Thursday, March 16, 2006

Open Forum

Oversize edition! So big it doesn't fit on the shelf.

The Lieberman campaign takes exception to young Ned's tone, despite the fact that Lamont's campaign has been relatively mild so far. Lieberman also suggests the public doesn't want a lot of name calling, but labels Lamont as "angry."

What amazes me about Joe Lieberman and the Democratic establishment's reaction to the Lamont campaign is just how surprised they all act that Lamont is saying the relatively mild things he's saying, and that this primary is happening at all. It's as if they never saw it coming.

But how could they have missed it? Anger against Lieberman in Democratic ranks has been brewing for years, especially over the war. Maybe they figured that a primary challenger couldn't hack it after the miserable failure of John Orman to raise money or attract attention.

Gov. Rell has vetoed that contracting bill again.

The legislature is considering eminent domain restrictions. This could be a real winner of an issue for Republicans, if they play it right.

Lastly, John DeStefano is planning to announce on Monday that he's running for governor. What? You knew that already? Well, apparently he'll be making it official in two speeches, one in New Haven and the other at the Old State House. Apparently some major policy proposals will be unveiled then, too.

What else is happening?

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

....yawn.....

Lieberman obviously has decided to frame the debate as shouter v. statesman before Lamont gets his own image out there. He's not dumb

Anonymous said...

yeah, well the media is not that dumb. Watch them bend over backwards to give the benefit of the doubt to Lamont.

I can't wait for the debates.

Anonymous said...

say anything often enough and it impacts the casual voter, who are the audience for Lieberman

Anonymous said...

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Besides being a scold, Senator Fuddy Duddy was always a pretty good whiner.

And GC, what has the Dem establishment surprised is their internal polls. Where is Lieberman's base of support?

Anonymous said...

CTBlog calls Joe a crybaby.

I wonder how Sean Smith will respond.

Anonymous said...

Had enough of Rell, DeStefano, and Malloy? They're old news. For some fresh angles, you have to turn to the more obscure candidates for Governor:

Alexander Kanevsky's campaign for the Republican nomination remains low-key here in his home state, but he has been campaigning hard in Japan, Africa, and India, where he is all the rage. Talk about cultural competence! With a diverse coalition like that, who can stop him? For clarity of political vision, nothing beats his interview with CT Conservative:
Q: Would you be interesting in helping to make the the voting system less susceptible to fraud, and if so, how?
A: A system of respiritualization that I propose yields heightened moral development of every voter. Thus the incidence of fraud/corruption expected to drop.

Bowing to the inevitable, John DeStefano appears to have dropped out and endorsed his foremost rival (well, that's my interpretation and I'm sticking to it). The New Haven Advocate recently had a fascinating front-page profile of the state's #1 eccentric candidate.

If Kanevsky can't edge out Rell for the Republican nomination, Scott Merrell is sure going to try. He's a veterinarian who has taken a break from the racetracks of Southern California to run for CT Gov. While the mainstream news media has yet to catch onto the Merrell juggernaut, DVM News, ever on the cutting edge of political journalism, is on the case, as well as the Thoroughbred Times. He has a great track record so far in this horse race: "When I sit down and tell people why I am running, honestly, 100 percent of them want to vote for me." He's willing to bet on his odds: "If I get on the ballot," he said, "I'm 9-to-5 to win the nomination. No one can beat me." He did forget to tell the state that he was a candidate at first, but you live and learn. As a vet, Merrell could capitalize on an entirely untapped electoral constituency. If animals can talk, why can't they vote?

But enough of the two-party duopoly. As an alternative to the alternatives, Joel Schweidel, a Personnel Officer for the State, is running as an independent. From the photo on his home page, he appears to have been separated at birth from a certain Seinfeld-ian celebrity. CT Conservative has an interview, and Schweidel's Web site, while thin, has some position statements.

For the adventurously progressive, there's Cliff Thornton, the Green candidate who wants to challenge the practices of the "war on drugs," including the focus on incarceration over treatment and the racial disparities in prosecutions. Thornton is Director of Efficacy, a Hartford-based nonprofit (a tiny nonprofit, apparently without an office or staff). Here's a video interview with Thornton.

Anonymous said...

you guys dont realise Lieberman planned this early.....if you think playing victim doesn't work well in CT politics please consult the career of Jim ("the Republicans are sliming me") Maloney.

Anonymous said...

Didn't we have the "Angry Right" before we had the "Angry Left"?

Something about Gingrich, the Clintons, and Impeachment.

Anyway, I'm re-naming the Lamont crowd as the "Passionate Left". Those who still care about the Democratic Party, the American People, and the future of our country.

And does anyone know when Lieberman's next public appearance will be? I've got a few questions I want to ask him-- like how much is Joe's wife getting paid to lobby on behalf of Big Pharma?

Anonymous said...

yes, the link is "Impeachment"

there's a fine line between being passionate and being a stalker, and I doubt many of the left can find it these days

Anonymous said...

The Journal Register company is further dumbing down the already shallow content of the New Britain Herald, Bristol Press and Middletown Press.

...the newspapers won't become sensational but will adopt many tabloid staples, such as a dominant front-page photograph, a tighter writing style, more graphics and a breezier feel.

"Newspapers are the original reality shows," Pepin said. "We're going to get back to that and show people that the content we have is very similar to the entertainment they get on TV and in magazines."

Anonymous said...

Lender and Mahoney have an article in tomorrow's Courant that Rell's campaign manager, Kevin Deneen, apparently had dealings with Garfield in coming up with the commissioners' settlement on the Marco Polo deal. Check out courant.com.

Anonymous said...

......yawn.........

Anonymous said...

MikeCT

Great post! Now THAT'S some campaign news worth reading!!

Anonymous said...

The eminent domain proposals are watered down crap. They do not stop the taking of homes for private economic development. It is a smoke and mirrors attempt to placate the public, without solving the root problem created by Kelo.

Anonymous said...

the Journal Register Company has been dumbing down for years with their entry in Fairfield, the Fairfield Minuteman, known around town as the Flatto Times for its undying support of the Flatto administration as you can see here

every week.

Anonymous said...

The Farrell camp like to complain that Shays doesn't bring home the bacon and that CT is a donor state.
Fair enough, but what bacon hasn't he brought home and why are not Dodd and Lieberman equally to blame?

Anonymous said...

throw all the Bums out, I agree!

Anonymous said...

Check out this online article:

Murphy Calls for Reform

Better written than a lot of the stuff you see in the "real" newspapers.