Eyes Forward to 2011: Part II

I received several comments following my New Years blog 'Eyes Forward to 2011.' That was exactly the result I was hoping for. My intent was to start a conversation about how we can move forward as a Party in a very blue state. Now more than ever we need as many people involved in the process as possible. I am NOT advocating for change at the state party headquarters, but rather for change in how we as a party work together to win in the future.

Below are a few of the responses I received -- all wil be posted anonymously.

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Chris Healy has done an incredible job for our State and obviously you are one of the group who believe "blame runs down hill." We won 14 seats.
Chris is excellent with the press and can write very well. He got us back from red ink to black. He took on the secretary of state and won and he did it with a great team (lean and mean)

The state party is not there to run individual campaigns. The state party can assist on finding good candidates for offices, but they can't chose them. Enfield lost an open seat. We didn't do our job. So I guess you should blame me, I'm the chairman.

The candidate is the only person who can win a campaign. The rest of us are suppose to help and support. Candidates have their own game plan, and guess what happens when a chairman tries to "stick their nose in"...it will be cut off.

So before WE spend more time trying to find blame - how about support for what was accomplished.

I will be waiting to see how all shakes out in the upcoming election of the state party chairman. Interesting so many people are counting Chris Healy out, he has said nothing about his future intentions. I guess that is politics - I don't have to like it. The people's whose names are currently being "percolated" may not make the party better. We will have to review their resumes for the job.

Let's hope that leadership is what is matters and not political agendas.
Chris Healy has always had the party's best interests at heart and I will stand with him until there is a reason not to.

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On your web site you mentioned; "Please contact me with any questions or ideas and make sure that your voice is heard."

As a member of an RTC and also involved with Tea Party people; I'm hoping that the Republican party will entertain the thought of collaborating with the Tea Party in areas of common interest and purpose.

The Tea Party people are a tremendous resource, though they're independent; their goals and aspiration seem to line up with ours as Republicans.

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I am EXTREMELY disappointed with your message and could not disagree more with your conclusions.

(1) It is a cop out to suggest all of our candidates lost because they lacked a message. In the 4th CD, Dan Debicella ran on a clear platform of permanently codifying the Bush era income tax rates, stimulating the economy with a payroll tax, a signature feature of the recent tax bill, repealing and replacing Obamacare with a sensible, cost-effective free market alternative that contains costs while maintaining quality, and a strong national defense with unqualified support for our strongest allies such as Israel. Sam Caligiuri, Tom Foley and Linda McMahon ran on similar platforms that were clear and in stark contrast to those of their Democrat opponents. I would hardly suggest that these candidates lost because they lacked a clear message.

(2) I am OUTRAGED! at your suggestion that lowering taxes is a "kitcshy" message. Connecticut has added no new net jobs in 20 years and the ONE industry that is growing within this state, financial services, is an extremely tax sensitive one. Many private financial firms moved to Connecticut from neighboring states because of the relative tax advantage but could just as easily move to another state should Dan Malloy and Connecticut Democrats raise taxes as they are likely to do. The Wall Street Journal has run numerous articles documenting how business and income has left Oregon, Maryland, Maine, New York, New Jersey and California among others because of creeping increasing taxes on the upper income brackets. Given that many in the 4th CD are dependent on the jobs that these hedge fund managers make and the state budget is dependent on their tax revenue, I find it unconscionable that you find the tax issue "kitschy" and do not take it seriously!

(3) I find it puzzling that you spend so much time articulating why you hope Linda McMahon runs again. Not everyone makes a good candidate. The fact that she spent $50 million on her race yet lost by more than ten points to a guy who repeatedly lied about his wartime military service should inform you about her likely prospects the next go around. As someone who knocked on doors in the 4th CD, I never saw such visceral negative reaction as when I tried to hand out flyers for Linda McMahon. As an active political partisan, I cannot imagine you are unaware of the negative polling of women toward Linda McMahon. Unfortunately, not everyone makes a good candidate no matter how qualified. Considering that she got her hat handed to her in the last election, I would consider it an act of supreme selfishness if Linda prevented another qualified candidate from challenging Joe Lieberman.

(4) Finally, as someone who performed election monitoring in Bridgeport, I find unconscionable that the state party accepts no blame for the non-existent GOTV effort and the invisible anti-fraud effort, especially in cities such as Bridgeport. I have served on Republican election day anti-voter fraud efforts in other states and your lack of preparation was appalling. As someone who was in Bridgeport until 10pm when the polls finally closed, I can say with certainty that Tom Foley lost his race because you were unprepared to combat the rampant cheating that occurred. If I were you, I would man up and do some serious soul searching or I guarantee you will get your hat handed to you in repeated elections no matter what the rest of the country does. Feel free to contact me should you wish to discuss how to improve your election day monitoring.

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I think the Republican party in Ct. was interested in self preservation of the hierarchy, not in what was best for the citizens. You had a super candidate for Senator and you ignored him. You had a great candidate for Governor, but instead you let her run for the Senate. You lost both and you deserved to. There is a reason we get very little help from the National Party--they've written this state off as a lost cause. Perhaps the first thing you ought to work at is developing a strong TV station or newspaper that could cover the state that is not SO LIBERAL!

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Your email of earlier today was brilliant. I agree that the R message has not been clearly articulated or communicated. A point of real frustration. You make some very good suggestions.

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Simmons is a RINO and never had a real private sector Job. His wife is a union member. I agree with you on Linda, how she managed to get on the defensive is beyond me. How many jobs did Blumenthal createte? How about how many did he destroy? Answer; MANY Foley was good or great problem was Malloy is a whore to the unions and Foley has some other problems too.

I'm not sure what your other comments mean.

Ultimately the voters are the ones who selected these idiots. The problem lies with them.

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