Unable to Justify Support, Visconti and Others Bail on Linda McMahon

Even The King and the members of his Court must recognize moral courage and conviction when we see it.  Below you'll  find a scathing email which we were requested to publish on October 29th.  Admittedly, we stalled on the request because we wanted to make certain that the author, Joe Visconti, was serious about his decision.  As readers know, The King's View hasn't directly called for Connecticut Republicans to withdraw support for Linda McMahon.  But that doesn't mean that not supporting her on Election Day isn't the right thing to do given how she and her campaign have conducted themselves during this season.

Here is the email in it's entirety:

Linda McMahon Lost My Vote- I'm Joe Visconti and I Approved This Message.

Just this morning I texted Justin Clark and asked him if the Obama Linda ads were still being aired, Justin texted back to me that they were down. Well I was just watching Channel 3 Eyewitness News with Denise and Dennis and almost fell off the damn couch as an “I’m voting for Barack Obama and Linda McMahon” ad came on.

Last Monday I went on the John Rowland show and asked Linda to take the ads down or I would not vote for her. Last Tuesday I went on Fox 61 with Laurie Perez (4, 10 & 11pm News) while keeping it cool to shield Linda and explained that folks cannot vote for Linda if the ads continue and again I asked for the ads to be taken down. Well today I’m not asking anymore, I’m telling Linda, you lost my vote as a Republican.

I will not vote for Linda McMahon and I will “ENCOURAGE” every Republican I know not to vote for her. Leave the line empty or write in the name “Benedict Arnold” it doesn’t matter to me, but do not vote for Linda McMahon or Chris Murphy (For those who think I would ever suggest voting for him).

Why not vote for Linda many will ask? For many reasons and the first one is our CTGOP Headquarters has fielded countless calls of outrage from Party Loyalists because of these ads and the damage is presently irreparable for which I concur.

Our Chairman is under siege for not calling out Linda while many of his foes stoke the fire of revenge fired by envy of his success for which I feel very sad about. Jerry and his staff have been put in a terrible position and I encourage him to demand the ads be pulled for the sake of the Party Faithful who are sick to their stomachs as I write this.

Also to the State Central Members who Justin Clark promised the ads would be pulled down by last Thursday I feel your pain as you have to continue receiving berating calls from those you represent.
Lastly I spent considerable personal time (as a volunteer) with other volunteers I recruited at the Bristol Victory Headquarters calling every Republican Town Committee Chair in the State (169 total) asking for financial support in the name of Chairman Jerry Labriola so that we (the CTGOP) could purchase thousands of Romney/Ryan lawn signs which were in high demand after the debates.
The response from the RTC Chairs was overwhelming and we raised thousands upon thousands of dollars in that effort. And for what, so that Connecticut Republican voters can be proud to display the Romney/Ryan signs on their lawns just to get laughed at by their registered Unaffiliated and Democrat neighbors who saw Linda join forces with Obama?

Never mind the Linda sellout of DOMA or during her ridiculous debates stating that she would not help her Party (The GOP supposedly) to overturn any Women’s Issues (referring to Roe) but now this financial support for an Obama Get out the Vote Effort?

To sit by and watch as Linda systematically and deliberately sells out the CTGOP for the hopes of gaining African American Votes would be unconscionable.

Does anyone with half a damn brain actually believe Connecticut African Americans by any margin will vote Independent and not vote the Democrat line in Connecticut?

Guess what Linda et al, this next week will be a teachable moment for you, and do you know why? Because your actions have caused the Party Loyalists to think, wait a minute, Mitt Romney is so good and can work across Party lines to get things done when he is President that we don’t need to win a US Senate seat, especially at the price of selling out our Party and what we stand for. And you know what? Many are starting to think America may just be better off and just might heal the divisive damage done by Obama if Democrats retain control of the US Senate. That’s right. This idea is now on all of the minds and tongues of the Party Faithful.

In the end Linda McMahon forgot who brought her to the dance and she also forgot that 30,000 Christopher Shays Primary Voters and I will never forget her betrayals come Election Day.

Vote for Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and the entire Republican Under ticket except Linda McMahon.

Joe Visconti

The fact is that we're less than a week out from Election Day and most people have already decided how they intend to vote.  Those few who haven't yet decided will likely follow their inclinations based on what they've seen and heard via TV ads, debates, or what's being said around the water cooler.  Since neither Chris Murphy or Linda McMahon distinguished themselves on the issues, or gave the public any valid or overriding reason to disqualify support for their opponent, it's more than likely that Connecticut political demographics won't be upset, and Chris Murphy will wind up the victor.

It's The King's view that where Linda lost the election was not through her corrupt purchase of party delegates, lying about her mortgage/personal history, her phony war against the media to attempt to generate sympathy from independents, or even her betrayal of Mitt Romney in her most recent ad, but she killed her electability because of the totality of her candidacy, and the shallowness of her person - simply unfit for the job.  Her performance in the debates gave Connecticut residents all they needed to know about her lack of knowledge and comprehension of the issues - if you can't make basic ideological arguments by drawing from details after nearly four years of studying and campaigning, then you're just not electable.  How hard would it have been to do the work, and at least prepare for a series of debates and make coherent arguments in a thoughtful and convincing way?  Her performance reeked of laziness which we found more frustrating than anything else. 

And after all her time as CEO of WWE, the only mildly creative spark came last week in the form of an ad depicting multiple, black and white Chris Murphys surrounding a full color version of herself.  But beyond the short-lived giggle even that ad falls short of content. In truth, it's going to take only one Chris Murphy to defeat her on Tuesday. 

Funny, but pointless.

Through social media outlets, Linda's surrogates are doing everything they can to deflect her decision to move not to the middle, but to the left.  Most Republicans realize that Linda must secure the registered 420,000 GOP voters, and a large portion of the 950,000 registered unaffilated voters to win, so the McMahon campaign's intentional decision to abandon its base to reach out to Democrats is a fool's errand.  Democrats aren't going to trade all of something for half of who knows what in Linda McMahon.  Of course, her last minute get out the vote effort for Barack Obama is as amusing as it is offensive.  And now Republicans watching her change positions are embittered, and asking exactly what kind of Republican would Linda be - even if she were elected.  The simple answer is not much of one, I'm afraid.

Perhaps fate will see Linda McMahon losing by a small margin which will be attributed to losing a portion of her base.  Notwithstanding, future Connecticut Republican Candidates should see this whole episode as a Cautionary Tale, or a Teachable Moment, if you will - being independent-minded, selling out your Party, and abandoning basic Republican principles earns you nothing but scorn and defeat.  Despite what they may say, voters elect only confident candidates to go to Washington and unapologetically fight for a set of carefully-articulated and professed principles, not hem and haw, or appear lost in the fog of some vague notion of mediocre compromise, and ambiguity.  

At the end of the day, we can only hope and pray that Linda McMahon's negatives don't drown the entire Republican ticket ... for the rest of our CTGOP Candidates, particularly Andrew Roraback and Steve Obsitnik who after running solid campaigns on the issues - deserve so much better than that.  

I AM

THE KING

This original blog entry can be found at http://www.thekingsview.blogspot.com/

Disclaimer: This entry and others will be modified/updated at a future date. All entries are for the sole purpose of entertainment. This article does not imply endorsement of the candidate mentioned above, nor has this article been solicited for publication by any political candidate, campaign, or PAC.

CTGOP Counsel Justin Clark Should Resign

As you'll recall, CTGOP Counsel Justin Clark addressed Republican State Central Members in Madison on last Tuesday on behalf of the Linda McMahon Campaign.

During his twenty five minute appearance he committed to two things:

1)  That the Linda McMahon ad known as "Independent" which indirectly endorses Barack Obama and Linda McMahon (and has the Republican base up in arms) would be pulled from the airwaves on Thursday. 

And...

2)  State Central Members would receive written confirmation from the Romney Campaign that Mitt Romney is in support/or gave their blessing of the airing of the political commercial.

Since both the ad continues to run on television non-stop, and no one on State Central has received any written communication from the State Party or the Romney Campaign or from anyone else indicating that the Romney camp supports the Obama-McMahon Ad then we can only draw the conclusion that Justin Clark was sent to try and placate State Central members who are being left holding the bag with angry constituents.

Since such clear and intentional betrayal cannot go ignored, we call on Justin Clark to resign from his post as CTGOP Counsel.  We also call on CTGOP Officers and State Central Members to support his removal.

We remind everyone that the McMahon Ad has had a detrimental effect on both the Romney Campaign in Connecticut, and Congressional Campaigns all across the State.  It is a disgrace that both the ad continues to run, and no one from the Connecticut Republican Party has had the moral courage to challenge the McMahon Campaign in public, and demand removal of the Commercial.  Democrats are laughing at our CTGOP leaders lack of courage and fortitude, and the Connecticut Republican base feels entirely abandoned. 

I AM,

THE KING 

Hartford Crime Fighter Rico Dence

Still think crime isn't rampant in Hartford? 

Then watch this video featuring Hartford Assembly District 4 GOP Candidate Rico Dence who discusses his most recent experience in Hartford's South End on Franklin Avenue.  Seems Rico was riding his bicycle home from a Breast Cancer Awareness event around 9pm on Thursday when he witnessed a man assaulting a woman; he stopped to help the lady, and the assailant and his friend's attacked him - giving him a shiner for his trouble. If that wasn't bad enough, the mugger's accomplice smashed his cell phone and then made off with Rico's bicycle.

 

And just to think - Hartford used to be called New England's Rising Star.  Now, you can't even get a slice of pizza in the Italian section without getting punched and robbed.  And city leaders wonder why suburbanites flee for their lives when the workday clock strikes five.

Thumbs up to Rico Dence for having the courage to stick up for the young woman.  We hope Hartford residents take a good look at this upstart Republican who cares deeply for the residents of Assembly District 4 (which includes all of Downtown Hartford), and puts other's safety ahead of his own.

I AM

THE KING

This original blog entry can be found at http://www.thekingsview.blogspot.com/

Disclaimer: This entry and others will be modified/updated at a future date. All entries are for the sole purpose of entertainment. This article does not imply endorsement of the candidate mentioned above, nor has this article been solicited for publication by any political candidate, campaign, or PAC.

The Plot Thickens

Just a short update today on the Linda McMahon-Obama ad scandal. 

Connecticut Republican State Central Members gathered in Madison Connecticut last evening for their quasi-monthly State Central Committee Meeting.  Given the state of emergency sparked by the new Linda McMahon ad (a cross-endorsement of Linda McMahon and Barack Obama), Team Linda dispatched every one's favorite errand-boy, Justin Clark, to the scene to quell the screams of the angry hordes. 

You can always count on Justin Clark to
 be on the side of the bad guys

For twenty-five or so minutes, the embattled Clark attempted to explain away the the ad as nothing more than a good political strategy to attract independent voters.  Clark claimed that Mitt Romney is too far behind in Connecticut to win the State, and that Linda is specifically using the Obama cross-endorsement strategy to attract [urban] voters.  The crowd, incensed by his nonchalant attitude, met Clark's sales pitch with angry boos, and groans.

As the minutes wore on, the scene turned ugly.  Two rival groups emerged in the room bantering back and forth; on one side you had those loyal to the Republican Party and it's Presidential Nominee, these whom we shall refer to as The Friends of Mitt, and on the other side - you have those who are (and always have been) in blind allegiance to Linda McMahon; we will refer to these people as Linda's Paid Minions. 

In the front of the room sat Chairman Jerry Labriola, Jr. who in typical fashion, sat wide-eyed, mouth-agape, observing the comedy with nothing to say.  He allowed Clark to ramble on incoherently as the crowd assailed him, and each other.  At a time when the Republican Party faithful is looking for answers and direction from it's State Chairman, Labriola seems aloof at the helm, preferring to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the whole nauseating affair.  "This too shall pass" - yeah, like a kidney stone.

Then Clark said something which surprised even some of the most veteran Republicans in the room. He said that Mitt Romney was not only aware of Linda's strategy, but endorsed the ad for airing.  One state central member asked for some form of written confirmation from the Romney Campaign as evidence that Romney supports McMahon's ad strategy, and in response - Justin Clark told the crowd that they would have an email in their in-box by the next day (update: no such email has arrived as of this writing). 

And if such a communication does arrive, let's hope that Chairman Labriola will live by the doctrine of transparency which he has so publicly advocated for in the past, and make it available to all Connecticut Republicans across the Nutmeg State.  (After all, State Central is not a secret society, but a representative body of all Connecticut Republicans).

When upset State Central members demanded that the ads be pulled, Clark dismissed the requests and said that the ads would continue through Thursday. He also mentioned that robo-calls would then begin which will include Mitt Romney voicing support for Linda McMahon. Whether or not Clark was making things up on the fly to quiet the angry crowd is uncertain, but whatever the case may be, the night was ruined - and any sense of Republican unity that had been fostered in the late summer has certainly abated.

As an aside, staunch McMahon follower, and RNC Connecticut Committee Chairwoman Patricia Longo has posted the following comment on her Facebook page: "Have it from  the highest sources that McMahon ad everyone is complaining about was ok'd by SRCC, Mitch McConnell, and the Romney Campaign."

If such a claim turned out to be true, Connecticut Republicans who've purchased Romney signs, bumper stickers, made phone calls, or attended, or hosted fundraisers, or even donated their hard-earned cash would certainly have a right to feel betrayed by both the Republican National Committee, and the Republican Party.  And sadly this could lead to a large scale defection not just on November 6th, but well beyond this year's election. 

The King's advice to Chairman Labriola, the Romney Campaign, Mitch McConnell, and the RNC is to set the record straight, set Linda McMahon straight, and give Connecticut Republicans a respectable brand they can be proud of.

I AM

THE KING

This original blog entry can be found at http://www.thekingsview.blogspot.com/

Disclaimer: This entry and others will be modified/updated at a future date. All entries are for the sole purpose of entertainment. This article does not imply endorsement of the candidate mentioned above, nor has this article been solicited for publication by any political candidate, campaign, or PAC.