Political Capitol

State Rep. William Tong, D-Stamford, who is seeking his party’s nomination for U.S. Senate, is out today with a reaction to the controversial Super Bowl ad aired by Michigan Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra.

The ad depicts a young Asian woman and apparently refers to American jobs being shipped to China, although China is not mentioned.

Tong was the first Asian America elected to the Connecticut General Assembly and would be one of the few Asian Americans on the national political scene were he to win the nomination and November’s general election.

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A MESSAGE TO CANDIDATE FOR UNITED STATES SENATE PETE HOEKSTRA

Stamford, CT – Following the airing of U.S. Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra’s racist TV commercial, candidate for U.S. Senate William Tong (D-CT) released the following statement:

“Images of a young Asian woman riding a bicycle among rice paddies speaking in cliched, broken English have no place in our political discourse. Hoekstra’s ad is xenophobic, racist, fear-mongering, and quite frankly disgusting.”

“Let us remember that Chinese Americans and Asian Americans of all national origins have fought and died for this country. Japanese Americans saw during World War II what can happen when xenophobia takes hold of the country. It is important now, as our interaction and competition with China increases, that we not stigmatize or vilify another group of Asian-Pacific Americans who have for generations been among the most important contributors to the nation.”

“Pete Hoekstra owes an apology to all Americans. The ad should never have been made, and both it and its disgusting companion website should be pulled immediately.”

I was born and raised in Connecticut and – until today - unaware or did not remember we have a Scotland.

But thanks to Republican U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon’s campaign, now I know/remember.

Former Scotland First Selectman Clark Stearns was among the latest group of officials to endorse McMahon’s bid for the GOP nomination, according to the campaign.

McMahon’s been releasing these endorsements - currently over 150 - every few days to give a sense of momentum to her second bid for Congress and to cow opponent Chris Shays, a former U.S. Rep., into giving up the fight to return to Washington D.C.

Scotland – located on the road from Canterbury to Windham –  looks lovely.

Here’s a description from the town website: 

-Scotland is located in Eastern Connecticut and is part of the “Last Green Valley”. Although relatively small in area, Scotland makes its own mark. Birthplace of Samuel Huntington, our country’s first President, his home still stands and is open to visitors. Our very busy library is also home to the D’Elia tool museum. Nationally recognized for its collection of antique wood planes, it’s worth the trip. The Waldo house is home to both Farm Days in early May, and the Highland Festival in early October.-

And for those of you who read that and thought, “Samuel Huntingon?” here’s a link for the Huntington Homestead.

Hartford Courant columnist/political blogger Kevin Rennie found an interesting story out of Florida about how automated red light cameras ticket mourners in funeral processions.

The cameras were a hot topic during the 2011 legislative session but proposals to install the technology in Connecticut … um … died. 

The issue is likely to come up again during the 2012 session, which begins Wednesday. Rennie – as you’ll be able to tell when you click the above link to his blog post – is not a supporter.

 From state House Speaker Chris Donovan’s, D-Meriden congressional campaign:

MERIDEN, CT – The Bethlehem Democratic Town Committee announced their support for Democratic candidate for the Fifth Congressional District Chris Donovan Wednesday night in Bethlehem.

We’ve written a few stories this week about concerns some lawmakers and members of the public have with the state’s plan to issue tax refunds on JPMorgan Chase debit cards.

Some worry about sharing personal information – such as Social Security Numbers – with Chase.

The state Department of Revenue Services has sought to allay those fears.

And then today colleague Rob Varnon, our business reporter, reported Chase employees have been charged in an alleged scheme to help cash fraudulent refund checks…

The Democrats’ convention is still three months away (May 12)…

… but all three of the party’s major U.S. Senate contenders – even fundraising front-runner U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy – are already looking ahead to an August primary.

From recent interviews with Murphy, ex-Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, and Stamford state Rep. William Tong:

Bysiewicz: “I’ve been about making the process very open and giving anybody who wants to serve the opportunity to take their case to the voters, (who) are best positioned to make this decision … So yes, I plan to be on the primary ballot.”

Tong: “I very much respect our process. I very much respect the delegates and I very much respect our town comittees. And we expect to be strong and competitive in the convention and move on to the primary.”

And finally, Murphy: “We’ll have plenty of debates over the course of the primary.”

Gotta love U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy’s campaign for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.

Murphy released his latest fundraising results in mid-January, while his two major competitors – ex-Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz and state Rep. William Tong – revealed their smaller hauls this week.

Perhaps recognizing there wasn’t a heck of a lot to say about coming up short, Bysiewicz and Tong kept their press releases brief.

Murphy’s team chose today to not only thump on the campaign’s war chest with a detailed account of why he’s better at raising money, but to illustrate the candidate’s “unmatched fundraising strength” with charts!

UPDATE:

Zing!!! Those scamps with the Tong campaign respond with a cheeky chart of their own.

Democratic President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign today launched a fundraising drive based on comments likely Republican opponent Mitt Romney made last night about turning Obama into a one-termer.

Here’s the president’s tweet…

And here’s Romney turning the tables…

Ahhh Twitter. Helping to lower presidential politics to the level of two high schoolers battling for class president.

Not sure how many Connecticut residents will be heeding Romney’s call. According to Gallup we’re an Obama state.

Connecticut Republicans recently backed Romney in a straw poll of GOP primary contenders.