(Unchallenged candidates of either party are never good for democracy. Certainly these people ought to be held more accountable. - promoted by Scarce)
Many Republicans in Connecticut attempt to cloak themselves in a
moderate
reputation, however undeserved. Others seem eager to alienate
their
constituents, voting against their interests at every opportunity.
Reviewing legislative scorecards, I set very stringent
right-wing criteria to identify Republicans with the worst
records across a variety of issues. These legislators have
worked
hard to hurt their constituents, undermine environmental and worker
protections,
deny civil
rights, keep
guns on the street, and refuse health care.
One obvious similarity emerges -- nearly all of the most right-wing
Republicans in the state won re-election with no
Democratic opposition in 2006. Republicans who are not
seriously
challenged can and do get away with anything. The
only
candidate who had a challenger, Kevin Delgobbo, out-spent his
Democratic
opponent by an
11 to 1 margin. With public financing of campaigns, Democrats
can
no longer use funding as an excuse to avoid a challenge. With
the
combination
of a 169-town electoral strategy and public financing, Democrats can
force the GOP to account for the damage they have tried to wreak on
state
residents.
I've included in the tables below all Republicans who met any of these
extremely right-wing
criteria:
Family Institute of CT (FIC) voting
record of 100%, 2005-2006 (endorsements also noted
with "e")
CT Business & Industry Association (CBIA) voting
record of 90% or above in 2006
CT AFL-CIO lifetime voting
record below 35%, as of 2006
CT League of Conservation Voters (LCV) voting record
of 50% or below in 2005 or 2006
National Rifle Association (NRA) lifetime
rating of A+, as of 2006
CT Citizen Action Group (CCAG) voting record
below 20% in 2003-2004 (most recent years available)
Note that these measure do not evaluate legislators who were newly
elected in 2006.
The actual record of Connecticut Republicans belies their image as soft
New England "moderates." Four out of
five Republicans in the
legislature appear on the list below. By definition,
all of
these legislators have taken extremely right wing
stances on major issues.
And as you can see, nearly two-thirds of the more conservative
Republicans had no Democratic opposition last year.
All legislators above with high scores from
the Family Institute or the
NRA were endorsed by those organizations in 2006.
According to the NRA, an A+ is assigned to an
incumbent with
"not
only an excellent voting record on critical NRA issues, but who has
also made a vigorous effort to promote the Second Amendment."
Party averages based on legislators who were
in office
that year, except for CBIA and NRA, which are based on legislators who
are still in office in 2007 (full past data not available).
Many Republicans in Connecticut attempt to cloak themselves in a
moderate
reputation, however undeserved. Others seem eager to alienate
their
constituents, voting against their interests at every opportunity.
Reviewing legislative scorecards, I set very stringent
right-wing criteria to identify Republicans with the worst
records across a variety of issues. These legislators have
worked
hard to hurt their constituents, undermine environmental and worker
protections,
deny civil
rights, keep
guns on the street, and refuse health care.
MLN is powered by