Recently, several elected Republican state officials, including Sen. Toni Boucher, Sen. Sam Caligiuri and Rep. Lawrence Cafero have asked for review of the rules that have prevented Tea Party activists from scoring a desired symbolic victory and fly the "Don't Tread On Me" flag over the Capitol building in Hartford. That familiar flag, known as the Gadsden Flag, has become the flag-of-choice for the tea partiers nationwide. The fact that Boucher and Co. are trying to assist them and force the Capitol Police to abandon their policy of non-partisanship, is transparent and, frankly, disgusting.
Some background: Last April, a group of Connecticut tea partiers wanted to fly the Gadsden Flag over the state Capitol in Hartford during their rally. A mini-controversy erupted when the Capitol Police wouldn't allow it. Initially it had been OK-ed, but then after complaints that it was, in fact, a flag with contemporary political significance, the approval was rescinded.
Since then, the Tea Party crew has been eager to find a new strategy to get the flag flown, so they can - I don't know - say they won something other than the elections they can't win in Connecticut. So now, they are leveraging the fact that some tea partiers are US Marines (non-active) and pretending that the request to fly the flag is simply a display of respect for the Corps. It's a preposterous claim, and any politician with a hint of a conscience should know that and rebuff the effort. Instead, sensing an opportunity to ingratiate themselves to the people who don't think the US Supreme Court has the authority to decide the constitutionality of laws, they go along with the charade and hope you don't know the history.
Sen. Boucher was particularly shameless in her appeal to patriotism and respect for the military as a rationale for carrying on an obviously political skirmish:
"Independence Day celebrates the birth of our nation and the freedom we cherish," Boucher says. "Granting the U.S. Marines' request to fly their flag over our State Capitol on July 4th is a wonderful way to show our gratitude for the sacrifices that members of our armed forces make to keep us free."
Boucher says she is disappointed previous requests to fly the Gadsden Flag over the Capitol were denied, considering it's been associated with those who fight for our country since the Revolutionary War. She says she understands the desire to protect the Capitol from being used to promote any political agenda, but the flag's attachment to the military makes it appropriate to display, "regardless of who else has since adopted it for their own reasons."
Ms. Boucher needs a quick education on this matter. So, Toni, prepare to be schooled (and Sam and Larry, you guys can take seats in the back of the room and take notes).
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...
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.
Sam Caligiuri fires the first shot in what is sure to be a months-long culture war for the right-wing base in the coming Republican Senate primary by stating he would vote against the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court (campaign press release via Facebook):
Southington - Earlier today, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination as our nation's next Supreme Court Justice, with a full Senate vote scheduled for early August. Despite her laudable personal achievements and years of public service, I cannot support this nomination and I ask Senator Dodd to oppose it as well.
I have come to this conclusion as many Americans have, because a judicial nomination should be measured by the nominee's approach to the law and not a personal story, however appealing it may be. How are we are supposed to trust that Judge Sotomayor will not be an activist judge after having made clear statements to the contrary?...
It will be interesting to see how Tom Foley and Rob Simmons say they will vote on Sotomayor. I wonder if either of them would even feel comfortable saying out loud that Barack Obama is a natural-born United States citizen. The battle for the Republican nomination over the next year will be a run to the right, and no candidate can afford to completely write off the most hardcore primary voters in that party, no matter how factually- or sanity-challenged they happen to be.
For more on the GOP primary circus that will soon possibly be taking over the Nutmeg state, make sure to read Colin McEnroe's hilarious column from this past weekend, wherein he auditions for the position of ringmaster Chief Senior Nationwide Analyst:
I wanted to meet Caligiuri for my own purposes, because he is one of at least three people seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, in order to run against Chris Dodd in 2010. I have decided to become an expert on that election because I think it has the potential to attract national interest. If I become a knowledgeable pundit, I can probably go on CNN and touch Wolf Blitzer's beard, which is said to cure arthritis.
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.''
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.
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