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 so crooked that John Rowland would admire their criminal skills. It’s a job for life for almost everyone, if they want to keep it.

But in Connecticut primaries we bounced an incumbent senator — Thomas Dodd — not so long ago and probably will toss out another one this year.

We tossed Lowell Weicker aside as a senator in 1988 to put Joe Lieberman in office and then turned around two years later and made Weicker governor — as an independent!

Then, in one of the most true blue states in the nation, we elected Rowland, a Republican, as governor not once, not twice, but three times — and then we forced him out of office for being crooked.

While all that was going on, we elected Thomas Dodd’s son, Chris, as senator and kept him in the seat all these years since. I guess we wanted to make amends to the family.

Really, the only steady habit in this land is Dick Blumenthal as attorney general scrambling to find a tv camera. I’m sure he’s pretty frustrated, come to think of it, at having no luck at all lately in getting any air time.

And come November, we’re going to elect as our next senator either a now unaffiliated Lieberman — oh, all right, a Connecticut for Lieberman Party candidate — or a multi-millionaire Greenwich businessman who never stopped to think why his Fairfield County country club didn’t have blacks or Jews in it until he started running as a Democrat this year.

There’s nothing steady about our habits.

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 could be the swell fellow that most bloggers seem to think.

But what struck me was a certain distance, a kind of coldness, a bit of patrician haughtiness — the kind of thing I’m used to seeing among lawyers, politicians and school administrators (and a few ministers, come to think of it).

Now I realize some people think Joe Lieberman is also a condescending jerk. But in my experience, he’s been friendly, reasonable and willing to go out of his way for meaningless but nice things for people. I like him.

Unfortunately, I don’t much like Lieberman’s politics. I always had problems with some of his agenda and lately it seems like I can’t stomach most of what he’s doing. Maybe I’m less tolerant than I used to be. In Bush’s America, tolerance is not much valued anyway. In any case, I wish Lieberman would try harder to represent Connecticut.

I still think I’ll vote for Lamont, to protest the war mostly. But I won’t feel too bad if Lieberman wins. He’s a good man, despite what you read.

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 in property taxes this year” and is leader of “one of the most dangerous cities in Connecticut” (DeStefano must be glad for Hartford!) and that New Haven has “one of the worst bond ratings in the state” as well as possessing a “weak record of economic development” and having to pay thousands of dollars in election fines.

“That’s the real DeStefano record. No wonder all John DeStefano can do is throw mud at Dan Mally,” it continues.

My oh my.

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 chairman, criticizing him for not using his newfound clout to step up fundraising. Many House Democrats expect their leaders to be exemplars of robust fundraising.”

“Larson’s leadership political action committee, Synergy PAC, did step up its contributions shortly after the Jan. 31 election, making 20 contributions in March totaling $42,500. But in April, activity tapered off. In the entire second quarter, Synergy made only $7,000 in donations,” the story said.

But don’t worry. Even if fellow Democrats weren’t getting any money from Larson, a poverty-stricken Indian tribe in Connecticut got some: “On May 31, Synergy paid the Mohegan Indian tribe in Uncasville, Conn., $17,175 for ‘“PAC fundraiser, catering and entertainment.'”

Larson is also one of the few Democras to contribute to the legal defense fund of Rep. William Jefferson of Lousiana, who is accused of taking bribes. I can’t think of more deserving recipient of Larson’s largesse.

The story goes on: 

“Larson’s campaign committee fared even worse than his leadership PAC. Aside from DCCC dues, the committee made only two contributions in the first half of the year, $2,000 each to Reps. Jim Marshall (D-Ga.) and Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), according to campaign-finance disclosures.

“On dues, however, Larson has kept ahead of his colleagues. He has donated $325,000 of the $400,000 he owes, putting him well ahead of the 50 percent threshold.

“The DCCC also indicates that he has been active raising money. He raised $316,000 so far this cycle for the committee.

“Larson was the weakest fundraiser among the candidates for vice chairman, but he prevailed on other strengths. Many members cited his popularity as a key factor. He also received a pivotal behind-the-scenes endorsement from Pelosi, multiple Democratic sources said.”

Well, thank goodness he’s keeping Pelosi happy.

But if he can’t do better by his party, he’ll be as much of a Rising Star on Capitol Hill as Hartford is among New England cities.

I find the whole thing distasteful, but if the man wants to play the game, he damn well ought to play it better than he is. 
 

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 seems on blogs across America.

Take a minute and read the piece: Real Life Stories from a Main State Trooper

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 college intern hanging out with some grizzled old pol as they tour factories and shake hands with bedazzled constituents.

We’re supposed to say to ourselves, “Hey, look at that. There’s our boy Scott with that DeStefano fella & since I like Scott, I really ought to vote for those guys.”

Look at that advertising slogan: “Together with John DeStefano, West Hartford’s Scott Slifka is ready to move Connecticut forward.”

That’s great, even if we know darn well that if DeStefano somehow wins, Scott will spend the next four years wandering the state, going to an endless series of insipid little events aimed at bolstering the Democratic base without getting in DeStefano’s way. That’s okay, though. I like Scott. I do wish him well. 

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 so long ago.

Now it’s rare to see Jodi’s name in the paper, almost impossible to find out what she’s doing, if anything, and increasingly hard to see why people would want to elect her in her own right for a job that appears so much bigger than she is.

As lieutenant governor, Jodi did a great job of going around talking about relatively inconsequential issues and having her picture taken in group shots that could appear in the back pages of the West Hartford News and countless other little papers. But that’s what she’s still doing most of the time, forgetting that she’s the one at the top now.

I know the polls say Jodi’s going to steamroll the Democrat who wins the primary — I’d bet on DeStefano even though I prefer Malloy — but I wonder if fed-up voters are going to take another look at this accidental governor and change their minds before November. It wouldn’t surprise me.

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 it is.

In Connecticut, it’s a little different. But I suspect that if our first-ever August 8 primary is a typical early August day, it’s going to deaden the turnout among the elderly. I’ll get to the reasons why in a just a second, but I’m sure that it will hurt Joe Lieberman if older voters stay home, if only because they’re the ones who are most used to pulling his lever on our old-fashioned, trusty machines. Younger voters are almost certainly more apt to back newcomer Ned Lamont because the fewer years you carry around, the more you prefer change to the same old, same old.

Anyway, anyone who spends time around the older members of our society know they are prone to stay inside when the temperatures start to soar. They loathe the sticky, hot weather even more than the rest of us, if that’s possible, because they’re worried about getting some kind of respiratory ailment that could lay them low, perhaps permanently. If it’s really hot — and it usually is — these folks ain’t voting. I’m sure of that.

Since the elderly vote at rates that far exceed their comparatively dissolute children and grandchildren, they’ll probably still make up a pretty decent number of voters. But they won’t dominate like they usually do.

And the fewer old folks vote, the more likely Lamont is to win.

You can count on it.

So watch the polls, yes, but also watch the thermometer, check the National Weather Service forecasts and peer out your window on the morning of Aug. 8. The weather will matter.

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 councilors adopted last month, lets parents put the distinguishing stickers in the lower left rear window of their cars to help the police enforce driving laws that limit when teens can drive and who can drive with them.

Thanks to state lawmakers who know young people can’t and don’t vote, while the elderly always do, the crackdown means that “for the first three months, a new driver may drive only with a person at least 20 years old who has had a license with a clean record for four years, a driving instructor or a parent or legal guardian. After three months, members of the driver’s immediate family may also be in the car. Until age 18, drivers are not allowed to drive between midnight and 5 a.m.”

Now, really, who would put such a stupid sticker in their car window? It’s like a giant neon sign telling cops to arrest your kid — or you, since you might be the one who’s actually behind the wheel when the siren gets flicked on. Anyone who didn’t waste their brain completely as a teenager — which perhaps eliminates some of the town council — should remember that the police always have it in for teens, perhaps with some cause.

But what parent would want the police pulling over their child? The chance of a dumb ticket is high – for anything from a minor traffic violation to failure to have a license on hand – which means higher insurance costs at the very least, as well as a fine of $93 or more. And for what? So the police can make sure they’re not piling extra friends in on the way to football practice or something? I just don’t see it.

This strikes me as a total waste of time, at best. The stickers are free, but I bet I never see one on a car.

And if I do, I suspect it’ll be on a car pulled over by a cop.