A Senate Primary

Democrats Perkins, Tierney To Battle It Out

Republican Mike McLachlan will have to wait until August 13th to see who his Democratic opponent will be. Terry Tierney has announced that he has collected the 615 necessary signatures in order to force a primary against Councilman Duane Perkins.

Perkins was nominated by the Democrats in May. He has the support of many high ranked Democratic officials, such as former Congressman Jim Maloney and Danbury Democratic Town Committee Chairman Joe DaSilva.

Tierney however feels that he is best prepared to lead and has the knowledge to address the challenging issues we face. The primary will be held on August 12th. Perkins would appear to be the front runner based on the fact that he was nominated, but Tierney is known in Danbury. It may be the other towns of Bethel, New Fairfield, and Sherman that truly decide who will have the chance to face McLachlan. This should be fun to watch!

Your Predictions

With the beginning of the summer starting, it is time to evaluate the different races that will be decided this fall. Take this time to make predictions!

For President will John McCain be able to overcome President Bush, or will Barack Obama be swept in by a new crowd of voters?

For Congress will Chris Murphy repeat his impressive victory from two years ago, or will David Cappiello prove many people wrong?

For State Senate will Mike McLachlan be able to keep the seat Republican, or will Duane Perkins put it in Democratic control after over a decade absence?

For State Representative will incumbents Jason Bartlett, Joe Taborsak, Bob Godfrey, and Jan Giegler claim victory, or will Melanie O'Brien, Ted Farah, Roger Palanzo, and Bill Melillo take them out?

Let's hear what you think!

Who Will Be The Next VP?

We already know that come next January, we will have either John McCain or Barack Obama leading our country. However, we are still unsure of who will be in second command. Another words, who are those two candidates going to pick as their running mates? The following are a list of just some of the names mentioned as possible Vice Presidential picks.

John McCain's Running Mate
Mitt Romney
Mike Huckabee
Charlie Crist
Tim Pawlenty
Joe Lieberman
Rudy Giuliani
Condoleezza Rice
Bobby Jindal
Kay Bailey Hutchinson
Tom Ridge

Barack Obama's Running Mate
Hillary Clinton
Joe Biden
Chris Dodd
Ed Rendell
Kathleen Sebelius
Jim Webb
Chuck Hagel
John Edwards
Bill Richardson
Wesley Clark

Now, many other names have been mentioned, but these are some of the ones that keep being said. Both McCain and Obama will have a very big decision to make on who they want to share the ticket with. Will they look at who can carry a swing state, who shares their values, or who can help in different regions of the country? We will wait and see what happens, but it will be a very tough decision for both candidates to make.

A Journalism Legend

Tim Russert

1950-2008

Yesterday Tim Russert, the longtime host of Meet the Press, suddenly died of a heart attack at the age of 58. Russert is mostly known for his Sunday morning show, but is also NBC News chief correspondent. He has surely made a name for himself and has influenced the way many of us look at politics.

It is extremely unfortunate that Russert had to pass at the moment he did, while not being able to cover the best presidential election ever. He would have loved it.

Today we honor his life, his service, and his passion of politics. May God Bless Tim Russert, and our prayers go out to his family and friends.

A Million Dollars

David Cappiello's campaign for Congress has announced that it has raised over a million dollars. It appears, based on Cappiello's statement, that he wanted to reach the one million dollar mark by June 30th. That is the end of the second fundraising quarter.

Congressman Chris Murphy had raised 1.8 million at the end of the first quarter. It is expected he will definitely pass the 2 million dollar mark by the end of the month. The interesting question we will have to see is how much cash the candidates have on hand.

Are We In Play?

Late last week, Rasmussen Reports released a presidential poll for Connecticut. It showed Barack Obama with a 47%-44% lead. This is a very small margin considering that he was up by double digits a month ago. Does this mean that John McCain has a shot at winning our state?

Well, I think it would be very difficult, but McCain has always done well in Connecticut. He won the primary this year, but also in 2000. If McCain wants to change the electoral map, like he says, then our state may be in play.

As of today, Obama would win Connecticut, but November is a long time away.

South Dakota & Montana Primary Results

Obama Wins Nomination

Clinton To End Campaign

Well, it's all over. At least the primary that is. Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination the other night, claiming many super delegates who chose in the final day of primaries. Hillary Clinton did not end her bid that night, but her campaign has announced that she will suspend her quest and endorse Obama on Saturday. She did manage to win South Dakota, as these were the results:

Clinton: 55%
Obama: 45%

However, the night ended with the last state going for Obama. He won the first contest in Iowa and after a lot of stuff happened in between, he won the last contest in Montana. These were the results:

Obama: 57%
Clinton: 41%

Now that this race is over the questions start over whether Clinton will be Obama's running mate. It's viewed as a dream ticket, but also can be seen as Obama going against his "change" message. Also, questions start over who John McCain will select.


However, time will tell what will happen. It's just nice to finally be in general election mode as we await one of the most exciting presidential campaigns ever between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama. It will be a fun ride from here!

Puerto Rico Primary Results

Clinton Wins Big

Yesterday, Hillary Clinton easily defeated Barack Obama in the Puerto Rico primary. Here were the results:

Clinton: 68%
Obama: 32%

Tomorrow are the final two primaries in the race. Obama clearly has the delegate lead, and is within nearly forty to clinch. With super delegates running to him, Obama may be able to clinch the nomination this week. Some say Clinton may take her fight to the convention, but the possibility seems very unlikely. It will be interesting to see what she does, but it is likely that we won't be seeing any fireworks. However anything is possible!

State Representative Candidates

With the month of May gone, we now know who will be facing each other in the four State Representative races in Danbury. Here's what they look like:

2nd District
Melanie O'Brien (R)
Jason Bartlett (D-Inc.)

109th District
Ted Farah (R)
Joe Taborsak (D-Inc.)

110th District
Roger Palanzo (R)
Bob Godfrey (D-Inc.)

138th District
Jan Giegler (R-Inc.)
Bill Melillo (D)

As the month continues I am going to write about each of these races and analyze them. Some have the potential to get interesting, especially the 2nd district in my opinion.