As a heads-up, tonight, make sure to set your clocks back one hour.

For those who are interested, I just finished reading a great piece on the history of day lights savings time...take a look.

I've received several requests from people who couldn't attend the 5th CD debate between Congressman Chris Murphy and James Galante's BFF David Cappiello.

To be honest, since no one is really paying that much attention to this race (due to way Cappiello has ran his laughable campaign), and just about every pundit and pollster in the country has this race locked for Murphy, I've been spending more attention to the 4th CD race between Jon Himes and Chris Shays as well as focusing my attention on the various State Rep and State Senate races across the state for my other site.

Also, since YouTube has upgraded my account, I've been having a tough time uploading all the video clips. You see, since I have a very old account, and well over 1,000 video clips uploaded, YouTube now allows me to publish videos in high definition with no time constraints. That being the case, the video clips I'm uploading are VERY LARGE but hopefully I'll have the rest of it up later today.

Once everything is up there, I'm post my report on the event and show how Cappiello not only made a complete ass of himself with his idiotic answers and questions, but also show something that was not picked up on any other broadcast...the negative response from the audience to Cappiello...as well as the audience response to Murphy who made a very clever reference to Cappiello that everyone in the know in the room understood crystal clear.

Stay tuned...

With election day around the corner, one of my favorite Congresswomen, Maxine Waters, came to Connecticut to show her support for Jim Himes.

Here's some photos of her visit (via the Himes campaign):

...and it's not even close.



One of the most interesting things about this poll, as well as everything regarding the incompetence of City Clerk Jean Natale, was that so many people had no idea that she was moonlighting as a Justice of the Peace during City Hall operating hours.

As the municipal election season fast approaches, and the planned expansion of HatCityBLOG goes forward, more controversy surrounding Natale's activities will be exposed to a much larger audience. Hopefully the material presented will be used to conduct a more extensive investigation into Natale's habits.

For a refresher course on the worse City Clerk in the history of Danbury, click here.

Many of you wondered why I haven't paid that much attention to the race between Chris Murphy and James Galantes BFF David Cappiello.

It's simple:

At this time two years ago, pollsters were all over the 5th Congressional district trying to get a feel of the race between then Congresswoman Nancy Johnson and Murphy. It seemed like every other day there was a new poll conducted by someone as well as a new ad from the two candidates. For those who don't remember, Murphy pulled off a tremendous victory sweeping Johnson on EVERY SINGLE VOTING MACHINE in Danbury.

Well, that was then and this is now...and NOW is BORING. Cappiello's attack ads are LAME and if you really look at the production of his ads, you can clearly tell that all the footage of him came from the same shoot he did a few months back downtown (that's ALWAYS a BAD SIGN).

Cappiello never really had a message...just a laundry list of laughable attacks that were based on the latest headline of the day. Taging Cappiello to his shady past would have been child's play since there is SO MUCH evidence pointing him to questionable decisions...I mean come on, we're talking about a person who worked for a home broker who tool illegal bundled campaign contributions from a trash hauler with connections to the mob folks.

In the end, as most pollsters and pundits knew all along, it just wasn't worth the time for anyone to pay attention to the 5th CD race. Based on Murphy's populatiry, and the incredible bad decisions Cappiello made throughout his campaign (i.e., not doing enough to get his name more known outside Danbury, spending TOO MUCH TIME in Danbury, not establishing a message, too busy hosting fund raisers with the beltway elite, etc), it was pretty much certain that David Cappiello is toast...in a BIG way.

If today's endorsement in the News-Times wasn't enough for you, or if Cappiello's "i know I'm going to lose" closing statements at last night's deabte didn't catch your attention, then the article in today's Courant is basically the nail in Cappiello's coffin.

Connecticut television viewers were bombarded two years ago with hours of advertisements, often disparaging the two veteran lawmakers and their challengers in Connecticut's 2nd and 5th Congressional districts.

The national political parties pumped millions of dollars into both matchups, considered among the hottest in the nation.

In the end, both challengers won as Democrats swept to power in Congress. Joe Courtney beat Republican Rep. Rob Simmons by a mere 83 votes. And Chris Murphy managed to defeat 24-year-veteran Republican Rep. Nancy Johnson by a 12-percent margin.

Things are a little different this year. As Courtney and Murphy seek second terms, the fervor surrounding the two races has dissipated. Neither seat is targeted by the national parties, despite the incumbents being freshmen. Even the television advertising is sparse compared to the 2006 onslaught.

"There's just the one district now that seems to be competitive now," said Gary Rose, a political science professor at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, referring to the 4th District matchup of Republican Rep. Chris Shays and Democrat Jim Himes.

A University of Connecticut poll conducted in late September of likely voters showed Courtney leading his Republican challenger, former submarine commander Sean Sullivan, 50 percent to 23 percent. UConn has not polled in the 5th District, but Murphy is expected to have the edge over Republican state Sen. David Cappiello.

No matter what Cappiello's says from this point on, even he knows the drill. Everyone gets it, Cappy wants to go out with his head up high but there is NO WAY ANY INTERNAL POLLING HE HAS shows him even within striking distiance of Murphy.

NO WAY.

With Obama's lead in CT at over 20 points, the new number of registered voters tipping overwhelmingly towards the Democrats, and the fact that Murphy's record in the 5th CD is really good, the question isn't who's going to win this race, it's rather if Murphy can land Cappiello the ultimate embarrassment and A: beat him in Danbury or B: lose to Cappiello in Danbury by less than 4 points.

Either way, although most in the poltiical circles won't say it publically, this race is basically over.

...nothing to see here...more along. You want action, then keep your eye on the 4th CD race between Chris Shays and Jim Himes!

On of the most attended meetings this month was the public hearing on Pocono Lane.

For those who don't know, when it comes to traffic concerns, Pocono Lane takes the cake. This stretch of road is connected to Newtown Road next to Fast Freedies and the residents have to endure traffic coming off of Exit 8 as well as cars looping around Newtown Road back towards Danbury. If you ever exited the gas station during rush hour and tried to get into the left lane to get back into Danbury, you know what I'm talking about when I say that the traffic is a nightmare.

I'll grab more information on the proposed development of this road in later posts but since people who attended the meeting requested that I post the footage, I thought it would be best to just make the video available for viewing now...

If you had enough of the politics and want a break in the action, here's an interesting forum that you might want to consider attending tonight.

The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Danbury will host the Connecticut Pilgrims for Peace for a night of discussion on October 30th, at 7:30 pm.

The Connecticut Pilgrims for Peace is a group of people from many different religious faiths who have come together to promote a message of peace throughout New England, Beginning in New London CT, on September 28th, with stops in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, returning home to New London on November 9th.

For the past two years, the Pilgrims were led by Rev. Eric Swanfeldt, Fr. Emmett Jarrett,
And Rev. Glennys Ulschak, although members from various denominations, and religions have joined them in their walk and their discussions, including members of the Unitarian Universalist, Muslim, and Jewish Faiths.

At each stop, the pilgrims engage members of their host communities in discussions about peace and social justice, with conversation points such as:

• How to abolish the causes of war in ourselves, and our country


• How shall we make Healthcare, education, food, housing, and adequate income available to all?


• The Moral responsibility to care for the earth, which we share with all of its’ inhabitants.

Lynn Taborsak, a member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Danbury’s Social Action Committee says of the event, “We are very excited to host the CT Pilgrims for Peace. We believe that the message that they bring, and the opportunity for dialogue is a critical one in the difficult times we are facing in a national and global context”.

“Admission for the event is free, and all are welcome, and indeed encouraged to attend” says the congregations Social Action Committee Chair, Jean Hislop “As a faith that promotes the cause of peace, equality, and social justice, we are excited to be able to gather with our brothers and sisters of all faiths, and from many different communities,
to celebrate the common beliefs we share, and to discuss how we can live them, and exemplify them in our communities".

Member, Chris Halfar, adds “In times which can sometimes seem so dark, it is rather refreshing, and healing to refocus our attention on those issues which are universal, critical, and positive. And not only to discuss these issues, but to come away with a clearer idea of what we can do to create a better society, in which we all can live”.

The address of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Danbury is 24 Clapboard Ridge Rd, Danbury, CT. Refreshments will be served following the discussion.

At the debate last night, the topic of discussion wasn't Cappiello's god-awful performance, but the outrage over his lawn signs that his campaign is illegally placing throughout the Greater Danbury area.

For weeks, I've received emails from people throughout the 5th District who are upset over Cappiello's signs that are being placed on city or state owned land. From Newtown to as far as New Britain, people have been complaining about the arrogance of the Cappiello campaign as they litter the off and on ramp up and down interstate 84 with signs placed illegally. I also received several complaints from business owners unaware that Cappiello's campaign placed signs on their property and had to rip the signs up.

The last few days in Danbury has been completely unacceptable and the anger reached a boiling point that resulted in signs being removed.

To illustrate Cappiello's nonsense, I took the advice of readers who emailed me and took a trip around the Germantown area with my video camera. The area I traveled in labeled in red in the following map...



Now, in the videoclip (taken on Tuesday afternoon), EVERY SINGLE LAWNSIGN was illegally placed either without the permission of the owner OR on city owned land. Now, in order to understand the law (and for purpose of this video), the property that's owned by the city includes the strip of land between the street and sidewalk and any islands in the middle of the street.

Keep that in mind when you watch this clip...



After complaints, as of last night (before the debate), most of the signs in the clip were removed BUT there are numerous other Cappiello signs placed in illegal places. People in Newtown and Brookfield were particularly pissed off to find Cappiello signs littering the off ramp of exits 9 and 11 and pulled them up (NOTE: In Newtown, residents REALLY get upset down on lawn signs in public places). I also received reports from officials in towns along I-84 who reported the same problem.

It comes down to this. Lawn signs are MEANINGLESS when you litter the entire area. Signs are suppose to be used as a show of support for a candidate by a property owner. In the case of Cappiello, he probably lost votes because of his campaign placing signs where ever they wanted. It's to a point where the only solution would be for the city to enact an ordinance that would fine campaigns who illegally place signs on public property.

...what part of illegal doesn't Cappiello's campaign understand?

This is a HatCityBLOG LIVEBLOG event!

The trainwreck called the Cappiello campaign is coming to it's last stop before it totally breaks down on election day.

The last debate between Congressman Chris Murphy and David Cappiello happens today at 7:00 PM at the Portuguese Center and I'll be on hand capturing the moment on video. Now, I don't know if they have WiFi down at the Center but if they do, I'll see if I can carry the debate live online. If not, I'll have the video online by tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I'll be bringing you video clips, images, and commentary from the debate while it happens. The Danbury News-Times is also live blogging which you can view by clicking here.

NOTE: This liveblog starts at the BOTTOM of the post. In other words, the most recent post will be at the TOP of this thread!

...and here...we...go.

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10:30: Well, as with most live blog attempts, this one was MUCH harder than expected. My cell phone and blogger didn't want to work together so I was unable to post photos, video and text from my phone to the blog. What made matters worse was the fact that there was Wifi in the Center but I didn't expect that so I left my computer at home.

No need to fear, I spent my time filming the debate and getting reactions which...for a LARGE extent favored Murphy and gave a resounding THUMBS down to Cappiello.

After listening to his closing remarks, that it seems like even Cappiello sees the writing on the wall and he knows he's toast. His answers to questions made NO SENSE...hell some of the questions MADE NO SENSE.

....okay, I'll hold off opinion until I edit and upload the video but I'll say that this race is NOTHING like the race in 2006...that meaning that Cappiello didn't run a campaign as a challenger as effective as Murphy did against Johnson.

6:25: I'm off to the event...more reports later! Remember, you can also join in the conversation over at the News-Times site...


5:15: While I'm capturing video reports from people who are REALLY angry with all the Cappiello signs on city-owned property OR on their own property WITHOUT PERMISSION, here's a cross post I did on ConnecticutBLOG on Murphy and Cappiello's appearance on Fox61's Beyond the Headlines The Real Story.

---

On Fox61's Beyond the Headlines The Real Story, Chris Murphy showed why he'll have no problem winning re-election in his conversation with David Cappiello.

While James Galantes's best friend whined and tried to attack the freshman Congressman with nonsense (going as far as to pull an O.J. Simpson talking points out of his ass), Murphy actually talked about issues that are on the minds of the people in the 5th district.

Grab your popcorn, the Cappiello train wreck is a treat to watch.

Part 1:



Part 2:



Part 3:



5:00: From their first debate, here's video footage of Chris Murphy basically making Cappiello look like a whiny kid who had too much sugar.



4:50: Well, the David Cappiello campaign made asses of themselves and pissed off just about EVERYONE in the Germantown area today with their IDIOTIC lawn sign droppings.

Seriously, there is A LAW against placing lawn signs on city owned property OR on property without permission but I guess Danbury's native son thinks he's above the law. Starting yesterday afternoon, the Cappiello morons started dropping lawn signs ALL OVER THE PLACE annoying the hell out of everyone. My inbox was flooded with complaints from angry readers wondering where they should voice their anger and many of them just went out and pulled the signs up themselves.

If you think you see one of Cappiello's annoying lawn signs in a city owned land or in a improper place, take a photo and email it (and the location of the sign) to hatcityblog@yahoo.com. Several of you have already sent me photos (as well as one reader who was so upset that he shot video of the signs around his neighborhood.

I've talked to people at City Hall requesting contact info of the person to forward the complaints to and I'll provide that info later.

(NOTE: Cappiello has been placing signs on the HIGHWAY in Newtown and Brookfield in the past as well. Those towns have since removed the signs and are really pissed off at Cappiello right now).

Last Thursday, the Danbury chapter of the NAACP held it's annual gala at the Plaza hotel. From those who remember, last year's gala was a memorable event with the key note speaker had a few words to say about mayor and those involved in the racist email scandal (and who can forget Boughton running out of the room after THAT speech). Well, this year, with the economy on the minds of everyone, the NAACP found the perfect speaker who knew a thing or two about the number one issue in America...State Treasurer Denise Nappier.

With it being the end of the election season, the politicians were out in force. Most absent all Republicans running for office...for the exception of Mayor Boughton (who reportedly gave a rather cold shoulder to ARC member/immigrant rights supporter P.J. Leopold while at the table of Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi...very classy Mark).

From last week, here's highlights of the NAACP gala including remarks from State Treasurer Nappier.

(h/t to the great Scarce for grabbing this clip before me)

From last week in Stamford, here's video footage of the 4th CD debate between Jim Himes and Chris Shays.