Posted on 03/10/2009 9:39:47 AM PDT by GOPGuide
At the end of my tenure on this committee, I want it to be said that the safety and soundness of our financial institutions was not weakened on my watch
-Chris Dodd, February 15, 2007
(H/T Ironman, who notes that the Dow has fallen nearly in half since that date).
Senator Dodd has a lot to answer for and it looks like Connecticut voters are turning on him, as a new Quinnipiac poll out this morning shows he would narrowly trail moderate Republican former Congressman Rob Simmons 43-42 if the election were held today. (H/T) Simmons has been publicly mulling a run, as has longtime business pundit Larry Kudlow. The underlying numbers don’t look promising for an incumbent this far from the start of campaigning:
Sen. Dodd leads State Sen. Sam Caligiuri 47 - 34 percent and tops CNBC-TV host Larry Kudlow 46 - 34 percent, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.
In the Dodd-Simmons matchup, Democrats back Dodd 74 - 15 percent while Simmons leads 80 - 10 percent among Republicans and 49 - 32 percent among independent voters.
Connecticut voters approve 49 - 44 percent of the job Dodd is doing, compared to a negative 41 - 48 percent approval rating February 10. Dodd gets a split 46 - 45 percent favorability.
For Simmons, 53 percent do not know enough to form an opinion. Caligiuri and Kudlow are even more unknown, at 88 and 87 percent.
It’s a long way to Election Day, and of course defeating a Democratic incumbent in a blue state is never easy. But the voters are clearly uncomfortable with Dodd’s ethical lapses and obstruction of needed reforms of the housing credit market, and receptive to hearing arguments from Republicans. This will be a race worth contesting.
Oh, how I’m waiting for the day
KK - who has proudly never once cast a vote for Chris Dodd!!!
Simmons is the best we can hope for in CT. The fact that he beat a long time Dem incumbent shows he can be a shrewd campaigner.
It’s unfortunate he got caught up in the ‘06 anti-GOP landslide, but he lost by only a hair.
A lot of good people lost in 2006. People like Anne Northup, Melissa Hart, Curt Weldon, Jim Talent, and George Allen. The 2006 storm washed washed away our farm system for higher office. This one reason why we’re in the state that we’re in.
It is rather late in this republic for a Cincinnatus. Sulla is coming, and he is not a RINO.
Excellent news indeed... I would take Rob Simmons over that crook Chris Dodd in a heartbeat. I still think it would be an uphill battle for Simmons to fight Dodd financially (as you mentioned above) and the stupid lib voters seem to be increasing in this state...
>>But guess what, folks, he’s all you’ll get from a left-wing state like CT
He really is, sadly. I was pretty upset that he lost hist congressional race in 06 and then his successor takes credit for a bunch of work Mr Simmons put in place.
He’s got a shot at unseating Dodd if he runs. The last Senator we had with an (R) next to his name was Lowell Weicker (Reagan called him “a pompous, no good, fathead”).
Linda McMahon is now on the Connecticut State Board of Education. Maybe she'll run.
No. His voting record is 100% pro-choice. He may be less pro-life than Dodd.
And Simmons might still be in the House if he hadn't alienated the conservative base in the 2nd district (at the time there was one with the sub-base, EB, extremely low number of minorities; don't know about now) by voting FOR an abominable pro-homo piece of legislation.
He might’ve gotten swept out, regardless. But no disagreement there was enormous room for improvement in his voting record.
Unfortunate.
Bottom line: I'd hold my nose for him in the general election against Dodd, but there's no way I can support this guy in the primary. And I disagree that Simmons is the "best" we can get in CT.
Peter Schiff for U.S. Senate.
The website dedicated to drafting Schiff for the U.S. Senate has an article that compares Kudlow & Schiff on economic policy, and makes a very strong case showing Schiff is the better of the two.
Not sure why Kudlow has such a strong following with some conservatives. He’s okay, but...
Schiff vs. Kudlow: Who’s the real fiscal conservative?
Submitted by Dagny Taggart
Larry Kudlow, famous CNBC money anchor and National Review columnist, is now considering a 2010 Senate bid against Chris Dodd. Kudlow is known for his strong support of free market capitalism, and he is highly respected in conservative circles. Interestingly, Kudlow often invites Schiff on his CNBC show, The Kudlow Report. But, in a potential battle of fiscal conservatives, how does Kudlow match up against Schiff? Here’s a sample, comparative analysis:
* Kudlow advocates cutting taxes for businesses and individuals across the board. Schiff does as well, but Schiff goes a step further, and is even open to eliminating the federal income tax, since our nation prospered for over one hundred years without it. This would require drastic cuts in out of control federal spending and balancing the budget.
* Kudlow was a strong supporter of Bush’s economic policies. Schiff, on the other hand, consistently criticized Bush for expanding the size of federal government, running budget deficits, and ballooning national debt.
* Kudlow supports a strong dollar policy, yet under Bush and Bernanke, the dollar devalued over 25%. Schiff is known as the champion of a strong US Dollar.
* Kudlow supports running up budget deficits in special circumstances, such as to stabilize the banking and financial system. Schiff completely rejects running deficits and is a stalwart defender of balanced budgets.
* Kudlow denied the US was already in a recession in early to mid 2008 and even said, at that time, that Bush may turn out to be a top economic forecaster. Meanwhile, Schiff was insistent that a recession was well underway and continued to warn of an imminent stock, credit, and housing market collapse.
* Kudlow supported the first $700 billion Wall Street bailout, known as TARP. However, Schiff railed against it, predicting it would not work and that it would skyrocket national debt, explode the federal budget deficit, and eventually lead to high inflation.
* Kudlow did not support Obama’s “stimulus” package, nor did Schiff.
In just these few categories, it is quite apparent that Schiff has been more consistent in his fiscally conservative approach to monetary policy. In addition, Schiff has demonstrated a much higher predictive accuracy in his economic forecasts compared to Kudlow.
For those fiscally conservative Republicans, Schiff would be the better candidate.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.