Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Lee Whitnum gestures during a debate in Storrs, Conn., Monday, April 9, 2012. Five Democrats are vying for the party's endorsement in Connecticut's U.S. Senate race to ultimately fill the seat being vacated by the retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent. (AP Photo/The Hartford Courant, John Woike, Pool)
The ink runneth dry for Lee Whitnum.
A petition drive by Whitnum to run for U.S. Senate has come up short by 1,289 signatures, the Secretary of the State’s office announced Monday.
Whitnum needed the names of 7,500 registered voters to get onto the ballot.
“So she didn’t make it,” James Spallone, the deputy secretary of the state, told Hearst Connecticut Newspapers in a telephone interview.
Estranged from the Democratic Party after seeking its nomination, Whitnum said in a news release earlier in the day that she collected signatures from 16,000 registered voters to run as a petition candidate.
Whitnum says she hadn’t heard so much as a peep for six weeks from the Secretary of the State’s Office, which works with city and town clerks to certify petitions.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if someone in the Secretary of State’s office took the entire package and threw it in the garbage,” Whitnum said Monday in her news release.
In that same release, Whitnum says she submitted the “mother load” of petitions.
Meanwhile, Whitnum has watched as McMahon secured the Independent Party line through a petition drive of her own, giving the Republican a second spot on the ballot.
“I can’t believe that I’m still waiting for the results of my petition drive,” said Whitnum. “They are such sticklers about the rules on their end but they seem to have none on their own.”
Spallone responded that multiple candidates are seeking cross-endorsements to maximize their exposure on the ballot.
“It’s a long process. There’s a lot of signatures to add up and a lot of candidates,” Spallone said. “It’s a process that we take very seriously.”
Whitnum could presumably run as a write-in candidate, but she must register with the Secretary of the State by 4 p.m. Oct. 23.
A Whitnum/Murphy reunion would have been political theater in its most awkward form, her having called him a “whore” in a televised debate earlier this year.
Whitnum isn’t backing down from the comment, not from the looks of her news release.
“Murphy sells his soul to the israel Lobby for position,” said Whitnum who called Murphy a ‘whore’ during a Democratic debate for denying the well documented role of the Neoconservative is the taking down of Iraq.
Here’s the full text of Whitnum’s release:
Independent candidate for US senate I-CT is still playing the waiting game to find out if she is a candidate for US senate. On August 8, 2012 Whitnum turned in 16,000 signatures to the Secretary of State’s office to petition onto the ballot for US senate. She needs 7,500.
“I can’t believe that I’m still waiting for the results of my petition drive,” said Whitnum. “They are such sticklers about the rules on their end but they seem to have none on their own.”
Whitnum left the Democratic Party in May and became an Independent. She first sought the endorsement of the Independent Party but Linda McMahon entered the picture via support from the rival faction supported by Robert Fand.
“Michael Telesco said carry two petitions and then what – compete against McMahon in a panel primary – no way. The CT independent party does have strong enough rules, I ‘m not going to leave the choice of my candidacy to the whim of a panel of people. I decided to step aside and let McMahon have it all.”
Whitnum instead decided to petition as a non-party candidate. “A true-independent,” as she calls it.
“McMahon is just a Republican covering her bases. I’m the true Independence, “said Whitnum.
Whitnum filed a law suit against the Secretary of State’s office last year for being ignored and poor treatment. She dropped the suit when her questions were suddenly being answered.
“I filed the lawsuit because I knew I would need to go on a petition drive. I didn’t want them to jerk me around the way they had into the past. I didn’t want a pressure situation during a pressure situation but that is exactly what I got.”
Whitnum claims that no sooner than she dropped her lawsuit she started having problems again.
“It began with the application for notary public. I knew all my petitions would have to be notarized. They failed to send the document and I had to drive up there – I lost a week. It was very aggravating. They knew why I needed it. They knew it would delay the start of the petition drive. ”
Whitnum also cites not getting a written, or email confirmation of two packages she sent full of petitions forms. One was sent FedEx overnight.
“The next day they hadn’t gotten it. Everyone in the world – literally can get an overnight FedEx but not the Secretary of State’s office.”
The next time she sent a package USPS Express mail over night. She has not received written or verbal confirmation of the receipt of several hundred signature sheets despite asking repeatedly. She has even endured abuse in her request.
“I called on August 7th to find out if the USPS package had arrive, I had to call back seven times and was hung up on at all times. One woman even said to me ‘your candidacy is a joke’ ‘you are a joke’” said Whitnum who said she was moved to tears of frustration. “Can you image 12 weeks on a grueling all consuming petition drive and all you want to know is if is package arrived and you get abused.” She said. “I’m still being abused and have been since I became a candidate in 2007.”
Whitnum claims that she dropped off the mother load of petitions on August 8, 2012 but she still has not received confirmation that the two other packages were received. “I wouldn’t be surprised if someone in the Secretary of State’s office took the entire package and threw it in the garbage.”
Whitnum blames her repeated disrespect on Nancy Dinardo. “Nancy Dinardo set the tone to the other democrat on how they should treat me. Everyone in the Secretary of States office is a Democrat and they have been awful to me for years. If it were up to me I’d fire the entire office and rehire. There are too many of them and yet a simple question cannot get answered.”
Whitnum still waits. “They will probably tell me on November 4th that I’m a candidate just enough time to do nothing. It’s a rigged game. I’m so sick of it. All I did was run for public office. When I was a Democrat none of my rivals ever endured the kind of mean-spirited criticism I has to go through in the press, in the blogosphere and in the party and in the party controlled governmental agencies. It’s too bad because the people are starving for content and real people as candidates, people who read and speak the truth.”
Regarding Murphy and McMahon, Whitnum says it is a choice between the lesser of two bad choices.
“Murphy sells his soul to the israel Lobby for position,” said Whitnum who called Murphy a ‘whore’ during a Democratic debate for denying the well documented role of the Neoconservative is the taking down of Iraq.
“Everyone who reads knows of the Neoconservative’s role in the taking down of Iraq. Murphy denied the well-document role of the hand-full of neoconservatives (who are Israel-firsters) in the taking down of Iraq – that is unacceptable. I called him a whore because he is one. He will not lie to the people in my presence and get away with it.”
As for McMahon, Whitnum said, “She has shown no foreign policy knowledge. If she were wise she’d read a book – it is the one thing you can’t delegate to a hired person. You have to do it yourself. I don’t think she has it in her to read a book from start to finish.”
Whitnum is going to test the theory. “I’m going to send Linda McMahon a copy of the Walt and Mearsheimer book, “the Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy”. Whitnum claims it is the one book that should be required reading by every polician in Washington.
“McMahon and Murphy embody everything that is wrong in Washington and everyone knows it,” said Whitnum. “Murphy will do and say anything for position – a go-along-to-get-a- long hack and McMahon is a rich, arrogant, and ignorant. Our country will continue to decline because these types of people consistently win. I’m very sad about it. I’ve worked so hard but there is only so much I can do.”
In the meantime Whitnum continues to wait to find out if she is a candidate losing more and more steam and momentum with each passing week.