OP-ED: Making the Same Mistakes Again
by Heath W. Fahle | Aug 22, 2010 3:45am
(7) Comments | Commenting has expired
Posted to: Opinion
While it is true that there are almost as many campaign maxims as there are campaigns, the one offered by Ben Davol to listeners of WNPR’s election night coverage was particularly cogent: don’t sit on a lead. Gubernatorial candidates Ned Lamont and Tom Foley were, arguably, guilty of this sin in the run-up to the Aug. 10 primary elections, costing Lamont the election and giving Mr. Foley quite a scare.
But this primary lesson, it seems, hasn’t been learned by Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal.
Mr. Blumenthal has been the frontrunner in the race quite literally since he announced his candidacy back in January. In fact, he’s been the golden boy of Connecticut Democratic politics long before that, earning such a reputation for ubiquity that it is derided by his opponents. His stature was so solid that a poor debate performance against Merrick Alpert in March and a week’s worth of negative national press attention regarding his Vietnam misstatements in May had negligible impact on his polling numbers.
In recent months though, Blumenthal has hunkered down. The man who was once a fixture at every press conference spent most of the summer doing his best impression of a ghost.
His re-emergence in the wake of the Aug. 10 primary has been uneven at best. His first foray into the post-primary contest was on Connecticut television screens, which would have been good except that his Republican opponent, Linda McMahon, ran four advertisements for every three Blumenthal ads. Pollster Scott Rasmussen revealed on Friday, Aug. 13 that the Democrat’s lead had shrunk to just seven points.
The attorney general has followed it up with the laughable assertion that he is a political “outsider”, a title that sounds good in this year of anti-incumbency but is ill-fitting for a man whose springboard to politics was using his D.C. connections to become a 31-year-old U.S. Attorney and who has toed the line for every rank-and-file Democrat the state has sent to Washington ever since.
Blumenthal’s campaign people would assuredly argue that they are building a grassroots army, conserving their resources, and that even the Republicans who have been helped by the Attorney General’s office over the last twenty years are supportive of the Democrat. They would also point out that their guy’s unfavorable numbers are seven points better than Mrs. McMahon’s, and his favorable rating is fourteen points higher.
But if there is a corollary to Mr. Davol’s advice, it is that if you aren’t on offense in politics, you are on defense. At the moment, the McMahon campaign is decidedly on offense. And to date, no political opponent has slowed her momentum. McMahon keeps charging forward while Blumenthal sits on what is, for the moment, his lead.
Heath W. Fahle is a policy analyst and consultant based in Manchester. His background in political campaigns includes work for former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons and the Connecticut Republican Party. He also is the principal of Revolutionary Strategies LLC, a website design and consulting firm. Learn more at www.heathwfahle.com.
(7) Comments
posted by: Matt W. | August 23, 2010 3:55pm
Not a huge fan of McMahon but next to a lying sycophant like Blummy, I can’t wait to vote for her.
posted by: CT Jim | August 24, 2010 8:22am
Matt,
I guess you dont care if she’s been involved in exploiting woman, pushing steroids and basically selling smut.
So I guess its safe to say you once voted for Larry Flint for president.
The only difference between him and McMahon is his were only pictures where hers are reel to reel.
posted by: Matt W. | August 24, 2010 1:45pm
Jim, That’s correct. I don’t care about her success with the WWE anymore than I care about Bob Craft’s success with the NE Patriots which I’m sure you would characterize as promoting gratuitous violence, steriod use, illegal gambling and the exploitation of women (cheerleaders).
It’s all terribly awful and I can’t wait for the season to start so that I can document all the atrocities throughout the season.
posted by: CT Jim | August 25, 2010 3:45am
Matt,
Thats a first comparing faux wrestling with professional football.
So do you think if Tom Brady had grabbed a cheerleader by the hair and forced her to bark like a dog on national tv he would still be playing football??
Or having Teddi Bruschi get in a casket with a female corpse to have sex would be tolorated??
Do you think congress would let the NFL put up a sham steroid policy??
Really??
And this is what you call a success story??
And would it be tolorated when the female ESPN reporter decides to repeatedly kick Tony Romo in the groin this would be a success??
You keep coming up with excuses to vote for this garbage and I will get your Larry for president sign. 
posted by: Matt W. | August 25, 2010 12:54pm
HAHA! Wow Jim, for a guy who claims to be opposed to wrestling, you sure seem to know a lot about it.
In answer to your questions, Yes Tom Brady and Teddy Bruschi would get away with whatever was in the script if the NFL were scripted the way that the WWE is. I’ve never been a fan of wrestling specifically b/c it is scripted but obviously some people are entertained by it and that’s fine with me.
With regards to Congress allowing the NFL to maintain a “sham” steriod policy, it seems quite obvious that the NFL has historically, and continues to suffer from, a problem with steroids and PEDs and as far as I can tell, aside from some hearings, Congress has allowed the NFL to address the problem as they see fit. Either way, I don’t particularly care whether these guys use steroids anymore than I care that my neighbor might smoke pot.
What I can say is that I’d much sooner trust a steroid user or pot smoker than someone who has lied about serving in Vietnam.
posted by: Tony | August 25, 2010 3:33pm
The writer mentions that Blumenthal suffered “... a week’s worth of negative national press attention….”
I wonder if the millions of dollars in advertising that Linda McMahon and the WWE pump into the local and national media had anything to do with that.
I’m waiting for the media to really focus on the WWE event where Linda’s daughter walked onstage to chants of “Slut! Slut! Slut!” What kind of mother lets her daughter do that?
Or the sad case of the wrestler getting beaten over the head onstage with a metal chair and later dying at the age of 29. Those stories really haven’t been well documented.
Also, when you run a sport that relies on the illegal distribution of steroids, it says something about your regard for the law and your interest in public health and safety. Clearly, McMahon has no regard for either.
And to think she might be WRITING food and drug laws? Or laws regarding clean water and clean air? What a nightmare that would be for all of us.
Linda McMahon for Senate? No, please, no.
Dick Blumenthal has served Connecticut with distinction for decades. He even served his country in the Marine Corps Reserves. A couple of misstatements about his service over the course of thousands of public speeches doesn’t diminish the work he has done. Even veterans groups have said so. We’d be lucky to have Dick Blumenthal representing us.
posted by: Brian Parker | August 23, 2010 6:12am
I was talking with some folks last week (lobbyists) and they seem to think Blumy’s in for a tough fight. I would have thought him a show in, especially how the press if mocking McMahon.
Impressive fortitude from McMahon campaign.