Author: Daniela Altimari

An astute reader pointed out the irony of Torrington mayor Ryan Bingham dissing “career politicians.”

Bingham was first elected at 22, fresh out of Marist College, and, like most newly minted college grads, had very little work experience under his belt.

Moreover, he comes from a long line of folks who have made a career out of politics. His grandfather, Joe Ruwet, was a longtime state representative and his mother, Ann Ruwet, was serving in the legistaure when Bingham made his political debut.

But in his speech yesterday seconding Linda McMahon’s senate nomination, Bingham praised McMahon as someone who “has not spent her life in politics.”

Linda McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment who has never held public office before, has seized the Republican convention’s U.S. Senate endorsement from Rob Simmons, the party establishment’s one-time favorite.

But Simmons more than met the threshold for a primary at Friday’s convention and said he has no intention of dropping his bid. 

“I believe that the best thing I can do to help the Republican party to victory in November is to give them another choice,” he said during a brief address to reporters after McMahon was pronounced the winner. “And that’s why intend to stay in this race.”

Friday’s results marked a stunning turn of events for Simmons, who entered the race in the winter of 2009 as the favorite against politically ailing U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd. Throughout most of last year, Simmons, a former congressman and state representative from Stonington with enduring ties to the state’s GOP establishment, was the clear front-runner.

But McMahon’s immense wealth — and her willingness to spend it on the campaign — won her support. Since entering the race in September, she has crisscrossed the state, visiting town committees and cultivating the goodwill of delegates. Those efforts were supplemented by a television ad campaign, a relentless stream of mailers to voters and a large and well-paid campaign staff. She has spent $16 million so far, and has said she will spend up to $34 million more.

McMahon was also helped by the fact that she’s a newcomer to politics in a year when outsiders are winning races from Kentucky to Massachusetts. In fact, she acknowledged early in the campaign that she did not even vote in the 2006 general election and the 2008 Republican primary.

“This is the start,” McMahon said in her acceptance speech. “We are rebuilding and re-energizing the Republican Party. We’re going to send a Republican to Washington D.C. for the first time in decades…It was a good, strong, solid hard-sought campaign.”

McMahon’s money “certainly [was] a factor,” former congresswoman Nancy Johnson said moments after McMahon was declared the convention winner. “I don’t think it’s the overriding factor…if she weren’t as good a candidate as she is, the money wouldn’t be as effective.”

Johnson, a 12-term incumbent who was bounced out of Congress in 2006, supported Simmons. She said he did surprisingly well, given that the race pitted “an outsider with a lot of money versus an insider with not much money.”

McMahon’s theme — “It’s time for something different” — resonated with David Wilson, a delegate from Litchfield.   “I am tired of the same old political climate,” he said “They get elected and they go to Washington and they’re there for their purposes and not their constituents… Linda is not part of that political machine.”

The final tally showed McMahon with 737 delegates; Simmons, 632; Schiff, 44 and Forras, 7. 

The four Republicans were vying for the right to take on Democratic nominee Richard Blumenthal to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Sen. Christopher Dodd. After more than an hour of voting on the first ballot, the result was inconclusive and delegates had a chance to shift their votes between candidates.

Those who switched their votes had to announce their names to the convention. “This is the fun part,” said one party official. “This is where you get to be Judas in front of everybody.” 

Once it became apparent that Schiff had gotten only about halfway to the 15 percent threshold required for a primary, the Simmons forces started trying to persuade Schiff delegates to switch to their candidate. They argued that Simmons was more conservative than McMahon, and closer to Schiff’s way of thinking.

The battle between Simmons and McMahon was notable for its acrimony. Simmons made character an issue, consistently questioning the sexually graphic and violent content promoted by the WWE, as well as the use of steroids within the industry.

McMahon, meanwhile, focused on her outsider credentials.

“Linda has not spent her life in politics,” said Torrington Mayor Ryan Bingham, who seconded McMahon’s nomination. “If the people of Connecticut want a career politician, they’d just send Chris Dodd back for a sixth term.” 

Throughout most of the campaign, Simmons had repeatedly stated his intention of dropping out of the race if he did not win the backing of convention delegates.

But on Friday, after the results were tallied, he changed his mind.

New revelations that Blumenthal misrepresented his military record brought a wave of energy and additional endorsements to the Simmons campaign.  “We just saw that earlier this week a candidate who has not been a tough race for some years, an untested and unvetted candidate, can be brought to task by an experienced candidate. I believe there is a lot of time left in this campaign and I have sufficient funds to make a compelling case to voters before the primary – and that is what is what is expected by my family, my friends, my neighbors and my supporters, all of whom have asked me to stay in this race.”

Simmons, a Vietnam War veteran with two Bronze Stars, highlighted his military record throughout the campaign. A video shown to delegates before the roll call vote featured several photos of him in uniform.

“My father believes in this country and the people who make her great,” Jane Simmons, Rob Simmons’ daughter said in her speech seconded her father’s nomination. “He is optimistic that our best days can still be ahead. He is what is needed in a Senator from Connecticut. He has the breadth and depth of experience to confront the critical issues. And he has the determination and courage to do what is right.”

Schiff intends to collect signatures to secure a place on the primary ballot. He said he was stunned by the outcome of the convention. “I’m surprised how out of touch the delegates are,” he said. “I’m a very unique candidate and this country is in a lot of trouble,” he said outside the ballroom where votes were being cast. “The reality is they’ll nominate somebody and I’ll beat that person in the primary. I’m clearly not going to win here.”

While the convention appeared to be deeply divided over who should be the party’s nominee, Republicans were united in their dislike of Democrats. Each time a photograph of Blumenthal or Dodd appeared on the large video screen at the front of the ballroom, the room exploded in raucous “boos.”

When McMahon mentioned Blumenthal’s name during a brief acceptance speech, delegates again broke into more boos. “I venture to say we’re going to lay the smack down on him come November,” said McMahon, surrounded by her husband Vince, her daughter and son-in-law and her mother. “We’ve got a tough fight. Let’s work together.”

Courant staff writers Jon Lender and Jenna Carlesso contributed to this story.

It’s got to be “Schiff Happens.”

Linda McMahon’s husband just arrived at the GOP convention, along with other members of the McMahon family, including daughter Stephanie and son-in-law Triple H.

Regardless of whether or not his wins the Republican nomination, Peter Schiff’s new book, “How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes,” won a lot of fans.

The broker and financial pundit from Weston held a book signing at the convention Friday night. He gave away 300-plus copies of the book.

In Connecticut, the Working Families Party was quick to respond with a statement of support and gratitude for Dodd’s work.

By tomorrow night at this time, Democrat Richard Blumenthal may already be crowned his party’s U.S. Senate nominee. It’s a moment he’s been waiting for all of his political life, but only time will tell if this week’s revelations that the he misrepresented his military service will destroy his ambition. 

The White House “reached out to us to see how they could be helpful,” campaign manager Mindy Myers said today.

In addition to serious revelations that Richard Blumenthal misrepresented his military service, there is also the matter of his role on the Harvard University swim team.

Two profiles of Blumenthal, one that appeared in Slate magazine in 2000 and a second in the Courant’s Northeast magazine in 2004, both state — incorrectly — that Blumenthal was captain of the team. The inaccuracies were mentioned in this week’s New York Times article on Blumenthal’s misleading and false statements about his military service.

Blumenthal told the Times that he “did not provide the information to reporters, was unsure how it got into circulation and was ‘astonished’ when he saw it in print.”

The Times story says that “[r]ecords at the college show that he was never on the team.” 

But Waterbury native Peter Alter, who was the captain of the Harvard swim team in 1968, the year after Blumenthal graduated, told the Courant this morning that Blumenthal was on the team.

He was a freestyler and “was actually a pretty good one,” said Alter, now a lawyer in Glastonbury who still on occasion talks to Blumenthal.

The Yankee Institute for Public Policy, a conservative think-tank based in Hartford, unearthed a trove of photographs from Harvard that show Blumenthal was at least associated with the team.

A photo from the 1964 Harvard College yearbook, posted on the Yankee Institute’s Facebook page, shows Blumenthal participating in a Harvard swim meet his freshman year. “However, if Blumenthal was on the Harvard swim team, he is not included in the team’s group yearbook photo that year,” Yankee’s executive director Fergus Cullen noted in an email.

Blumenthal campaign manager Mindy Myers said it is her understanding that Blumenthal was a member of the freshman swim team at Harvard.

The captain of the swim team in 1967, Blumenthal’s senior year, was James Seubold, who is now a doctor in the Chicago area. He could not be reached for comment.

Alter, who was a diver and only the second diver in school history to be named captain, said it is a “big deal to be named captain” of any Harvard sports team.

Alter said he talked to Blumenthal a few years ago, when both of them were at a function. The two men joked about the inaccurate references to Blumenthal being the team captain. The attorney general told Alter “he had no idea where it came from.”

“He said he had tried to figure out where it had started and that he had never claimed to have been the captain,” Alter said.

1967 Harvard yearbook entry, via Yankee Institute for Public Policy        

One possible source: A March, 1980 profile in the Courant, written when Blumenthal was U.S. Attorney.

“Blumenthal, a bachelor, now usually does Connecticut work during nights in Washington and on Saturday and Sunday trips to his office in Bridgeport,” the article states. “A one-time marathon runner and former captain of the Harvard swimming team, he still tries to run or swim daily.”

A July, 1978 article in the Courant describes Blumenthal as “the blond, blue-eyed, sun-tanned 6-footer, a former captain of the Harvard swimming team.”

And 1969 Life magazine profile of Blumenthal begins like this: “Dick Blumenthal is 23 and at the center of the world. He lives there hungrily, bearing that special guilt of affluent postwar youth, a Harvard magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 100-yard freestyler in 51.0, square jaw, burning eyes, mannered and muted.”

From there, the swim team detail found its way into both the Slate piece and the Courant magazine story. David Plotz, the author of the Slate article, told NPR media critic David Folkenflik that he never spoke to Blumenthal.

“It’s definitely not from him telling me that he was captain of the swim team, nor his people,” Plotz told Folkenflik. Plotz added that he relied on earlier media coverage.

Former Courant staff writer Beth Hamilton, author of the Courant magazine story, said that, without looking at her notes or the tapes of the extensive interviews she conducted with Blumenthal in 2003, she has no way of knowing for sure whether Blumenthal gave her the information, or whether he confirmed it.

“I looked in the Courant files and read the Slate article,” Hamilton said. “If it was in our paper, I probably I would have felt comfortable with it.”

The wealthy Litchfield County businessman and Republican candidate for Congress from the 5th District has decided not to seek the party’s support at tomorrow’s nominating convention.

Instead, he’ll continue his efforts to petition for an August primary.

“I have said from the beginning that I would take my message directly to the 92,000 people of the 5th District,” Greenberg said in an email. “The decision to represent  ‘We the People’ in Congress is too important to leave in the hands of 330 delegates to a Convention. We should let 92,000 voters make that decision, not 330 political insiders.”

Greenberg, who is fighting Republicans Justin Bernier, Sam Caligiuri and Bill Evans for the right to take on incumbent Chris Murphy in November, is staking a position as a political outsider.

“My Republican opponents are individuals who have made government their careers – one as a career elected politician and the other as a government bureaucratic staffer.  Whichever candidate emerges victorious from the Convention, will be a career politician,” Greenberg said. “I am not a career politician.  My career has been in the business world – not the political world – and that gives me the “real world” perspective that my opponents lack.    I pledge that I will put the people’s interests first and bring real change – and basic, common-sense business practices to Washington.”

The Simmons camp tonight rolled out the endorsement of Jonathan Bush, brother of former President George H.W. Bush and son of former Connecticut Senator Prescott Bush.

“Rob understands that ‘public office is a public trust.’ He will serve his country with honor and distinction as he has for his entire career – as a soldier, CIA official, teacher, and elected representative.  Rob is motivated not by ambition, but by the desire to continue his life of service on behalf of the people and the country he loves,” Jonathan Bush wrote.

There’s a lot more to say on the topic of Blumenthal and the press, but a few commentators have begun to weigh in.

Colin McEnroe: Is that all you got?

The Laurel’s Kevin Hill: Plenty of blame to go around

Terry Cowgill: Blumenthal’s charm offensive protected him from criticism

NPR’s David Folkenflik: Media misspoke as well 

Quinnipiac’s Rich Hanley (via CT Mirror): Missed and misplayed

Lost in the crush of Blumenthal news was this significant endorsement: Republican Peter Schiff has won the backing of the Connecticut Grassroots Alliance, a loose network of 28 conservative and Tea Party-affiliated groups.

“No candidate in America better understands the fiscal mess we are in than Peter Schiff,” Vivian Rockwell, cofounder of Distressed Patriots for America, said in a statement. “The Washington establishment pretends we can borrow our way out of debt. Peter Schiff knows we must face facts and cut spending. He has the courage and the financial expertise to tackle our economic woes.”

Schiff is clearly hoping to replicate Rand Paul’s stunning victory in Kentucky yesterday, though it has to be said that Connecticut and Kentucky are two very different states.

“Washington is filled with career politicians who have traded our constitutional principles for a couple of votes,” Schiff said in an email. “The American people are tired of it. Americans want to get back to the principles this country was founded on.”

Paul’s win is an example “of the enthusiasm and power of the Tea Party movement which focuses on these founding principles of lower taxes, less government and fewer regulations. Americans want a smaller government, and they are consistently sending that message with their votes,” Schiff said.

If a video clip of Richard Blumenthal stating at a 2008 Norwalk event that he served in Vietnam is a smoking gun, the attorney general’s supporters are hoping that the full video might put some of the fire out.

Early in his speech, Blumenthal clearly states that he served “during the Vietnam era,” although a few minutes later, he makes a reference to “the days that I served in Vietnam.”

The full clip, first reported by the Associated Press today, is being widely circulated by the Blumenthal campaign, which is clearly relishing this glimmer of positive news. 

“It shows exactly what he said yesterday,” said Blumenthal spokeswoman Maura Downes, referring to Blumenthal’s admission that he “misspoke” about his record on “a few occasions.”

“In that same speech, he very clearly stated what his service was,” Downes said.

And where did the complete, 5 minute, 45 second clip turn up? On Linda McMahon’s YouTube channel. (And not on the New York Times website. The Times broke the story about Blumenthal’s misrepresentation of his military record and gave prominent play to the brief clip but as of 2:34 p.m., the longer version did not appear to be posted on the newspaper’s website.)

UPDATE: When asked whether the Times intends to post the full video on its website, Spokeswoman Diane C. McNulty said in an email that it is the paper’s policy not to discuss “what will or will not be published in future editions of The New York Times.”

On larger questions about the paper’s Blumenthal reporting, McNulty said the following:

“The New York Times in its reporting uncovered Mr. Blumenthal’s long and well established pattern of misleading his constituents about his Vietnam War service, which he acknowledged in an interview with The Times.  Mr. Blumenthal needs to be candid with his constituents about whether he went to Vietnam or not, since his official military records clearly indicate he did not.

The video doesn’t change our story. Saying that he served ‘during Vietnam’ doesn’t negate his later statement.  It doesn’t indicate one way or the other whether he went to Vietnam.”

Richard Blumenthal surrounded himself with veterans at yesterday’s presser where he explained his occasional military embellishments. The message to Connecticut voters was clear: If these folks don’t have a problem with the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, why should you?

One of those who stood with the AG has already drawn scrutiny. Elliott Storm of Milford. Conservative veterans groups and bloggers claim that Storm is a poser who invented a record of heroism.

RedState.com says “Elliott Storm would also be known as Charles Joseph Trumpower. He enlisted in the Marines and, unlike Blumenthal, actually served in Vietnam where he got one less Purple Heart than John Kerry. Mr. Trumpower, for reasons unknowable to anyone but him, decided reality was insufficiently impressive so he commissioned himself a Marine officer and added a Bronze Star with “V” device and another Purple Heart to his awards.”

I could not reach Storm for comment, but my colleague Susan Campbell, interviewed him briefly yesterday afternoon.

Referring to criticism of Blumenthal, Storm said, “you know who this kind of thing bothers? People who never served, never wore a uniform, that’s who. They don’t understand your commitment. I’ve been living with these sacred scars for 40 years, this harassment and belittlement. We are still living it.”

Storm isn’t the only veteran whose appearance at yesterday’s press conference has drawn criticism.

Phil Vasington, president of Leathernecks Connecticut MC, a group of Marines who also happen to be motorcycle enthusiasts, was annoyed when he spotted a newspaper photo of one of his members at the press conference wearing the club’s official regalia.

“We’re a non-political organization,” Vasington said this morning. “We’re not taking a stance on the issue.”

But when a member wearing the group’s vest was caught on camera hugging Blumenthal, people could assume the group is supporting the embattled Democrat, an assumption Vasington wants to correct.

Then there was Peter Galgano, spokesman for the Marine Corps League of Connecticut. Galgano had a prime role at the presser, introducing Blumenthal and saying he has always been “completely straightforward about his honorable service in the Marine Corps Reserves.”

Michael A. Blum, the league’s National Executive  Director, wants to make it clear that Galgano’s appearance was in no way sanctioned by the group.

“The Marine Corps League categorically disassociates itself from any comments made by a person who spoke at a press conference today in defense of Connecticut Attorney General Blumenthal and referred to himself as a member of the Marine Corps League several times, giving the impression that his statements were representative of the Marine Corps League’s position on the matter,” Blum said in a statement.
 
“The National Bylaws of the Marine Corps League clearly state, in part: ‘the Marine Corps League shall never take part in any labor or management dispute or issue, and it shall be ever non-sectarian, non-political, and non-partisan; nor shall it be used as a medium of political ambition or preferment.’
 
“Whether or not the politician misspoke or distorted his military background is a matter for the citizens of his state to decide.  The Marine Corps League has not authorized any of its members to make a public statement on this issue in that doing so would violate our covenants.”
 
   

Reeling from revelations about Blumenthal’s military embellishments, Democrats are going on the offensive. And that means going back to the YouTube vault, scouring the site for unflattering videos of the McMahons.

That’s where they found this little nugget, starring Linda McMahon’s husband, Vince.

McMahon press aide Shawn McCoy dashed off a tweet last week about Rob Simmons’ stance on the Bush business and dividend taxes.

The Simmons’ camp cried foul, saying McCoy was misrepresenting the former congressman’s views. FactCheck.org, a respected and non-partisan group that monitors the factually accuracy of political speech, agrees.

To bolster his claim, McCoy cited Simmons’ criticism of millions of dollars in film and television tax credits that World Wrestling Entertainment received while McMahon was CEO. 

“Simmons’ campaign called the credits McMahon’s “own personal stimulus package.” But the Simmons camp said its issue wasn’t with the tax credits themselves. Instead, it criticized McMahon for campaigning against government “bailouts” while her former company was receiving millions in taxpayer dollars,” FactCheck states.

It’s the second time the McMahon campaign has been slapped by FactCheck for misrepresenting Simmons’ record.

The Connecticut Senate race entered a new era this week. Rvelations that Democrat Richard Blumenthal embellished his military record on several occasions, his once-stratospheric public approval rating has taken a huge hit.

“The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Connecticut finds Blumenthal with just a three-point advantage over Linda McMahon, 48% to 45%,” Rasmussen states on its website. “Two weeks ago, he led the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment by 13 percentage points. The New York Times story broke late Monday; the survey was taken Tuesday evening.”

Blumenthal performs better against Republicans Rob Simmons and Peter Schiff, besting them by 11 and 16 percentage points respectively.

The smoking gun in the case against Richard Blumenthal is a videotape of a 2008 event in Norwalk on which Richard Blumenthal recalls the days that he served in Vietnam.

And Hearst Newspapers’ Brian Lockhart has tracked it down to a senior housing facility in Norwalk. 

The housing complex director Mary Windt said her staff “filmed the festivities and later provided DVD copies to all of the attendees, including Norwalk’s mayor, various state legislators, the lieutenant governor, Blumenthal and then-U.S. Rep. Chris Shays, who is the focus of a New York Times story alleging that Blumenthal’s military exaggerations developed over time.

“Dick Blumenthal has been my friend for more than 25 years,” Dan Malloy said.

“He said he misspoke several times, and that he regrets it.  I believe when the people of Connecticut measure his entire body of work against these misstatements they will put them in the proper context and move on.  I look forward to working with him when I’m Governor and he’s a U.S. Senator.”

And Chris Dodd, who has known Blumenthal for almost 40 years, said Blumenthal is “an honorable man who has served his state and country proudly. He is a terrific Attorney General and he will be a great United States Senator.”

Veteran Capitol reporter Chris Keating reports that Blumenthal’s current troubles – and how he handled them – evoke memories of another high-profile incident in his career.

During his 1990 race for attorney general – his first race for statewide office – Blumenthal faced a story that a restrictive covenant on his home mortgage in Stamford prevented the sale of the property to African Americans.

The covenant, which was present on other properties throughout the country, would have allowed discrimination of buyers of the property on Dolphin Cove Quay – an upscale area near Stamford’s waterfront. The home was a condominium, where the surrounding land was held in common ownership.

The story spread quickly, and Blumenthal handled it by holding a press conference in much the same way as he did Tuesday. Instead of the army of veterans who gathered around him Tuesday, Blumenthal appeared in April 1990 with state Sen. Margaret Morton, an African American from Bridgeport who supported him.

Morton spoke on behalf of Blumenthal at the time – in which he was facing a bitterly fought contest against Jay B. Levin, a New London attorney who was also seeking the Democratic nomination for attorney general.

Farmington attorney John Droney, who was a Democratic powerhouse at the time as the state party chairman, said that Blumenthal had handled the issues in the same way. Droney, who served in Vietnam, attended Tuesday’s news conference in West Hartford with the veterans.

“It’s repeating itself – both in 1990 and now,” Droney said.

Droney, though, says that the current stories about Blumenthal are far more severe than the 1990 ones about the real estate covenant.

“It didn’t have the sizzle that this thing has,” Droney said. “It wasn’t that big a deal.”
In both instances, various supporters rallied around Blumenthal.

“That’s a tribute to him – in both instances,” Droney said. “You’re going to get attacked and when you’re attacked, you stand up.”

Reached Tuesday night in Washington, D.C., Levin said that he battled Blumenthal for the nomination for 1 1/2 years, four nights a week at Democratic town committees and events around the state. He said that people brought Blumenthal’s Vietnam record to him as a source of controversy.

In addition, Levin said both in 1990 and Tuesday night that he had nothing to do with the stories about the real estate covenant. Stating that both he and Blumenthal are Jewish, Levin said that he cannot imagine anyone of Jewish ancestry being involved in the restrictive covenant.

“I accept his explanation on that as I did back then,” Levin said of the covenant.
Despite their clashes, Levin says now that he considers Blumenthal to be a friend. As such, he strongly defended Blumenthal – saying they were together numerous times in front of crowds where Blumenthal could have embellished his record.

“It was crystal clear to me that he never, ever said he served in Vietnam,” Levin said. “We were much closer to that era when we ran.”