In case you missed it....

In case you missed it — and I don’t how you could unless you haven’t turned on your TV over the last week — President Barack Obama gave a “shout out” to U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd for championing the credit card tax reform bill that he recently signed into law.
The TV commercial — which, by the way, doesn’t mention the language about carrying loaded guns in national parks — of Obama signing the legislation has been running consistently on local TV channels for a week now. The campaign ads are being paid for by Dodd’s re-election committee.
Coincidentally, a “non-partisan” group is also running a television ad campaign praising Dodd for his efforts to secure health care coverage for working families. It’s one of those...”call Chris Dodd and thank him”...commercials.
I find this all a bit amusing because when the senator was in to see us in late March at the height of the AIG bonus problem, he was rather adamant that he had no intention of running an 18-month re-election campaign. It was too early to start that, he said.
Four days after that meeting, he hired a campaign manager. And now, I guess, a 17-month campaign is okay. Hey, why let all that campaign cash just sit there. If you got, spend it.
Of course all this “non-campaigning” comes as the senator is facing challenges from both inside the party as well outside.
At the same time, his potential Democratic primary challenger, Merrick Alpert of Groton, was soundly rebuffed two weeks ago by his own town committee. The Groton Town Committee adopted a resolution praising Dodd for all he’s done, and “condemning” anyone who would dare repeat the “trumped up” charges being leveled at the incumbent. The resolution didn’t mention Alpert by name, but reportedly all eyes were on him in the room as that passage of the resolution was being read.
Obviously the Groton Town Committee membership didn’t get the memo on the Democratic Party’s cardinal rule #1: Never speak badly about a fellow Democrat — at least not in public, and certainly, not to his face.
Groton Democratic leaders went even further by claiming the resolution was not an endorsement of Dodd’s re-election — saying, “it’s too soon for something like that.” Of course, stapling the invitation to a fundraiser next month to benefit Dodd’s re-election to the resolution before it was handed out to those attendence shouldn’t be construed as anything remotely looking like an endorsement — not this early in the campaign, anyway.
Republicans may be known as the Grand Old Party, but honestly, if it wasn’t Democrats, politics would never be this much fun.
Because it gets better.
Where do you think Dodd was when news of the Groton incident broke?
He was in Hollywood, California with his two new best friends — President Obama and “Democratic” Sen. Arlene Specter — hobknobbing with Hollywood’s elite and famous — and rich, too.
And what were they doing in Hollywood? You guessed it, attending fundraising events for the Democratic National Committee and the personal re-election campaigns of Dodd and Specter. And they apparently did rather well.
It may be a wee bit too early to being the 2010 Senatorial election, but It’s never too early to raise the moneyfor it. And once you got, spend it. There’s always more out there.

yeah...it's been a while...

Some quick updates on the U.S. Senate race.

By now you've probably heard that the field of potential Republican challengers to Chris Dodd has grown with the announcement of former Irish Ambassador Tom Foley's decision to get into the race. I find the timing a bit odd....there's just over three weeks left in this quarter before campaign finance reports have to be filed...not a lot of time to raise money.

Foley was a major fundraiser for George Bush, thus the expectations of his fundraising abilities for his own campaign will be high. He might be able to slide this fist reporting cycle, but a lot that will depend on how well his two Republican rivals do...former Congressman Rob Simmons and state Sen. Sam Caligiuri.

My guess is that Foley's entrance into the contest, and a respectable first filing, will hasten Caligirui's departure from the race.

On the Democratic side....Democratic primary challenger Merrick Alpert and his wife Alex have a new addition to the family. Merrick sent me the following e-mail this morning:

Alex and I wanted to share the good news with you. Our son, Wyatt Mateo Alpert, was born at 12:56PM today at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital in New London. He is 7 pounds, 5 ounces and 19.5 inches long. Mother and son are resting comfortably.

Bright lights in the big city....

I'm heding down to Washington next week. I'll be in the office Monday but thenout for the rest of the week. I'll post on Monday, but just wanted you to know it will be a week before anything new is posted.

Have a good weekend.

A big switch....

Just wondering if Democrats here in Connecticut are feeling differently now that Republican Sen. Arlen Specter has decided to swtich parties -- different in the sense that they are relieved that efforts to strip Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman of his decision to continue to caucus with Democrats and his chairmanship in the Senate didn't succeed last year?

With Specter's switch, and assuming that Democrat Al Franken emerges victorious in the Minnesota Senate battle against Republican Norm Coleman, Democrats will now have the 60 votes in the Senate to end debate and block filibusters -- thanks to Lieberman's decision to continue caucusing with Democrats.

Speaking of Lieberman....this is what he had to say about Specter's decision to jump parties:

“I enthusiastically welcome my good friend Arlen Specter into the Democratic caucus. It will be very good to have the company of yet another independent minded Democrat in the caucus!

“I have always admired Arlen as a man of deep principle who has been a bridge builder to get things done in the Senate. Arlen understands that we get things accomplished when we listen to the vital center of American politics. I know that Arlen will continue to make a major contribution to the Senate and the nation as an effective independent leader and problem solver.”

Election time....

There's a special City Council election in Norwich tomorrow to fill a vacancy on the council. Next week, there are borough elections being held across the state. It's localelection time, so I thought, for anyone who might have missed it, it would be worthwhile to post a copy of my column from yesterday's Norwich Bulletin.

I've discussed this particular issue in the past, but it’s worth repeating this morning.

Question: When was the last time the President of the United States wanted to rezone property in your neighborhood for a commercial development?

Or ordered the extension of a sewer line down your street — and you get the bill whether you wanted it or not?

Or decided to eliminate three police officer positions while at the same time approving the construction of a new $30 million police headquarters — that you’ll pay for over the next 20 years?

Answer: Never.

That’s because those are local issues decided by local government. And yet, every four years 80 percent of the registered voters in our communities vote in presidential elections while every two years we’re lucky to see 30 percent turnout for municipal elections. And it’s those municipal contests that have the most immediate impact on our lives.

There’s a special election being held in Norwich Tuesday to fill a vacancy on the Norwich City Council. The expectation is that maybe 10 percent of the city’s registered voters will participate — if we’re lucky. At a candidates forum Wednesday night, only 15 residents came to hear what the two candidates had to say.

This special election is not attracting a lot of interest or generating much excitement. Part of the reason for that are the two candidates themselves.

To put it bluntly, neither is a ball of fire.

If they were interviewing for a job as a motivational speaker, neither would be hired. I do applaud their willingness to serve, but I have to admit, at the candidates’ forum Wednesday there wasn’t a moment where I suddenly had any urge to leap to my feet and applaud.

But that’s not the point, and it certainly isn’t a reason not to be concerned or ignore the contest.
Because they’re not interviewing for a job to be a motivation speaker.

What they hope to claim Tuesday is the position of local policy maker. They want to have the authority to decide what neighborhood will be rezoned to allow commercial development, what streets will get that new sewer line and whether it’s three police officers or three teachers who will be laid off next year.
They want to be part of that very select group of seven whose every decision potentially affects your life.

And one of them will win that right on Tuesday. The question is, which one?

Anyone who has read this column in the past is already aware of my feelings towards giving voters a choice at election time. Too often, voters have no choice. Two years ago in the city’s municipal election, nine candidates ran for the Board of Education. None of them could lose. Each one was guaranteed victory. It was the same situation two years earlier. Your vote didn’t count.

Four years ago, two Republicans ran for City Council. They couldn’t lose. Their election was guaranteed. It didn’t matter what you thought.

That’s not the case this time. There is a choice.

On Tuesday, one will win and join the City Council — and one will not.

The choice of who wins is a decision to be made by Norwich voters. The question is, are you going to make it, or will you be satisfied to let someone else make it for you?

Twittering....

I've been told that I am now twittering. I'm not 100 percent sure exactly what that mean (Remember I still use dial-up at home with Windows 98), but apparently each time I add to this blog, somehow those who sign up to follow me on Twitter (why?) will be notified. Okay...

There's a special election in Norwich Tuesday to fill a vacancy on the City Council, the unexpired term of state Rep. Christopher Coutu. Because of minority representation, no Democrat is eligible to run (Dems already hold five of the seven seats). Former state rep and alderman Peter Nystrom is the Republican in the contest and unaffiliated voter Jay Gelfond, a petitioning candidate are vying for the spot. Neither is one that might be described as a ball of fire, and as such, the election isn't generating any excitement or interest. Too bad....too often the races in the city offer no choice to voters, and finally one with a choice comes along and most voters will likely miss it.

On Wednesday, President Barak Obama will hold another televised news conference....his 100th day in office. I picked this up from the PoliticWite Web page....Obama by the numbers:

President Obama will hold his 11th news conference of his presidency on Wednesday and the third one televised in prime time. NBC News notes the only modern presidents who have conducted more press conferences in their first 100 days than Obama are Harry Truman (14) and Bill Clinton (13).

By Wednesday, Obama will have given at least 10 major speeches, held eight town halls and made 14 different trips -- most of them to battleground states.

Since taking office he has signed 13 bills into law and signed 19 executive orders.

Meanwhile, Politifact says Obama has kept 27 campaign promises, broken six, and compromised on seven others.

Have a good weekend....it's going to be beautiful.

And this just in....

The Simmons for Senate campaign has hired former John McCain New Hamsphire state campaign director Jim Barrett to be campaign manager. Barrett is credited with resuscitating McCain's presidential bid at a time when it appeared the Arizona Senator was down for the count. McCain won the New Hampshire primary, and ultimately the GOP nomination.

Finally....

The governor and Democratic legisaltive leaders are finally sitting down to begin -- yes begin -- budfget negotiations to addres the state's fiscal problem. It's about time.

When the legislature convened in January, the projected shortfall in revenue for the current fiscalyear was $385 million. Today, it is projected at $600 million -- at least, if not higher. (Twice as high)

When the legislature convened in January, the projected revenue shortfall for the next two years was $6 billion. Today, that projection is between $8 billion and $9 billion. (One-third higher)

There are only six weeks remaining in the legislative session. There are just 10 weeks remaining before the start of the new fiscal year.

We have word this morning that union leaders have agreed to the proposed union concessions. That deal now goes to rank and file members next week for their approval.

That's a start....but that's no where near what still needs to be done....and time is slipping away.

But what's frustrating is this sense that no one sees any need for urgency. They're all working on legislative time ... where reality is checked at the door before entering.