{news} (Manchester J.I.) Green enters race in 1st Congessional

[Tim McKee]

Connecticut
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Green Party candidate enters race in 1st Congressional District
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By Kimberly Phillips
Journal Inquirer

Published: Friday, April 18, 2008 12:12 PM EDTA Green Party challenger
has announced that he will run for U.S. Rep. John B. Larson’s seat,
saying the five-term Democrat hasn’t done enough to fight President Bush.

“He’s a very nice fellow, thoughtful and caring and all the things you’d
want in a public official — except resolve,” candidate Stephen Fournier
of Hartford said Thursday of the Larson. “He was lacking in that.”

Fournier, who is a lawyer and only recently joined the Green Party after
having been a Republican for the last five years, said his candidacy is
something he agreed to after participating in a discussion group that
focused on talk of presidential impeachment.

The informal group came to the conclusion that there’s “ample evidence
they’ve committed serious crimes,” Fournier said of Bush and Vice
President Cheney.

After reaching this conclusion, Fournier said, he met with Larson to
discuss the matter further and presented him with a dozen questions
asking Larson what could be done and whether he’d be willing to do
anything.

But, Fournier said, he didn’t get a satisfactory answer, prompting his
campaign for the 1st Congressional District seat, which he said is rooted
in fighting against “lawlessness in government.”

“I’m not unrealistic; I certainly wouldn’t expect to win,” Fournier said
of his campaign in the Democrat-heavy district, adding that he hopes only
to shift discussions “leftward.”

He noted, however, “Of course, I would like to win the election, but I’m
a nobody.”

Fournier’s resume is extensive. He served in the U.S. Air Force as a
Hungarian language voice-intercept processing specialist from 1966 to
1970, and went on to graduate from the University of Connecticut in 1973
and its law school in 1978.

Among other jobs, he’s been Hartford’s assistant corporation counsel and
legal editor and managing editor of Business & Legal Reports Inc. He also
is a self-taught painter, cartoonist, and computer programmer. Fournier
served on Hartford’s Board of Education from 1995 to 1997.

While he joined the Green Party only within the last year, Fournier said,
he worked on Ralph Nader’s last two presidential bids and on campaigns
for others running for state office, having been active with the party
for the last decade.

In addition to Larson, of East Hartford, West Hartford Republican Joe
Visconti has announced his candidacy in the 1st District, which includes
East Hartford, East Windsor, Manchester, South Windsor, Windsor, and
Windsor Locks.

Fournier said he hasn’t met Visconti but said that “West Hartford
politicians have been very effective in getting things done.”

Visconti is a first-term town councilman who describes himself as an
“activist” and unsuccessfully led the fight against the public financing
of Blue Back Square. He is likely to receive the party’s nomination
during the convention May 10.

Two years ago, New Canaan resident Miriam Masullo unsuccessfully
contested the Republicans’ choice, sending the nomination to a primary.


Copyright © 2008 - Journal Inquirer



Tim McKee, Manchester CT, Home-860-643-2282
Cell-860-778-1304
Tim McKee, is a National Commitee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT.
BLOG- http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com 



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