Post by Dr.Ken Sokolowski on Oct 25, 2006 9:28:58 GMT -5
Editorial by the Manchester, CT's Journal Inquirer
"Some people say Gov. M. Jodi Rell will defeat John DeStefano Jr. in the race for governor because she is a nice lady. Others say she will win because, after the Rowland scandals, Rell and her modesty are refreshing. Still others say that Connecticut likes to vote for women and a woman incumbent is almost unbeatable. None of that is untrue. But none of it is the big reason Rell will win.
The big reason Rell will win was on display in her televised debate with DeStefano on Wednesday night: She has her feet on the ground.
Rell is an incrementalist. She proceeds step-by-step. She lives in the world of the possible and practical, not one of big "vision" or position taking. But that's also the nature of state government. That's what's good about it. Small steps make a difference.
The nature of state government is "stuff" like this: how to make highways less clogged; how to make commuter trains nicer, faster, and still affordable; how to keep college costs down; how to bring a few jobs to the state, here and there; how to extend the "Husky" health-care program to a few more children, instead of a few less.
Rell, like most of us, is a schlepper - one step at a time. Let's see what we can do here. Let's see if we can do what we can do well.
DeStefano, the long-time mayor of New Haven, has several problems. One is his style. He exudes disingenuousness just as Rell projects sincerity. He manages to combine this with a demagogy disguised as vision, and it's transparent as hell.
DeStefano, as a successful mayor, is probably really an incrementalist too. But he's not running that way. He's running as a big picture guy. He's going to travel the world to lure big industry here. He's going to give us universal health insurance, though he doesn't say how. He's going to - get this - make Connecticut housing affordable to all.
He tells us Rell is personally responsible for problems of equal size: high utility bills, high property taxes, high gas prices, the high cost of, well, everything.
Big picture guy. Big promises. Broad brush strokes. And, at the end of the fairy tale, "the big rock candy mountain."
DeStefano is going to pay for it all, he says, with a tax on millionaires, which doesn't sound bad to those of us who are not, and never expect to be, millionaires. When Rell pointed out that DeStefano's math didn't work, a millionaire's tax would not pay for all he wants, the mayor said, maybe what he was saying didn't make sense arithmetically, but in our lives, it does.
That's the other thing. DeStefano "cares." He told us again and again that he knows and understands us all. Really? Who asked him to? Skip the group hug. Just make one thing in government better.
The other trouble with DeStefano is that his compassion is vague, universal, unlimited. Rell's is focused. On any social problem he could mention, from homelessness to low school test scores, Rell could say, "Yes, that is a real worry of mine and here is what we've done so far." The only areas where DeStefano can get to the left of Rell are promises and spending, and here he is to the left of snake-oil salesmen and faith healers.
The people know state government is incremental. As with any complex undertaking in life, it really is all about small steps. They know that Rell's concreteness matches her apparent sincerity. They know DeStefano's abstractness matches his apparent insincerity. Rell will win because she seems real and her opponent will lose because he seems not to be."
©Journal Inquirer 10/19/2006
Why Rell will win
"Some people say Gov. M. Jodi Rell will defeat John DeStefano Jr. in the race for governor because she is a nice lady. Others say she will win because, after the Rowland scandals, Rell and her modesty are refreshing. Still others say that Connecticut likes to vote for women and a woman incumbent is almost unbeatable. None of that is untrue. But none of it is the big reason Rell will win.
The big reason Rell will win was on display in her televised debate with DeStefano on Wednesday night: She has her feet on the ground.
Rell is an incrementalist. She proceeds step-by-step. She lives in the world of the possible and practical, not one of big "vision" or position taking. But that's also the nature of state government. That's what's good about it. Small steps make a difference.
The nature of state government is "stuff" like this: how to make highways less clogged; how to make commuter trains nicer, faster, and still affordable; how to keep college costs down; how to bring a few jobs to the state, here and there; how to extend the "Husky" health-care program to a few more children, instead of a few less.
Rell, like most of us, is a schlepper - one step at a time. Let's see what we can do here. Let's see if we can do what we can do well.
DeStefano, the long-time mayor of New Haven, has several problems. One is his style. He exudes disingenuousness just as Rell projects sincerity. He manages to combine this with a demagogy disguised as vision, and it's transparent as hell.
DeStefano, as a successful mayor, is probably really an incrementalist too. But he's not running that way. He's running as a big picture guy. He's going to travel the world to lure big industry here. He's going to give us universal health insurance, though he doesn't say how. He's going to - get this - make Connecticut housing affordable to all.
He tells us Rell is personally responsible for problems of equal size: high utility bills, high property taxes, high gas prices, the high cost of, well, everything.
Big picture guy. Big promises. Broad brush strokes. And, at the end of the fairy tale, "the big rock candy mountain."
DeStefano is going to pay for it all, he says, with a tax on millionaires, which doesn't sound bad to those of us who are not, and never expect to be, millionaires. When Rell pointed out that DeStefano's math didn't work, a millionaire's tax would not pay for all he wants, the mayor said, maybe what he was saying didn't make sense arithmetically, but in our lives, it does.
That's the other thing. DeStefano "cares." He told us again and again that he knows and understands us all. Really? Who asked him to? Skip the group hug. Just make one thing in government better.
The other trouble with DeStefano is that his compassion is vague, universal, unlimited. Rell's is focused. On any social problem he could mention, from homelessness to low school test scores, Rell could say, "Yes, that is a real worry of mine and here is what we've done so far." The only areas where DeStefano can get to the left of Rell are promises and spending, and here he is to the left of snake-oil salesmen and faith healers.
The people know state government is incremental. As with any complex undertaking in life, it really is all about small steps. They know that Rell's concreteness matches her apparent sincerity. They know DeStefano's abstractness matches his apparent insincerity. Rell will win because she seems real and her opponent will lose because he seems not to be."
©Journal Inquirer 10/19/2006