Free Republic

Public Policy Polling's first Connecticut poll of 2014 finds Dan Malloy with an 8 point lead for reelection over Republican foe Tom Foley, 43/35. Independent Joe Visconti is polling at 9%. Visconti is largely drawing voters away from Foley- his supporters say their second choice would be Foley by a 46/27 spread. In a head to head, Malloy's advantage over Foley is 6 points at 45/39. Malloy's had low approval numbers throughout most of his term and that hasn't changed- only 40% of voters approve of the job he's doing to 50% who disapprove. But Foley's numbers are even worse...

A Democratic candidate for a judicial seat in Plainfield, Conn. was forced to answer questions about her husband this week after a watchdog group exposed his ties to the white supremacist movement. The Norwich Bulletin newspaper reported on Thursday that attorney Anna Zubkova, who is running for a seat as a probate judge, said she does not share the views of her husband, who runs a blog called "Mindweapons of Ragnarok" where he waxes about his views on race and white pride. The newspaper reported that the couple have been married for 17 years. "He did not have those views...

BRANFORD -- There's a new keeper of the Kennedy flame. Ted Kennedy Jr. -- cloaking himself in the legacy of his father and uncles, from their familiar cadence to their crusade for social justice to their wavy hair -- finally acquiesced Tuesday to the overtures of Democrats who have long tried to lure the advocate for the disabled into running for office. The 52-year-old lawyer from Branford launched his candidacy for state Senate during a rally in his hometown, where retiring incumbent Edward Meyer introduced Kennedy as his heir apparent in what could become the most-watched race ever for the...

Just got back from victory party. In DEM Conn., in a DEM city in the inner-city (a welfare ward largely consisting of 3-family houses) GOP Don Naples upsets DEM incumbent Freeman ... so we have a new alderman. Naples 194 Freeman 171 If we can win here ... there is hope for America.

When the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) was being debated, proponents were accused of saddling Americans with inferior and expensive health care while keeping generous coverage for themselves at taxpayer expense. To rebut that allegation and build confidence in the bill, a provision was added mandating that members of Congress – and their staff members – get there coverage through the new exchange system the bill set up. Now that the time to sign up for exchange coverage is nearing, a Democratic member, Rep. John Larson (D., Conn.), is saying that “this is simply not fair” – as...

Uhm… nailed it? (VIDEO-AT-LINK) I guess I appreciate the honesty of the Republican caucus. They’ve just made it clear that they are just kind of gun-control Darwinists at this point. They just think that we should give a whole bunch of guns to the good guys and to the bad guys and let them shoot it out, and hope that the good guys win. That’s their agenda, and a lot of that was made plain today. Well, that was a feisty enough bit of demagoguery to rival some of President Obama‘s preferred tactics. I’m pretty sure that the the good...

Think Murdoch will take his “advice,” knowing what the reaction would be among Fox News’s many, many gun-rights-supporting viewers? Don’t mind Murphy. He’s a freshman from a very blue state where feelings are still understandably raw after Newtown, so apparently he’s decided that no anti-gun grandstanding opportunity is too cheap for him to use to try to raise his profile back home. Coming soon, presumably: Murphy calls on NASCAR to drop the N, R, and A’s from its name. The National Rifle Association-sponsored NASCAR race slated for this weekend is “inappropriate in the immediate wake of the Newtown massacre,” Sen....

On April 4, Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy signed 139 pages of gun control legislation into law, effectively telling the $1.7 billion gun industry that has called his state home for more than a century they are no longer welcome. Speaking for Colt Manufacturing, which has been in Connecticut for 175 years, president and CEO Dennis Veilleux said, "At some point, if you can't sell your product then you can't run your business... You need customers to buy your products to stay in business." Other prominent Connecticut-based gun companies include Mossberg, Ruger, and Stag Arms, all of which are being...

This week, as lawmakers in Congress braced themselves for a protracted and impassioned debate over gun control, Democratic governors moved swiftly to push tough new gun laws in response to the school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo easily shepherded legislation through a divided state legislature to produce the strictest gun laws in the country. Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley has proposed similarly stringent measures, including a ban on assault weapons, while Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has called for universal background checks on all gun sales. And what do all three governors have in common (besides a strong...

Disappointing but understandable. If even the NRA was sufficiently cowed by public reaction to Sandy Hook to keep silent until today, how much political leeway did the Republican governor of a blue state have to expand gun rights — in schools? Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed a bill this afternoon that would have allowed gun owners with extra training to carry their concealed weapons in schools, day care centers, churches and stadiums. In his veto letter sent to the Legislature shortly before 4 p.m., Snyder said the bill had a fatal loophole that didn’t allow for those institutions to opt out...

State Republican Party Chairman Jerry Labriola said he’s making the argument to Republican officials at the national convention in Florida that Connecticut could be a possible win for presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Labriola told The Associated Press Monday that he’s been busy pointing out how President Barack Obama’s popularity in this Democratic-leaning state has waned and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon is running a strong campaign against Democratic Rep. Chris Murphy. That makes it worthwhile, Labriola said, for Romney’s campaign to dedicate some resources in Connecticut, such as a visit from Romney or his running mate Rep. Paul Ryan,...

President Barack Obama will attend two fundraisers Monday in Connecticut, a state where he is facing an alarming decline in both political contributions and in some recent polling. Obama will head to the Stamford Marriott Hotel for a $500-per-person reception first. Then, he will be whisked off to the home of film producer Harvey Weinstein, where tickets to the dinner start at $35,800 per person. With the two fundraisers, Obama aims to close the wide gap between Obama and presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney in the Constitution state. Backed by a surge of Wall Street support, Romney has more than...

Former wrestling executive Linda McMahon leads former U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays 51 - 42 percent in the Republican primary for Connecticut's U.S. Senate seat, but Shays runs better against possible Democratic candidates, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. This compares to a 50 - 35 percent McMahon lead September 16. U.S. Rep. Christopher Murphy leads the Democratic primary for Senate with 37 percent, followed by former Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz with 25 percent and State Rep. William Tong with 4 percent, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. In possible November matchups: •Murphy tops McMahon 52 -...

Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman (I) will not seek a fifth term in 2012, according two Democratic sources familiar with the decision. Lieberman's office did not offer any comment on his plans, saying only that he would make an announcement tomorrow in Stamford, Connecticut. "The Senator's remarks tomorrow will stand on their own," said a Lieberman spokeswoman. Lieberman will be the second Democratic senator to make public his plans to leave the chamber in the past 24 hours. On Tuesday morning, North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad said he would not seek a a fifth term in 2012. On the Republican side,...

In recent weeks, a number of prominent Jewish intellectuals have been publicly praising Sarah Palin. This despite a recent poll, reported by veteran analyst James Besser (Nov. 26), that well-educated Jews appear to be overwhelmingly opposed to Palin. How do we explain this discrepancy? Besser focuses on a recent poll showing Palin with stronger support among voters in general who are "less educated" and "less affluent." That poll made no reference to Jewish voters, but Besser argues that since Jews are "more educated than the population at large and more affluent," therefore one may safely assume they oppose Palin too....

Sarah Palin wasted little time firing back at Barbara Bush, who used an interview with Larry King early this week to express her hope that Palin will stay in Alaska. "I think the majority of Americans don't want to put up with the blue bloods," Palin said on Laura Ingraham's radio show on Wednesday. "And I say it with all due respect because I love the Bushes. The blue bloods who want to pick and choose their winners instead of allowing competition to pick and choose the winners." While it's true that Barbara Bush remains a well-liked figure, particularly within...

For many Republicans, the bright, golden haze of Election Day is marred by a thunderhead on the horizon -- the increasingly erratic political interventions of Sarah Palin. In the past, Palin embodied the populist style of the Tea Party movement while espousing a fairly mainstream Republican ideology. On economic, social and foreign policy, Palin seldom strayed from a simplified, popularized Reaganism. The mama grizzly may have been ferocious, but her talking points came from the Heritage Foundation instead of from darker corners of the right. But this election season has called that perception into question. Palin's endorsement of Christine O'Donnell...

A recent independent poll conducted by Merriman River Group has State Sen. Sam Caligiuri (R-16) ahead of incumbent Democratic Congressman Chris Murphy (CT-5) by 5.4 points, with Caligiuri polling at 49.7 percent and Murphy at 44.3 percent. The poll, commissioned by CT Capitol Report, a Connecticut political blog, surveyed 481 likely voters in the 5th District, with a predicted margin of error of 4.4 percent. Of those surveyed, 6 percent were undecided. "Chris Murphy appears to be facing an uphill fight to keep his seat," Merriman Group Executive Director Matthew Fitch said in their report. "He is behind opponent Sam...

The race for Connecticut Governor starts on Thursday at NBC Connecticut. On Thursday night and again on Friday night, NBC Connecticut will host political debates involving 14 candidates for Governor. Find out where they stand on the biggest issues affecting our state and the lives of all the residents. The debates begin at 7 p.m. and will broadcast live on air and online. They will last for one hour and each candidate will have 60 seconds to answer each question. On Thursday, we will hear from Republicans who have announced their gubernatorial candidacy or expressed an interest in running: *...

STRATFORD -- Republican Laura Hoydick has won the special election for the 120th Assembly District seat recently vacated by Mayor John A. Harkins. Hoydick received 1,949 votes to 1,390 for Democrat Janice Andersen. Hoydick won in all six voting districts with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Andersen