ConnecticutBLOG

Back in January, I had this to say about the Congressional races in Connectcut and how President Bush was going to hurt the Republican Party. Pay close attention to the comment from Rep. Chris Shays from the Hartford Courant story I cited.

The Hartford Courant ran a piece on Monday which outlined the Republicans problems going into the 2006 election. Lets just say that Chris Shays, Nancy Johnson, and Rob Simmons won't be inviting President Bush on the campaign trail.
In recent mid-terms, incumbents usually coasted - 98 percent of House members were re-elected in 1998, and 96 percent won in 2002.

This year, though, Democrats see the rare chance to make the election a nationwide referendum on Bush, the Republican-led Congress and the war, and they have been relentless in pushing that agenda.

In recent mid-terms, incumbents usually coasted - 98 percent of House members were re-elected in 1998, and 96 percent won in 2002.

This year, though, Democrats see the rare chance to make the election a nationwide referendum on Bush, the Republican-led Congress and the war, and they have been relentless in pushing that agenda.

He pointed out that Connecticut's three Republican House members were re-elected in 2004, when Bush lost the state by 10 percentage points to Democratic nominee John F. Kerry and when Democratic Sen. Christopher J. Dodd got 66 percent of the vote.

"Is Bush's popularity going to get that much worse in Connecticut this year? I doubt it," Forti said.

But Rep. Christopher Shays, R-4th District, considered one of the country's most vulnerable Republicans, was less confident that Bush would not be a drag on GOP candidates.

"If things go badly, particularly in Iraq, you're going to have a very unhappy constituency," he said, "and I'm afraid Republicans will pay a penalty."

After quoting from the Courant piece, I had this to say.

Simply put, voters are now realizing that the Republicans led by Karl Rove and Dick Cheney lied to the people to the pleasure of the radical wingnuts and neocons (a.k.a their political base). People want to know why over 200 billions dollars was spent on this needless war (why people who did everything possible to avoid military service when it was their time, can turn around and call anyone who questions the Iraq war "anti-American"); they want to know why low income people and students are being screwed with cuts to benefits such as student aid and Medicare while taxpayers are enjoying another tax break; they want to know how could FEMA screw the people of New Orleans when we were told they we were more prepared for a national disaster.

The list goes on and on.

Serious questions are now being asked the Republicans in office know that voters are pissed off and their having a hard time defending themselves. Voters in Connecticut are angry...very, very angry and Simmons, Shays, and Johnson are in for the fight of their lives.

[...]

In order for the incumbent congressmen to have any chance, they need to distance themselves from Bush's record, as his popularity is very low in Connecticut.

Well, that wa then and this is now and look how these shameless Republicans are trying to run away from President Bush.

President Bush has become the invisible man of the Republican Party's effort to keep control of the House and Senate in November's midterm elections.

The Web sites of the party's candidates in the most competitive races across the country either give only a passing nod to the president or don't even mention Bush, whose popularity has been weighed down by the war in Iraq, high gas prices, economic anxieties and lingering memories of last August's Hurricane Katrina.

With about nine weeks to go before the Nov. 7 election, the Bush online invisibility mirrors a strategic divide between Republicans who want to keep the congressional elections as local as possible and Democrats who want to turn the midterm vote into a national referendum on the president and his policies.

[...]

"It all comes down to whether the election is a mandate on President Bush,'' said UC Berkeley political scientist Bruce Cain. "If it's a mandate on President Bush, it works to the Democrats' advantage. If it's about local members, it works to the Republicans' advantage.''

Three out of the four biggest cheerleaders for President Bush in Connecticut are now running campaigns as if they're independent candidates.

Cowards.

Instead of defending their pro-Bush record, they're running away from the President like he's the plague.

Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Conn., one of three Connecticut GOP House members targeted by the Democrats, just can't bring herself to use Bush's name. Instead, four times in her issues section on national security she mentions how she supported "the president'' on votes involving Iraq and funding for the war on terrorism.

Her colleague, Rep. Rob Simmons, R-Conn., on his campaign site's home page, runs a photo of himself with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who leads polls for the party's 2008 presidential nomination. No mention of Bush anywhere, and Simmons boasts to home state voters that he is "one of the most independent Republicans in the entire U.S. House.''

The state's third GOP House Member, Rep. Chris Shays, said last week after his 14th visit to Iraq that he had switched positions and now favors a timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces.

Oh, this is just too much! The biggest cheerleaders for President Bush are too afriad to stand next to him now. I don't know where to begin...

That gives me an idea! I'M CALLING A PEOPLE-POWERED MEDIA (PPM) ALERT!

If Johnson, Shays, and Simmons are trying to distance themselves from the President, I feel that we, the voters of Connecticut, should hold these Republicans accountable for the decisions they made over the last six years.

If they had no problem boasting about their pro-Bush record then, they shouldn't be allowed to distance themselves from the President now.

From Johnson and Simmons taking HUGE donations from big pharma, to Shays being the one of the biggest cheerleaders and defender for the Iraq War, these politicians (each facing a really tough re-election battle) should not be allowed to fool the public with their attempts to distance themselves from the stupidity of President Bush. Help me connect the dots between these corrupt Republicans and the President.

If you have any damaging information that connects any of these spineless Republicans to the Bush Administration, please email me at ctblogger@yahoo.com and tell me about it. I'll keep a running list of these pro-Bush Republicans neo-con decisions and together, we can hold them accountable for their actions.

Hell, I'll even take your information you give me, grab my videocamera and have the Democratic candidates (Diane Farrell, Joe Courtney, and Chris Murphy) comment on them.

Come on people, this is A PPM alert so get to it and don't let me down!

Remember, YOU HAVE THE POWER so lets hold the Republicans feet to the fire.