Posted on 07/12/2006 6:40:04 PM PDT by Koblenz
Connecticut Republicans may soon have a vacancy to fill for their United States Senate nomination. Former state Representative Alan Schlesinger is being dogged by gambling rumors, and Bradley Beecher, former commanding officer of the state polices casino licensing and operations unit, says he received a call from Schlesinger on Tuesday, July 11th seeking information on who was checking out his gambling habits. Beecher is now a consultant on casino security and law enforcement. Hes also a critic of Connecticut gaming policies.
Beecher, who was familiar with Schlesinger, says the Republican nominee told him he is, in gambling parlance, a card counter who has been thrown out of the Mohegan Sun casino. Schlesinger told Beecher and others he plays under an assumed name, Alan Gold. Beecher shared details of his startling conversation with Schlesinger in an email to Republican Governor M. Jodi Rell and others around the state.
Republican state chairman George Gallo has conferred with Schlesinger and is concerned about the implications of the brewing gambling scandal. Schlesinger confirmed to Gallo that he gambled under the name Alan Gold because he wanted to accrue points on his Wampum card at the Foxwoods casino operated by the Mahantucket Pequots.
According to Gallo, who sounds like he is ready to force Schlesinger from the ticket and find a replacement, Our mistake is that we only vetted candidates using their real names, not aliases.
Replacing Schlesinger could open a possibility for a serious Republican candidate to emerge for a three way November brawl should Democratic challenger Ned Lamont defeat incumbent Joseph Lieberman in the states August 8th primary. Lieberman is committed to running as independent if he loses in August and is counting on broad Republican support to win. If there is a serious Republican nominee, which Schlesinger has not been, Lieberman will lose an important part of the base for his Plan B."
Oh, and I also hope that we can manage to find a candidate who isn't a child molestor. I went to a Girodano rally back in late 2000. Sometime after he was convicted I found a campaign button during a move. It felt dirty just to handle it long enough to throw it out.
Why are Republicans in this state so bad at fielding good candidates? Really, why?
Man, what a piece of garbage that guy is. My God.
Thank you both for the heads up... I'll ping the CT list.
Connecticut ping! (Thanks, Koblenz)
Please Freepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent Connecticut ping list.
I doubt a feasible Republican will run (Johnson, Simmons, Shays). I think the best thing is to register as a Democrat and keep Lieberman in.
Diana Urban, REPUBLICAN state representative from North Stonington filed to run this week for the US Senate seat held by Lieberman. She is opposed to the war and concerned about Global Warming. She says her record is more substantial than Lieberman or any of the other candidates. She is a classic RINO. I think she is to the left of Lieberman, who is looking better to me every day. I can't imagine she is known outside of our little corner of the state. I suspect the only reason she is a Republican is because her father is some bigwig in the Republican National Committee or something like that.
Might not be a personal problem, but IS illegal.
Forget my last post...I was in error.
Also, who is at the top of the Republican machinery in CT and why will they not support a conservative for public office? There are conservatives in CT. We need to make our opinions felt by the RINOs. Enough of this "lesser of two evils" crap that we are constantly left with.
Maybe in the future Rob Simmons could run for the Senate, if Dodd or Lieberman ever retire. Simmons would have a shot. But unfortunately he is pro abortion, and has voted against banning PBA. I don't think I could vote for any Republican with that record.
WTNH reports this morning the GOP leaders want Schlesinger out. If he did nothing illegal I'm not sure why there is this controversy. Schlesinger says he went to the casinos only a few times. Unless he squandered a ton of money, or stole in order to feed a gambling habit, I don't see why he shouldn't stay in the race.
I recently had a chance to speak to Schlesinger and he told me that he is pro-choice, although he supports restrictions like parental notification. He is also pro-stem cell research. When pressed as to whether that included fetal stem cells he faltered saying that he would have to get more info on that. C'mon. Anyone who knows what stem cell research is knows about the controversy regarding fetal stem cells.
He is for the Marriage and Flag-burning Amendments and talks like a deficit hawk. However, the gambling thing may sink him. All it takes is one embarrassing revelation to sink a politician. Remember Ed Muskie?
Sort of a moot point since I think neither he nor any Republican has a chance of winning anyway.
I wonder why he had to use an assumed name just because he was an elected official. If he was doing nothing wrong, why not use his real name? I can't remember when I signed up for my Foxwoods and Mohegan cards but I think you had to show ID for that. So I don't know how he was able to use another name.
"Time to go back to my original selection for the Republican Nominee...
Connecticut's US Attorney Kevin O'Connor
. . .
1998 Connecticut 1st US House District OPEN SEAT
John Larson (D) 59%
Kevin O'Connor (R) 41%
This is the most liberal district in Connecticut Voting only 33% for Bush in 2000, and 39% for Bush in 2004"
She would have been a great candidate in 1970, but I fear that today, in her 80s, she'd do even worse than Helen Delich Bentley did when she ran for Congress in MD in 2002.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if Bentley had run under the lines that elected Ehrlich, would she not have won her House seat back ?
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but if Bentley had run under the lines that elected Ehrlich, would she not have won her House seat back ?"
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