Memo to Kelly Clark, West Hartford Town Council Candidate
Dear Mrs. Clark:
You seem like a very nice lady. I'm willing to bet you are a loving and caring mom, and a great wife. You seem sweet when you smile and giggle during your West Hartford Television appearances. And you even appear attentive and generally interested in the conversation being conducted in front of you by your opponents during televised and live debates.
But what the blazes are you really doing in this race? Who hoodwinked you into running for Town Council when its apparent to anyone watching that you are out of your element? And you clearly aren't comfortable talking in public about issues and matters of public concern, or articulating your position on any matter. And you aren't comfortable engaging or debating or doing anything that remotely resembles passion for being a candidate for public office.
What is going on here? Was this your idea? Your husband's? Or someone else?
Yesterday, I watched you give your closing statement on WHCT. Surely, if you had real passion for being on the Council, you would have told viewers you want to be elected for better reasons than "keeping traffic flowing" or keeping sidewalks and roads safe. You want to be the safety candidate. And you are worried about recycling measures. Fine, but that doesn't make for any sort of platform on which to run for public office. And furthermore, you don't have to be elected to champion any of those worthy causes. You had an eternity to craft your message to the voters, and you gave them 10 seconds of silence before you could knit together a few empty statements.
It's probably too late for you to withdraw. I expect that your message of "safety for all" probably won't resonate with our citizens. And I'm sure you probably don't expect to win at this point. But I'm disappointed that you took a spot (an endorsed spot) that would have been better suited for someone who really wanted to run for Town Council on behalf of the residents of West Hartford. And I'm very disappointed in the West Hartford GOP for putting you in such an awkward and embarrassing position. They should be ashamed. And you should be disappointed.
The next time someone suggests that you do something that you are not comfortable doing - like run for office, please tell them politely "no". Being a politician takes passion and willingness to fight for ideas in a public forum. That's just not you.
Best of luck in the future. I hope you enjoyed the experience. I just hope that you being the weakest link on the ticket didn't help embolden or catapult the West Hartford Democrats to an easy victory in November. There is so much at stake for those of us who really want a change in tax and spend policies, I just wish you considered our situations before you embarked on this half-hearted venture.
The King
West Hartford Republicans OR West Hartford
7 comments:
King,
I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t like my debate performance. No, I am not used to being in front of a camera, nor am I comfortable there, but I am working on it and will get better as we move along. As many people know I am new to this and am trying the best I can get my message out.
If you didn’t like my performance at the debates, I encourage you to take a look at the entire campaign. As I meet people from all over West Hartford, I am truly overwhelmed by the response I am receiving. It is really encouraging to know that someone who is new to politics can get out there and change some minds.
Also, it sounds like you want to know more about the issues that are important to me in this campaign. As the mother of young children, traffic and safety concerns are important to me (as is recycling), but I also think that we need to enact pro-growth mil rates to grow our tax base. It is no secret that lowering the rate of taxation encourages more business and development in town. This increases the tax base and, in turn, increases tax receipts. Combined with responsible budgeting, West Hartford can avoid painful budget fights by avoiding painful tax increases and benefit cuts. It’s that simple!
I encourage you to visit www.whgop.org and click on my link under “Meet the Candidates.” Also, check out the voter’s guide that appeared in West Hartford Life a week ago. It lays out many of my positions very clearly.
Finally, as my husband will attest, nobody can or did make me do anything. I decided to run for town council because I wanted to give back to the town and I thought my experience as an attorney, the ideas I outlined above and my perspective as a mom would add something to the council. The Republican Party and its members were kind enough to honor me with the opportunity to do just that.
Thanks,
Kelly Clark
Kelly,
Thanks for writing back. Your responses seem somewhat canned, and I see that you posted the same thing in WHBlog. Which is fine, you are entitled to defend yourself.
It's true that I didn't like your debate performance, nor your performance on the Republican Candidates show with Kevin (frankly Kevin and Visconti carried that show). There is a lot at stake in this election for taxpayers. You have to understand the consequences for your using this first time run as a learning/development exercise on the rest of us.
Many of us out here are fed-up with West Hartford taxes and out of control spending. We are fed up with the utter contempt by those elected officials who make deals in the backroom over teacher's and administrative salaries.
So when we see you fumbling up there and you should be hitting homerun after homerun with all of the material provided you by four years of Democratic control and you do NOTHING with it - then you have to understand my position. It's pretty disturbing actually. Can you not find it in you to show ten minutes of disgust and outrage?
If you are going to represent us, you need to show that you truly understand our position. Why do you conceed the high ground that was yours to keep? Why do Republicans in this town act like they are battling for second place?
Sending me to your website is further aggitating. Frankly, its poor form since you know that there is very little in the way of detail on that site that spells out precisely what YOU or your hopeful collegues will do if elected.
At least you acknowledge its an honor to run. Lawyers in politics are a dime a dozen. I respect your perspective as a mom more than your vocation as another trial lawyer - God knows we have legions of ambulance chasers out suing the death of out everyone over everything to make a buck. Unfortunatly, you lose points in that catagory, sorry.
Here is my post in response to Fred Garvin:
All too easy.
I suggest you open the paper up and read it. My integrity and honesty are perfectly fine, what about yours?
How about starting with the endorsement of six West Hartford Democrats? http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/editorials/hc-endorsewh.artoct19,0,6196505.story Republicans need not apply? And the editorial board?
And tell me Fred - which of these scary faces has a hint of conservatism: http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/columnists/ (except Larry Cohen once in a while plays it down the middle).
Should I go town by town and write out the endorsements that the Courant has made this year?
Hey and don't forget about Bob Engelhart, your friendly left wing cartoonist. (Of course he occassionally bashes Lieberman for his hawkish views on defense particularly when it comes to protecting the only democracy in the region - Israel).
Call me when you have a point to make, ok?
Kelly Clark ran because her husband was forbidden to run by his employer. She changed her party affiliation to "R" the afternoon of the Republican convention so she could put her name in the race in place of her husband's. That speaks volumes.
Gee, I really hope that Kelly Clark didn't change parties that day as you claim. What did she switch from? (Gulp, I'm afraid to ask).
I did hear that Kelly took her husband's spot because he a conflict of interest because his lawfirm is somehow representing the town. I thought it was weird that a wife would be substituted for husband unless she was the best qualified candidate available. Only the GOP nomination committee could answer that.
So if all of the above is true, it would mean greater criticism is warranted of Mrs. Clark, wouldn't it?
Kelly Clark was a registered Republican at the time of the Referendum last spring according to the voter registration rolls.
So mush for the libel from Anonymous.
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