Despite having just dug out from the latest Snowmagedapoclypse (the pile of snow at the end of my driveway is now taller than I am, not that that’s saying much, being a Person of Diminutive Size) things are already starting to heat up for 2012.
I promised my colleague Susan Bigelow she could use all the wrestling puns so let’s just say that on the GOP side it’s shaping up to be a cracking good polo match between a gaggle of Greenwich millionaires, State Senator L. Scott Frantz, 2010’s Fifty Million Dollar Woman, Linda McMahon, and former Governor candidate, Tom Foley, although he’s said he might hold out for another run for Governor in 2014 instead. Former Lt. Governor Mike Fedele has expressed interest in joining the club, as has former Congressman Rob Simmons. It remains to be seen if GOP Chairman Chris Healy, who at the 2010 Convention showed quite clearly that money can buy his love, will consider the latter two sufficiently moneyed to pay the initiation fee.
The CT-GOP is already surveying its members about their Senate candidate preferences and top issues of concern in the upcoming election. The choices for the latter: “Health care reform, Taxes, Government Spending, Social Issues, 2nd Amendment Rights, National Security Rights , and Economy and job creation.” I found it revealing that education wasn’t even an option in the poll of top issues. It says something that the Republican Party, even here in Connecticut, which used to be a bastion of the economic conservative, social moderate variety of GOP member, considers preserving the right to own assault weapons and preventing gay marriage more critical to our nation’s future at this juncture in our nation’s history than educating our children. I suppose we all better start reading that new Tiger Mother book if we want to have a work force capable of competing with China, unless we’re rich enough to send our kids to private schools.
On the other hand, I have to hand it to the CT-GOP. At least they’re somewhat net savvy and are making the effort to communicate and interact with their members. Despite being a registered Democrat, following the CT Democrats on Twitter, and being on their mailing list, I can probably count on one hand the number of communications I get from State Central. I struggle to get to double digits even in an election year when they’re asking me for money.
Recently, a press release about the re-election of party Chairman Nancy DiNardo magically appeared on the CTDems website, but no one I contacted actually received it, including Christine Stuart of CTNewsJunkie, my editors at Hearst, Daniela Altimari, Chris Keating and Rick Green at the Courant, or Susan Haigh at the AP. When I queried interim Executive Director Dan Kelly, he told me it“ was released to a statewide press list that the party has on file.” Given that most of the people who cover Hartford on a day-to-day basis didn’t receive it, I reckon that list must be pretty out of date. But hey, given that the content on the CT Dems website is “Copyright 2006”, I suppose that’s hardly surprising.
Nonetheless, in the press release that doesn’t appear to actually have been released, Governor Dannel Malloy praises CT Dems Chairwoman for playing “an integral role to our Democratic successes in 2010…Democrats should be proud of her leadership.”
Well sorry Guv, but as a tech-savvy Democrat, I beg to differ. I’ve listened to the frustration in the field, and frankly, if Democrats win in Connecticut, it’s despite State Central, not because of it. For years, we’ve been waiting for the party leadership in Hartford to join the rest of us in the 21st Century. We’re still waiting.
Sarah Darer Littman is a columnist for Hearst Newspapers and an award-winning novelist of books for teens. Long before the financial meltdown, she worked as a securities analyst and earned her MBA in Finance from the Stern School at NYU.