but it doesn't hurt to get some
national coverage:
MONTVILLE, Conn. -- At the Montville Polish Club, where the beers come with complimentary baskets of Cheez Doodles, two bartenders are talking.
"If you don't have the freedom to go about your daily life, then what does it matter?" Rob Dempsky, bartender No. 1, is saying. Thirty years old, he has no health insurance, makes less than $20,000 a year and could certainly use a better job. But what's most on his mind these days is "the war on terror," he says. "Unquestionably." Which is why, on Nov. 2, he says, he is going to vote for someone named Rob Simmons.
Bartender No. 2: "Iraq," says Pat Dunion, 65, of the issue most on his mind, more than even Social Security and prescription drug costs. "We got to get those guys out of there. My grandkids could end up over there if we don't." Which is why, on Nov. 2, he says, he is going to vote for someone named Jim Sullivan.
In Connecticut, where the war is everywhere now, in homes and in bars, in parades and in cemeteries, it has seeped into politics as well -- not only in the presidential race but also in the race between Simmons, the Republican incumbent in Connecticut's 2nd Congressional District, and Sullivan, the Democratic challenger.
What's striking is that Simmons is now running a bunch of RNCC ads (not very good ones) attacking Sullivan on his attendance record, but all along he's run as a Republican with Sullivan, as the article says, attacking Simmons on the war. Right now, Simmons is running scared. The UConn poll is Simmons-45 Sullivan-40 Undecided-15 and remember the <50 rule for incumbents.
In comparison in CT-4, Shays (R) is 47 to Farrell (D) 39 with 12 unsure.
Shays, in contrast, could well be a Democrat judging by the TV ads touting him as an independent voice and champion of stem cell research, not mentioning Bush or He-who-is-behind-the throne in the WH. Farrell's prominant TV ads clearly mark her as an anti-war Dem.
It's said by many that CT-2 is the most Dem disctrict in CT, but I've argued (like Zogby) it's not the numbers, it's the sociology. The wealthy Gold Coast (CT-4 including Farrell's Westport) hates taxes with a passion but is socially liberal and looks far more Dem on most issues than conservative CT-2, which may have more registered Dems but includes the Groton submarine-building Electric Boat.
There's an excellent chance of two pick-ups here, but a much smaller chance of unseating the well-funded and arrogant Nancy Johnson (R) (even the lady who used to do her hair hates her - she told me so) in CT-5. Her little-known opponent, Terry Gerrantana is a late starter and not nearly as well funded. I've seen no polls, no ads from either side, and likely a vote for Terry is a vote against Nancy, but Johnson has strength in the rural areas of NW CT.
map of CT
how they voted in 2002
registration by party by district in 2002