[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by JayCT

I agree BUT I believe voters should vote for the BEST candidate and ignore the party. Let’s be honest, for the past several Gubernatorial elections the Republicans have had unelectable candidates in Tom Foley and Bob Stefanowski and Joe Markley. All pretty bad. The Democrats were smart nominating a moderate like Lamont rather than extremists.

The Republicans best chance is to try to retake the Senate. That would help balance the power in Hartford. Hopefully they will find good candidates. Jay

Bob Stefanowski and Fazio are very close family friends. They aren’t as different as you think, as they hold the same values.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by MikefromCT

That part of CT has always been an ancestrally Republican area until very recently, and IMO this conservatism was much more fiscal in nature than social. However, with the crop of wokesters dominating the CT Democratic machine and being divorced from reality, it's not too surprising that the pendulum swung back to the GOP here. This particular race was also an open seat as the result of someone stepping down unexpectedly, which is rare. These are easier to win, IMO. The real challenge is what lies ahead next year in the mid terms, and I don't see either party winning in large numbers. Like the 2020 election results, it's going to be close, with modest gains made in one or both party in different branches of government.

That is true. The Bush family political dynasty began there with Connecticut US Senator Prescott Bush, father of President George H W Bush and grandfather of President George W Bush. That’s pretty impressive. Funny though the Bush family has pretty much turned their back on the current Republican Party direction. Can’t say I blame them but further discussion of that is off topic to this forum. Jay

[MikefromCT]

Originally Posted by JayCT

I agree BUT I believe voters should vote for the BEST candidate and ignore the party. Let’s be honest, for the past several Gubernatorial elections the Republicans have had unelectable candidates in Tom Foley and Bob Stefanowski and Joe Markley. All pretty bad. The Democrats were smart nominating a moderate like Lamont rather than extremists.

The Republicans best chance is to try to retake the Senate. That would help balance the power in Hartford. Hopefully they will find good candidates. Jay

Not sure I'd call Lamont a moderate. Although he's done a fine job of handling this state through the pandemic, he and the rest of the Democrats really need to toughen up on juvenile offenders. They need to stop worrying about who they might offend or even inconvenience and bang the gavel. And who cares if this goes in a radically different direction? We can't keep going down the path we've been on since Malloy decided to let the lunatics run the asylum, so to speak.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by MikefromCT

Not sure I'd call Lamont a moderate. Although he's done a fine job of handling this state through the pandemic, he and the rest of the Democrats really need to toughen up on juvenile offenders. They need to stop worrying about who they might offend or even inconvenience and bang the gavel. And who cares if this goes in a radically different direction? We can't keep going down the path we've been on since Malloy decided to let the lunatics run the asylum, so to speak.

Agree. It’s wild to me that some consider Lamont, with his support of extreme left wing bills, a “moderate”.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Bob Stefanowski and Fazio are very close family friends. They aren’t as different as you think, as they hold the same values.

I am not sure about their family friendship since Stefanowski was raised in North Haven and Ryan Fazio is from Greenwich but Fazio does not advocate Stefanowski’s ludicrous proposal to eliminate the income tax or have some of his more extreme views. Instead Fazio proposes income tax cuts for the middle class. His vision for transportation is vague on funding but he does advocate for local control above all else. That’s admirable. Jay

[MikefromCT]

Originally Posted by JayCT

I am not sure about their family friendship since Stefanowski was raised in North Haven and Ryan Fazio is from Greenwich but Fazio does not advocate Stefanowski’s ludicrous proposal to eliminate the income tax or have some of his more extreme views. Instead Fazio proposes income tax cuts for the middle class. His vision for transportation is vague on funding but he does advocate for local control above all else. That’s admirable. Jay

Can I be honest? I'm not sure even Stefanowski himself believes that he could eliminate the state income tax no matter how much he may want to, and as much as I would love to see it happen. Really, those are things politicians say to get elected. At the end of the day, he must know that's an impossibility.

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Agree. It’s wild to me that some consider Lamont, with his support of extreme left wing bills, a “moderate”.

I don't get myself, really. I don't know if it's to appease his base, or if he simply believes in some of these proposals, but in any event, I'm not on board with most of them. The one thing he's done that I agree with him on his getting pot legalized here (FINALLY!) and trying to provide employment to those who were previously imprisoned for possession of this. This is a form of reparation that personally I agree with. No one should ever have gone to jail for pot possession. I realize those were different times, but still.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by MikefromCT

Not sure I'd call Lamont a moderate. Although he's done a fine job of handling this state through the pandemic, he and the rest of the Democrats really need to toughen up on juvenile offenders. They need to stop worrying about who they might offend or even inconvenience and bang the gavel. And who cares if this goes in a radically different direction? We can't keep going down the path we've been on since Malloy decided to let the lunatics run the asylum, so to speak.

Believe me when I say Lamont is a moderate even though he’s gone along with some of the Democrats agenda items. Remember he has held the line on spending and tax increases. A far left liberal would not have done that. Nor would he have implemented a more business friendly environment than the Malloy administration had. His changes helped improve our state’s rankings for being business friendly. Lamont has also shown moderation in his comments on the Democrats more progressive agenda items like regionalization, affordable housing and social program expansion. To those who are conservative to begin with, he may seem to be a strong liberal but objectively he is more moderate. Jay

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by MikefromCT

Can I be honest? I'm not sure even Stefanowski himself believes that he could eliminate the state income tax no matter how much he may want to, and as much as I would love to see it happen. Really, those are things politicians say to get elected. At the end of the day, he must know that's an impossibility.

Others here have said that they do not believe Stefanowski believes that the income tax can be eliminated either but then why was it the cornerstone of his campaign for Governor? Is he lying to us? Is he pandering to voters?

To me that is worse than believing it can be eliminated. That’s why I could never vote for Stefanowski. Either he is not living in the real world or is an out and out liar. Shows he has no integrity which seems to be a big problem throughout the Republican Party these days. Jay

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Agree. It’s wild to me that some consider Lamont, with his support of extreme left wing bills, a “moderate”.

Amen.

[SteveM85]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Agree. It’s wild to me that some consider Lamont, with his support of extreme left wing bills, a “moderate”.

I agree about the juvenile leniency but what other extreme left bills? They're not erasing violent and sex crimes so don't give me that line of BS, not falling for that again. And who cares about the social woke stuff anyway. What do I care what pronoun someone identifies as, who cares.