{news} Rell: Debates On--Democracy at its worst

[clifford thornton]

http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-govdebate0923.artsep23,0,730364.story?coll=hc-headlines-politics-state<http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-govdebate0923.artsep23,0,730364.story?coll=hc-headlines-politics-state>
Rell: Debates On
September 23, 2006 
By CHRISTOPHER KEATING, Capitol Bureau Chief 

      In a complete turnaround from her original position, Gov. M. Jodi Rell said Friday she would appear in two, one-on-one debates with Democratic challenger John DeStefano, but no other forums.

      The announcement partially satisfied the DeStefano camp, which had repeatedly accused Rell of sidestepping a showdown with him, but it enraged two third-party candidates who will have no chance to confront the incumbent directly. 

      The debates are expected to be televised, but dates, locations and formats still are being negotiated. The major-party candidates for lieutenant governor - Republican Michael Fedele and Democrat Mary Glassman - will meet for one debate, but those details also are still being discussed.

      Rell initially had said she would participate only in debates that included all candidates on the November ballot.

      The Green Party candidate, Clifford W. Thornton, and his campaign manager were so angry at being excluded that they stormed over to Rell's campaign headquarters in Hartford with a friend who was carrying a video camera. They filmed their confrontation with Rell's campaign manager, Kevin Deneen. 

      "I feel like the two parties lied to us," said Ken Krayeske, Thornton's campaign manager. "Call it double-crossed. Call it stabbed in the back. Call it what you want. I'm pretty upset about this. ... I don't believe Kevin Deneen expected to see our faces today. Perhaps we were too confrontational."

      Rell's campaign spokesman, Rich Harris, said Krayeske's ire was misplaced because DeStefano, not the governor, had consistently sought a two-candidate debate.

      "We think he ought to be angry at John DeStefano," Harris said. "He should not feel like he was used by the Rell campaign. There was never an attempt by the Rell campaign to use any of the minor-party candidates as pawns. ... Did he storm down to John DeStefano's office and videotape an angry confrontation with [campaign manager] Henry Fernandez?"

      The debate over the debates had been simmering for weeks, but it boiled over this week as time began running out before the Nov. 7 election. Eventually, Rell decided the issue had to be resolved, Harris said, so she agreed Friday to the one-on-one confrontation with DeStefano. DeStefano had accused Rell of avoiding him not only in a formal debate but in other venues in which both have been asked to speak.

      By agreeing to two debates, Rell avoided having four forums, which was common in previous gubernatorial elections. With a lead of 32 percentage points in the latest Quinnipiac University poll, Rell has nothing to gain by participating in numerous debates, Republican insiders said.

      Additional debates essentially would be giving free air time to the cash-strapped DeStefano campaign. In his battle with Rell, the Democrat has been at a severe fiscal disadvantage after draining his coffers to win the Democratic primary in August. DeStefano did not air any television commercials for six weeks before going back on the air Friday.

      DeStefano's spokesman, Derek Slap, said the two major-party candidates now can have a robust debate on health care, taxes, energy and other major issues confronting the state.

      "I view this as a victory for voters, who are going to have some real opportunities to contrast" the two major candidates, Slap said. "I think [Rell] felt the public pressure that voters really expected and demanded debates - certainly one-on-one debates."

      Third-party candidate Joseph Zdonczyk, of the Concerned Citizens Party, said it was particularly unfortunate and ironic that he was being left out in the present political climate. He said democracy was being stifled at the same time that Americans are dying in Iraq in order to spread democracy.

      "It's two cheap politicians playing cheap politics," Zdonczyk said Friday. "You have two narrow views - Republicans and Democrats. Who is representing the 870,000 unaffiliated voters in Connecticut? Nobody. It's obvious that the people's concerns have been shut out."

      Democrats and Republicans blamed each other for the ill will.

      "I think this governor doesn't want to debate," Glassman said. "She doesn't want to answer for her record of the past 12 years - 10 under Gov. [John G.] Rowland. We're disappointed and surprised that she abandoned her previous position of including the other candidates."

      Harris responded, "That's either the most ironic or most fatuous statement Mary Glassman has made to date. That is truly fatuous."

      Contact Christopher Keating at ckeating at courant.com. 
     

Thornton for Governor
PO Box 1971
Manchester, CT 06045
votethornton at yahoogroups.com<mailto:votethornton at yahoogroups.com>
www.votethornton.com<http://www.votethornton.com/>
860 657 8438-H
860 268 1294-C
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Paid for by Thornton For Governor
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