Power to the People

This election season Connecticut has the perfect opportunity to start the tedious process of taking back their Government, both at the State and Federal level.

August 10th is the primary date in which Republicans can make their voice heard. This is a unique situation where in two very important races the choice is between two people who can buy their way into public office, and two tried and true public servants.

In an era where “throw the bums out” is a recurring mantra, and Congress is sure to be turned upside down, it is easy to make the decision to vote in outsiders. I mean, after all, the battle cry is to rid Government of the fat, happy, and stupid people currently running things. However, it is prudent to consider some of the talent already in place.

There are still good public servants out there. They may not be as flashy as what I refer to as “Sociopathic Politicians”, but they have the public’s interest in mind unlike their competition.

Unfortunately, like the general public, the Grand Old Party in Connecticut is not immune to flashy candidates with big bucks. This year the Connecticut Republican Party opted to go along with the flow of public discontent and endorsed two relative outsiders to politics and public service. In my opinion this was a haphazard and amateurish maneuver.

For the office of Governor of the great State of Connecticut, the GOP endorsed Tom Foley, a former Ambassador to Ireland and holder of a dubious position created by President George W. Bush whereby Foley was supposed to “help the Iraqi state economy get back on track”. This despite Foley’s comparatively dismal performance in managing his own companies and lack of candor in fessing up to the committee that appointed him as to the content of his criminal record. A criminal record, which includes charges of violence against women, as well as, the general public.

http://articles.courant.com/2010-06-25/news/hc-thomas-foley-michael-fedele-0625_1_mr-foley-thomas-foley-arrest-records

Passed over as a GOP endorsed candidate was their own Michael Fedele, current Lieutenant Governor, successful business and family man, and a proven public servant. Fedele also lacks the proverbial skeletons that haunt the closets of Foley. In other words, a man of character, sense of duty, and non-flashy kind of guy.

Fedele could be any one of us. First generation immigrant, who made good, decided to give back, and has had an exemplary run in State Government. What he doesn’t have is Foley’s dough and that is what the Republicans believe will win this election.

Which is why the GOP also endorsed Linda McMahon over Rob Simmons in the Connecticut Senate Race for Chris Dodd’s seat. While a monkey would be better than Chris Dodd, this person doesn’t even rate a monkey’s position on the evolutionary chart.

McMahon is the former CEO of the WWF. Up until two years ago she has advocated general violence, violence against women, pornography, and capitalizing on the general depravity of human nature in order to amass many millions of dollars. But, as it so often goes with Type A personalities who have made well in the business world, it is now time to for Linda McMahon to gain the acceptance of the general public as a whole, by putting on her Polly Anna routine and running for office. A routine that cost many millions of dollars to fabricate, and which has positioned McMahon as a businessperson and Washington outsider. Well, as much as someone who has given countless bucks to lobbyists can be an outsider.

This is what the GOP has chosen over Rob Simmons, a lifelong public servant who not only has an impeccable record in serving his constituents, but a personal one as well. Like Fedele, Simmons hasn’t a nasty instance in his past. Also like Fedele, he doesn’t have the means to tap the kind of money McMahon can. McMahon has dedicated $15 million just to flesh out information on her competition and has said she will allocate as much as $30 million towards this campaign.

Don’t get me wrong, Simmons can raise money, but when you are up against an unending fount such as McMahon’s, it’s hard to compete. Which is sad, and is why it is far time to show where the power really lies.

The power is in your vote, not Foley or McMahon’s pocketbooks. You can be the bastion of common sense the State and country so desperately need.

The public needs to give the GOP a good solid kick to the shins and wake them up. A vote for Foley, or McMahon is doing nothing for you or the public, all it does is give these two clowns another notch in their ego belt.

Go out on August 10^th and send a message. Vote for Fedele and Simmons. Then we can get on to the real business of booting Dickie Blumenthal and Ned Lamont or Dan Malloy into the political hinterlands.

http://fedele2010.com/

http://www.joinrobsimmons.com/

Connecticut GOP Needs an Enema

 It should be blatantly obvious I support Rob Simmons in his Senate campaign to replace epic thief Chris Dodd in Connecticut. I’ve stated pretty strongly I think, my opinion on his opponents.

Sadly, the Connecticut GOP in a move both embarrassing to real Republicans and insulting to someone like Simmons who has given his entire career to public service, voted to get behind WWE former CEO Linda McMahon as their Senate candidate. On the surface, I can claim to be completely shocked and appalled by this horrific misstep, but I understand how it happened.

McMahon has the dough, plain and simple. She is a shiny new penny and Rob is the tried and true gold standard. Unfortunately, shallow people fall for the wiles of a shiny new penny almost every time. It is wrong and it’s disgusting when applied to politics, but it is fairly predictable. And, although there is a plethora of things I would like to say about the delegates that get sent to these conventions and allowed to vote, I am going to keep my mouth shut and just rant on other topics.

I say it was predictable because after all it was McMahon’s $16 million bucks of research money which turned the spotlight on Dickie Blumenthal’s (the Democratic challenger), lies about being a Vietnam Veteran when he wasn’t. That was a pretty serious blow to Blumenthal’s campaign and whilst Republicans should be grateful for it, it is no reason to get behind someone who is even more despicable than Blumenthal.

Blumenthal is a sneaky little weasel that has been able to keep his shenanigans from being uncovered by the liberal press. He is a master at staying under the radar screen as far as his actions go. However, he is also brilliant at staying in the spotlight by attending ceremonies and innocuous events. That’s a politician not a public servant. Held to his actual record, Dickie would look pretty evil, ineffective and an amazing waster of taxpayer dollars.

McMahon, well, her character is displayed right out in the open with no filter whatsoever, and she is arrogant enough to believe people will toss aside the image she portrayed as the CEO of a violent, deviant sex promoting and vulgar company in favor of a more caring obsequious Senator-type visage. Those millions are obviously serving her well in this image makeover she has been crafting over the last 18 or so months. She has been able to dazzle the Republican delegates and intends on doing the same for Connecticut voters.

Where the GOP really F’ed up is in buying into the money over message principle. Yes, money does win elections. However, tactically speaking, when you have a candidate with both the ability to raise a considerable amount of money from his potential constituents and has the right message and ability to deliver on that message, then you have a real winner. McMahon may have the personal dough to throw at this thing, but she lacks the integrity, knowledge and ability to empathize with real people.

As the man says: you can’t fix stupid and although this is a blaring injustice on the part of the Connecticut GOP, there is hope.

Simmons has spent virtually nothing getting his message out and the result is he only lost to this scumbag by just over 100 delegate votes. That’s impressive and should serve as a harbinger of how Simmons does business. It also means that he has a campaign fund large enough to merit a primary. That is good for Connecticut voters. I am willing to bet Rob’s message will sink in more with real voters over the types of political hacks that vote in conventions. (Oops, I let my opinion slip there. I will do a post on delegates sometime in the future.)

Primaries kind of suck. They cost a lot of money and cause hard feelings within their respective parties. Time and time again, allies who could be productive in congress with each other working on real issues, become enemies and the whole Democratic process becomes more screwed up. In this case though a primary is warranted as I and many others believe the duped delegates do not represent what real voters want in a candidate.

Simmons will have to pull out all the stops in fighting McMahon in a primary, but he can do it. His people are going to have to put together the right kind of message delivery in terms of serious content mixed with a little mud slinging. What Simmons has in his favor is the fact the mud is for real when it comes to McMahon and not just a bunch of low blows thrown out there to garner support.

I urge all Connecticut Republicans tired of the systematic belittling of our wishes by this Government to go out and vote for Rob and toss this piece of garbage, attention seeking jackass out of the political ring and back into the gutter where she belongs. That way we can start working on punting Dickie Blumenthal into retirement and save us all a lot of dough.