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Hi Guys and Gals! Nice to be back where I won't automatically be piled on @ "Hello" just because I'm a liberal. I think ;-)
So are you sufficiently panicked by the upcoming Snowmaggedon? I had to look up "Thunder Snow". Can you spell A-W-E-S-O-M-E? Surely another sign of the Snowpocalypse.
But back to politics.
1) For some reason that I find extremely curious, Stu Rothenberg's Political Report has put the 5th CD in play, although still in the Democratic favored category.
After meeting with state Sen. Sam Caligiuri (R) and former state director of military affairs Justin Bernier (R), it's clear that Cong. Chris Murphy (D) can't take his reelection for granted.
Clearly no one can take their reelection for granted, particularly in a mid term election when people's pocketbooks are hurting. But here's why I think he's wrong:
Caligiuri has made enemies within his own party. It's not like he's locked up the support of the RTC's in the 5th. Far from it.
Bernier's a solid candidate, but he's got a fight on his hands before he even gets to Murphy. Not just with Caligiuri but with the other GOP candidates, most of whom don't register, but one of whom, Mark Greenberg, is willing to dig into his deep pockets for the fight.
Meanwhile, Chris Murphy is has $942K cash on hand as of the 4th Q, and continue to fund raise while he waits to see who survives the GOP primary free for all. As a comparison, Bernier has $200K on hand, Caligiuri, $70K and Greenberg $256K of which $150K is a personal loan to his campaign.
I'm not a big gambler (the stock market was enough to take care of that urge) but I'll bet Stu Rothenberg a beer that Chris Murphy is still the Congressman in the 5th come November.
2) The shape of things to come? South Carolina Republicans are uniting with Tea Party activists to "share resources, coordinate messaging and push the GOP in a more conservative direction".
"This is not something the state party by edict pushed down," Floyd said. "This is something the grass-roots pushed up with an understanding that we are stronger together than apart."
Floyd said that working with the groups accomplishes her goals of "growing the Republican Party, electing conservative Republicans and growing the strength of the party," though she was careful in describing what the party intends to do in working with the tea parties to elect more conservative members.
"What we mean by that is being ideologically in step with our platform of creating a small government and advancing individual liberty," she said, insisting that partnering with the tea parties would not block support for more moderate candidates.
Yeah. And if you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn. But the CT Tea Partiers, at least one branch of them, are taking a different tack having registered the name with an eye to becoming a political party in the state, although not all the TP'ers agree with this strategy. Maybe we'll have a Tea Party Free for All! Oh Please...
Meanwhile, the Tea Partiers are not that happy with the CT GOP slate for Senate.
Several people who attended Saturday's forum expressed skepticism at what they view as Simmons' fairly recent turn to the right.
"There's room for redemption, but he's got a ways to go to square his record with us," said Bob MacGuffie of Fairfield, founder of the conservative political action committee Right Principles.
MacGuffie doesn't buy Simmons' portrayal of himself as a fiscal conservative. "The whole Republican Party went off the deep end" during the Bush years, MacGuffie said, and Simmons "got swept up in that."
MacGuffie has even harsher words for one of Simmons' GOP rivals, Linda McMahon, saying that the former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO has "no record" to run on.
Guess they're not convinced by that Tea Bag Simmons has been carrying around.
Stay warm and watch out for Thunder Snow.
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