{news} Reply to Amy Vas Nunes' claim that "Dodd... has no real opposition and will easily be reelected"

[James Lavin]

Amy Vas Nunes replied to my post that "I THINK DODD HAS DONE SOME GOOD 
THINGS  ALSO BAD AND HAS NO REAL OPPOSITION AND WILL EASILY BE RELECTED. 
I THINK ITS A WASTE OF ENERGY AND ANY SMALL MONEY WE HAVE. WE REALLY 
NEED TO TARGET LIEBERMAN INSTEAD, AMY"

Thank you for responding, Amy. I agree the Green Party must use its 
money and energy strategically, but the 2010 Senate race is a HUGE 
opportunity for the Greens.

Lieberman must go, but he will face very serious opposition (if he even 
bothers to run a hopeless campaign). Joe can't win the Democratic Party 
nomination, and he will lose the general election to a strong Democrat, 
perhaps the now well-known and seasoned Ned Lamont.

The Green Party has a unique opportunity to compete for a U.S. Senate 
seat in 2010 because:

1) Dodd is crippled... not wounded, but crippled (see polling data 
below) because he's taken tens of millions from financial corporations 
and then helped them destroy our economy and suck up TRILLIONS in 
taxpayer bailouts. Dodd was at the center of the financial storm. He 
also inserted language that allowed bankrupt banks to keep paying fat 
bonuses and then lied about having done so. And "He didn't know he was 
getting special treatment from Countrywide. Then admitted he did know." 
(www.courant.com/news/opinion/editorials/hc-rennie-dodd-election-stumble.artapr12,0,1823683.column). 
I could list many other huge problems, including Dodd being the author 
of HAVA (www.truevotect.org/resources/Dodd_mtg_2005.03.17.pdf; 
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4073), which spread unauditable blackbox 
electronic voting machines nationwide; and,

2) The "obvious" beneficiary of Dodd's demise is the Republican Party... 
but it itself is currently crippled. Republicans pushed harder for the 
de-regulation that killed our economy than anyone. CT residents today 
don't want to send a Republican to DC.

So the people of CT will REALLY be open-minded about third-party options 
in 2010. Given voter disgust with both Republicans and Dodd, the door's 
wide open for the Green Party.  It's truly a unique opportunity because 
voters are sick of corruption and sweetheart deals and Republican bull.

According to 
www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/04/the_most_vulnerable_senator_up.html:

"A March 26-28 Quinnipiac University poll of registered voters showed 
Dodd with a 30 percent favorable/58 percent unfavorable rating and his 
job approval at 33 percent approve/58 percent disapprove. Four in 10 
Democrats disapproved of his job performance.

More troubling, he was 16 points behind Republican opponent Rob Simmons, 
a well-regarded former Member from eastern Connecticut who was 
overwhelmed in the Democratic wave of 2006. Dodd was losing independents 
by more than 2-1, and Simmons was winning more than 1 in 4 Democrats.

The poll also showed Dodd trailing Waterbury state Sen. Sam Caligiuri, 
who recently entered the race, and former Ambassador to Ireland Tom 
Foley, who is considering his options. Caligiuri held a 4-point lead 
over Dodd even though 88 percent of those responding hadn't heard enough 
about the state lawmaker to have an opinion of him."

--James Lavin