Yes, I am cynical of politicians. However, I am particularly wary of ones who present themselves as anything other than a politician. Mike tries very hard to present himself as some businessman/Cincinnattus come in from the fields to save us. I don’t buy it.

Also, you asked me to correct you if you were wrong… you are wrong. Constitutionally, the lieutenant governor’s role is as follows: “In case of the death, resignation, refusal to serve or removal from office of the governor, the lieutenant-governor shall, upon taking the oath of office of governor, be governor of the state until another is chosen at the next regular election for governor and is duly qualified. In case of the inability of the governor to exercise the powers and perform the duties of his office, or in case of his impeachment or of his absence from the state, the lieutenant-governor shall exercise the powers and authority and perform the duties appertaining to the office of governor until the disability is removed or, if the governor has been impeached, he is acquitted or, if absent, he has returned.”

As far as I know, there has been no inability of Jodi Rell to “exercise the powers and perform the duties of [her] office” and she is not absent from the state. Her simple absence at a given geographic area or silence on a particular issue does not mean the lt. gov. needs to step in.

Maybe I’ve been in politics too long and question politicians motivations too readily. That being said, I was probably a bit too harsh here. Obviously, there are far bigger issues that need to be confronted regarding this tragedy than nitpicking over something like this.

Then again, I didn’t raise the question.

If anything, you are the one who is injecting politics into this tragedy. You need to realize that there is a fine line between “government” and “politics.”

Correct me if I am wrong, but part of the Lt. Governor’s responsibility is to fill in for the Governor during her absense – right? Both state and municipal agencies had responded to the unfortunate situation that occurred on Sunday. Mayor Guiliano was representing the municipality’s role in the response, and had the Lt Governor not been at the press conference, who would’ve spoken on behalf of the state agencies? I would certainly hope that there was someone there to speak on behalf of the multiple state agencies that were taking part.

As someone who has participated in CT’s political blogosphere, regardless of the issue you are always the first one to blast Fedele. The sad and ugly truth to this situation is the fact that bloggers, like yourself, take opportunities like this to twist reality and exploit the actual purpose of one’s official capacity for the sole purpose of furthering their own political agenda.

So to finish, in light of this tragedy and with respect for those who were affected, I’d leave your partisan comments out of this.

According to the site, Fedele’s spokeswoman made $79,204 flacking for Fedele in 2007, and then received, ready, a TEN PERCENT bump in 2008 to make $87,116. There’s no data for 2009, so we can’t tell how much of an increase she received last year, or how much she’s making this year. I also assume that she’s receiving the same wonderful benefits package that most state employees receive.

Brian, next time you talk to the Laura Fanelli you might want to ask her whether ten percent annual pay increases for PR staff represents the kind of keen business sense that Fedele plans to bring to the Governor’s office.

Thanks for commenting. But please don’t confuse my blog post with some of the critical comments posted here.
The post wasn’t about whether or not the politicians present in Middletown were trying to exploit a situation.
It began, as I wrote, with an observation by a colleague that they did not notice the Governor in the news footage/photos. This person thought it was odd, considering the scope of the tragedy, and wondered why Fedele was in attendance instead.
I’m just trying to explain the situation in case others were wondering. But I didn’t draw any biased conclusions.

I think it’s a cheap shot to assume his only purpose for being there was to get on TV and I think we should all be asking much different questions like….what can I do to help?

as a post script, my vote is with the latter. I especially like the BS explanation from Fedele’s PR hack (has Ken Dixon FOI’d what Laura Fanelli makes yet?) that the mayor of Middletown (who by the way, was included in Mike’s newest round of endorsements) just happened to “ask” good old Mike to come down to Middletown on Sunday and lend a hand, and that Mike then just stumbled upon a press conference. Does Mike have some kind of emergency response expertise that no one is aware of?

With all due respect to Mike Fedele, this move is about as transparent as they come.

The office of the Lt. Governor is one of the constitutionally weakest positions in state government, which makes it somewhat difficult to claim it as significant “executive experience,” or “leadership experience,” (you’re basically a glorified ribbon cutter) so showing up to play the face of the state for something like this helps in that regard. Between that and his low name recognition statewide, I’m sure that the Lt. Governor wasn’t too upset that he had to take point on this. Show me a politician who doesn’t jump at the chance to have his picture taken next to grim-faced firemen, and I’ll show you a bridge I’d like to sell you.

What purpose was really served by the presence of any of the politicians at the scene, Delauro and Courtney included? If I ever lose a loved one in something like this, the last person I want comforting me is some clown running for or trying to hold onto office. Unfortunately, it is a sad and ugly truth that tragedies like these provide both aspiring and entrenched politicians with a wonderful opportunity to get their mug on TV in connection with a sympathetic cause.