In one of the more bizarre political announcements the Blogster has covered, Greenwich millionaire Tom Foley, the former ambassador to Ireland, seized the opportunity to fill the GOP void left by Gov. Rell, but declined to articulate why. Perhaps he can stop the sectarian violence in northern Connecticut. After first blowing off reporters’ questions in the minuscule meeting room in the Hartford Hilton, he then dodged around reporters massed around him in the hallway. Hello! Who told reporters to come for an announcement? We didn’t just arrive to run his amorphous little speech that was read off several pages of script at the podium before about four dozen supporters of his new GOP gubernatorial bid. He wants to be governor. He intimated that he’ll use his own millions of dollars. Yet he declined to talk about policy until he develops position papers. Wow. There’s a lot to be said about fresh faces in politics, but if you want to run for governor, shouldn’t you be able to vamp before reporters for five minutes on the day you announce?
Maybe the 4th Congressional District is next…….
Comment by Paul Steed — December 3rd, 2009 @ 2:54 pm
Wow could you be anymore slanted? Who requires someone annoncing their canidacy to be able to answer all questions reporters may have? Obviously you are looking for any reason to put down this canidate hence the disparaging title. I have seen him state before he believes that his owning and running a successful investment company provides him better skills for a govenorship rather then a Senator. I would be inclined to agree but also look forward to seeing is plans emerge rgding fixing CT’s problem. How about you relax, he just started looking at this a week ago and last week was Thanksgiving.
Comment by Peter — December 3rd, 2009 @ 4:37 pm
Ken,
You’re assessment seems a little bit unfair. Have any of the other candidates made concrete policy proposals yet? In his announcement yesterday, Mike Fedele made some boilerplate comments about lowering taxes and bringing jobs to the state, but didn’t offer any specific proposals about how he planned to do this. His platform seems a little bit weak. Any politician with a microphone will tell you he’s for lower taxes and more jobs. What I’m interested in is his specific plan for accomplishing those goals.
Mr. Fedele seems to be running on the coattails of Jodi Rell, and said he looks to her as a role model in how to govern. If that’s the case, shouldn’t we be asking how he’s used his time as Lt. Gov. to promote job creation, other than hosting a self promoting cable access program? Jodi Rell governed while our state dug itself into this mess, and Mike Fedele, proudly, was right beside her.
Mike said that he would love to get a “Bill Gates” figure to move a company like Microsoft to the state. WHO WOULDN’T. The question is, how do we accomplish that.
Interestingly enough, I can actually think of another politician from Stamford who has a proven record of attracting businesses to Connecticut through hands on negotiation…. his name is Dan Malloy.
Comment by Jonathon the Husky — December 3rd, 2009 @ 6:02 pm
To all dissenters:
Any candidate who is half-interested in running for a competitive seat relishes media attention on the day they announce their candidacy. How is it that Foley was willing to turn away questions from the same people he expects to cover his campaign trail? Simply shocking and inexcusable. Unless of course he’s depending on holding more babies in commericals as his sole source of media exposure. “Yeah I saw Foley on TV. Remind me what he’s running for again…”
Comment by Alan — December 4th, 2009 @ 10:08 am
Ken is worried that there is now someone in the race that can match funds with his buddy Ned Lamont.
Comment by Mike — December 4th, 2009 @ 2:31 pm
Well put, Ken. If he wasn’t ready to answer questions, he should have waited a week or two before he announced. Then again, the election is less than a year away. If he’s only just starting to think about this stuff now, well, maybe he isn’t quite ready.
Good luck covering the race. Lots of characters.
Comment by Doug — December 5th, 2009 @ 10:36 pm