Campaign News - 7/15/06

Lots of stories out there worth talking about. Here are just a few:

Nancy Johnson's support for the weakening of language provisions in the Voting Rights Act is taking criticism from Chris Murphy and others.

To Nancy Johnson, the debate over a federal law requiring Election Day help for people who speak English as a second language is overblown.

"I've never had a minority person say, `I can't read Nancy Johnson,'" she says with a smile.
...
"Connecticut has historically been a leader in civil rights. This shows how out of step Nancy Johnson is," said Democratic foe Chris Murphy. "It's hard to understand her motivation."
...
Johnson, the only state lawmaker to vote against the language provision, said it is unnecessary and burdensome.

"Our citizenship laws are very clear," Johnson said. "People are required to read and write English." And, she said, the bilingual ballot provisions can be costly for state and local governments. (Lightman. "Johnson")

Perhaps Nancy Johnson should check to see whether a "minority person" has ever actually voted for her.

A funding mishap involving reimbursements from Mary Glassman's campaign to Dan Malloy's is drawing fire from the DeStefano camp:

Supporters of the Democratic gubernatorial campaigns of Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy and New Haven Mayor John DeStefano are disputing the significance of an error in recent financial filings by Malloy's running mate.

The disclosure statements submitted July 17 by the campaign committees for Malloy and Mary Glassman, his running mate for lieutenant governor, failed to explain almost $109,000 in reimbursements from Glassman's committee to Malloy's.
...
DeStefano's campaign said the lapse raises "very serious questions," but Malloy's campaign said it was an unintentional, quickly corrected oversight. (AP. "Democratic")

Perhaps the DeStefano campaign should remember its own fundraising troubles before throwing stones.

Joe Lieberman comments on the crisis in Israel and Lebanon:

"I will raise the question of whether Iran ... is not provoking this crisis for the purpose of not quite distracting us, but flexing their terrorist muscles as the world begins to pressure them to stop their nuclear weapons development," Lieberman told The Associated Press.

He said Syria, which also has ties to Hezbollah, may also be involved. (AP "Lieberman")

I wouldn't doubt it one bit. Keep a close eye on this conflict, because in between Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Iran is a country containing 130,000 U.S. troops.

Lastly, the Connecticut Post slams the Lieberman campaign for making stuff up in its attack ads:

Thumbs down to the campaign of U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, D-Conn., whose latest campaign ad blurs the line between political semantics and an attempt to downright mislead people. Lieberman, who is currently in the middle of a hotly-contested primary challenge for the Democratic Party nomination by Greenwich businessman Ned Lamont, approved the ad that aired across the state last week. The ad shows bumper stickers, supposedly distributed by the Lamont campaign, reading "No More Joe" and "NoMoreJoe.com," accusing Lamont of merely running against Lieberman and not on his own merits. The problem is that the bumper stickers and Web site are completely fake, dummied up entirely by the Lieberman campaign. The tactic is an unfortunate one from the Lieberman camp, especially given the campaign's assertions that the senator is a "principled" leader. If Lieberman wants to attack his challenger in the future, he would be best suited to keep his criticisms based in reality. (Best)

It would be nice.

Sources

"Democratic rivals differ on significance of filing error." Associated Press 15 July, 2006.

"AP Interview: Lieberman suspects Iran is behind Hezbollah." Associated Press 15 July, 2006.

"Best and the rest for the past week." Connecticut Post 15 July, 2006.

Lightman, David. "Johnson Takes Heat On Language Issue." Hartford Courant 15 July, 2006.