It seems that several separate Simmonses continue to be attracted to the Senate race in Connecticut.
The 2Q FEC report for Rob Simmons reveals a double-max out donation from notorious Republican attack machine donor and (unrelated) namesake, Texas billionaire and Swiftboat-funder Harold Simmons (as well as double-max donations from his wife and brother):
Who is Harold Simmons? One of the leading funders of the noxious Republican attack machine over the last two decades, or, as Howie Klein described him last year:
There isn't a more sleazy and disreputable political operator in America than 77 year old Harold Clark Simmons. Credited as one of the fathers of predatory capitalism, the far right Texas billionaire developed the concept of the leveraged buyout. One of McCain's primary financial backers, Simmons, worth over $7 billion, has a long and sordid history in extremist political sleaze.
In addition to donating millions to the Swiftboat attacks, he also gave almost $3 million last year to the American Issues Project, the GOP front group who aired TV ads that tried to link President Obama to Bill Ayers.
And, interestingly, given the double-max outs to Simmons by Harold Simmons' wife and brother, he also settled a lawsuit for $50 million in 1998 that arose from his funneling over $100,000 in unauthorized donations to political candidates from his own daughters.
Just the kind of guy Rob Simmons would ask to fund the coming poisonous attacks against both Chris Dodd and his Republican primary opponents.
The Connecticut Democratic Party sends out this statement:
"Their last names are the same, and you have to wonder if their ideology isn't the same, too," said Connecticut Democratic Party Communications Director Colleen Flanagan. "We know that Rob Simmons was supposed to raise a great deal of money, and he failed, but at some point you'd think that he would have said thanks, but no thanks. Harold Simmons helped smear a man who served valiantly in Vietnam and attempted to paint as a domestic terrorist another man, who happens to be our country's President. Rob Simmons is okay with taking money from people like that? Politics does make strange bedfellows, and in Rob Simmons' case, politics makes desperate bedfellows, too."
Ted Mann at The Day was able to get a look at Rob Simmons' just-filed 2Q FEC filing (still unavailable online), and uncovered some real gems.
First of all, that $750k topline number? It includes a $20,000 loan to the campaign from Simmons himself, plus $112,000 in unpaid debts - about 15% of his total take - for "direct mail and postage". If you subtract the latter number from his cash on hand total, you get something like $448k, much closer to Tom Foley's number which he banked in only 26 days. (Edited: apologies for attempting early-morning math.) Which surely explains why he hasn't paid off those debts yet.
Secondly, Tribune Co. and Courant owner Sam Zell contributed to Simmons. Something to keep in mind as we follow the Courant's coverage of the upcoming GOP primary.
Finally, Mann notes Simmons' connections to the very financial lobbyist interests he attacks Dodd for having connections with:
Simmons, meanwhile, took in more than $730,000 over the second quarter, including plenty of individual contributions from some executives at firms connected to the financial services industry. Among those contributors are L. George Rieger, an investment strategist at Greenwich Investment Management, Lawrence M. Clark, an analyst at New York-based Harbinger Capital Partners, financier Mark R. Shenkman, and Jonathan Bush, the director of J. Bush and Co. and brother of President George H. W. Bush.
Hilariously, Simmons' allies at the NRSC actually sent out an email to their lobbyist donors yesterday, "assuring them that the folks there appreciate the job they are doing," according to the Sunlight Foundation.
That's right. The GOP is trying to buck up those poor neglected lobbyists and convince them that Rob Simmons will show them more respect that Chris Dodd. Here's the actual text of their love letter:
For what it is worth, we believe you are doing your job, a job that is very much a part of the democratic process; to make sure Congress understands how proposed policy will affect their constituents, business and other interests around our country. I guess Chris Dodd just wants your financial support but not your company.
Here's what prompted the NRSC's response, a Dodd campaign page where you can "send a message to lobbyists to let them know how bad you feel that Chris Dodd is fighting for our interests in the Senate instead of theirs":
Somehow, someone at CTLP got access to a hilarious "internal" Simmons campaign memo trying to spin his disastrous second quarter fundraising total: he only raised $750k despite being able to raise money full-time for 91 days, for a candidate who had hoped to raise over $1 million this quarter in order to be competitive. This, compared to Bush Pioneer Tom Foley who raised money at more than twice Simmons' rate in the mere 26 days he's been in the race.
If you want to know how worried the Simmons camp is about Foley, look past the silly bravado of the campaign "memo" and note that he also used it as an opportunity to attack the Ambassador from Greenwich for his ties to George W. Bush:
We learned yesterday that Ambassador Foley raised about $530,000 this quarter, a significant amount, though less than we anticipated given his background. That you outraised a professional political fundraiser and well-connected Wall Street executive whose money-raising proficiency on behalf of President George W. Bush earned him a plum ambassadorship by 42 percent is impressive.
Simmons' usual campaign M.O. is to launch negative attack after attack from the very beginning, and it appears from this opening salvo that this tightly contested Republican primary will be no different for a self-declared "frontrunner" who is acting like anything but one.
Update: CTLP seems to be down. Here's Roll Call on Simmons' numbers, I guess they also got the internal memo:
Former Rep. Rob Simmons (R-Conn.) has raised more than $753,000 since March for his Senate campaign, according to a fundraising memo obtained by Roll Call.
Simmons is in a three-way primary for the GOP nomination to challenge Sen. Chris Dodd (D). Senate Republicans have indicated they are inclined to support Simmons, who has led Dodd in several polls testing the 2010 race.
The Simmons campaign takes aim in the memo at one of their GOP opponents, former Ambassador to Ireland Tom Foley, who announced Tuesday that he raised more than $530,000 in one month for his bid. Simmons campaign manager Jim Barnett wrote in the memo that Foley's total was "less than we anticipated given his background as" a "professional political fundraiser and well-connected Wall Street Executive."
The first hints at 2Q fundraising numbers are dripping out for the three declared Republican candidates for Senate, and it looks like a four-way primary with no real favorite may be in the offing:
Longtime Republican fundraiser Tom Foley has burst onto the political scene by raising more than $530,000 in the first 26 days since announcing he is running for the U.S. Senate against Democratic incumbent Christopher Dodd....
Former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, 66, widely viewed by insiders and in the polls as the Republican frontrunner in the race, has been raising money for the entire quarter and said he had topped Foley's amount.
"We did a little better than that,'' Simmons told Capitol Watch....
State Sen. Sam Caligiuri, 42, who represents Waterbury and surrounding towns, said he worked in approximately the same timeframe as Foley because he was tied up with the hectic ending of the regular legislative session at the state Capitol in Hartford.
"We raised about $125,000 during the same period,'' Caligiuri said Tuesday.
So, to recap the financial state of the Republican primary race, without having the actual FEC reports to look at yet:
- Rob Simmons, the biggest name in the race and the establishment GOP choice, barely beat the field by raising "a little" better than Foley's $530k despite having three full months to engage in full-time fundraising.
- Tom Foley, Greenwich millionaire and Bush Pioneer, raised over $530k in only 26 days, largely, one expects, by shaking the Bush money tree. (And, while self-funding is also an option for him, he reportedly did not do so at all this past quarter.)
- Sam Caligiuri, the right-wing conservative option in the race who may come to the starting gate with the highest level of support among the all-important base, raised about $125k, despite being involved in a protracted legislative session.
- Peter Schiff, who still sounds very much like he intends to run in a Republican primary for Senate, might very well be able to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars online in just a few days after officially announcing. And he likely has the resources to self-fund as well.
Meanwhile, Senator Dodd, accused by both lobbyists and Republicans of overextending himself not in his campaign but in his Senate committee work on Banking and Health Care, finds himself trying to keep up with the above declared Republicans who are all currently full-time fundraisers.
All in all, it sounds like a competitive four-way Republican primary might actually actually happen next year. (And if it does, Simmons, Foley, and Caligiuri will likely need to raise even more money than originally planned.)
Sam Caligiuri, in fact, seems to have already fired the first shot of the primary, and it's a very interesting one coming at the start of one of the first meaningful Republican primary races in the nation in the post-Bush era. Today, Republican State Senator Sam Caligiuri attempted to hit former Republican Ambassador Tom Foley by tying him to... former Republican President George W. Bush:
"We didn't start meaningful fundraising until after the session ended on June 3. That's a very good number [for Foley], but not a surprising number for a Greenwich millionaire who was a top fundraiser for George W. Bush. That's how he got to be Ambassador to Ireland.''
"I'm sad to say that our own Republican Party in the last eight years has lost its way on fiscal responsibility. How did that happen? We're supposed to be the party of smaller government," said Steven J. Simmons, a Greenwich businessman, speaking at The Norwalk Inn & Conference Center...
Simmons, who founded a telecommunications company and sits on a federal board that oversees the administration of the Voice of America, told several dozen Norwalk Republicans that he is "thinking of running" against U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd next year and will decide "within a month."
So many questions remain about the course this primary will take. Will proud nonvoter Peter Schiff benefit from a simmering intra-Simmons squabble, or, as Stuart Rothernberg predicts, "scare the living daylights out of state voters" once they get to know him? Will Bush Pioneer Tom Foley split the GOP Greenwich vote with the secondary Simmons?
Simmons described his approach to the hearing, saying, "I want to have the respect of a congressman, I want to talk like a congressman, and maybe, someday, I'll be a congressman."
Not sure if Richard would run as a Republican though. After all, that party's ultra-conservative views probably conflict with his... choice of lifestyle.
Sean Hannity of Fox News tries to goad Republican challengers Sam Caliguiri and Rob Simmons into calling Senator Chris Dodd "a lying weasel" on national tv. One gladly took the bait, one did not. Hannity got the idea from that wonderful publication, the New Haven Register.
Another day, another horrific poll from Quinnipiac for Chris Dodd.
Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd trails former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, a possible Republican challenger, 50 - 34 percent in the 2010 Senate race, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today, as voters disapprove 58 - 33 percent of the job the Democratic incumbent is doing, his lowest approval rating ever.
Matched against two other possible Republican challengers, Sen. Dodd trails both State Sen. Sam Caligiuri 41 - 37 percent and former ambassador Tom Foley 43 - 35 percent, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.
Doug Schwartz chimes in with:
"A 33 percent job approval is unheard of for a 30-year incumbent, especially a Democrat in a blue state. Sen. Christopher Dodd's numbers among Democrats are especially devastating. Since the AIG controversy, his approval rating among Democrats is down to 51 percent, and only 58 percent of Democrats say they will vote for him against Simmons, who at this point is the best known and strongest Republican challenger," said Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz, PhD.
"The generic numbers are even worse for Dodd than the specific matchup numbers, with only a third saying they probably or definitely will vote for Dodd compared to 59 percent saying they definitely or probably won't vote for him," Dr. Schwartz added.
The numbers among Republicans and Independents are bad, of course, but that's to be expected. What is startling are his numbers among Democrats:
--41% disapprove of Dodd's performance as a Senator
--56% disapprove of Dodd as Senate Banking Committee Chairman
--39% of CT Democrats have an unfavorable opinion of Senator Dodd
Doug Schwartz at Quinnipiac reports on some numbers they've made up found in polling of CT (March 3-8, 1238 registered voters +/- 2.5%).
"These numbers have to worry Sen. Christopher Dodd. Former Congressman Simmons is not well known outside his district, yet he is running neck and neck with Dodd at this point," said Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz, PhD.
"Simmons easily wins his former district. The good news for Dodd is that this is the first poll in a long time where Dodd's job approval hasn't dropped. It appears that Dodd's slide may have ended."
Simmons is almost certainly running. From this morning at Politico:
In an interview with POLITICO on Monday, Simmons said he will make a final decision by the end of the month. He met with NRSC officials last Friday and is leaning towards jumping into the race.
"I'm definitely interested,'' Simmons told Capitol Watch. "I'm angry about what's going on in Washington, D.C. ... I've worked all my life, and I've watched my IRA go down 50 percent, and I'm luckier than most."
Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, was named Tuesday to the House Education and Labor Committee, after a campaign in which he repeatedly criticized the Republican Party's policies on school funding and student aid. . . .
Courtney's position on the education committee will put him in the midst of a brewing debate over the proposed reauthorization of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, he said Tuesday in an interview in his office on Capitol Hill. . . .
Courtney had earlier been appointed to the House Armed Services Committee, a position that will put him nearer to the spotlight Thursday, when the new Democratic majority calls two administration officials, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to discuss their plans for the future of the war in Iraq.
These assignments are a sign that the Party is working to put Courtney in a strong position for his seeemingly inevitable rematch with Rob Simmons in '08.
Simmons makes it clear, above all, that he is ready for more political combat. Unlike most of his soon-to-be-former colleagues, he's not complaining. The Vietnam veteran and former CIA operations officer has been schooled to absorb the blows. He understands you suck it up when you're down and get ready for the next mission.
"This is my office this week," he says, almost shouting in that animated way he has. His long arms sweep to indicate the small apartment.
Probe a little, it doesn't take much, and he explains just why he's feeling pretty good. Six years ago, he won his seat in a district that George W. Bush lost, a district that had elected Democrat Sam Gejdenson to Congress 10 times between 1980 and 1998. Connecticut's 2nd is a place where, as political analyst Amy Walter put it, Republicans begin a race "with 20 pound weights around their legs."
"I didn't get the feeling there was dissatisfaction with me personally," he explains. He will make the same point over and over during an hourlong conversation: "I was operating in a hostile environment."
Simmons won't rule out another run in 2008; nor will he reject the idea that he could be Connecticut's Republican chairman, as was raised as a possibility last week. He'll continue to live in Stonington, hoping to find work "in the industry," meaning something to do with veterans' affairs, military strategy or intelligence work.
Joe Courtney's nail-biting lead over war monger Congressman Rob Simmons seems to be standing up in the recount process. From the Norwich Bulletin:
U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, R-2nd District, still trailed Democrat Joe Courtney Friday night by 162 votes after 12 towns in the 65-town second district finished their recounts.
Courtney originally led Simmons by 167 votes after Tuesday's election. So far, Simmons has picked up 10 additional votes and Courtney has added five to his total.
Simmons lost a vote in Columbia's recount Friday, neutralizing the one-vote gain he received Thursday in Hebron. Courtney, on the other hand, picked up a vote in Vernon, his hometown, when a provisional ballot was counted in Friday's recount. And Simmons and Courtney each picked up one extra vote in Pomfret when two provisional ballots were counted there.
North Stonington ? The vote totals in the 2nd Congressional District recount remained the same here Friday: U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, R-2nd District, 1,231; Joe Courtney, the Democratic challenger, 885.
?I wasn't worried about our town,? Sandy Steinhart, one of the head checkers, said after the recount. ?We're thorough.?
The other head checker, Stella Elbaum, agreed.
?We're anal. ... I asked my husband for ID,? Elbaum said.
Have you heard this one? A minister and a rabbi walk into the Courant and write an op-ed about torture.
On Oct. 17, President Bush signed the Military Commissions Act, which was rushed through Congress just in time for the campaign season. By undermining the moral values and legal traditions on which America was founded, this shameful law threatens the soul of our nation.
Three Connecticut Representatives and one of our Senators voted for this law: Chris Shays, Nancy Johnson, Rob Simmons and Joe Lieberman. The new law will allow torture to continue to be carried out in our names. When challenged, these legislators argue that the law explicitly forbids the practice of torture. And indeed, there is language in the law that provides this political cover. But taken in its entirety, the Military Commissions Act allows prisoner abuse to continue. It grants impunity to the civilians who authorized, tolerated and perpetrated torture since 9/11, and makes it much less likely that future torturers will be held accountable for their actions.
Why isn't Rob Simmons calling in pedophile protector in chief Dennis Hastert to campaign for him, as he did in 2000 and 2001? The Day thinks it has an answer.
Well, don't expect to see Hastert around here this election year. I doubt the Ranking House Enabler is high on the Simmons stumping guest list right now.
In fact, about the closest thing the Simmons camp has served up this campaign season by way of a connection to Washington Republicans and the Bush Administration has been President Bush I, the Bush who knew enough not to march on to Baghdad.
Maybe it's a good thing, too, that Hastert and his scandal stay away, given Congressman Simmons' propensity lately to publicly point out phallic symbols. (OK, he did it only once, at a lighthouse dedication. But, still.)
Our Republican Congresspeople just get weirder and weirder. Now The Day reveals that Rob Simmons apparently thinks of penises when he looks at the Avery Point Lighthouse.
We ask these questions because surely Simmons, the self-aggrandizing former CIA operative, must have vetted the candidates before exposing Washington to someone with Misenti's special interests in risky behavior, guns, and gaming violence. Yet he either discovered them and chose to capitalize on these interests or never discovered these interests at all.
Once Misenti arrived in Washington to work for Simmons he claimed to frequent bars that patronized underaged drinking. Did the Simmons operation introduce him to this lifestyle? We are left to wonder aloud and lament that a Connecticut House Representative apparently left the impression on Misenti that unlawful behavior, anything goes, and insider politics are the right stuff.
Simmons campaign manager, Chris Healy, proves he has no moral compass. Speaking of the vile, anti-semitic blog of Simmons supporter Tom Misenti (who trolls her from time to time), the Norwich Bulletin had this to say:
The case might be made that Misenti is a callow youth lacking judgment, perspective and taste.
And there might be a hint of condemnation for such badly considered, offensive imagery.
There was none of that from the Simmons campaign.
Chris Healy, Simmons campaign manager, had this to say of the blog: "It's a non-issue and a distraction. ...This has nothing to do with the campaign. We didn't authorize it; it's not sanctioned by us."
Simmons has had nothing to say.
So caught up in defending against involvement with the blog, it apparently never occurred to Healy to condemn the work as wildly inappropriate, well over the line of political discourse.
No, this was, as Healy saw it, "a college kid exercising his right to free speech."
No, this was more. This was beyond offensive. This was an affront to decency and deserved universal condemnation.
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