TPM portrait of Bysiewicz

My DTC endorsed Susan B in Oct. 2011 (0.00 / 0)

She has been very loyal to my DTC and personally very good to me, which is why I endorsed her early last year.  

I like Rep. Murphy, but I noticed in a previous contributions map that most of his support was coming from central and western Connecticut.  The East-Northeast section of Connecticut was very sparse for Rep. Murphy.

One of our major concerns with Murphy is will he be senator for all of Connecticut or just the sections that gave him a lot of money?  Northeast CT is often the Forgotten Corner by the Hartford Establishment types.  

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by: Larkspur @ Mon Dec 19, 2011 at 18:04:06 PM UTC

An interesting (re?) framing of the issue (0.00 / 0)

Without taking bets on whether either candidate will provwe loyal to those who fund their initial runs for the officein question, I do find it interesting that an iexisting perennial meme --"everybody always forgets the Northeast Corner " -- can be pressed into service so handily in support of a candidate whose reputation is that when push comes to shove, her reliable True North in terms of loyalties seems to be herself and her personal ambitions.  Suspicion of the non-Northeast corner seems to play well as a tune as does suspicion of southwestern CT in general, in politics as in some other areas (funding of some programs, e.g.).

Reminds me of Joe Lieberman convincing the old people in Florida (from whom he sought contributions via scare tactics) that Ned Lamont was a "Stalinist".  He knew how to play them like a Wurlitzer.

We have seen a number candidates woo and take money from progressives, get elected and veer to the right, so for me a question is, "Is anybody going to do what they promise in the campaign, or is the new default "Say anything to get elected and then change gears and do what you have to do to get re-elected"?

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by: greenpeas @ Tue Dec 20, 2011 at 23:49:47 PM UTC

My DTC endorsed Susan B when she was originally running for Sec. of State (0.00 / 0)

And when no one else would initially take a chance on her at that time.  That was long before I joined my DTC, so she has a long standing friendship with our DTC.

Unlike Lieberman, Susan B. always respects her base.  She would come to our events even when the weather was horrible.  Retail politics is her forte.  That's why my non-DTC low-info voters like her.  She is very personable to ordinary people; whereas, Lieberman was arrogant.

This year I invited our prominent Democratic elected leaders and candidates to our main fundraising event in October and only Susan B. came.  Now Courtney and Blumenthal couldn't make it because they were working in Washington, but none from Hartford came.  Her appearance at our event was a major factor that contributed to our DTC endorsing her.  Some of the members who voted to endorse her told me that their number 1 reason why they voted for Susan was because she had been loyal to us so we should return the favor to her.  

No one who voted for Susan B. dislikes Murphy.  It's just that they know her better.

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by: Larkspur @ Wed Dec 21, 2011 at 15:56:29 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

DTC endorsements (0.00 / 0)

I don't understand DTC's endorsing a candidate.  Is it possible that every member of the DTC thinks alike?  It seems that some members must get railroaded, and I don't think that that is a way to have a healthy DTC.  People should feel free to decide who they want to support.  I'm from a DTC in SE CT and I, for one, want to pick a candidate who can win and be a good Senator, not necessarily the one who comes to all our picnics. I think our delegation will be split, which, really is the way I think it should be. And we pick our delegates by rewarding those who work for the party, not by who they support.

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by: noankdem @ Wed Dec 21, 2011 at 00:56:12 AM UTC

Endorsements and other mischief (0.00 / 0)

Sometimes groups just take a vote to define what they're about from time to time. I got my town committee to endorse a "no on question 1" position in 2008, even though the idea wasn't universally supported. You do it too much, and you wind up with either a tiny or bitterly divided group. Too little, and you're useless, drifting along on the tides without ever changing the political landscape.  

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

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by: mattw @ Wed Dec 21, 2011 at 02:15:19 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Our DTC rarely makes committee endorsements of candidates (0.00 / 0)

But one of our elder members lobbied the rest and he got enough votes for our DTC to endorse Susan B.  Isn't that a fair American democratic tactic?

"I, for one, want to pick a candidate who can win and be a good Senator, not necessarily the one who comes to all our picnics."
Nurturing the base is important for a candidate to get elected as well as for an elected official to stay in office.  DTC members are the Democratic Party grassroots activists in their town. Attending DTC events is one way to nurture the base.  

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by: Larkspur @ Wed Dec 21, 2011 at 16:08:45 PM UTC

[ Parent ]