Connecticut’s Top Dems Visit Branford

Connecticut’s two U.S. senators are never far from this year’s state races.

Their message: Shoe leather works. Talking to neighbors works. Postcards work. Working hard is essential because the Republicans are going to outspend the Democrats in the 2014 election, they said. Today Democratic officials said GOP Super-Pacs are poised to spend millions on TV ads to try to defeat Democratic candidates across the state.

Sunday afternoon U.S. Sens. Dick Blumenthal and Chris Murphy made it to a Pine Orchard home with sweeping views of the Sound. They were joined by Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman and Secretary of State Denise Merrill. 

They came to support Branford Democratic candidates Ted Kennedy, Jr., who is seeking state office for the first time, State Rep. Lonnie Reed, who is seeking her fourth term in office, and Sean Scanlon, who is running for the first time for state representative from Guilford and two sections of Branford. Reed is co-chair of the legislature’s Energy and Technology Committee.

More than 80 Democrats gathered for the Pine Orchard fundraiser on what is the traditional Sunday kick-off of the Democratic Town Committee’s (DTC) campaign season.

Kennedy, who lives nearby in Pine Orchard,wants to be the 12th District’s state senator. Ed Meyer, the current senator, is retiring after a decade in office. Scanlon is seeking state Rep. Pat Widlitz’s seat. Co-chair of the powerful Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, she is retiring after 20 years in office this year.

“We have 51 days to go,” Scanlon said. He is running against Republican Cindy Cartier, an attorney who has run unsuccessfully in the past for state office but is well-known in Guilford. She is a member of the Guilford Board of Selectmen. Kennedy’s opponent, Bruce H. Wilson, Jr., a businessman, is, like Kennedy, making his first run for public office. Reed’s Republican opponent, Paul Cianci, an engineer, is also new to politics. 

The Dems learned what they already knew, that this gubernatorial election is close and that the Republicans will likely outspend Democrats as a result of the 2010 ​“Citizens United” decision. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision gave corporations and unions the right to spend unlimited amounts of money to convince the electorate to elect or defeat specific candidates.

Blumenthal on Shoe Leather

“There is no question across the country the opposing candidates in the U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races are going to have more money than we will,” Blumenthal (pictured) said. ​“So we need shoe leather, phone, mailing — all the old- fashioned stuff. But the good news is the old fashioned stuff works, talking to neighbors’ works. There is nothing, still nothing as powerful as one person, face to face or on the phone talking to another person. That is the message we need to get out to the whole state.”

Blumenthal said he knows Pine Orchard and Branford well because when he served as State attorney general he worked closely with Kennedy’s wife, Kiki and former First Selectman ​“Unk” DaRos, Reed, Meyer and Widlitz to stop the Broadwater pipe line from taking up residence not far from where he was standing Sunday. Back then he called Broadwater a ​“monstrous” floating liquefied natural gas terminal. It was supposed to be located 10 miles off Branford.

“We are really in the home of citizen activism,” Blumenthal said. ​“Today brings back lots of memories for me. I really first got to know Kiki and Ted and also Ed and Pat and Lonnie when we came together to stop the pipeline. And what we did, well, we were a small group of people who became united. We just weren’t going to let them trample through the environment and defile one of the most beautiful spots in the world. And if anybody doubts it, look behind me. So the lesson from that experience was we can do anything if we work together.”

He then said that same spirit is needed to win the upcoming election. He cited Branford’s Hilltop Brigade, which helps elect Democratic candidates to Congress.

As the sun was ready to set, Blumenthal said he was reminded of another time and place when he and Ed Meyer plunged into the Sound on a freezing January day in 2007 as part of a protest against Broadwater.

Murphy’s Views

Murphy noted that neither he nor Blumenthal is up for re-election on the ballot this year. They serve six-year terms.

“But we are working just as hard as when our names were on the ballot because this is for the State of Connecticut,” Murphy said. ​“I know we say every two years that this is the most important election of our lifetime but that’s true in large part because the other side gets crazier and crazier every two years, making the difference greater and greater,” he observed. Dick and I are here because we understand what has happened over the last four years with Dan and Nancy.”

“We are the first state in the nation to embrace the simple prospect that if you are sick, so sick that you cannot show up for work, then you should be able to be paid. We are the first state in the nation to say that if you are committed to working full- time, you should not be living in poverty. The minimum wage should be a wage that keeps you out of poverty. So for us, our voices are more powerful in Washington because of what Dan and Nancy and the state legislature has done.”

Merrill later praised Blumenthal and Murphy who have attended Democratic events for state office seekers all across the state, often doing multiple events in a day.

Wyman Talking Points

Wyman (pictured),who spoke first, provided a list of talking points workers may use when on the phone or going door-to-door. In Branford, getting the unaffiliated voters to vote democratic is the name of the game. 

“Dan Malloy decided we had to do some tough things to put the state on the right track”. She said he went from a massive deficit, inherited from the Republicans, to a small surplus now. ​“We came from non-investing to education to investing more in education than we have ever done before. When it comes to seniors we are making sure we are making sure the money follows the senior. So seniors can stay at home. We have 60,000 new jobs in this state. We are building more and more small businesses in the state.

“You know Tom Foley went after the endorsement of the gun people,” she said of Malloy’s Republican opponent. ​“How do you face the families in Newtown without fighting for better gun laws in this state?” she asked. This statement brought a round of applause. And then she turned to health. ​“In this state we have the best affordable care act exchange ever put in throughout the country. We have 256,000 people enrolled in Obamacare and 140,000 never had insurance before. Get out there. Call friends, neighbors,” she said.

Merrill On Disappearing Voters

Merrill (pictured) talked about voting rights, her ​“bailiwick and domain.” She said when she first won election as secretary of state in 2010, she had no idea ​“there would be laws all across the country that would restrict voting rights.

“Ironically we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. Here in Connecticut we have gone the other way. We want more people voting. The real crisis in this country is no one’s voting. We need them back. And we know that because all across the state, people are talking about apathy, the fear that no one will show up to vote. That is a crisis.”

Connecticut she said has passed several laws in recent years that have expanded voting right. Voters may now register on Election Day and voters may now register to vote on their smart phones. And, said Merrill, ​“seven thousand so far have chosen to.” She reminded the audience to vote yes for a constitutional amendment that will enable the state to get early voting or some form of no fault absentee balloting. ​“This is a huge reform for us. Thirty-three states are already voting early.” Click here to read our story.

Reed Praises Malloy’s Work For The Shoreline

Rep. Reed (pictured) said it was hard to say farewell to Meyer and Widlitz. She observed that the three worked as a team and were chairmen of major legislative committees, and all came from the 12th District. ​“The representation has been remarkable,” she said. ​“We have done well. We have brought millions of dollars into this district. We have invigorated small businesses. We have brought jobs to the district.”

She said when the rubber meets the road in the days when the legislative session is ending, ​“Dan Malloy is there at 3:30 a.m. when folks are rewriting legislation. He is not saying good-bye and waving it off. He is there. He is in the room. He is talking policy. He has delivered. We can do more for the shore if we send Dan and Nancy back. I am promising you that.”

“We need to show up on Election Day,” Reed said. ​“We do not want to wake up the day after the election to see we have given up something that has really taken the state forward. Let’s make everybody show up on Election Day.”

Kennedy (pictured here with Blumenthal) continued the get-out-the vote theme, speaking briefly at the end of the program. ​“There is one thing you can do here this evening. Become part of our family, friends and neighbors program,” he said, urging folks to visit his website for more information. 

“Remember how everyone in the olden days would write postcards out of address books. Well this is the modern way of doing that. You click on your friends, they are all in the voter file and we take care of the postage. Aside from voting yourself, this is the single most effective thing you can do before Nov. 4. This will help Sean, Lonnie and me. “
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