CT Blue

Yesterday, Nancy Wyman, Dan Malloy, Shirley Bysiewicz, and Jim Amann presented their “visions” for Connecticut to a packed house at the Groton Municipal Building. Dick Blumenthal was there too, but he just made some introductory remarks and then high tailed it to Hartford for a parade. Here’s the four, with our State Senator, Andy Maynard.

The most surprising thing about this forum was who was not there: the press. Ray Hackett was the one exception of which I was aware. Scott Bates, who has to be given a great deal of credit for organizing the event, told me that he let the press, including the Day, know about the event. The press absence was troubling for what it portends: as the newspaper business becomes less profitable the entire industry has entered a downward spiral, reducing reporters so as to reduce cost, which in turns reduces any incentive for people to buy and read the paper. Somehow, someone has to come up with an internet business plan that enables the press to make money for producing the raw reportage upon which us bloggers feed.

So, in the absence of the old media, this little backwater of the new media will do its best. I meant to post this last night, but was delayed by struggles with uploading to youtube, the precise nature of which there is no need to relate, I have finally got the opening statements of each speaker (can’t say candidate, three of them are exploring) on-line for anyone who wants to watch. All, unfortunately, except for Susan Bysiewicz. Her clip starts in the middle of her presentation. There’s a long story explanation for that; suffice it to say that I stepped into the breach with my camera when I had never intended to film the proceedings at all, so I only started recording after Susan had started. So, should she ever see this, I apologize for the fact that I don’t have her whole statement, but plead not guilty of any bad intent.

I will present all four without (much) comment. Due to youtube time constraints, and the fact that both Amann and Wyman went on longer than they were supposed to do, I was forced to cut each of them into two videos. Sorry about that.

Here is what I have of Susan’s statement:

Dan Malloy gets to go second, since he actually stayed within, more or less, the time constraints to which they all agreed. Sorry about the first few seconds. He was right after Susan, who spoke seated. When Dan stood up it took me a few seconds to pan back. However, I am not responsible for the folks who kept walking in front of the camera.

Next up, Nancy Wyman, Part 1:

Part 2:

Last, and least, Jim Amann. While he actually did not take as long as Wyman (by a few seconds), his statement, like his responses to the Q & A, seems interminable. Part 1:

Part 2:

Unfortunately, my memory card filled up just as the opening statements were finished, so I don’t have any of the Q&A. Each town chair, or designee, got to ask a question. The expected issues, such as property tax, transportation, regionalization, etc., came up. No one said anything incredibly stupid, even Amann, unless you count his insistence that he’ll be running against Fideli in 2010. Based on what they all had to say about Rell’s job performance, it’s hard to see why she wouldn’t run again. She gets a full paycheck for what, for her, is at most a part time job.

Again, Scott Bates deserves a lot of credit for putting this together. So far as I’m aware, it’s the first time this election cycle that all potential candidates (unless Ned jumps in) have been together.