There’s still time to get your questions about education issues to the organizers of a legislative forum that will be held Thursday October 28, at City Hall, in the Community Room starting at 6:30. The organizers are hoping that the conversation about US Educational Reform gets some play with the following invitees:
All good political campaigns are like a story–they have a beginning, middle and end. Fortunately we are in that last bit of the cmapign stories of our Senate and Gubernatorial races. The days of mailers and lawn signs are soon to end, but the lack of fun in these races is such a huge turnoff that maybe we need some campaign soundtrack mojo. In song. To keep the load times to a minium, I’m not going to embed the videos, but here’s my analysis of the campaigns thus far:
The New Yorker has a great article on the many ways that the Senate is broken. We can spend out time debating the merits of Linda McMahon buying a senate seat versus Dick Blumenthal representing the worst in attorney general meddling. But in the end, the choice on who you want to represent Connecticut in the Senate should about the character of the person who will actually show up and do the job they were elected to do, like actaully read bills and attend meetings and hearings and do their best job doing so. And what is going on in Washington now? Read on after the jump.
A few years ago, I interviewed all the candidates for Governor and came away with the impression that Dan Malloy was a policy wonk that would make Connecticut work better. The gist back then in June of 2006;
In the past six years, Main Street in Middletown has changed from empty store-fronts to a more pedestrian inviting look of small businesses like Java Palooza. It’s the kind of small scale growth that has been a small bright spot for the Connecticut economy recently. In this setting it seemed natural that chatting with Malloy would turn to themes of the Connecticut economy.
“I think Connecticut has some surprising opportunities” said Malloy. “We have the capacity to compete in more areas than people think.”
To Malloy, Connecticut is a land of opportunity, but he admits that he worries more about what happens if Connecticut doesn’t change course.
Low turn out excuses in Connecticut aren’t about vacations, the August 10th date or anything else but how Connecticut voters are essentially disenfranchised by party politics. Let’s take a look at Colorado:
According to the Denver Post’s report on June 2010 numbers, there are 817,458 Democratic party voters registered in Colorado and 855,667 Republican voters.
And how did Colorado get these numbers, which for most foreign countries would be considered abysmal? Why, they have mail in voting. We do too, it’s called absentee. And shame on every single campaign that failed to tap into the vast vacationing hoards.
$22 million to get less than 50% of the Republican Vote. That would be, um, as of today’s 95% poll results, 58,206 voters divided by $22 million equals = $377.96 per voters cost of acquisition.
In the business world, this would be judged as wasteful spending, bad strategy and an unsustainable burn rate. If you want to campaign on bsuiness expertise, you might want to show some business acumen. Just sayin’…
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I’ve got my answer somewhere still in my brain. But Margaret Carlson whipped out the perfect opinion piece, which I’ll post here:
Men in Tights Stimulate Family Values Party: Margaret Carlson
By Margaret Carlson – Aug 10, 2010
Bloomberg Opinion
Time was, simulating the sexual assault of a scantily clad wrestler on TV might get you hauled before the U.S. Senate, not elected to it.
Welcome to the times we live in, when the further you are from doing anything in the public interest, the greater the chance you will win a Republican primary.
Here’s the Norwalk Republican vote for Governor:
| Norwalk | R | Governor | Michael Fedele | 1211 |
| Norwalk | R | Governor | Oz Griebel | 127 |
| Norwalk | R | Governor | Tom Foley | 651 |
TOTAL: 1989
And the Norwalk Democratic vote for Governor
| Norwalk | D | Governor | Dan Malloy | 1615 |
| Norwalk | D | Governor | Ned Lamont | 1207 |
TOTAL: 2822
Total Voters Registered in Norwalk:
Democrats 14,600 19% turnout
Republicans 8,481 23% turnout
So let me put this in context, 4 out 5 dentists recommend Trident, (okay, sugarless gum for patients who chew gum) but 3 out of 4 registered voters in each party didn’t vote in the primary.
Watch this space, and as soon as I get the results I’ll post them.
But for now, a few predictions. Or observations. Norwalk voter turn out was pathetic. Really low voter turn out could mean a number of things, the top reason cited was that people were on vacations. Um, absentee ballots people. Around 300 absentee ballots came in as of yesterday in Norwalk.
Columbus and Fox Run had low voter turn out, slightly under 400 for Columbus and slightly over 700 at Fox Run.
*****Everything is unofficial*****
UPDATE:
Norwalk Democratic absentee Results:
Malloy 188 Wyman 120
Lamont 67 Glassman 58
UPDATE: 9:14 pm
AP Calls it for Malloy.
Foley leads Fedele by 6% (45% of the precincts reporting)
UPDATE: 9:54 pm
AP Calls it for McMahon
| Congressional District 4 [GOP Primary] map | 39 of 131 precincts 30% |
| Dan Debicella | 6,761 (64%) |
| Rob Merkle | 2,412 (23%) |
| Rick Torres | 1,412 (13%) |
UPDATE: Norwalk Delivers Big for Debicella 10:01 pm
District 4 [GOP Primary] map 39 of 131 precincts 30%
Dan Debicella 1,085
Rob Merkle 673
Rick Torres 189
UPDATE: 10:34
AP Calls it for Debicella
With Boughton leading Wilson-Foley for Lt. Governor did the three way race for GOP Governor hurt Fedele’s chances?
UPDATE: 10:45 pm
AP Calls it for Foley. But Boughton has 5k more votes.
Are you ready to rumble? Entering the ring is Linda McMahon. She’s got cash which most Republicans think is needed to knock off Dick Blumenthal. Who’s he? The avenging attorney general for the state of Connecticut who is waiting this round out on the sidelines since there’s no Democratic primary for the Senate seat. Stealth operative Rob Simmons is very much McMahon’s opponent. He’s also the guy that would do the best job in the actual Senate, having done a pretty good job as the Connecticut congresscritter from the second district. Lurking in the background, but equally able to put money into the race is Peter Schiff.
The polls say McMahon routs Simmons. Schiff barely polls, so it’s a tag team rout. But what happens if Republicans in Connecticut actually care about Connecticut’s representation in the Senate? What if they really want to see federal dollars that get sucked out of Connecticut, come back to the northeast corridor region instead of out in Montanna or Wyoming? What if Connecticut Republicans want to see someone who will work hard for Connecticut? Then the choice is clear, Rob Simmons.
Connecticut doesn’t need to become like Minnesota, with an entertainer for a Senator.