ON AUGUST 10TH, I WILL VOTE FOR ROB SIMMONS

On May 21st, 2010 a small majority of delegates at the Republican State Convention endorsed Linda McMahon as the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. These delegates were awed by her vast personal fortune, her willingness to use up to $50 million of her own money to buy the election. They were impressed with the latest polls that said Linda was within 3 points of Dick Blumenthal, they had been besieged by a daily and never ending glossy mail pieces that said Linda is the outsider and that is what the people want. Well the delegates bought it and now many are having buyer’s remorse, many are looking for the receipt and hoping that they can exchange this gift they gave to the Connecticut Republicans.

The bad news for Linda and for Connecticut Republicans began when the latest Quinnipiac Poll was released and it showed Linda getting crushed by Dick Blumenthal by almost 25 points. The reaction from McMahon spokesman and Washington spin doctor Ed Patru “sometimes pollsters get it wrong”. Alright Ed, maybe they do we’ll wait and see, we’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Enter the Rasmussen Poll on June 4th; which shows Linda McMahon again being blown away by Dick Blumenthal by 23 points.

$16+ million dollars spent and Linda McMahon is still over 20 points behind. $16+ million spent and Linda McMahon has higher unfavorable ratings than she does favorable ratings. $16+ million dollars cannot but the trust of Connecticut voters and neither will $50 million. These numbers should scare the living daylights out of Republicans, because the Democrat attack machine has not even started in on Linda McMahon, her company the WWE and the sex, violence and drugs that it sells.

So what can we do? We can say no, and tell our State Party Delegates that they got it wrong, that they picked the wrong candidate. They were wrong in choosing money over experience, and they were wrong to choose flash over character. As Republicans we are fortunate we still have a choice, that we can still choose to send Linda McMahon sailing on her 50ft yacht aptly named The Sexy Bitch.

On August 10th, I will vote for Rob Simmons and I ask you to do the same. Rob Simmons is the type of candidate that we can rally behind, the candidate that has fought the hard fights, and has won the tough elections. Rob Simmons has been tested and vetted, with Rob there will be no Sunday surprise before the election and if there were any skeletons in his closet would have been found many years and many elections ago. Rob has fought off the false accusations of being a war criminal when he served his country in Vietnam and trying to bury toxic waste at elementary schools. Rob Simmons has shown he can take a punch and throw a punch, we have not seen the same from Linda McMahon.

In voting for Rob Simmons we can say that we want November’s election to be about the issues and which direction we want for our state, our country and our future. With Rob the election will be about our core values of less government, reduced taxes, job creation and a strong national defense. If we accept the wisdom of the party delegates and give Linda McMahon a place on the ballot the election will not be about issues. The election instead will a choice between a candidate who lies about his record and believes that government lawsuits create jobs or a candidate that believes that sex, violence and drugs marketed to children is just businesses and the only qualification needed to represent you and your family.

I am voting for Rob Simmons on August 10th, the right candidate for our party our state and our country and I am asking for your help.

John Gault

A Budget Surplus That Does Not Add Up!

So Connecticut is ending the current 2010 fiscal year with a budget surplus. What wonderful news that is and you would think that we would all be happy and that rain has stopped and the sun is starting to shine on the fiscal crisis we have been enduring in Hartford and throughout the state. I think we should all say not so fast and look at the measures that have allowed our Legislative leaders to rejoice in the news of a “budget surplus”.

Nancy Wyman our State Comptroller and candidate for Lt. Governor announced that an improvement in state income tax returns has produced a surplus of $166.9 million. How is this possible when our state balanced its budget by deferring $100 million in payments to the State Employment Pension Fund, when the state just borrowed $985 million in the form of economic recovery notes which will be paid by overcharging Connecticut’s taxpayers electric bills and raiding existing energy efficiency funds paid by every Connecticut rate payer.

Deferring payments and borrowing money does not equal a budget surplus. In my house buying something with a credit card because I do not have the cash on hand is not a wise idea or sound fiscal policy and it should not be for the state either. Buying for something on credit or not paying a bill does not mean I have a surplus in my account or have balanced my books and it shouldn’t for the state. As a State we continue to borrow too much and we continue to spend too much. The policies adopted by the state continue to stifle economic growth and will only cause the current recession to continue longer than it should.

When will Connecticut’s voters finally stand up and yell to our elected leaders, No More!
No more to a Government we cannot afford!
No more to a government that borrows more than we can pay back!
No more to a government that drives businesses from the state and the jobs that go with them!
No more to a government that punishes those who take risk, who create capital and create jobs!
No more to a government that with a straight face tells our citizens we have more money than we really do!
No more to a government that hides tax increasing in our electric bills and says they are really fighting to keep costs down!

Then we must ask ourselves what we are willing to do without, we cannot complain of higher taxes and bigger government if we are not willing to give up programs and services. As citizens of the state we must decide what government we need, only the government we need and most importantly what government we can afford!
This November we have the chance to tell our State Representatives, Senators and our future Governor NO MORE! We must demand fiscal accountability and responsibility from our elected leaders and if they refuse than we must refuse them our vote. The future

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