Killingly DTC held its Candidates forum last night

[Larkspur]

The only gubernatorial candidate who showed up on time in the Northeast corner was Ned Lamont. Dan Malloy was about 45 mins to an hour late and Mary Glassman followed Malloy by about another 5-10 minutes. If I showed up to a job interview an hour late, I wouldn't be let in the door. By showing up on time Ned showed respect for the Democrats of Killingly. I'm glad that the other 2 showed up, but they evaded some questions by showing up late.
Susan Bysiewicz and Nancy Wyman also came as well as two of the Secretary of State candidates, Spallone(?) and Garcia.

Each candidate had 5 minutes to give us their spiel. Then the Q&A session followed. We had the audience write their questions on cards so that the Tea Partiers could not seize control of the meeting. It worked.

I taped the event. Will probably have it up next week. Gotta get my PC fixed and then edit the 2 hour video down to smaller segments.

I thought Ned Lamont did very well. He was there for the full time and answered all questions of the gubernatorial candidates. Most of the questions were for the gubernatorial candidates. Ned could use some coaching on public speaking, but I wouldn't want him to be coached so that he sounds like a clone of a sterotypical politician. Ned has a genuine optimism and a lot of energy. His business background also makes him hard for the GOP to frame, since he's not a long term professional politican. Ned wasn't as well versed on some issues as Malloy or Glassman, but he had a clear vision of where he thought CT should go. Too often Democratic candidates think that giving a laundry list of their positions on issues is enough to get people's votes. George Lakoff shows us why that doesn't work. It's the vision and the framing of that vision in a moral context that helps most voters understand who candidates are and where they want to lead them. Robert Greenleaf said that the main dfference between leaders and followers is that the former has a vision that he shares with others.

Dan Malloy is a good public speaker and very knowlegable about many issues, but I found annoying his Alpha Male tactic of standing up to answer every question. It's a tactic designed to intimidate your opponents and demonstrate to the onlookers who the dominant one is. Mary being shorter than both men was at a disadvantage. There was no need for Malloy to stand up to answer questions. After the 2nd time Malloy stood up, Ned eventually had to so that his body language showed that he would not be intimidated by Malloy. Mary came in after Malloy and followed the pattern.

I noticed that Dan Malloy last night avoided talking about Ned's money. Good thing because if he did, I may have filled out a question card asking how much his personal home cost.

Last night was the first time I saw and heard Mary Glassman. For a professional politician and lawyer she came across very human. Too many professional politicans lose their humanity in the job. She also was very knowlegable about many issues.

And the Secretary of State candidates. Both did a fine job. I don't know either very well. Glad that they came to our event.

So my gubernatorial picks to-date are #1) Ned Lamont and #2) Mary Glassman. Still not fond of Malloy. Can he do the job? Sure, but he reminds me too much of the managers I had who had no problems stabbing you so they could climb the corporate ladder.

I also wanted to mention Susan Bysiewicz and Nancy Wyman. Both also did well and both showed up on time and gave excellent short speeches. Both also had a couple questions to answer and did well. I've been a fan of Susan Bysiewicz since I first met her in 2003 at Killingly DTC's "Meet the Canidates" dinner. She went to every table and shook hands with every person. She comes to every one of Killingly DTC's dinners. Susan excels at retail politics, which is why I was disappointed when she dropped out of the governors race. I like Ned a lot, but Susan was my first choice for governor in 2010.

I don't know Nancy Wyman as well as Susan Bysiewicz, but she also comes to Killingly DTC's dinners and she demonstrates knowledge and clearly describes problems and potential resolutions.

Overall, it was a good and informative event. Too bad the weather wasn't better, but at least it was raining, not sleeting in Killingly when the event was held.