A community-driven blog featuring news and commentary on local, state, and national politics.

Donate to CT Dems

Ads on My Left Nutmeg

Contact Info

To contact the site admin email ctblogger at ctblogger@yahoo.com

My published op ed: Lamont-Glassman ticket is the best progressive Democratic combination

by: Larkspur

Fri May 14, 2010 at 08:54:43 AM EDT

You can find the full text of my published op ed in The Killingly Villager on page A9. The Villager produces a PDF version of their entire paper for online use.

Lamont-Glassman ticket is the best progressive Democratic combination
On May 3, 2010, the Ned Lamont and Mary Glassman campaigns announced a game changing decision.

"I am proud to be ... Ned Lamont's running mate," said Mary Glassman. "... although we come from different parts of our state, with different experiences - we share the same vision. We will create a partnership that will bring bold and creative changes to government - with a focus on helping businesses grow and creating jobs, supporting towns and cities in educating the next generation of children and helping everyone achieve their piece of the American dream."

Connecticut Democrats should be excited about this partnership because the Lamont-Glassman ticket offers for the first time in over 20 years a realistic chance at retaking the Governorship.. It's the perfect blend of an outsider and a government insider that will excite both the Democratic base and Independents this Fall.
Both Ned and Mary are relatively young. Ned is 56 and Mary is 51. Lamont brings an entrepreneur's perspective while Glassman brings her government experience, which will help Ned translate his vision and goals for getting Connecticut out of our economic woes into reality. The Lamont-Glassman ticket is the best Democratic combination that will have the endurance in both resources and in the candidates' energy and enthusiasm to battle the well funded Republican nominee from now thru Election Day, Nov. 2, 2010.
The previous 4 campaigns for governor have seen the Democratic nominee overmatched in fundraising by the Republican nominee, and that deficit has been a major factor in keeping the Democrats out of the governor's mansion. With resources that will keep pace with the Republican nominee, the Lamont-Glassman ticket will be able to effectively make the case that a progressive and Democratic vision is needed to get Connecticut out of its current economic problems. The Republican ideology of "shrink government until it can be drowned in a bathtub" has failed our nation, our state and offers no hope for ordinary citizens. Connecticut needs new leaders with a new vision to make government work for all its people.
SNIP

and you can read the rest of my op ed in the extended text area.

Larkspur :: My published op ed: Lamont-Glassman ticket is the best progressive Democratic combination

Ned Lamont's leadership style vastly differs from the Republicans'. He employs an inclusive, partnership model that generates a culture of innovation and optimism as opposed to an authoritarian "my way is the only way" model. As governor, Mr. Lamont plans on attracting the best people he can find, regardless of political ideology, to develop solutions to Connecticut's problems and create opportunities for all. He will be assertive about keeping business in Connecticut by employing a network of economic ambassadors around the state to help him stay in touch with the needs of business and be proactive about keeping them in our state. Mr. Lamont will stop awarding ineffective tax giveaways, and he plans on offering financing to entrepreneurs to help them turn their "innovative ideas ... into commercially viable products."
Mary Glassman will add her knowledge of the mechanics of government, both town and state governments, to the Lamont-Glassman ticket. She was the first Democrat in 40 years to be elected First Selectperson of Simsbury in 1991 In 1999, she served as staff counsel to then Connecticut House Speaker Moira K. Lyons, and in 2006 she served as chief of staff to Lt. Gov. Kevin B. Sullivan before running for Lieutenant Governor herself that year. In 2007, she returned as Simsbury's First Selectwoman and last year was reelected in a landslide. Under her watch, Money Magazine ranked Simsbury among the Top 100 Best Places To Live in America.
For Killingly in particular, the Lamont-Glassman team will be our partner in developing a diverse economic model to help our town prosper and retain our rural beauty. Currently, our town is redlined by state agencies for warehousing. That's not the best economic development plan for our town. When I asked Ned Lamont directly about Killingly's future he replied, "You have more PhD's per square mile than almost any place in the country, and you're right in the middle of some major universities. Killingly's future is not in warehouses, it's in high demand biotech and life sciences, and one of the first things I'd do as governor is apply for a federal rural grant for a high-speed gigabit Ethernet pipe so that bright young entrepreneurs can start a business on Main Street in Killingly."
The Lamont-Glassman ticket is the best One-Two punch against the Republicans and their bankrupt ideas that Democrats can have this Fall. It's the only ticket combination that will have the endurance in both resources and in the candidates' energy and enthusiasm to engage in a full-court press against the well funded Republican nominee from now thru Election Day, Nov. 2, 2010. That is why I endorse Ned Lamont for Governor and Mary Glassman for Lieutenant Governor, and I strongly recommend that my fellow Democrats and Independents looking for a new vision also support the Lamont-Glassman ticket.
Note to editor: I'm chair of Killingly's Democratic Town Committee, delegate to the 2010 Democratic state convention, Chair of Killingly's Historic District Commission, a MoveOn.org member, a member of Connecticut National Organization for Women (CT NOW), and a 1983 graduate from the University of Notre Dame. I majored in History and Computer Applications.

Tags: lamont, Glassman, CT-Gov, Killingly, Killingly Villager, (All Tags)

Print Friendly View

Send As Email

My published op ed: Lamont-Glassman ticket is the best progressive Democratic combination | 4 comments

Best progressive ticket? (0.00 / 0)

Larkspur,

Clearly, Lamont was more progressive than Joe Lieberman in 2006.

But what specifically makes him more progressive than Malloy? Lamont is against paid sick leave and won't participate in the CEP. I don't understand why he is the best progressive choice in 2010.

"If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."--James Madison

by: sufi @ Sat May 15, 2010 at 19:45:45 PM UTC

by: you @ soon

To post this comment click here:

Otherwise click cancel.

Dan Malloy is part of the DLC, the Republican wing of the Democratic Party (0.00 / 0)

so what is so progressive about Dan Malloy? Oh, and he's got some of Lieberman's aides, like Roy Occhiogrosso, working for him. Roy O. is the one reusing the tired old 2006 Lieberman attacks on Lamont in 2010.

Ned Lamont does support paid sick leave. He prefers it to be legislated at the national level instead of a state-by-state level. If it's at a national level, then ALL states have to play by the same rules; where as at a state-by-state level, it becomes a wedge issue states use against each other to attract businesses. Connecticut needs more businesses to improve its economic status, so anything that makes it harder to attract business will make it more difficult to improve CT's economic status. As a person who was laid off in 2008, I certainly want more business opportunities, not less. And with my current contract position, I do not get paid sick days nor paid vacation time.

In his business, Ned does offer paid sick leave and good benefits. Malloy's team tried spreading a rumor a few weeks ago among delegates that Ned had outsourced jobs to China. I know that because the Malloy delegates and 1 undecided delegate who had talked with the Malloy campaign from my town repeated it as if it was the Gospel truth, but none of them could produce evidence supporting it. Whisper campaigns spreading lies is another old Lieberman trick which Malloy is employing. So what's so progressive about spreading lies?

Malloy's main goal with Stamford was to turn it into Wall Street East. That business model won't work for most of Connecticut, especially my corner of CT. He also attracted big box stores to Stamford, which ran the Ma and Pa stores out of business. So how does that model prove Malloy is progressive?

Ned's leadership style is more inclusive and partnership orientated. Malloy is an expert at the insider game, but that doesn't work in the general election. Also, his past ethical problem with awarding no-bid contracts with little documentation to support them should raise alarm bells for progressives. Isn't one of Malloy's best friend, Mayor Eddie Perez of Hartford currently on trial for extortion and misusing contracts? The governor has more power than the mayor of any city and power combined with someone running an underfunded campaign creates the temptation to abuse it. Malloy in 2006 had no problem promising jobs to delegates who had already voted for DeStefano, so that action gives me a hint on how Malloy would use and abuse his power as governor. To me, Malloy represents the politics of the past, the kind I want to send into the dustbin of history.

by: Larkspur @ Sat May 15, 2010 at 20:26:41 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

A wise woman once said (4.00 / 2)

"We voters are NOT impressed by candidates that do the right thing and stand up for our values when it is EASY AND POLITICALLY EXPEDIENT to do so."

That's the primary case for Lamont -- that we can trust him to do the right thing, even when it's unpopular. I think we've all become accustomed to a "change" sales pitch that is compromised in its realization because of deals made behind the scenes. It won't win him any votes, but one way of describing it might be that Ned has a tendency towards "Weicker-ism": he'll advance his vision even if it means being a one-term Governor. His orientation towards education and technology I think are the right fit for the state, and his advocacy grows organically from his experience in those areas. I also personally think that a businessman from the burbs is the right person to deliver a message about a renewed financial commitment to our cities.

Sick leave is not especially informative: we've discussed this before, but Lamont has expressed his support for the current legislation (workplaces of 50 or more) after stepping in it earlier, and his opponent had no interest in the subject until Ned flubbed it up. Public financing is a better litmus test if one truly believes in it, but the number of Democrats who made it a matter of first principles prior to Lamont's entry into the Gubernatorial race is vanishingly small. I will concede the righteous high ground to those Edwards / McCain voters among us who cast their votes in service of publicly-financed campaigns in 2008.

His great downside is mainly that he's something of a lousy politician. I trust his plans, but fear his press conferences.

–7.25 / –7.28 | http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/tw...

by: mattw @ Sun May 16, 2010 at 00:40:33 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

FYI, my current job doesn't offer paid sick leave, paid vacation nor paid holidays (0.00 / 0)

If I don't work, I don't get paid. Doesn't matter how sick I get. So the paid sick days issue to me is not a deal breaker for me. I work mainly in RI and MA, so a CT governor won't affect my status with paid sick days and such.

I was laid off in 2008 from a financial services company, you know the kind Malloy attracted to Stamford. They are shipping IT jobs to India or importing Indians via H-1B or L-1 visas to replace American IT workers. Because the Indians who took over my duties proved incompetent to do them, the end users of the environment I once managed hired me back to fix their mess and to try to train them. Fixing the mess was easy, but training them is difficult because they just don't understand overall picture and don't care about the quality of their work. Even though my contract is only renewed at 3 month intervals, I at least have a job, which I hope will last until the economy recovers, but if they continue outsourcing good paying American jobs, the economy won't recover until the baby boomer generation dies off, and even that may not be enough.

by: Larkspur @ Sun May 16, 2010 at 05:03:56 AM UTC

[ Parent ]