Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Open Forum

Don't forget to check out the CT Election 2006 directory: I've been putting new stuff up over there. I will remind you that it's a wiki, which means that you can (and should!) add information about the races you know best.

What else is happening today?

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

GC: you may wish to look aroundProject Vote Smart If you click around you can find interest group ratings, campaign finances, biographies and some other stuff.

Anonymous said...

I got a robocall yesterday from Debicella (running for State Senate in Stratford), and his signs are everywhere.

Who is our candidate-- someone named Jones? Never heard of him. I thought Terry Backer would have run for this seat. He would have had a shot.

Is this a a competitive seat? Our current State Senator, Doc Gunther, has been there for like 50 years (he is almost 100 years old or something...our own Strom Thurmond). Stratford is a swing town (we have a Democrat mayor, but Republicans control everything else), and the rest of the district seems pretty Republican.

We better get moving here.

Anonymous said...

It's too late Stratford Dem.

Anonymous said...

The 21st is a very competitive seat.

Jones is a good guy with decent experience, but I too am worried that he hasn't been able to establish himself.

And a robocall in August? Is the guy incapable of picking up the phone and dialing a number? Is he out knocking on doors?

Counting signs is only for political wonks; the sheer number is inconsequential.

It's good to see that Southington Live is experiencing an expansion in its readership...Stratford today...Hawaii tomorrow!

Anonymous said...

Southington Live?

I gotta stop reading blogs...they all seem to run into one another.

My apologies to the readership, GC and Southington Live for the confusion.

Anonymous said...

Word is that Debicella has been aggressively knocking on doors. Hasn't been to my door yet though. But neither has Jones. Not that that means anything.

I agree on the automatic call-- I hate those things.

But I don't see how this is competitive, unless Jones can spend more and work more than Debicella-- neither of which he appears to be doing. Stratford is competitive, but Shelton, Monroe, and Seymour are pretty Republican areas. If it were just Stratford, I think it would be a different story.

But it is early yet. Would be nice to get someone other than Terry Backer up there for Stratford (the rest of our legislative delegation is useless).

Anonymous said...

bluecoat said: "you may wish to look aroundProject Vote Smart.."

Took bluecoat up on his suggestion to GC and checked out Project Vote Smart. The most interesting piece of information, in my opinion, is just how many candidates failed to respond to the candidate survey; not many actually respond.

Anonymous said...

Re: the 21st district. DiBecella is welcome to waste his money on lawn signs in August...

Chris Jones is pretty well known in Shelton, he's a volunteer firefighter and he's a small business owner there too. He's been knocking on doors and he was at Farrell's town hall meeting last night. I know to us it seems like we're running out of time, but to the rest of the world who are getting their kids back to school and looking forward to the holiday weekend, November's election is a million miles away...

Anonymous said...

TrueBlueCT:

Yes, it is true, the government does have a claim to recover money from your estate if you received government stipends.

In fact, the government is quite cruel about it.

I am familiar with one case where the AG's office went after a dead man's niece for @ $7k that she recieved as the lone heir claiming that the government was entitled to the money after uncovering that the woman's uncle had received financial assistance. The government has up to 6/12 months to file a claim for recovery. Here's the catch: the woman, who was in her late-60s, living on a fixed income and by any definition "poor", spent most of the $7K on her uncle's funeral. Despite this fact, the AGs office filed suit and went after her.

In short: the explanation correct, as the government has a claim against welfare payments upon that individuals death.

Anonymous said...

4:10; the NPAT survey only just went out from Project Vote Smart but you're right few will respond but nonetheless it's a good compilation of special interest endorsements.

Anonymous said...

Kristime Ragagalia ran the operation that went after welfare recovery. You all rememeber her. She headded up DCF and flew with Eleff and the Tomasso's, then went to snitch on them to Johnny's family friend, Kevin O'Connor, while she worked for Blumenthl before going on to head up fraud investigations at DSS. She retired recently when the heat got to hot. She was a victim just like the poor from the ghetto - but she somehow managed to get a law degre before falling victim. You can't make this stuff up!!!!

Anonymous said...

Anon 4:39--

I agree and disagree about Jones.

I met him at our Town Committee meeting, and he definitely is a nice guy. (And a really tall guy too!) He has a good background, and I'm glad to hear he is knocking on doors. But I have had numerous DTC members tell me they met Dibiciella while he was at events and knocking on doors.-- I haven't heard anyone say they met Jones except at our meeting.

So how does he win? Dibiciella can put up signs because he outraised him 2-1 as of July 1. Neither of the candidates were known in the district as of then (they are both really first-timers). But now Dibicella has a huge head start.

I am voting for Jones, but I don't see how he can win unless he is going to raise more money than his opponent and have a stronger presence in the district. So far he has neither.

Anonymous said...

Welfare payments?

I googled like crazy and didn't find anything like what you are talking about.


TrueBlueCT:

You seemed a little obsessed about this.

Anonymous said...

Either th Project Vote Smart info is outdated or Tom Gaffey got remarried and I hadn;t heard about it .

As I recall, marriage #1 didn't work out too well for him

Anonymous said...

It's noit called "welfare", it's "state assistance". It is all state assistance, though, that the state can go after. Estates and civil lawsuits are the most common, because there is a court record of the money coming in.

Anonymous said...

Jones came to my door in July in
Stratford. I have also seen him
in open forums in Shelton. He is
much better one on one than speaking
to groups but I hear he is gettinge better at that. Jones has private
sector experience as he owns his own
business and he is a former alderman.
These qualities make him to be an all
around person who understands what I
am going through with high taxes in Stratford. He just seems like a nice
guy.

Anonymous said...

Chris Jones is cool. I would hang with
him.

The cops and firefighters will back him.

Anonymous said...

Jones is a nice guy, no doubt about it. But that and 25 cents will get you 25 cents. And maybe the base 40% of the vote for Democrats.

Jones needs to work and he needs to raise money. We Democrats in Stratford are working hard for Dave Mooney to get him elected, because he is working his butt off to meet voters. Where is Jones? He hasn't asked us for help and isn't spending any time in Stratford.

I assume you work on his campaign-- please tell him to get going or we are going to lose this opportunity!

Anonymous said...

Chris Jones has been knocking door to door in Stratford in areas such as Light St, Henry Ave and Clover St.

Many of these voters said they never
see a politician visit them and they
were quite pleased to see and talk
to him.

Anonymous said...

Good to hear...those are good Democratic areas where we have to increase turnout to beat Debicella.

But what about signs? Those streets are all side streets. How and when will blitz the district with signs like Dibicella has?

Anonymous said...

Remember Elvis the Donut Man who
had all his signs up a year before
the mayoral election. What good did
they do him? Miron still won.

Anonymous said...

True, true. But that was a different situation. We were united behind a phenomenal candidate, while the Republicans were split six ways from Sunday. Also, Jim Miron is very well known in Stratford, while Chris is not. (Neither is Dibicella, but he is rapidly gaining name recognition with these signs).

Just my two cents-- Jones might be working, but to the general public, it definitely appears like Dibicella has a lot of support.

Anonymous said...

Stratford Dem be calm and just
ponder why I am not worried.

Anonymous said...

Lol... no idea. I'm just a worker-- I'll let the better political minds figure it all out.

But I look forward to seeing what you guys do....good luck, and let us know if you need help.

Anonymous said...

Stratford Dem I seriously doubt you

are just a worker bee. But you seem

to be good people.