The GOP is so funny. Once the decision was made to send Bush in to help Cappiello make some wealthy friends, they had a problem. Connecticut hates Bush. But the President is a proud man, and he would hardly countenance traveling across 5 states to raise money for a candidate that was ashamed of him. So would there be a picture with Cappiello and the President?

Fortunately, there's documentary evidence of the event, so let's subpoena roll the tape:



(Frames 75-83: POTUS meets with SEN CAPPIELLO. Lower right: CT GOP secretary Rose Mary Woods reviews the tape of the meeting.)

Oh noes! It would appear that the information that we're after has been somehow erased – we may never know what was said or what embraces were exchanged in that fateful meeting between the President and his deputy!

Seriously, though – I don't know if they were inspired by the presence of Nixon administration giant Henry Kissinger, or if there's some biological imperative forcing conservatives – like salmon swimming upstream – to erase the evidence when the shit goes down.

But still, you have to admit that pulling a Rose Mary Woods on their Flickr photostream is a pretty ingenious old-school move. Introducing a sample of Nixon-era squalor into a 2008 political campaign shows that, however misguided their policies, the Republican Party still shows respect for the classics.

BONUS: Here's a taped conversation between Nixon and Hadelman, 35 years to the day before yesterday's meeting of Bush and Cappiello. PDF transcript / Audio clip 1 and clip 2.

• Rick Green of the Hartford Courant wrote a great piece on the stupidity behind Bush speech on Malaria IN HARTFORD while he ignores the real troubles in the North-End.


• Connecticut Opposes the War is your ONE STOP site for all your protest information.


• If you looking for a newspaper that's covering the protest, look no further than The Litchfield Times


• Want to make a statement, help offset Cappiello's shameless fundraising with our grassroots contributions.

Help offset President Bush's fundraiser against freshman Chris Murphy and challenger Jim Himes. Donate today!

This Friday, George W. Bush is coming to Henry Kissinger's house in Kent, Connecticut for an exclusive, $1000 a head ($10,000 for a snapshot with the President!) fundraiser for Republican Challenger David Cappiello (running against Democratic Freshman Representative Chris Murphy) in Connecticut's 5th Congressional District. Bush ally and war cheerleader and health care bamboozler Chris Shays (R-CT04) (who is facing a strong challenge from Jim Himes) is a co-chair of the event.

In response, Connecticut Progressive bloggers are joining together to raise money for Chris Murphy and Jim Himes. While we may not have the deep pockets necessary to compete with a $1000 a head fundraiser, we do have the people-power to send the message that a President Bush fundraiser will activate our base and add money to the coffers of our candidates! Click here to donate! $100, $50, $25, or even $5 will help send the message that President Bush is a liability in 2008.

While President Bush's visit will give the failing Cappiello campaign some additional money, and provide Chris Shays with a chance to spend a little time with his buddy, we just can’t let this happen unanswered. That’s why we’re joining together in an effort to raise 250 additional contributions for Jim and for Chris (Murphy) over the weekend.

There are more of us than there are of them. Help us prove it, and send the message that Republican congressional candidates and congressman can’t profit by toeing the Bush line.

Click here to donate to Jim Himes and Chris Murphy, and to say no thanks to President Bush!

President George W. Bush will make a short stop in Hartford’s northend Friday morning before zipping off in Marine One to Henry Kissinger’s home in Kent to raise money for Republican Sen. David Cappiello’s campaign against U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, D-5.

Bush is expected to speak at the Northwest Boys and Girls Club on Nahum Drive around 9 a.m. Friday morning. The topic du jour for the president will be malaria, which fortunately is not one of the many problems that plague Hartford.

Unfortunately, none of the boys or girls will be there to greet him since the club doesn’t open until the afternoon. We know this because we used to run a program at the club. At the moment it’s unclear who his audience for the malaria speech will be.

But it also might have to do with the fact that Bush, by coming here for official business, becomes an affordable speaker at a campaign fundraiser the same day for congressional candidate David Cappiello. Since Bush will be in Connecticut anyway, the Cappiello campaign will have to pick up only a small share of the president's travel.

So what is the Cappiello campaign saving by having the U.S. taxpayer cover the cost of the event?

Even when the White House deems a trip as political, the cost to Bush's campaign is minimal. In such instances, the campaign must only pay the government the equivalent of a comparable first-class fare for each political traveler on each leg, Federal Election Commission guidelines say.

Usually, that means paying a few hundred or a few thousand dollars for the president and a handful of aides. It's a minuscule sum, compared to the $56,800-per-hour the Air Force estimates it costs to run Air Force One. [...]

The reimbursements do not cover the cargo planes that shuttle the president's limousines and helicopters to every event, or travel expenses of White House advance workers who lay the groundwork for the trips.

So let's pretend that the cargo plane at the right travels for free (baloney), that there are no added staff costs to shipping the President's entourage to Connecticut and back, and that it costs nothing for Air Force One to remain parked on the tarmac for a number of hours (ha ha).

Even if all of those things were true, it would cost roughly $120,000 for Air Force One's round trip. But we're not even talking about Cappiello dodging a $120K bill – the FEC apparently lets campaigns pay only for the cost of a plane ticket for each of the "political passengers" on a government-funded trip (according to this USA Today story which also supplied the above estimates.) That would be only a few thousand dollars, though the White House never lets the press know how many political travelers are on any given flight.

So what does Senator Cappiello -- one of only eight Senators to vote against the 2005 Campaign Finance Reform bill -- have to say about making the taxpayers pay for politicial campaigns? Fortunately, it's quite well documented:

Cappiello, 11/30/2005

Thank you, Mr. President. And through you, to Senator DeFronzo, I am not making the argument to be clear, that we are both going too far and not going far enough. I think we’re going too far with taking taxpayer dollars, yes.

We took, as a Republican caucus, a huge step, a very, very bold step, to go against what most of us believed to be one of the worst things we could ever do, and that is to get the taxpayers to pay for our campaign.

I was quoted in the paper, I think as saying, I hate the idea, and I still do. I have never hidden that fact at all.

Cappiello, 6/7/05

Please understand, I do not tonight, nor have I ever liked public financing of campaigns. I have never kept that a secret. I think they’re a big waste of time and taxpayer money, and I’m saying that right here and now.

Cappiello, 4/12/2000

Finally, this bill is anything -- anything but voluntary. Just because you or I, or anyone in this Chamber or in the House, or anywhere else that's running for office, decides we are voluntarily going to abide by these spending limits, the people whose tax dollars we are taking, yes, we are taking, are not volunteering their tax dollars.

In no other scenario in the state of Connecticut do we say to the taxpayer, you may earmark your tax dollars for whatever you want. Because if you could, I would send every dollar that I owe to my local education funds.

Because I know I'm not getting my share of ECS funding. None of my towns are. But, no, instead we're going to take the tax dollars and say, yes, I can earmark all of your tax dollars to this fund.

So, it is voluntary for us. It is not voluntary for the taxpayers.

Isn't this what kind of reform people back home are looking for? I have never once had anyone call me saying, please, please, please take my tax dollars and use it for your campaigns.

Donors can give up to $16,900 at this week's event – as it's for both the CT Republican Party and the Cappiello campaign – so it wouldn't be out of the question for them to cover the costs of bringing the President to Connecticut. After all, Cappiello obviously believes in his deepest heart of hearts that taxpayers shouldn't be forced to pay for his campaign – so I'm sure his campaign will do the right thing here.

Right?

It's not known if the old Election Day joke about dead folks voting in Bridgeport carries any truth. But in every southwestern Connecticut municipality, if the deceased could get to the polls, they would still be eligible to vote.

University of Connecticut students conducted a study using three public databases in their research, including one that went back as far as 1937. They also used the state's master death file that dates back to 1974.

The students found 293 dead people remain on Bridgeport's voter rolls. But a dozen dead people were still registered in Easton; 161 in Shelton; 177 in Milford; 223 in Norwalk and 71 in Stratford.

Alas, there's no evidence that anyone drifted out of local cemeteries and cast their ballots, although human error at the polls was responsible for marking them erroneously as having cast ballots.

[...]

Dead on voter lists in 13 cities, towns.

Bridgeport- 293

Ansonia - 70

Danbury - 68

Derby - 56

Seymour - 30

Milford - 177

Fairfield - 111

Shelton - 161

Monroe - 29

Easton - 12

Norwalk - 223

Stamford - 71

Stratford - 18

One thing that I was wondering is why a candidate would decide to do a fundraiser asking for $10,000 contributions from wealthy contributors? Why publicly align yourself with a president crossing new frontiers in durable unpopularity on a daily basis? Doesn't it take enough nerve to ask for $2300 checks from contributors? Don't you want to distance yourself from the failures of the past, especially if you're not connected to them?

I see that as tragic, disastrous politics – but there's a reason why you'd do it: because you're addicted to special-interest money, and because you're afraid to ask the real people living in your district for $100 contributions.

It shouldn’t be that difficult. Why some people are saying, I really need it. I’m used to it. I’m used to getting that ad book money. I’m used to getting the lobbyist money. I’m used to the PAC money. I can’t do without it.

We can do without it. Our constituents want us to do without it. For better or worse, whether they’re right or wrong on this issue, whether it’s a real problem or just a perception, when you ask your constituents what’s the biggest problem when it comes to campaigns and financing of campaigns, they will say, the influence of special interest groups. [...]

Now that it’s 1: 54 on June 8th, in the morning of the last day of our Legislative Session, I am asking the Members of this body to support the real clean elections amendment, the amendment that will say no to special interest money now.

Because you know what? If we don’t, I guarantee the moment the other one passes, if it even passes both Chambers, I guarantee there are going to be people in this room who are going to be rushing to those lobbyists, and those PACs, and those contractors, and those special interests to please put money in my coffers now.

I need a leg up on my challenger in 2006, because somehow I can’t go and ask the real people in my district for a $100 contribution. Why is that so tough? Thank you, Mr. President.

—Sen. David Cappiello, Senate Transcript, 6/7/2005

Maybe Cappiello can't be bothered to ask commoners for $100 to support his campaign, but I know that Chris Murphy isn't above a little bit of grassroots love. He came by in November to talk with MLN readers about Iraq without asking for a nickel, so I'll do the ask – can you give $100 – or even $10 or $20 – to help Congressman Murphy fight back against the $10,000 checks Bush will be raising for his opponent this week? The MLN fundraising page can be accessed over on the left column of this page, or by clicking here.

Calling her 22-year career as State Senator for the 26th District “challenging but very rewarding,” Judith Freedman, 69, of Westport, announced she would not seek re-election this fall.

On the steps of Wilton Town Hall Monday morning, flanked by long-time supporters, fellow legislators and friends, Ms. Freedman endorsed the candidacy of State Rep. Toni Boucher, 58, of the 143rd District in Wilton and Norwalk, to replace her.

“There are always compelling reasons to make one want to stay in this job, but this is the time for me to move ahead and for someone else to take up the torch,” Sen. Freedman said. “After a great deal of thought, soul searching and consultation with my husband, I have decided not to seek re-election for the State Senate.”

“I am proud of the record I forged on your behalf. Whatever I have done, it has always been with and for the people of the 26th,” she added.

I'd like to thank Senator Freedman for her years of service to the 26th District, and particularly for her work advancing educational opportunities in Connecticut.

2008 is shaping up as a huge year of change, both nationally and locally. We need new leadership to deliver affordable health care for small businesses, to bring tax dollars back from Hartford to invest in our overburdened transportation system, and to promote environmentally responsible economic growth.

This race presents a real opportunity for a vigorous discussion of the issues facing our state, and I call upon whoever becomes the Republican nominee to join me in a series of debates about how to move Connecticut forward.

As previously announced, my fund raising efforts across the seven towns that make up the 26th has resulted in an outpouring of support that will qualify me for public financing through the new Citizens' Election Program. There is a real desire for a change from politics as usual, and I offer a fresh approach to bringing an effective voice to the people of this district.