10/09/09 Progress report for GOP senate hopefuls aiming at Dodd

Chris Dodd's dream opponent -- had local Republicans gathered in Windsor cheering at a reception for four of the five GOP would-be senators last night.

Only Peter Schiff was a no-show.

All candidates think Dodd is soley responsible for the current recession. They don't like the stimulus. They hate taxes. One, Tom Foley of Greenwich, doesn't like federally-backed student loans. That's not likely to win many votes in Connecticut.

....I'm going to give Linda McMahon a solid C for her effort, despite the fact that her delivery is about as interesting as listening to an assistant principal read the morning announcements. This could be because she is trying to reshape her public persona, previously on display as a crass character in the wrestling ring.

Still she hit the right Republican notes, including her CEO background. No doubt her grade will improve as she grows more comfortable on the campaign trail.

Foley, who apparently decided to run after worrying that his son might not have the same opportunity as he did, needs to work on his stump speech. Should we be all that worried about the life prospects of a wealthy kid from Greenwich? Foley gets a C-.

There's interesting stuff there -- his return to Ireland as a political-appointee ambassador generations after his family left, working for President Bush in Iraq and building a business from scratch are pretty engaging stories. But what was that business? And what did he do in Iraq that only took seven months to complete?

Still, he gets points for noting the "sense of betrayal and resentment" that Sen. Dodd has created. Foley will only get better and, like McMahon, he has the money to hang in there until he does.....

Full story: blogs.courant.com

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