tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069955.post6053193608371550095..comments2023-10-26T08:02:44.948-04:00Comments on Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State: Parties, Nominating Conventions, And The Unitary StateDon Pescihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11167988001948356357noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069955.post-54427029154337726572014-05-20T13:52:53.701-04:002014-05-20T13:52:53.701-04:00competition among candidates
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There is no dou...competition among candidates<br />-----<br />There is no doubt competition, but for those of us out here trying to govern ourselves by choosing suitable representatives it is virtually impossible to determine what the competition is about. Foley doesn't appear to believe in anything so he fits right in with the traditions of the Republican Party's Nutmeg Branch. And how is his open-mindedness compared to McKinney's or Boughton's? God only knows, and at this point maybe even He believes that explication of public policy by politicians is closed-minded, exclusionary, and triumphalist; not to mention politically risky.peter brushnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069955.post-85096664900096907932014-05-20T11:17:02.700-04:002014-05-20T11:17:02.700-04:00As a delegate to the 2014 CT GOP convention I am h...As a delegate to the 2014 CT GOP convention I am happy to report I saw competition among candidates. We have a ways to go but, unlike the Democrats, we are not forced and don't walk lockstep with the state party organization. We think for ourselves and then choose to support the Republican Party. <br />It may be a little messy, but whoever said the republic would be free from challenges and contentious souls! We, in the GOP, have opinions and want the best candidates possible. The system by which we elect them can improve, but I am certain we are a more open Party than the CT Democrats. Since only a 15% vote total is needed to automatically move from the convention to primary cycle, I do question why we spend on a convention run by the GOP state party organization when we end up having a primary every election. We are 1 of 3 states doing this and it doesn't make much sense.Daria Novaknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069955.post-64465795307312092942014-05-19T09:37:47.433-04:002014-05-19T09:37:47.433-04:00advocated opening party primaries to all and sundr...advocated opening party primaries to all and sundry, regardless of political affiliation<br />---------<br />It surprises me pleasantly that whoever it is that controls the political process, either legislature or political parties, have not imposed open primaries on us. Not that our Republicans are prone to principled conservative positions, as yet able to articulate the virtue of constitutionally limited government, but it is organized around certain practical positions opposed to those of the radical social engineers, the Dems.<br />The left really does believe in openness, per se, really does believe that the happy society is one that perpetually challenges every (Western Civ) orthodoxy. The problem the Courant has is that it prefers multiple points of view to keep the established Dems honest, but it can't tolerate a party that disagrees with the principle of "openness," or that questions how we can afford the open society the Dems are imposing.<br />Robert Frost said writing "free verse" is like playing tennis without a net. Open (free) primaries are like playing tennis with both players on the same side of no net.peter brushnoreply@blogger.com