[MikefromCT]

Originally Posted by DigitalMilford

He ran as a Republican and is a Republican and is the parties leading contender for 2024.

Hmmmmm . . . .

https://thehill.com/homenews/adminis...e-gop-nominee/

[DigitalMilford]

Originally Posted by MikefromCT

Hmmmmm . . . .

https://thehill.com/homenews/adminis...e-gop-nominee/

Certainly be welcome news if it actually comes to fruition-- although I don't think DeSantis provides anything but more backward momentum.

[Chazbme99]

Donald Trump is the greatest disruptor in political history. He was hated by Republicans and Democrats yet he still managed to win the Presidency. Trump was not expecting to win the nomination let alone the election. His in your face style and attitude turned everything into chaos. The political consultants and media could not figure out how to handle him. His trashing of "Little Marco" Rubio in the primary was hilarious. He had that New York arrogance and in your face style. To this day people still do not get it. He was not a politician. He was a created persona like you see on a TV show. Trump won over voters with his America first message and common sense approach. He also turned off a lot of voters but the thought of another Clinton was worse. I think Trump loves the fight and conflict. He seems to have his core followers but also can attract other voters when needed. I do think he ran a bad campaign for re election and did not give a clear message during Covid. He lost a close election that had many questionable outcomes. The large influx of mail in ballots along with last minute counting a verifying makes it a cloudy picture for some. I think Trump will not run again. He wants and needs to rebuild his family brand and business. He will be the King Maker who will campaign for the new nominee. DeSantis is a very powerful force in the Republican party and has a bright future. His state is always a key to winning an election. DeSantis vs any Democrat would be a rout for the Republicans. Biden has ruined the economy and his woke policies will be gone with him.

[JayCT]

Alright, we’ve gone way off topic. Let’s return to the topic of the OP which is the upcoming Connecticut election. JayCT, Moderator

[BobNJ1960]

Lamont will win IMO, but this ad is fair, and I do hope, someday, a higher power holds liberals like Lamont accountable for LEOs murdered largely due to their reckless policies.

By the way, until the early 90s, I was a Ct registered Democrat who worked on several campaigns for their candidates in my spare time.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwRv8mKM_RE

[Chazbme99]

Lamont is no great leader. He tried to follow the lead of Cuomo and other Liberal Governors during the early Covid era. Connecticut also did a bad job protecting our seniors and nursing homes. Lamont took complete control given away by the Democrat controlled legislature. Now he wants credit for excess money in rainy day fund and surpluses. That money is Covid money from the federal government. The temporary elimination of the gas tax is only being done because it is an election year. Wait until Lamont tried pushing for tolls again. Too many tractor trailers bringing goods to all the Amazon warehouses in Connecticut. Lamont will not commit to not mandating vaccine requirements in the future for public schools. He will follow whatever the teacher union wants as usual. The election year bonuses given to state workers was an insult to every private sector worker in this state. Lamont has not mentioned the illegal aliens looking to invade Connecticut. He along with the Demorats want Connecticut to be a sanctuary state filled with poor crime ridden sanctuary cities. Stefanowski is the only option we have to change things in CT. He might be able to shake things up in Hartford. This 40 + year reign of Democrat control has to end.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Chazbme99

Lamont is no great leader. He tried to follow the lead of Cuomo and other Liberal Governors during the early Covid era. Connecticut also did a bad job protecting our seniors and nursing homes. Lamont took complete control given away by the Democrat controlled legislature. Now he wants credit for excess money in rainy day fund and surpluses. That money is Covid money from the federal government. The temporary elimination of the gas tax is only being done because it is an election year. Wait until Lamont tried pushing for tolls again. Too many tractor trailers bringing goods to all the Amazon warehouses in Connecticut. Lamont will not commit to not mandating vaccine requirements in the future for public schools. He will follow whatever the teacher union wants as usual. The election year bonuses given to state workers was an insult to every private sector worker in this state. Lamont has not mentioned the illegal aliens looking to invade Connecticut. He along with the Demorats want Connecticut to be a sanctuary state filled with poor crime ridden sanctuary cities. Stefanowski is the only option we have to change things in CT. He might be able to shake things up in Hartford. This 40 + year reign of Democrat control has to end.

I disagree with you on most of this. It reads like right out of the far right’s propaganda messages and it’s sad how uninformed you are about the issues. You need to find new and unbiased sources of your facts.

While it’s true Lamont went along with other states on Covid that is because very little was known about it at the time and that the Trump administration gave very mixed signals on how to handle it. You had the CDC and health organizations around the world handling it with extreme caution but a President that silenced our country’s experts, lied for weeks about its severity and talked about miracle cures and disinfectants. It was completely mishandled by him. How would you have reacted with these mixed messages?

It is true that our state has enjoyed massive surpluses in the past couple years but to Lamont’s credit he has resisted spending it recklessly. Instead he has directed the funds to pay toward our states pension obligations. That’s good fiscal policy and will save our state more than $440 million a year in the future. You also forget that Lamont has cut taxes this year including exempting taxes on retirement income, child tax credit increases and elimination of the extra 1% tax on restaurant purchases. There is certainly more that could be done but we have to be certain those cuts are sustainable should the economy drop and revenue shrink.

You also obviously haven’t followed any of the news around Covid funds. The law that created them specifically prevent states from using the money for budget relief. Judges ruled on that months ago so our surplus is really our surplus and have nothing to do with Covid Relief money. If any politician or media outlet are telling you that, they are lying to you and you should question and independently research everything they say in the future.

As for tolls I have continually asked this with no good answer, how exactly do you propose to pay for the many desperately needed transportation improvements our state needs? I’ll wait for your answer.

The facts are that our state has not raised the gas tax in more than 20 years. The state’s Transportation Fund is close to going insolvent because of lower revenue and less buying power. Also keep in mind that the country is moving away from gas powered vehicles which means even less revenue in the future. We have had a number of bandaids placed on the fund but the fact is we need to find a new source of revenue for the fund. Your choices are increase the gas tax, add new taxes or tolls. At least with tolls we would get a good portion of the revenue from out of state drivers who now use our roads for free. It’s nice that we do not have tolls but every other state on the east coast has them. Why should we have to pay to use their roads but they do not have to pay to use ours? So again, what is the answer?

You cannot control who uses our roads. Those tractor trailers you deride are bringing the products we buy and use every day. They also support EVERY single job in our state so you shouldn’t trash them. If they weren’t there, you would have the jobs we have here.

Your condemnation of immigrants and crime is also very telling. If conservative policies are so much better at stopping crime then please tell me why the states with the worst crime rates are most Republican states? Furthermore, if the Republicans are so great on crime, how do you explain high crime red cities like Jacksonville, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, etc.?

You are also wrong that Stefanowski is the only chance we have to shake things up. It’s true that he will likely try to change things, the fact is he has to get elected to do that. His far right libertarian past almost guarantees that won’t happen. Connecticut voters are too well educated to fall for his lies and rhetoric. They knew that the income tax could not be eliminated like he promised in the past. They also know that major tax cuts means major cuts in services. Stefanowski has been very cagey about where cuts would occur. People don’t want cuts in education, health and transportation services but these are the major expenses our state has. They also don’t want cuts in police and fire safety. Not much of substance left after these. Jay

[SteveM85]

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

Lamont will win IMO, but this ad is fair, and I do hope, someday, a higher power holds liberals like Lamont accountable for LEOs murdered largely due to their reckless policies.

By the way, until the early 90s, I was a Ct registered Democrat who worked on several campaigns for their candidates in my spare time.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwRv8mKM_RE

It's a brilliant ad pleading to the suburban audience to take a stand against increased crime caused by Demo pols appeasing woke philosophies. It will go largely ignored as many suburbanites themselves including many A-listers down in Gold Coast County have fully embraced those philosophies that they think will not affect their bubble town lives. No ad will change their minds on that.
Lamont is an unstoppable force that cannot be derailed. He is on the brink of Sainthood status among the many, hundreds of thousands in CT.

[DigitalMilford]

Originally Posted by SteveM85

It's a brilliant ad pleading to the suburban audience to take a stand against increased crime caused by Demo pols appeasing woke philosophies. It will go largely ignored as many suburbanites themselves including many A-listers down in Gold Coast County have fully embraced those philosophies that they think will not affect their bubble town lives. No ad will change their minds on that.
Lamont is an unstoppable force that cannot be derailed. He is on the brink of Sainthood status among the many, hundreds of thousands in CT.

Crime is up is a lie. I know some people on here have invented new math to say crime is up in a hysterical attempt to win an election, but statistics don’t bear that out.

Republicans lie. Again and again and again. It’s really that simple.

I did win a $10 bet on the over \ under for how long it would take “Conservatives” to politicize the horrific deaths of those policemen.

[mdovell]

Stefanowski better not run a third time. The party needs someone else. Focus on real issues. I don't think crime is up but poverty seems more visible now. I'm not saying they were kicked out of cities but I see more begging (this is national)