MY THOUGHTS: Healys analysis (see link below) is the easy, superficial analysis that so many in the CT GOP are grabbing onto right now. Though I frequently agree with Healys political analyses (and though the Dark Knight title is apt), I do not think Healy is correct this time. Remember Foley is not the John Rowland type of politician who Healy normally works with, so Healy is not likely to appreciate the nuances of what Foley pulled off so successfully this year. First, Foleys vanilla campaign was the ONLY kind of campaign, in my view, that could come even close to winning the Governors race this year in CT. Its not my kind of campaign, as you know, but Foley did the vanilla campaign approach with style and discipline. While he did not win, he came far closer than anyone else -- ANYONE else -- could have on the GOP side this year. Malloy was an incumbent. Beyond that, Malloy is a disciplined bully with his own people and an adept corrupt politician. (If Malloy were a Republican, he would be in jail by now.) Foley could not bully people into voting -- unlike an incumbent he has no power over anyone and without power over others he could not afford the negative image. Now, you are probably thinking that Foley could have inspired us to work hard for him and get out the vote and that this would have have made the difference. Sorry, Ive gone that route, and all 30 people who get inspired by such a candidate in CT do not amount to a hill of beans in a state-wide race. First and foremost, to win, Foley had to make sure he did not alienate anyone -- not the media, not independents, not Republicans of various stripes, not campaign workers, not campaigns of competing GOP candidates etc., and he accomplished this brilliantly. Few could have pulled this off. His qualifications are superb, and he had the dry wit and calm demeanor necessary to run a complex and hard to control organization and get along with everyone. Really, we need to stop beating ourselves up. And we need to stop beating up Tom Foley. If you think its so easy, try it yourself! I am a very different candidate from Foley, and an able campaigner. And that got me... ah, ten cents and a candy bar! A governors race is completely different from any underticket race. And, a governors race against a machine Democrat who is the sitting governor with complete control of EVERY branch of government in CT -- plus the U.S. President as a co-conspirator on the policy side who identifies with the governor and the large numbers of voters in CTs cities, plus all of the labor unions in the state, plus 90% of the lawyers and students in the state, plus the major utilities and businesses who all want promises of taxpayer funded payoffs from the Governor -- is not going to be winnable for the challenging GOP candidate in CT. And theres much more. But that was the reality this year. I said that back in March, and it played out just as I imagined. This was not due to any particular flaws or weaknesses on Tom Foleys part. It is simply what is right now in the world of CT politics. The Monday morning quarterback wizards of the GOP and others in the GOP have attacked Foley mercilessly since election day. Yet, these very geniuses in the GOP finished up their own GOP careers on the rocks of failed campaigns, policies, or ethical lapses. Those who live in glass houses really should be a bit classier and not throw stones right now. Ask yourselves: what rationale person would ever run on the GOP ticket for Governor in this state in the future? Clearly, we eat our own. The incredible lack of grace or gratitude on the part of those who should be supportive of Tom Foley after the election is shocking, frankly. No candidate or campaign is perfect. And every (yes, EVERY) candidate who has ever won anything anywhere at any time has won despite running an imperfect campaign, since every campaign is flawed. So, friends in the GOP, try celebrating what Tom Foley did accomplish and try being grateful for Tom Foleys willingness to run again this year, since he was clearly our best hope. We would have been in much worse shape with any of the other candidates for governor -- myself included -- this particular year. Once again, I say: Thank you, Tom Foley. And many thanks to you, Leslie, and your children, too, for all of your familys many sacrifices. Here is Chris Healys blog commentary: thehealystrategy/blog/the-dark-knight-rises/
Posted on: Fri, 07 Nov 2014 03:29:35 +0000
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