CT Progressive

Some news on the wire:

Also of interest is this quote from the Bysiewicz article, by Amann:

Amann said he feels confident about the nomination, having received endorsements from union and local party leaders. But he said that while the party’s diversity is a strength, primary campaigns have hurt Democrats’ chances at reclaiming the governorship.

“We have not had a Democratic governor in almost 20 years and there’s a reason for it. It’s the same old thing we do to each other every time we run.” The last Democratic governor was William A. O’Neill, who served from 1980 to 1991.

Translation: I don’t appeal to Democrats on any of the things that they care about, but if they all vote for me anyway, I’ll be Governor.

Working Families gets an editorial into the Advocate on the subject of Paid Sick Days.

I don’t have a lot to add, except that this is one area where the absence of Jim Amann is most noticeable: the bill passed the State Senate twice, only to be crushed by Speaker Amann at the last minute each time.

Reading down the list of coalition supporters of the bill, ConnSACS (Sexual Assault Crisis Center) jumped out at me as a unique partner – it turns out that in the 2008 and 2009 versions, allowing victims of sexual assault and stalking the ability to use paid sick leave to get medical or psychological services, to relocate, or to participate in court proceedings.

One less positive change from the 2007 version was a revision of those workplaces impacted by the law, changing from those with 15 or more employees in the 2007 version to 50 or more employees in 2008. That cuts most of the non-chain restaurants and retail operations out of the law, and one State Rep that I asked said that the provision made it easy for them to support, “since it wouldn’t impact any businesses in town that don’t already have” paid sick days.

You have to start someplace, I suppose – but it’s a shame that a compromise that failed to win over the conservative Dems last year has become the high-water mark for what we can achieve at all this year.

“Something flickered for a minute, then it vanished and was gone.”
— Lou Reed

A week ago, Ned Lamont’s Facebook politician page casually mentioned that he was a candidate for Senate in 2012 — a soft roll-out with Facebook ads and all — but the page got taken down. Hopefully he didn’t, you know, change his mind.

Update: Turns out it’s a bit of Irish tomfoolery from these folks, University of Cork students doing an American Politics project. Ah well.

As a slightly lesser tease of a Ned 2012 run, you can check out this video that Scarce posted after the Homeland Security chairmanship vote. “Never say never.”

It’s a new legislative session, which means it’s time for the Senate Vacancy Law to come roaring back into style. Last year, legislative leaders downplayed expectations of the bill’s passage, but this year it’s looking much more favorable.

You can contact your State Reps and State Senators on the bill — currently known as H.B. 5829 and introduced by Rep. Tim O’Brien.

You can also contact the House and Senate leadership (House Speaker Donovan, Majority Leader Merrill, and Senate President Williams), as well as Government Administration and Elections chairs Gayle Slossberg and James Spallone.

Or, you can get your Town Committee to endorse this well-made resolution drafted up by the Hampton DTC, available below the fold.

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One of the problems with discussing the successes and failures of our political parties is the reality that relatively few activists have had the opportunity to experience them first-hand, especially at the statewide or national levels. These organizations have their own rhythm and logic, and it’s hard to come up with reforms to address shortcomings in a culture you don’t fully understand.

I’ve made an effort to attend Democratic State Central committee meetings during the last two years, and it seems to me that sharing notes of these meetings is a worthwhile service for activists to understand what the parties do (and don’t do). I’ve written up minutes below the fold.

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Sent from Nancy DiNardo to Joe Lieberman last week:

1/16/2009

Dear Senator Lieberman:

I am writing to you in my capacity as Chairwoman of the Connecticut Democratic Party and on behalf of the Democratic State Central Committee to express the committee’s profound disappointment with your words and actions during the course of the 2008 Presidential campaign. As you may know, the Democratic State Central Committee met on December 17, 2008 and they voted to have a letter be sent to you expressing their anger at your actions during this historic election.

Your decision to speak at the Republican National Convention and your support of the McCain-Palin ticket and Republican Congressional candidates directly contradicted the stated purposes of the Democratic Party and undermined the efforts of our candidates in Connecticut and across the nation.

An election is not about personalities, it is a contest of ideas. Your support of Republican candidates and of the views of Reverend John Hagee sent a message that you supported the failed policies of the past and supported views that are considered, at best, anti-Catholic and anti-gay. These allegiances represent a fundamental deviation from the values that our candidates and supporters of the Democratic Party hold dear.

Due to the failed policies of President Bush, our nation faces an economic and fiscal crisis unlike any other since the Great Depression. We remain a nation at war overseas. Present-elect Obama and your Democratic colleagues in the United States Senate need your unequivocal and active support to make us stronger at home and to regain respect throughout the world.

We ask that you apologize to President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Biden for the unfounded words that you uttered in the heat of the campaign, questioning their ability to govern. We hope and expect that you will work constructively with the new Democratic President and Congress, and will give your full and active support to the Democratic agenda to help enact the policies and reforms so badly needed to get America headed in the right direction.

I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

[Signature]

Nancy DiNardo
Chairwoman, DSCC

I could critique the letter at length (for example, Lieberman’s comments about Obama were scripted and read off of teleprompters, not said “in the heat of the campaign”), but overall a decent effort.