New Haven Independent

Paging the Real Bob Ward

by Paul Bass | November 2, 2005 7:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Somone please inform the “Extra Extra” desk what happened to State Rep. Bob Ward. Did a political operative slip LSD into his Ovaltine? The Boy Scout-like North Branford pol has always been the kind of Republican even liberals and lefties can respect, because he so often rises above politics to talk straight, reasonably, with moral integrity about issues rather than engage in the personality-focused silliness that passes for political discourse. Then came Wednesday. Ward attacked New Haven Mayor John DeStefano for maneuvering a humongous mechanical claw at a photo op for the tearing down of the Coliseum. Ward actually called for a state investigation into whether DeStefano used heavy machinery without a license. Ward was acting in an obvious front man role for fellow Republican Jodi Rell, the governor whom DeStefano hopes to unseat next year. DeStefano made the most of the opportunity by calling a press conference to extract even more air time out of this episode. DeStefano “thanked” Ward and his fellow Republicans for the “silly attack.” “They obviously consider me a serious opponent to ending 11 years of Rowland-Rell-Republican rule — and they are right. The Republican leadership says it is ‘shocked’ that I operated a large piece of heavy equipment to help demolish the New Haven Coliseum. Instead of attacking me, they should be ‘shocked’ that Connecticut is last in job growth, ‘shocked’ that college tuition and property taxes have soared, ‘shocked’ that working families can’t afford health insurance, and ‘shocked’ that our state is in constant gridlock.”