An Apology In The Dark Of Night

In the dark of night, after a long weekend of political conventions an email was sent out to the media on behalf of Dick Blumenthal. The message was “I’m sorry” and for this Veteran the message and its delivery were too little too late. For Blumenthal who repeatedly misspoke about his service or lack thereof in Vietnam it was par for the course. Blumenthal should have begged forgiveness on Tuesday as he stood before a sea of cameras in a VFW, but instead he chose to wrap himself in the flag and claim to be the best candidate that a Veteran could ask for. He attacked the media and said well at least he had served.

For years I would have agreed with Blumenthal, I would have said yes he had served and thank you for your service. His service in my eyes was honorable until he lied about it and began to earn accept praise for service he had not done and in my eyes that is unforgivable. I ask a lot from the people who seek to represent me, I ask that they listen, that they do their best for me and my family and that they are honest. Without honesty they have no business in public office which as Rob Simmons has always said is a public trust.

Dick Blumenthal has violated that trust and a quiet apology sent in the middle of the night is not enough for me. Had he been truly sorry he would have apologized from the start but when his defiant tone at the VFW only added fuel to the fire did he reconsider his course of action. He saw his once unassailable lead in the polls disappear and he needed to stop the bleeding, so he apologized. He apologized not because he was sorry for stealing the valor that others had earned but he because he was sorry that it might cost him the opportunity to be a United States Senator.

Dick Blumenthal is another example of a typical politician doing what is right for himself and his campaign and his quest for higher office. He has done nothing to regain my trust only to strengthen my belief that he will say whatever needs to be said in order to prevail in November.

I think we as the voters of Connecticut must demand more from our elected officials.

We Will Get What We Ask For!

As a witness to the Republican State Convention this weekend I left utterly disappointed and uneasy about the chances for our Republican party come November. At the convention I saw a sea of delegates, the party faithful turn their backs on those who have carried the party, towed the line and fought in the hard years for our state and party. We turned our backs on them for new candidates whose only qualification is a pocket full of cash.

The party leaders clearly had their preference for the candidates that can write their own check and any semblance of fairness was thrown out. While I watched Rob Simmons and his staffers being pushed off the floor no effort was made to remove Linda McMahon and her entourage from blocking the aisles. I understand that raising money is hard and tedious but it is the foundation of campaign work, it is where you find the true believers and the foot soldiers that knock on doors, make calls and stand at the polls on a cold November election day.

Chris Healy has chosen the easy route by picking the candidates that have never been tested or vetted. Mr. Healy has chosen the candidates that still have the shine and glimmer like all of those glossy mailers that have choked my mailbox. He has chosen the path that will let him be the sound bite man for our party, the go to guy for the one-liner and not the party leader who has to organizer chicken bakes and pancake breakfasts. Chris Healy has sent the message loud and clear and that message is "if your rich, your welcome to run, if your not... well then the train is full".

I am sure that if Mr. Healy were to read this blog he would say it was not him but the delegates who have spoken, and to this I say bullshit!!! The favoritism shown to Linda McMahon knew no bounds, it was obvious to anyone who watched, from the way Mr. Healy's staff cleared the Simmons people off the aisle, or Mr. Healy deciding which delegations made it to the podium in time to switch their votes. I talked with a delegate from Seymour who said that Chris Healy himself turned them away when they attempted to switch their votes from Schiff to Simmons. They were told they were too late, it did not matter they had been delayed by Linda and her entourage of WWE superstars or her personal film crew that was blocking the aisle. If the Seymour delegation had been breaking for Linda would they still have been to late??? Or that Mr. Healy and his staff supplied the video of Dick Blumenthal talking about "his service in Vietnam" to the McMahon campaign so they could claim credit for the hit.

Interesting how Mr. Healy can even claim to be objective while his wife is making over $120k for work on Linda's campagin!!

In the end we as Republicans will get what we ask for. We will get a candidate that will spend millions of dollars on a carefully crafted message of its time for something different. Well in the end neither Linda McMahon or Dick Blumenthal offer anything different than Chris Dodd. Connecticut will simply get another Senator with a glaring lack of character and integrity. In putting forth untested candidates that have never shown loyalty to the party we should not be surprised when they are exposed for what they are, self-serving opportunists.

John Gault