Matthew John Oakes of East Hartford says he has entered the three-way race for the Democratic Party’s U.S. Senate nomination.
Oakes announced on January 14 but just got around today to sending our Hearst newspaper empire an email. I can’t be insulted because it doesn’t appear – at least after a Google search – that anyone else in the media was notified, either.
Oakes is entering what’s been a three-person race to replace retiring Senator Joseph Lieberman between well-known to somewhat-known politicians – U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, ex-Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz and state Rep. William Tong.
Some could argue that Oakes is a bit too late to the game. Then again ex-U.S. Rep. Chris Shays just formally entered the GOP race for the Senate nomination today after he announced his intentions last August.
Oakes certainly knows how to introduce himself in an interesting fashion and appeal to a broad range of voters. Here’s a key paragraph from his email:
“I am pleased to announce my candidacy for United States Senate, a position that was previously occupied by Joseph Lieberman. Being poor, disabled, gay and a victim of crime, I am uniquely qualified to serve. I have seen it all, and in a time where both the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street think they know what is best for America, I am willing to stand up and say let’s meet in the middle. I have seen it all, I have nearly done it all, and for these reasons I have the experience and qualifications to serve the citizens of the great state of Connecticut.”
UPDATE: A few folks contacted me today wondering whether this guy is legit. For example, there are no records of his candidacy popping up with the Federal Election Commission.
Reached by phone, Oakes swore he’s a real candidate, his paperwork has been filed and he’s out knocking on doors and trying to schedule appearances with various Democratic organizations.
He said he’s been turned down by a few who don’t consider him to be a seriously recognized candidate because he has not received any coverage in the press.
“Some of them are like, ‘I’ll be honest, you should just give up’,” he said.
But he’s going to keep trying to garner attention.
“Hey, why not? At least get a message out there,” he said.