Did you watch Sunday’s Republican lieutenant governor forum on WFSB’s Face The State hosted by Dennis House? It featured Bridgeport resident David Walker, State Representative Penny Bacchiochi and former Groton Mayor Heather Somers. Watching the two female candidates go at it with Walker in the middle, it seemed like one of those Bugs Bunny cartoons with a fight cloud. Fight breaks out, there’s a cloud of dust and then Bugs crawls out of the maelstrom unscathed to fight another day, smile on his face.
From a pure debate-tactic point of view, Walker’s female opponents seemed strident in contrast to his easy southern drawl. As the forum progressed Bacchiochi and Somers went back and forth challenging their veracity, trying to correct the record on respective positions be it corporate welfare, taxes, appointment of judges. They’ve been going at it pretty good the past few weeks with the August 12 primary now just over a week away.
Somers has questioned Bacchiochi’s temperament for the lieutenant governor’s job for putting foot in mouth during the course of the campaign. Bacchiochi has fired back claiming Somers’ business was the recipient of state corporate welfare.
Walker was Walker: the burrowing policy wonk, former U.S. comptroller general, arguing the Connecticut ship of state is sinking fast from a host of poor policy decisions he’d correct as a partner in state government.
Bacchiochi, as the endorsed candidate, is running next to party-endorsed candidate for governor Tom Foley, but Foley has not endorsed her. Somers will appear on line two next to Foley opponent State Senator John McKinney, but McKinney has formed a campaign kinship with Walker who helped McKinney qualify for a $1.3 million public financing grant that will mushroom to $6.5 million if McKinney wins the primary and faces Governor Dan Malloy in the general election. Walker will appear solo on the third line, a point he made near the close of the show.
Republican primary voters are now starting to focus on the candidates. If these forums matter to voters it could make a difference for Walker who’s hoping his partnership with McKinney extends into the general election. But primaries are weird ducks. Walker could win the primary and so could Foley. They then would be the Republican ticket against Malloy and Nancy Wyman. Then again McKinney could win and one of the two other candidates for lieutenant governor could emerge. So it goes in the crazy world of campaigns.
On Monday team McWalker will meet with the editorial board of the Hearst Connecticut Newspapers that represents the Connecticut Post, Stamford Advocate, Greenwich Time and Danbury News-Times.
I hope Republican voters split their ballots for Foley and Walker. Interesting to see how Walker runs in Bridgeport especially his home precinct Black Rock. Always wondered how many Republicans usually vote in that precinct during primaries, my guess is fewer than 100.
donj, this is a primary for Lt. Governor, Governor, etc. It’s not a Republican Town Committee primary.
That Penny was a typical politician bragging how she was an incumbent, and the other a mayor. Clear choice, a professional against two lightweights.
I had him as Daffy Duck on this one!
www .youtube.com/watch?v=CVspg-K-rTw
One of the best things Chris Shays has done for Bridgeport is to sell his house to David Walker.
David Walker will make a great Lt. Governor, but for selfish reasons I would love to see him as our next Mayor of Bridgeport. I strongly feel David Walker will bring Bridgeport back to greatness!
David’s background is exemplary, he served as United States Comptroller General from 1998 to 2008, and is Founder and CEO of the Comeback America Initiative.
Prior to his appointment to the GAO, Walker served as a partner and global managing director of Arthur Andersen LLP and in several government leadership positions, including as a Public Trustee for Social Security and Medicare from 1990 to 1995 and as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Pension and Welfare Benefit Programs during the Reagan administration. Before his time at Arthur Andersen, Walker worked for Source Finance, a personnel agency, and before that was in Human Resources at accounting firm Coopers & Lybrand.
Walker serves on various boards and advisory groups, including as Chairman of the United Nations Independent Audit Advisory Committee from 2007 to 2011, as a member of the Boards for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, and the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, as well as a member of Advisory Committees for The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, and the Peterson Foundation. He is also a member of the National Academy for Public Administration, the National Academy of Social Insurance, the Trilateral Commission, and the Sons of the American Revolution. He is a National Co-Founder of No Labels and is currently serving as Chair of a Postal Reform Panel for National Academy of Public Administration, as Chair of the Government Transformation Initiative Coalition, and as Co-Chair of the Institute of Medicine’s End of Life Panel.
He has authored three books, with the latest one entitled Comeback America: Turning the Country Around and Restoring Fiscal Responsibility (2010), which is national bestseller. He is a frequent writer and commentator, and is one of the main subjects of the critically acclaimed documentary I.O.U.S.A.. Critic Roger Ebert named I.O.U.S.A. one of the Top 5 Documentaries of 2008.
Being a partner at Arthur Andersen is hardly anything to brag about. And no labels, my rear end. Walker still does the bidding of billionaire Pete Peterson. He is anti-union. He also wants to privatize govt services and in fact recently was working to privatize part of the postal service. The only people who benefit are people like Pete Peterson, the Koch brothers and Tom Foley. In fact millionaire Gov of Florida Rick Scott has in fact done that and it was found he or his wife had financial interests in companies that received contracts. If you end up with someone like Walker in state govt or Tom Foley you will end up with the same sort of white-collar corruption, which even if legal is still theft.
No, it’s not an Absentee Ballot from Andres Ayala to Dave Walker:
www .youtube.com/watch?v=Y0bw45GWoKQ
First Pac Man and then Bugs Bunny enters the stage:
www .ctpost.com/local/article/Super-PAC-seen-as-supporting-Malloy-5665781.php