Land of Steady Habits?

We have this image of ourselves as ”The Land of Steady Habits,” a state that changes only reluctantly and is sort of permanently mired in the past.
But, in fact, Connecticut is one of the most radical states outside crazy Louisiana in terms of its politics.
The best evidence is that incumbent senators everywhere in America don’t lose unless they’re [...]

I don’t really like Ned Lamont

Okay, I finally met the man.
I expected to be wowed. I thought I’d walk away thinking he was half rock star, half JFK. Instead, I left with the distinct impression that Lamont is an arrogant asshole.
Now I recognize that he might be much better than he came across to me. First impressions aren’t everything. He [...]

At least Malloy didn’t attack Slifka

But, then, what could he say?
“Slifka’s town has more Starbucks per capita than anyplace outside California!”
“Slifka’s town has more cops than crime!”
“Slifka’s town has so much money that it’s planning to build a public mini-golf course!”
“Slifka’s town has more overdue library books than any Connecticut city!”
It just wouldn’t work.

Malloy turns vicious

A mailer from Dan Malloy, gubernatorial hopeful, rips into challenger John DeStefano the way you’d expect, well, the Republicans to do it.
First it trumpts the question: “DOES THIS LOOK LIKE THE RECORD OF SOMEONE WHO CAN MAKE CONNECTICUT BETTER?” and then it tells us that as mayor New Haven, DeStefano “proposed a 9 percent increase [...]

John Larson is blowing it

In a story in The Hill, a pretty good paper covering Congress, there’s some harsh criticism of our very own congressman, party boy John Larson.
According to the July 27th story, which is about fundraising by Democratic leaders, “some Democratic sources faulted the fundraising of Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) during his first six months as caucus vice [...]

Remembering why Joe Lieberman is a nice guy

 
There’s a good piece by a state trooper in The Village Soup, some tiny Maine paper, about guarding Sen. Lieberman for an afternoon back in 2002. What does it matter? Because it shows — or reminds us — that Joe is a real person, a nice one, and not just the cardboard character he sometimes [...]

A beaming Scott Slifka

The political mail pouring into Democratic homes in West Hartford is astounding each day. A lot of trees died thanks to these primaries.
But I especially enjoyed this one from the DeStefano-Slifka team that arrived yesterday. Scott looks so young and happy standing beside New Haven’s more veteran politician. In fact, he looks something like a [...]

Where the heck is Jodi Rell?

Last I knew, Jodi Rell was Connecticut’s governor, installed there by the unexpected but thoroughly necessary departure of her predecessor. At first, she was all over the place, smiling a lot and letting us know that things were going to be fine with a nice lady instead of an evil bastard at the helm.
It seems [...]

Hot news: Why Ned Lamont will win

Down South, it’s a political truism that candidates that depend on black support are in deep trouble if it rains on Election Day. The hard reality, learned over the course of years, is that a higher percentage of black voters stay home than white voters, particularly if it’s also a little cold. That’s just the way [...]

Screw your teenage kids!

I see that the police department is ready to hand out ”bright yellow stickers” to anyone willing “to mark the cars of 16- and 17-year-old drivers” so that officers can immediately tell if the young men and women behind the wheel are obeying restrictions on who’s allowed in the vehicle with them.
The voluntary program, which town [...]