Blumenthal widens lead over McMayhem

Linda McMahon hasn't had a very good October so far. In the last Q-Poll (Sept. 28th) she appeared to have nearly closed the gap with Dick Blumenthal.

Since then, there have been several televised debates, a rally in Milford that brought out mere dozens of supporters, and a colossal gaff when Linda spoke about the minimum wage laws.

Today the Quinnipiac Poll showed Blumenthal has increased his margin back to double digits with a comfortable 54 - 43 percent likely voter lead.

Doug Schwartz from the Quinnipiac Polling Institute is calling Blumenthal "Mr. October", which is the sort of thing that usually annoys me, the way Doug feels he has to comment on his results and make it about him, but in this case it seems to apply.

Q-Poll examines the Death Penalty

Quinnipiac released a poll about the death penalty this morning. They asked a series of questions, none of which produced any major surprises.

Stephen Hayes, recently found guilty of the Cheshire home invasion murders, is awaiting sentencing for his capital conviction. Responders to the poll want him to suffer the death penalty by an overwhelming margin, 76% to 18% with 6% undecided.

The general question of whether convicted murderers should be given the death penalty or life in prison without any chance of parole resulted in a more even split, 46% for death, 41% for life w/o parole, and 14% undecided. And this was polled during the emotional aftermath of a dramatic trial. I think people generally are fine with the idea of life in prison, as long as there's absolutely no chance of them ever being released.

There is one question I wish they'd asked:

Do you feel that the death penalty is a valid deterrent?

Because obviously, it didn't deter Hayes from perpetrating his crime.

Several months ago Hayes apparently attempted suicide by hording prescription pills and taking them all at once. How is it morally acceptable to demand the state keep someone from taking their own life, only to have the state take that life at a later date if it sees fit?

I understand the emotional need for vengeance, especially for such an horrific crime. But if Hayes thought being in jail was a worse punishment than death, why wouldn't people want life in prison for him?

Another question the poll asked was "If a candidate for governor were to take a stand on the death penalty that was different from your own, would you vote against that candidate on the basis of that issue alone or would you consider other things before deciding who to vote for?" Only 6% responded they'd vote against, meaning the issue isn't a deal breaker for either candidate. People seem to be much more concerned with jobs and taxes than the death penalty.

I'm currently in production of a documentary about the death penalty debate, so this issue is very pertinent to me. Certainly next year we'll revisit this issue at the State Capitol, regardless of who sits in the governor's office.

McMayhem ducks reporters questions...again

If it quacks like a duck, then you can guess it'll act like a duck.

Or maybe a chicken.

Linda McMahon ducked questions following last night's debate with Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. This story comes via My Left Nutmeg.

As Paul Bass reported in the New Haven Independent:

8:33 Republican Rob Simmons is up here in the press room to spin for McMahon-but no McMahon! Blumenthal stops by to spin with reporters. He's relaxed; he get softball questions. McMahon, who showed up to answer questions after the Bushnell debate, is nowhere to be found. She fled. Is that because her handlers felt that last session went off track? Or because they didn't feel she did well tonight? Either way, from her on in, it's all scripted campaigning, all the time...

Rick Green also commented on McMahon's inexplicable behavior following the debate:

After the debate, a beaming Blumenthal met reporters to talk about the debate. McMahon, who lingered after the first two debates, left the building without comment.

A few days ago I commented on Linda's quick exit from the Milford rally, where she stiffed the dozens of supporters who showed up to meet her when she spoke for less than ten minutes and fled without answering questions or even pressing the flesh at the embarrassingly small gathering:

McMahon felt so defensive after her botched answer to the minimum wage question that she refused to talk to reporters after her triumphant totally underwhelming Milford rally Saturday with special guest tea-bagger Mass. Sen. Scott Brown (video here). To pass on the opportunity to talk to the press after an event like that is, quite frankly, shocking!

My guess is that Linda will hunker down as much as possible for the remaining three weeks to avoid having to answer off-the-script questions. She obviously believes it's better for her to keep quiet and have people think she's a fool, than to open her mouth and remove all doubt!

Linda McMahon is hiding from the press, and she hopes she'll somehow eke out a win based solely on her megafunded TV budget. Because lately, every time she opens her mouth to reporters, she's in grave danger of having her remarks blow up in her face.

Much like they did when she failed to answer NO to the question about whether she would consider lowering the minimum wage. But Linda wasn't around last night for anyone to even ask her to clarify her response to the minimum wage question.

That's the big story now...where has Linda McMahon gone?

Krayeske ad published today

Ken Krayeske, the Green Party candidate for Congress in the 1st CD (John Larson's district) has released a web ad today. Here it is:



I like Ken. He's a good guy.

While he doesn't stand a snowflake's chance in Hell of winning this election, his candidacy allows him to act as the conscience of the process. He's sort of like a "Jiminy Cricket" of the political arena.

The web video was funny, especially the part where Jim Calhoun (who's an outstanding basketball coach, but a rather odious fellow in real life) asks Ken "You're not really that stupid, are ya?" and Ken immediately responds "Yeah, I am!"

Normally I'd applaud such naked honesty from a politician; but in Ken's case it simply isn't true. He's actually a fairly bright guy.

And I think he'd make a good leader, if he'd just quit acting as a modern day Don Quixote tilting at windmills like the Democratic Party, and simply JOIN IT and try to make it better!

But maybe guys like Ken who aren't at all afraid to speak their minds wouldn't fit well into our admittedly flawed party (now before you go getting yourself in a snit over that, just know that the GOP is magnitudes more flawed than the Democrats will ever be!)

The fact is, Ken Krayeske won't win this election.

But he will be heard.

Visit kenkrayeske.com to hear more.

Linda gets it wrong...again!

(Blumenthal at a recent parade; Mark Pazniokas, CT Mirror)
After getting severely hammered by the media for her total ignorance of the federal and state minimum wage laws, Linda McMahon's campaign tried a desperation ploy to embarrass Attorney General Dick Blumenthal this weekend.

From the Courant's Capitol Watch:

Apparently, a person shadowing Blumenthal at the Columbus Day parade in New Haven today asked if he knew the state's unemployment rate. The person lobbying (sic) the question was walking with the McMahon campaign's tracker, so perhaps the aim was to get video of Blumenthal caught off guard.

"Blumenthal knew it was someone with McMahon's tracker asking the question and up to no good. So, he brushed him off,'' according to a memo sent to reporters by Blumenthal campaign manager Mindy Myers.

This was the perfect response by Blumenthal to a McMahon campaign-sponsored attack. Linda's people were badly embarrassed by McMahon's clumsy handling of the minimum wage question posed by a local journalist at a press conference (Ted Mann from the New London Day), so they send their own video tracker and a campaign staffer to try to trip up Dick Blumenthal on a question about unemployment.

This is entirely typical of the McMahon campaign's unsubtle ham-fisted tactics. McMahon blew it for herself with her ignorance and her unfocused reply to the simple question "Would you argue for reducing the minimum wage now?" (the only correct answer is a definitive "NO!"). To try to mitigate the colossal damage this has done to her credibility, she sent a couple of paid campaign hacks to harass the AG at a parade. Not very smart.

Some people have mentioned to me that this is somewhat similar to things I've done in the past with Sen. Lieberman. I don't hesitate to point out that as a blogger I'm not paid by any campaign, and regardless of your feelings about bloggers, we are considered to be members of the media.

I've had a lot of issues with paid campaign staffers making themselves part of the story. As in, they shouldn't do it. A tracker's responsibility is to simply record the candidate's words to the public.

Reporters like Mann are supposed to ask those questions. When a paid campaign tracker invades a candidate's personal space or poses hostile questions directly to a candidate, they cross a line. It's as if Linda McMahon wants to pose the question herself, but she's too chicken to actually do it.

McMahon felt so defensive after her botched answer to the minimum wage question that she refused to talk to reporters after her triumphant totally underwhelming Milford rally Saturday with special guest tea-bagger Mass. Sen. Scott Brown (video here). To pass on the opportunity to talk to the press after an event like that is, quite frankly, shocking!

My guess is that Linda will hunker down as much as possible for the remaining three weeks to avoid having to answer off-the-script questions. She obviously believes it's better for her to keep quiet and have people think she's a fool, than to open her mouth and remove all doubt!

We all know that WWE story lines are carefully scripted...

Unfortunately for Linda, she doesn't have that control over the equally brutal world of politics.

Linda McMahon underwhelms Milford

A weekend day...sunny and warm...plenty of notice...a Tea Party senator...how could this event not be a huge smash?

Lots of Milford police got a day's worth of overtime, city public works employees picked up some juicy weekend pay, and they even closed a street to accommodate the expected swarms of tea baggers that would surely descend on our "small city with a big heart" (or "small heart" as a local GOP hack exclaimed) for the joint Linda McMahon and Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown rally.

Sadly for Linda, her big rally was more of a whimper than a big bang. A local reporter said that she estimated there were 600 people in attendance.

This photo was taken right before the slightly delayed start of the rally. Much less than the expected 1000-1500 organizers hoped for. And 600 is being very generous. Take the 100 or so VIPs and party insiders behind the podium on the City Hall steps, then subtract the various media and press people walking around and on the riser, the dozens of police and public works employees, a large field campaign staff, and of course, the counter-protesters holding up anti-Linda signs, and you might end up with 300 or 350. Tops.

But people like to exaggerate results, which is why Linda's website is laughably claiming she won the debate against our next Senator, Dick Blumenthal. The photo above pretty much shows nearly the entire crowd. If there's more than 300 people in that scrum, I'd be shocked.

UPDATE: Fuck!!! I can't believe I misspelled the word "demonstrators" in the opening title of the video! That's what I get for having a couple Murphy's Ales at the Seas before going home and editing the video! Serves me right for drinking Murphy's...I never make spelling errors on Guinness...

UPDATE 2: Sorry about saying the word "fuck" before. I really do need to work on my vocabulary a bit. It's a bad habit that I can't seem to break.

UPDATE 3: Ah, who am I kidding? I love being an grown-up, and having the freedom to use adult words like "fuck" any time I want. I refuse to accept that we're all infants in a nation of children who need to be protected from words like that. It's my blog and I'll "fuck" if I want to! Besides, it obviously works for Rahm Emanuel, right? If you're offended by that, I'm truly sorry...

...and fuck off! ;)

(...well, there goes that potential job as any respectable campaign's communications director!)

Debicella open to closing sub base

Dan Debicella, the GOP/TeaBag challenger to Jim Himes's 4th CD seat, apparently has no qualms about voting to close the Groton sub base. The base is a huge employer in southeast Connecticut, and it's closing would bring about economic chaos to the region.

However, Dan seems to think that it's OK to close it if it'll save the government some money. He states in this video that the Eastern Seaboard only needs two sub bases, and Dan effectively says he won't fight the military commander's wishes if they want Groton shut down.

Yup, that's just what Connecticut needs; a Congressman who WON'T fight for us!

(Video courtesy CT Blogger)

Linda McMayhem in Milford on Saturday

GIFSoup
Teabag Senate hopeful Linda McMahon (sorry about that "McMayhem" gag, but I guess the many dozens of wrestlers who died very young from unnatural causes is just a coincidence!) and Massachusetts Teabag Sen. Scott Brown are holding a Teabag-style rally right here in my beloved home town of Milford this weekend.

I'm not very happy that extremist conservatives are going to invade my peaceful little neck o' the woods, but I understand they have every right to do so. They'll be at Milford City Hall sometime right after noon. Apparently busloads of racist bigot teabaggers are being hauled in from upstate moron depositories.

They have a right to assemble. Just as loyal Democrats have a right to show up and state their opinions in a legal and respectful manner.

But do we really need to shut down a street for the two biggest GOP hacks this side of Sarah Palin's unfulfilled governor's term?

Re: Political Rally on at the Park in front of City Hall.

Good Afternoon,

Mayor Richetelli has asked me to advise you that, as a result of some suggestions we received, the Milford Police Department and the sponsors of the event Saturday have altered plans for the day.

Please be advised that all of River Street will remain open to vehicular and pedestrian traffic this Saturday, October 9th.

Also, all of Darina Place and all other areas of Downtown Milford will remain open Saturday, with the exception of a short section of West River Street between the Parsons Government Center, the courthouse and City Hall from approximately 2 until 3:15 p.m.

The Mayor encourages and urges all downtown business owners to capitalize on the economic opportunity created by the many people who will be visiting Milford Saturday from other areas of the State.

Gee, it'll be good to see the teabaggers useful for something other than parroting FoxNews talking points and screaming obscenities at people playing "God Bless America" through a sound system. Come and spend money locally, and maybe help make up for the millions in taxes that Linda McMahon isn't contributing as a result of George Bush's insane tax givebacks.

Anyway, come and enjoy the spectacle of a few Republican bozos making asses of themselves. Afterward, join me for a brewski at the "7 Seas", 16 New Haven Ave.

Foley Dodges Connecticut Taxes

State Democratic Chairperson Nancy DiNardo stated today that GOP candidate Tom Foley should dock his 116' motor yacht "Odalisque" here in Connecticut, rather than in the Marshall Islands, where the foreign-flagged luxury yacht is exempt from state and federal taxes. NBC Connecticut has the story.

For the record, my 30' non-luxury yacht is docked here in Connecticut, where I pay an annual registration/tax fee. Additionally, when the boat needs work I spend money here in town and hire local tax-paying workers to do the work, rather than employing foreign nationals on foreign soil where I could possibly save a few bucks at the expense of putting dollars into the Connecticut economy.

So I definitely pay more in taxes on my humble boat than multi-millionaire Tom Foley does on his multi-million dollar luxury yacht!

Why is it the richest Republicans always do whatever they can to cheat the state/country out of paying their fair share? Why does Linda McMahon want to extend the Bush tax cuts, when the 1990s was a decade of very high economic growth where generally everyone benefited?

In Linda's case, she has about 10,000,000 reasons. That's the amount of money she'll save by paying taxes at the Bush tax rate, rather than the previous rate that was in place during the 1990s. Every year. No wonder she'll spend millions of her own money to try to beat Dick Blumenthal; she'll make her money back with interest if she wins!

By the way, the name "Odalisque" is defined as:

"...a female slave or concubine in a harem, esp. in that of the sultan of Turkey."

Does anyone think for a minute that good ol' Bush-buddy Tom Foley is going to be overly responsive to women's issues when he thinks it's perfectly acceptable to name his yacht after a female sex slave?

Ned Lamont on debates

(Dan Malloy and Tom Foley debate Oct. 1st)
Ned Lamont has an op-ed piece in today's Hartford Courant about the effectiveness of political debates.

Debate television audiences are usually so tiny that they barely register on a Nielsen meter. Those who tune in have made up their minds and are seeking reinforcement, much like a Sean Hannity or Keith Olbermann viewer. Still, compared to a 30-second TV ad or a direct mail bomb, debates at least offer up a measure of the candidate, mano a mano. It's one more piece of the puzzle, so tune in this week.

On Friday, gubernatorial candidates Dan Malloy and Tom Foley squared off for their first televised debate in Greenwich (see this post). The candidates followed the standard format for modern debates, with each getting a couple minutes to answer a question, then an additional minute to respond. Not exactly a recipe for oratory fireworks.

Wouldn't it be nice to see U.S. Senate candidates Richard Blumenthal and Linda McMahon lighten up, wander off the script and show that they are much more than the sum of their consultants. No Obama references, we know where you stand there, and please, I beg of you, no wrestling metaphors. Connecticut, which is near the bottom in creating jobs and getting money back from the federal government, needs more than the 53rd Democratic senator or the 47th Republican, we need a senator who fights for Connecticut.

You can read the entire op-ed at the Hartford Courant.

Malloy-Foley Debate today

Earlier today I attended the Gubernatorial debate between Dannel Malloy and Tom Foley at the Greenwich Hyatt, sponsored by the Stamford Chamber of Commerce. The debate is being replayed on Cablevision News 12 tonight at 8PM and throughout the weekend. It should also be available through the News 12 website and on-demand Cablevision channel 612.

I was a guest of Ned Lamont's and sat next to him at his table; it was the first time I've seen him since the primary. He was very relaxed and pleasant, and I took this picture of Dan and Ned minutes before the debate:

The debate started with a predictable question, what to do about the huge state deficit? Foley immediately said he wasn't a career politician and has ways to lead the state; and Malloy brought up how Foley ran for Governor only after realizing he wouldn't win the Senate nomination, and how he was rewarded with an ambassadorship after raising money for Bush, making him a career politician too.

The debate ranged between so-so discussions and heated exchanges. At one point Malloy thanked Foley for locating his campaign HQ in Stamford.

It was a luncheon debate, so we were served a meal (pretty much the usual "rubber chicken" you get during these kinds of events) but the coffee and chocolate mousse dessert were yummy!

This was the first televised debate between the two candidates, and I suggest watching it either on Cablevision or through one of the online sources.

We're just over a month away, and we need to educate voters about the differences between these candidates.

Oh, and I saw the ginormous "Foley bus" there...

WTNH solicits questions for Gov. & Sen. debates

WTNH is partnering with YouTube to solicit citizen questions for the upcoming Senate and Gubernatorial debates.

Here's the page for the Senate: www.youtube.com/wtnh
And the Gubernatorial: www.youtube.com/myzonetv

You can submit questions via a short Youtube video, or simply text them in. The Senate debate is scheduled for Oct. 12th and the Gubernatorial debate is on Oct. 13th. Deadline for questions is Oct. 11th.

Out of touch

UPDATE: McMahon's campaign quickly scrambled to put their own spin on her inane babbling, by accusing the media of getting it wrong. Well, go on over to My Left Nutmeg and read CT Blogger's rebuttal to their pathetic claims. No wonder she refused to answer any more questions at her own press conference!

No sense of what the 99.9% of the population less wealthy than Linda McMahon has to deal with, she bravely called for the lowest wage earners to make even LESS!

Not only is she arrogant and stupid, but she's heartless and cruel too.

Oh, but let's all make sure she saves $10,000,000 per year in taxes. Because THAT'S the only thing she cares about.

(screen cap via My Left Nutmeg)

Stop calling it an "Enthusiasm Gap"

The reason Democrats are doing so poorly right now is because of a "LEADERSHIP GAP"!

We all worked like hell to win big in 2008. The promise of major reform was the goal for many of us.

Since then, our Democratic leadership has equivocated their positions and caved in to the Republicans and let them delay, reduce, or eliminate major progressive reforms.

President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, and Majority Leader Reid are largely responsible for this so-called "enthusiasm gap". Blaming the Democrats for their own failings isn't going to win us many seats in November. I truly wish our party would grow a collective set of balls.

We'll be lucky to keep a majority in either house of Congress. Not that 59 senators was EVER a workable majority in Harry Reid's Senate!

When our leaders insist on acting like sheep, they shouldn't be surprised when the wolves move in for a feast.

Yes, I'm annoyed. And feeling a bit cynical.

Ditto

Same goes for the Governor's race today that I said yesterday about the Senate race.

Dan Malloy leads Tom Foley 45-42 in the latest Q-Poll, which puts the race within the margin of error.

Christine Stuart at CT News Junkie has the inevitable Doug Schwartz press conference that followed the release of the poll.

We've got five weeks. It ain't quite time to panic yet:

Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight is predicting a Malloy victory in November. He gives Malloy an 86.7 percent chance of winning and says unlike the Quinnipiac University poll the race for governor is not tracking closely with the U.S. Senate race.

Don't Panic (...yet)

Borrowing a phrase from the wonderful "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" five-book trilogy, I advise state Democrats to refrain from panicking despite the dire news from the latest Q-Poll, which shows Linda McMahon statistically tied with our Attorney General.

That's not to say there aren't things that Dick Blumenthal's campaign needs to do to differently ensure victory in November, but panicking isn't one of them.

This is somewhat reminiscent of the Malloy-Lamont race, where Dan Malloy gradually erased a seemingly overwhelming deficit in the polls to tie Lamont immediately before primary day.

But the big difference here is that this isn't the day before the election. Blumenthal still has five weeks to make his case to the voters. And during that five weeks he needs to also make the case that Linda McMahon would make a terrible senator.

In a way, this is a gift to Dick Blumenthal. His campaign hasn't exactly set the world on fire so far. Much like his record as Attorney General, Blumenthal has been low-key but dependable. But now with this latest poll, he needs to realize it's time to shift into high gear and take off the gloves.

If this was a day before the election, this would have been disastrous. The undecided voters would have invariably flocked to McMahon because, let's face it, most people want to vote for the likely winner. However, this far out from November 3rd, there's still plenty that Dick Blumenthal can do to regain his lead and ensure a victory.

Let's hope he gets the message.

GOP successful in keeping discrimination alive

(Pop star Lady Gaga speaks at a Maine rally in favor of repeal)
The Republican minority in the Senate achieved another feather for it's decidedly un-fabulous cap today by defeating a Defense funding bill that included a repeal of the blatantly discriminatory "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy for the Armed Forces.

Which means that, once again, the Republicans have managed to impede the inevitable march of equal rights for all.

Sen. Joe Lieberman had been Twittering his ass off earlier today in support of repealing DADT, but I find it a bit suspicious that he held off on his little "twit-storm" until rumors said the bill would likely go down to defeat. Sorry, but I just don't trust the guy to act in anyone's interest other than his own. Maybe if he campaigned for the repeal of DADT even half as hard as he campaigned for Sen. John McCain in 2008, we would have eliminated this outrageous law ages ago.

Not that I believe for a nanosecond that Lieberman has any clue even HOW to send a Tweet...I'm sure he has a highly-paid Tweeter on his staff.

The Republican strategy of obstructionism of basically everything may backfire on them eventually. I don't know if it will have much effect on them this year, but two more years of them behaving like spoiled children and wrecking anything helpful will likely come back to haunt them in 2012. We'll see.

UPDATE: This is why I'd gladly trade a dozen Joe Liebermans for a just one Senator Franken. He's a true Progressive Democrat, who proudly continues in the tradition of Sen. Paul Wellstone:

Who's going to DC for the big rally?

"Hey everybody! Who's going to the rally?"


Tonight, Jon Stewart made his long-awaited Daily Show announcement! *Drumroll* It's the "Rally to Restore Sanity," to be held on October 30 in Washington, DC. Inside, video of Stewart's hilarious—and meaningful—bombshell, plus a rivalry-filled cameo from Stephen Colbert.

[The Daily Show with Jon Stewart]

"Take It Down a Notch For America!"