano would do better than Malloy among women or vice versa.. I said that RELL will do better than Destefano among women and you can surmise that quite easily from the poll and for other obvious reasons. As far as i'm concerned, we can stop talking about Mally. And since women will be 52% or more of the Election Day voters and are typically the undecided voters in a poll (which i'm sure you know since you're a poll watcher), his prospects don't look good. But for the record, Malloy is geographically the better nominee for the D's but doesn't have the union groundgame to win the convention or a primary. But then again you don't become the Mayor of Stamford by being a progressive, anti-business democrat.
What's up with the DeStefano blog?Aldon, are you still working for the DeStefano campaign?
I'm sure you'll be thinking about the car tax and regionalization/communism on primary day when the Destefano campaign and the unions are paying people to go to the polls. You must think we're fools.
just so people know what we are talking about here
Noun 1. cootie - a parasitic louse that infests the body of human beings
A more nuanced discussion of 'cootie' can be found here.
Anon(3:41) - Yes, I am still working with the DeStefano campaign, but I'm spending most of my time on other things and Becky and Molly are handling most of the blog entries there right now.
Anon(3:46) - Being afraid of commies is so last century. You're supposed to be frightened of terrorists now.
Thank you, Aldon, for the dictionary definition of cootie. Thing is, I followed the link to "obnoxious person" and there was a picture of
Well, hell. There WAS a link in that post, to the DeStefano web site. (Lot less funny when you have to explain it ... )
Simmons VS Courtney? Is it true Rob Simmons has taken $1,250 from disgraced Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who pled guilty to fraud, tax evasion, and conspiracy charges in connection to federal bribery? This gets even better!!!! I also hear that Rob has hired a Connecticut lobbyist to be his campaign manager? If thats true, nice way to distance yourself from the Abramoff scandal,Rob. Can't wait to read the Courtney press releases on this one!
Aldon and others,
Regarding the cancer center in New Haven - the issue is how Republicans will use it as a bludgeon against Destefano should he be the Dem challenger.
Whether it is the give and take that Aldon describes or the pandering to unions suggested by others, the fact is you can count on the Rupublicans to level the latter charge or worse, and not count on the media to dig for the truth or some semblance of it, whatever that may be.
The media will become Rell's echo chamber and the cancer center and other shady New Haven happenings will kill any chance of the issues based campaign any Democrat needs to win.
Let there be no mistake about it, the issue is whether or not John Destefano interfering in the project at the request of Union leaders who can't negotiate a benefit package that suits them. Not whether Republicans will make it an issue, it is an issue.
"look for the union label, when you choose a Governor
get your pay raise, with no co pays, and just send us the bill"
we'll tax some business, or some rich guy, that's too lazy to move"
yes, look for the union label, so we can be the most liberla place the the U.S.A"
You can watch video of Ned Lamont speaking to the Southbury DTC on the CT Blog site. George Burns looks on approvingly.
!!!! "I also hear that Rob has hired a Connecticut lobbyist to be his campaign manager? "
You mean McCain's local campaign manager?
from that noted right wing source, CNN, from the 2000 convention
"With me is Chris Healy. He was field director for the McCain effort in Connecticut. Chris, I can't help but notice you still have McCain buttons here on your shirt. Does that signify that your loyalty is still with John McCain?
CHRIS HEALY, CONNECTICUT DELEGATION: No, it's just a sign of respect. All McCain delegates are committed to George Bush. And we're committed to working just as hard for him as we did for John McCain and his platform."
If that's the best Courtney's got going for him the DCCC ought to save their dough
Chris Healy is a loser and a drunk.
well, so much for Joe Courtney's positive campaign
He has "cooties" too.
Simmons has got to be nuts to hire a lobbyist after the Abramhoff deal. This will be very embarassing for him when this gets out. Stupid, just plain old Stupid.
anyone involved in politcs has cooties....glad im getting my anti-cootie shots this week.
are you guys drinking Kool Aid?
You think Democrats don't hire lobbyists to run their campaign?
Or is an 1199 "community outreach" employee not "lobbying"?
Democrats may hire lobbyist but not after being linked to the Abramhoff scandal. They may also keep them in the background as a "consultant" but given the title Campaign Manager? I think it is Simmons who is drinking the Kool Aid.
Yeah, right
Dean shakes up staff, taps longtime Gore associate
By Nedra Pickler, Associated Press Writer, 1/28/2004
BURLINGTON, Vt. -- Democrat Howard Dean shook up his faltering bid for the White House on Wednesday, replacing his campaign manager with a former Washington lobbyist tied to Al Gore.
Neel, Gore's former senatorial chief of staff, served as chief executive of the U.S. Telecom Association in Washington before working on Gore's 2000 presidential campaign. Neel was named to head Gore's transition team in anticipation of the former vice president winning the White House.
Tell me again how Chris Healy is tied to Abramoff, I think I missed it.
Simmons made it no secret he hired Healy so what do you mean by when this gets out?
Simmons doanted all Abramoff money to charities, as he did DeLay money. Show me a Dem who did the same with their Abramoff money...bet ya can't.
Healy ran the successful campaign of New Britan's mayor, was a McCain guy and as a lobbyist has only one client left.
Toby MOffett is an active lobbyist but seems to have his hands on many Dem campaigns...that make them all bad too?
Fact is, Rob has done his job for the people who hired him, the votwers of the 2nd congressional district of connecticut...no one else.
disgruntled: you need to re-read the post. I don't think anybody said the Healy was tied to Abramhoff. They said Simmons excepted money from Abramoff and if he is trying to distance himself from lobbyist, well, hiring one as campaign manager doesn't do the trick. While Healy may only have one client today, he was a well known lobbyist with Updike,Kelly & Spellacy for years. He is not a newbie. While this may get some attention in the blogs, once the Courtney camp makes an issue of it as I'm sure they will, and the big media boys start to give it coverage, Simmons may be in trouble. Not a very smart move on his part. He should have kept Healy in the background not make him campaign manager. What could have been a fairly easy win for Simmons may now turn into a damaging campaign issue. JMHO
FYI Chris Healy did not run the New Britain campaign for Mayor. It was John Healey
Good thing Ned Lamont hasn't hired any lobbyists as his campaign manager ... oops!
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