Martha Dean: A Fool's Errand

Even Conservatives Fear the Conspiracy Candidate

Long time readers of The King's View would imagine The King would be excited about the prospect of Martha Dean entering the Connecticut Gubernatorial Race, but if you understood the agenda of one of the CTGOP's loudest, opportunistic, bomb-throwers then you may have second thoughts too.  Dean's run is bad for both the Connecticut Republican Party, and for herself, and her family.

The issue is not one of qualification per se (although God knows we have way too many ambulance chasers holding public office these days mucking up our personal lives through an overreaching political system) but one of conviction and more importantly - of purpose.  Martha Dean's goal is to engage in a stratagem of self-promotion to improve her prestige with the gun lobby, enlarge her client base, and to damage the political aspirations of her Republican political enemies - most who happen to be less extreme than herself, and have a legitimate chance of actually winning the Governorship.  

The facts are clear. Dean has privately told several Republican insiders that she has no intention of campaigning beyond the State Convention (her intention also captured in the CT Mirror piece here) which tells anyone with half a brain that she's already quit before she's started. Since Dean is well aware that the CTGOP Convention process is rigged in favor of the establishment candidate, and she has a snowball's chance in hell of winning then why - pray-tell would she even bother jumping in at this late hour?

"Martha Dean's goal is to engage in a stratagem of self-promotion to improve her prestige with the gun lobby, enlarge her client base, and to damage the political aspirations of her Republican political enemies - most who happen to be less extreme than herself, and have a legitimate chance of actually winning the Governorship. " - THE KING

The reason has much to do with her well-paid role as legal representative of several gun rights groups which may possibly include the Connecticut Citizens Defense League (CCDL), National Rifle Association (NRA) and others - which for disclosure - The King also supports. And given our State Government's antagonistic behavior toward those believing in our Constitutional right to bear arms - then what's a better platform for Dean to expand her client-base than using the CTGOP gubernatorial stage to offer her billable services? It's The King's View that it's a bit disingenuous for her to take up one second of podium time at any Republican Town Committee when she's already announced that she doesn't plan to go the distance!  I would think twice before donating a penny to Martha Dean because she has no intention of being a serious candidate for Governor.

If Tom Foley, Chairman Jerry Labriola, John McKinney, and even Mark Boughton are paying attention (Joe Visconti is already actively engaged in Second Amendment advocacy), then not one of them should be happy to see Martha Dean turn the CT GOP Governor's Nomination process into a single-issue, Second Amendment media shot-storm! You think the media is celebrating now - just wait until the debates take place, and all the remaining candidates take collateral damage defending themselves against Dean's maniacal crusade!

The big problem for Chairman Jerry Labriola, Jr is that Dean's unhinged rhetoric will bring nothing but public scrutiny and humiliation upon the CTGOP. How does the head of Connecticut's Republican Party feel about a seeing one of his candidates for Governor make claims that the Sandy Hook Massacre might have been little more than a Government Conspiracy to erode Second Amendment Rights?  Dean aired her half-cocked conspiracy on both John Rowland's show and on Face the State with Dennis House.  The idiocy is unprecedented! The King can personally introduce Ms. Dean to a close friend of his who lost relatives on that horrific day.  To politicize this matter this way is personally hurtful to all of those who honor both the Second Amendment, and the victims and families of the Sandy Hook nightmare.

Martha Dean fancies herself to be cut from the same cloth as the late, great British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. But the difference between the two is stark; for unlike Martha Dean, the principled Lady Thatcher - never ran from a fight.  For example, back in 2010, Dean secretly met with a handful of Connecticut Republicans to discuss the clear and blatant corruption within Connecticut Republican Party Convention process.  At the urging of others, she penned a set of revised Convention Rules, but when it came time to present them - like a coward, she ran away from the issue, asked that her name be taken off as the author of the recommended rules, and refused in any way, shape, or form to stand with her allies and fight for CTGOP ethics reform.  Martha Dean is well known for saber rattling, but once the artillery starts firing, she's the first person to run away from a fight, and abandon her friends on the battlefield.

Another concern Republicans have about Martha Dean is that her convictions aren't genuine.  Much like this gubernatorial run, she watches quietly from the sidelines, carefully calculating the moves of allies and enemies, and only after determining the coast to be clear - enters the field of battle. Her never-ending, Johnny-Come-Lately waltzing in on the scene is what has frustrates her own friends in GOP-land; many screaming that she's often done nothing tangible (and non-paid) on her own to contribute to the cause, but she'll be the first person to demand an opportunity to address a revved crowd. As everyone knows -  there's never been a microphone that Martha Dean didn't like.  Evidence of Dean's lack of political activism even lead to her being voted down from formal membership on the Avon Republican Town Committee. One RTC Member told The King, "Martha refuses help anyone but herself. She won't lift a finger locally. She doesn't want to get her hands dirty, and thinks campaigning on the local level is for the little people.  Besides, none of what we do [in Avon] fills her coffers."  If it's not for profit, it's not for Martha Dean.

To add insult to injury - in 2010, Dean publicly criticized then-candidate Jeff Wright of Newington  for taking Citizens Election Funding for his State Treasurer campaign calling it UNCONSTITUTIONAL. She also criticized others. Now, only a few years later, Dean is taking what she once referred to as Taxpayer Welfare to run her own temporary spoiler bid for Governor. This shows Dean's lack of consistency, and exposes the hypocrisy of her feigned principle. When challenged about this by Jeff Wright, Dean said, "You can't win without it." Hasn't she earned enough off of the the gun lobby to finance five campaigns?

Wright is Right.  The whole Connecticut political establishment finds
it interesting.  You have to wonder how much longer, Good Ol' Tom will be smiling
once Martha Dean gets rolling!

Another question everyone is asking is since Dean's run isn't going beyond the State Convention, will she return every unused penny back to donors?  Or will she turn the money over to a charity which will then in turn hire her to represent their interests thereby creating a back door money-making scheme?

Lastly, unlike other blogs on the web, we avoid getting into candidates personal lives. But I have to say that given what has been published by media sources during her last campaign, and with what she's initiated as of late, I'm gravely concerned that the current personal controversy being widely-discussed in political circles will have a long term negative impact on both her and her family. Sympathetic Martyrdom is not achieved through self-inflicted wounds. Her conscious decision to nail herself upon the cross for all to see (for a profit) - as she twists and turns in the wind - is hardly worth the pain and anguish she and her family will suffer at the hands of a hostile press. With Dan Malloy on the ropes for his incompetency, Dean has become the Democrats' "great white hope" for survival in 2014.  Let's face it - she's a lightening Rod for GOP negativity which radiates from her out to the entire brand. Dean's claim that her announcement to run is "perfect timing" shows a real lack of judgement considering that the whole gambit is at stake.

Now I'm sure there are Republicans who love Martha Dean. She has some followers who are so out of their minds that they wouldn't care if she tried to pull a coup d'etat with a borrowed pistol (note to all: our pretended second amendment poster child doesn't even own a gun, let alone a pistol permit). And I'm sure her handful of brownshirts mean well when they blast her name everywhere.  But they aught to know that legitimate candidates don't announce a run for big time public office only weeks before the Nominating Convention takes place.  Martha Dean may have well gone to acting school, but she should have gone to scripting school - because there is no way in hell for her to have a happy ending.  A Fool's Errand?  It's already begun.

If Martha Dean loves her state, loves her country, loves her party, and loves her family, then she will not embark on a mission that will undoubtedly yield disastrous results for everyone involved, especially Republicans.

I AM

THE KING