Unfortunately, as I mentioned before, I was unable to candidate’s forum yesterday at the LaGrua Center in Stonington. Just about every candidate for statewide office was there, as was Blumenthal and Joe Courtney. I wasn’t there, but a reporter for the Day was, one Patricia Daddona, whose article was part snark, and part flaccid stenography.
Now, I’ve got nothing against snark, but I think if one is going to feature it in one’s writing, one might want to actually know something about the subject at hand. Like most of the other reporters for the Day (Ted Mann being a glaring exception) Ms. Daddona does not appear to have taken the time to familiarize herself with either the basic facts on the ground and/or the nature of our system of government, something with which her editors appear to have no problem. To wit:
Inside, jokes about the weather and the Republicans, not necessarily in that order; a few battle cries sounded with all the furious bravado of a party distanced from the seat of power; and after the speeches, animated mingling of Democratic political candidates, party delegates and a handful of voters. (Emphasis added)
Let’s take stock here.
The Democrats, with particular focus on Connecticut:
- Control the Presidency
- Have majorities in the Federal House and Senate that the Republicans could only dream of at the height of their power.
- Have one Senator from this state. The other feels politically compelled to caucus with the Democrats, leaving the Republicans no Senators from this state.
- Have 5 of the 5 Congressional seats from this state.
- Occupy every constitutional office in Connecticut except that of the governor.
- Have huge majorities in both houses of the legislative branch.
Now, I will freely admit that the Democrats sometimes act like they have no power, and that when they get power they sometimes seem to be obsessed with figuring out how to throw it away. (See, that’s informed snark) But the only way that one can justify saying that the Democrats of today are “distanced from the seat of power” is by defining the seat of power as consisting solely of the governorship of the State of Connecticut, which, by the way, if they don’t blow it (a huge “if”), the Democrats are poised to take in the fall. By that definition, this being a two party system, we must conclude that the Republicans in this State, who are totally powerless creatures in the state legislature and have no representation in Congress, somehow occupy the seat of power in this fair state. Daddona’s statement also betrays a rather curious understanding of our political system, where on the state level, at least, the executive is hardly all powerful. There truly is a separation of powers, and most of that power is in the hands of Democrats. This is rather basic civics, or it was in the olden days, when I received my schooling.
It is a curious thing that this sort of dismissive attitude is most often directed at Democrats, whether they are in or out of office, while the right, whether in or out, is treated with fawning respect. This morning, as I had an otherwise wonderful breakfast at the Porthole Cafe in Portland, I was treated to the spectacle of Karl Rove, David Brooks and Tom Friedman (happily I was easily able to divert my gaze) being featured for the millionth time each on Meet the Press. (Friedman is probably perceived in the Beltway as a liberal, but to paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen, I know a lot of liberals, most of my friends are liberals, and Friedman is no liberal). If one were to judge strictly by the Sunday shows, one would have to conclude that the Republicans are in power in Washington. Daddonna appears to have absorbed that impression. She certainly hasn’t bothered to read her own paper, within whose pages, if she paid attention, she might find actual facts to disabuse herself of her skewed understanding of Connecticut political reality.
Brad Delong often ends his posts with the following refrain: “Why Oh Why Can’t We Have a Better Press Corps?” He is always referring to our national press corps, but the same applies on the local level throughout our great land.
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