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Rowland Now Doing Personal Appearances for WTIC Radio
WTIC-AM radio is going “all in” with former Gov. John Rowland. Rowland, whose afternoon radio show has stirred up controversy, is now doing personal appearances for the station. Saturday, Rowland is appearing at Sanford and Hawley, a company that sells building materials. The irony is not lost on The Shad. Rowland was forced from office in part because he accepted materials, labor and the famous hot tub from a construction company that received state contracts. Now his radio station is promoting him as a “personality” at a company that sells building materials.
Personal appearances are commonplace in the radio business. I did dozens of them when I was in radio. Usually, the client ponies up a good bit of cash to the personality. I don’t know what they are paying Rowland, who spent a year in prison for corruption, but about 10 years ago $100 per hour was the going rate. I’m sure it’s much more now.
It’s ‘Game On’ for GOP Candidates for US Senate, 5th District Congress
You can now follow us on twitter–including from the GOP convention today– @TheHangingShad
Republicans from all over Connecticut will gather at the Connecticut Convention Center today to take on what is shaping up as some hotly contested political races. The delegates will decide who gets the official Republican endorsement for various races. However, any candidate who gets 15 percent of the vote can force a primary in August. The marquee match-ups are for US Senate and for Congress from the state’s 5th district.
The race for the open Senate seat has been contentious at times and shows no signs of slowing down. Wrestling magnate Linda McMahon has a solid “ground game” of delegates. She ran for an open US Senate seat two years ago, won the nomination but was soundly defeated by Democrat Richard Blumenthal despite spending $55 million on the race.
Former US Representative Chris Shays has not pulled any punches in his effort to be the nominee. He has tried to portray McMahon as irresponsible (for spending the $55) and he has repeatedly branded her as unelectable against the endorsed Democratic candidate, US Rep. Chris Murphy. The latter charge has some validity. Polls show McMahon winning a GOP primary but when matched against Murphy, she loses. Shays, however, loses a primary (according to the polls) but runs neck and neck with Murphy.
Some establishment Republicans seem to be moving toward Shays. When Mitt Romney came to Hartford, there was a reserved seat for Shays in the front row. Not so for McMahon. State Senate Minority Leader John McKinney is featured in a video supporting an “electable candidate.” Read the rest of this entry »
Williams and Donovan to Meet to Try to Work Out Stalemate as State Loses More Jobs
State Senate President Don Williams and Speaker of the House Chris Donovan are meeting Friday to try to find a solution to the legislative impasse that resulted in neither leader seeing his top priority pass in the session that ended earlier this month.
The meeting and a solution to the standoff take on even more importance now that the state department of labor reported that Connecticut lost jobs in both March and April. At this point, any measure that creates jobs should be passed clean and without conditions.
Williams spent a great deal of time on his “Jobs Bill” and even made it Senate bill number one, indicating it was the Senate Democrats’ top priority. Donovan focused the last few months on an increase in the minimum wage. There isn’t enough support in the Democratic caucus so Williams didn’t bring it to the floor. Donovan countered by not taking up the jobs bill.
Holding Primaries in August Could Affect Voter Turnout
As state political parties hold their conventions to endorse candidates, convention also-rans who got at least 15 percent of delegates are gearing up for primaries. This is true of Democratic candidates for US Senate and for the closely watched 5th congressional district. The Republicans’ convention is Friday night and there will likely be candidates who qualify for a primary. The timing of the primaries—in the middle of the summer—can have a significant effect on the results. The August 14th contests, held when average voters are thinking about summer vacations, summer camps, basically everything but politics, is a problem for voter turnout.
The state legislature moved the primary date from September to August, an August primary held for the first time in 2004. The thought behind the move was that a September left too little time for the winning candidates to raise money and campaign before a November election.
In 2008, only about 14 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot in the primary. In 2010, it was about 25 percent—and that was a year with some fierce, hotly contested state races including governor.