Will New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart Chose a Presidential Photo-Op over Principle?
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| Erin Stewart: Republican Free-thinker or modern-day Democratic Prop? |
But make no mistake, President Obama's visit to The Hardware City isn't merely some accidental pit stop on the way to his next golf outing; Mr. Obama is intentionally using a newly reacquired Republican stronghold as the back-drop to promote his half-baked economic ploy to raise the minimum wage.
Mayor Erin Stewart should be cautioned to carefully weigh the role she will play when the President's Circus comes to town. At a time when Connecticut Republican Party loyalists are furious over the perception that CTGOP leaders (and in particular their would-be gubernatorial candidates) are hesitant and weak on both economic and social issues, it will be critical for Ms. Stewart, a leading Republican, to avoid getting caught up in the theatrics of the moment, and remind Mr. Obama and Mr. Malloy that Connecticut's economy has suffered tremendously as a result of liberal Democrat policies enacted by both of their regime's administrations.
Instead of traveling around Connecticut to promote a short-sighted scheme to raise the wages of high school students employed by their neighborhood grocer, the White House and Governor's Office should be working to create real career opportunities for residents of the Nutmeg State. If Obama and Malloy surrogates persist to sell the line that they are trying to help the alleged 13% of seniors, and 55% of women stuck in minimum wage jobs, then perhaps you could ask them to lay out their specific plans to do so, and urge them to reduce the regulatory and tax burdens on small and large businesses, thereby creating better opportunities for the entirety of Connecticut's struggling workforce. She can also remind him of the CBO report which states that raising the minimum wage will result in the loss over a half million jobs in the USA.
On Wednesday, while the President dazzles his staged union audience, Mayor Stewart has an unique opportunity to either stand in the background, clapping, and cheering like most good little collaborative Connecticut Republicans usually do, or to greet the President like a brave, new opposition leader and point out the misgivings of his band-aid politics. This means refusing to play a part in his public relations charade.
This will be the test for an upstart CTGOP leader who could take this opportunity to teach our present State Party Chairman, noncommittal Republican politicians, and others what it's like to have real courage, and stand up for Republican principles which so many in our Party, have for too long abandoned. Anyone who tells you to put politics aside to aid the President in his photo-ops endeavor should remember that "silence is acceptance" and it's up to a few brave souls to respectfully protest counter-productive policies.
I AM
THE KING
5 comments:
King,
If she stands up on the stage with Obama, it's like sleeping with the enemy. You give her too much credit to be able to make a "principled" decision.
Good luck with that.
Leslie
She will handle it well. She must profess to her public that she has more confidence in them than obama and malloy and she's offended they choose New Britain for a minimum wage platform. The people of new britain are much better than that.
She will handle it diplomatically. Keep in mind she has a role to play with the whirlwind of security, emergency, and preparations. Politics comes second to that.
If it weren't for her daddy, Stewart wouldn't be in office. She is one and done. For all you know, she switch party anyway. She is more Democrat than Republican - especially with her liberal view on social issues. I'm sure Labriola will give her an award next year.
Stewart lost a lot of respect in the district by acting like a child over the President's visit. She's such an amateur that she was rude to Dennis House over twitter. Go back and look at the exchange, King - how dumb can the sow be? Well, what do you expect from an SCSU grad?
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