Connecticut
Post posts about what is happening in the State of Connecticut.
Quick Notes
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 21:20I wrote an article for SLNN which I had hoped would be up by now and I could cross post. It isn't up yet, so I figured I would write a quick post, so I could have something other than an automated post from ma.gnolia up today.
Besides writing the SLNN post, I have started reading a pre-release copy of Stephen Mansfield's book, The Faith of Barack Obama
Mansfield also wrote The Faith Of George W. Bush
It will be interesting to contrast the two books. In other news, we had a tornado warning here in Connecticut around dinner time and on Saturday I will be going to a SocialMediaBBQ.
Update: I had the wrong link for the book about President Bush's faith. Here is the correct link:
Democratic Delegates to Denver using Social Media
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 08/02/2008 - 09:45This morning, I had a fascinating discussion with Jen Just, who will be an Obama Delegate from Connecticut to the Democratic National Convention in Denver. One of the topics we discussed was the use of Social Media by delegates. We are both very interested in how delegates can use social media to widen the discussion around the convention and bring the message home.
To illustrate some of the tools available, I called into Utterz from my cellphone to leave this message about our discussion. It is from a cellphone in an area with poor coverage, so the voice is a little choppy, but still the message was up immediately and shows the power of how these tools can be used.
To continue the discussion, Jen and I will be doing a call in radio show Tuesday evening at 8 PM EDT on BlogTalkRadio about Democrat Delegates to Denver Using Social Media. If you are interested, please listen, and if you have some interesting comments, please call in.
There are a lot of things that delegates, bloggers, and guests to the convention can do to make it a powerful experience for everyone, but we need to start setting up things now.
One Less Primary
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 07/22/2008 - 19:44This afternoon, I received a copy of the letter from Matthew Brennan that he sent to the Secretary of State’s office announcing that he was withdrawing from the primary in his district. Audrey Blondin wrote,
I would once again like to thank Matt for all of his commitment, dedication & efforts on behalf of our party and the residents of the 30th District, and wish him all the very best for his future endeavors.
Mike Renzullo, whom Matt was challenging said,
“I want to thank Matt Brennan. By challenging me, he has made me a better candidate, and I appreciate that. I also think Matt shows his character by putting the interests of the party, and of the citizens of the 30th District, ahead of his own. I know Matt, and I’m confident he will lend his support to our campaign, and help the Democrats take this seat in November.”
Matt is a good guy and I wish him well. Now, it is time to focus on Mike’s campaign. Those of you that have been reading me regularly know that I’m very excited by Mike’s campaign. He’s a great candidate.
Until I received the emails about Matt, I was torn about whether to help with Marilyn Moore’s get out the vote efforts on primary day in Bridgeport, Trumbull and Monroe, or if I should head up to the 30th district to help out Mike.
For more information about Mike's campaign, be sure to check Mike Renzullo for Senate.
Orient Lodge designated historic
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 07/22/2008 - 14:01While we were on vacation, we got a couple phone calls from friends that let us know that Orient Lodge, our old house that we lost in foreclosure, not this blog, was on the front page of a Stamford newspaper.
The article was in the Stamford Times and talked about, “the board of representatives voted unanimously in favor of designating the home a local historic property”.
It talks a little bit about the person who bought the house. An old friend from Stamford commented here that there is some sort of connection to the school my kids went to and the church we went to.
It is great to read about the new owner falling in love with the place and about his plans for renovating it. It may seem a bit strange, but when things started moving towards foreclosure, I was more concerned about what would happen to the house than what would happen to me. I know that I will get by. The right opportunities will come along soon enough.
Yet the house, it needed someone special to love it, someone who would save it from being torn down and replaced with a McMansion. Now, it is protected as a local historic property and has a person who will help restore it in a way that I never could.
Marilyn Moore Addresses Trumbull DTC
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 07/21/2008 - 22:29This afternoon, I received a phone call asking if I would accompany State Senate Candidate Marilyn Moore to the Trumbull Democratic Town Committee meeting. Having worked with many campaigns, I’m used to these sorts of calls. Candidates should not attend meetings unaccompanied, and I’ve accompanied several different candidates to all kinds of different meetings.
I had not met Marilyn before, at least to the best of my memory. However, my wife Kim has spent a lot of time talking with Marilyn on various subjects and she speaks very highly of Marilyn. In addition, many other friends have spoken very highly of Marilyn, so I agreed to go along.
Marilyn is running in a primary on August 12 to be the Democratic nominee in the 22nd State Senate District, which covers parts of Bridgeport, Monroe and Trumbull. Her opponent is the Town Treasurer for Trumbull so the meeting had the potential to be interesting.
There were around 18 people attending the meeting, which started off with approving the minutes of the previous meeting and a brief treasurer’s report. Marilyn was given a chance to address the DTC and she spoke about working for the phone company, her role as head of the Witness Project which provides culturally competent community-based breast and cervical cancer education programs, and then her role as an assistant to State Senator Ed Gomes from Bridgeport.
After she spoke briefly, State Representative Tom Christiano asked her about her ability to serve constituents of both Trumbull and Bridgeport. She spoke about how her service with the Witness Project has helped her work with people from all across Fairfield County and how she looks forward to serving not only the constituents of Trumbull and Bridgeport, but also of Monroe which is the third town in the district.
After she was done speaking, a representative from the Himes campaign spoke about the listening tour that Jim Himes is doing across the Fourth Congressional district. When the speakers were done, they were offered to opportunity to stay or leave. Marilyn and I decided to stay and we were glad we did since subsequent topic was the resolution by the DTC calling on the State Legislature to pass the health care bill. Marilyn’s background in health care with the Witness Project makes her a particularly strong candidate to address these issues.
Other standard DTC issues were addressed, including nominating people to various committees and discussions about fundraising. Nonetheless, it was a quick meeting, even with the speakers, and it was soon over. Afterwards, Marilyn spoke with various people about the issues in the town before it was time to leave.
I spoke with her briefly afterwards. It seemed as if the evening went very well for her. I’m not surprised. She is bright, articulate, caring and an all around great candidate. I am glad I received the opportunity to accompany her to the Trumbull Democratic Town Committee meeting and got to know her much better. She will make a great State Senator.
