In this post I am going to break down the differences between Blumenthal and McMahon on the most important issue in this election which is the economy and how we can create jobs in the United States. There are some similarities between the two candidates, but we find that both candidates stances fall along the stereotypical ideology of the party in which they are running for. Furthermore, I will explain why I believe that Mr. Blumenthal has the right answers to fix our economy.
Dick Blumenthal is hoping to stimulate the economy and job growth by focusing on the middle class. He wants to extend the Bush tax cuts for 95% of Americans who are currently making less than $250,000 a year. He wants to also help small businesses by giving them tax incentives that will allow them to have extra money to invest in their business in order to spur growth. Furthermore, he supports the recent legislation passed by the Obama administration that helps to protect consumers from unfair credit card policies. In doing this, small business owners won't have to pay extreme interest rates when they are forced to use personal credit cards for business expenses. The last point made on job growth is to open up loans to businesses so that they aren't in the position just discussed and don't ever have to use their personal credit cards for business purposes. Mr. Blumenthal also supports the Wall Street Reform Bill that holds Wall Street and Investment banks accountable for their actions so that the taxpayers never again have to bail out banks that are "too big to fail." Finally, Blumenthal supports spurring the economy through Green Technology innovation by providing tax breaks and loans to bring about new technology. Also, this will curb the amount of pollution and dependence on foreign oil that has skyrocketed over the past few decades.
Linda McMahon, on the other hand, has an approach to spurring the economy that rests in the hands of the wealthy to take care of the rest of the country, She claims that in order for our economy to grow there needs to be less government interference in the business sector as well as Wall Street. She believes that in regulating business, those corporations will not be able to provide jobs to the middle class. Mrs. McMahon also discusses how she would like to expand drilling for oil in Alaska and ANWR province as a way to help create jobs and produce oil so that we don't have to depend on foreign countries. However, she does discuss investing in renewable energies through tax incentives. She also talks about how President Obama has used Executive Orders through "policy czars" to enact some of the new regulations on some of these industries we have discussed. She cites archives.gov to note that Obama has passed 57 Executive Orders since becoming president and frames it to be an expanse of government interference in the corporate sector. However, she evokes Ronald Reagan at the beginning of her policy page and talks about how Reagan allowed business to take care of itself and because of this, the economy went from stagnant to booming. Yet, she failed to mention that Ronald Reagan passed 117 Executive Orders over the course of his first two years in office.
Overall, I would just like to note that Mr. Blumenthal is aiming to move the country in a new direction that focuses on the middle class picking themselves back up from this recession. Corporations have grown so large and wield so much power that the only way for them to not monopolize our economy is to regulate them in one form or the other. Mrs. McMahon on the other hand supports the same policies that were pushed by the Reagan and Bush administrations that have lead to a corporate-led economy. Furthermore, to frame President Obama as someone who is abusing his power to grow the size of government through Executive Orders is quite hypocritical being that Regan signed over 2 times the amount of Executive Orders in the same period of time to help build a culture that allowed big business to run wild with America's economy. The time has come to change this atmosphere and put the power of our economy back in the hands of the people who are the life blood of it: the middle-class. Dick Blumenthal understands this and that is why his vision for the economy is far more apt for this juncture in time than the policies supported by Linda McMahon.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
President Obama stumps for Blumenthal at Connecticut fundraiser
On September 16, President Obama made a stop along the campaign trail in Stamford, Connecticut to help raise money for Blumenthal in his attempt to edge out Linda McMahon. Obama noted that although McMahon has pledged a "smackdown" ( a poke at her major experience as the CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment), the choice between the two candidates is a "no brainer." Politico.com reported that the Blumenthal camp raised approximately $400,000 during this event. Money is a key for success in a close race. It allows the campaign to spend more on valuable resources such as field offices and staff to manage voter contact and volunteer recruitment as well as buy air time for commercials during the stretch run of the race. Furthermore, the fact that the president took time to aid the Blumenthal campaign, in a state he won by nearly 30% over John McCain in 2008, leads one to believe that Obama's popularity can only help boost support for Blumenthal who is still leading by 5-10% in the polls. However, it must be noted that in a race to secure money, Linda McMahon has millions of dollars of her own that she can throw in to the race if she so chooses. Because of this extreme advantage in personal funds, it is crucial for the Blumenthal campaign to raise money through events such as the one on the 16th. Yet, if McMahon can easily outspend Blumenthal, it will be crucial for Blumenthal and his campaign to focus on a field program based on voter contact. By making phone calls and more importantly knocking on the doors of potential voters in Connecticut, the Blumenthal camp can counter the advertizing strength of the McMahon cash cow. How this is executed will prove pivotal in deciding the outcome of this close race.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
New polling Data. What does it mean?
Since my last post, the two polls that have been following the Connecticut Senate race (Quinnipac University and Rasmussen) have released new polling data pertaining to the current state of the race. In this post, I will present this new data as well as try to explain the significance.
The Rasmussen Poll released its new data on September 9. They conducted a poll of 500 Likely Voters in the state of Connecticut. The results showed Mr. Blumenthal leading the race with 53% of the vote opposed to his opponent Ms. McMahon who garnered 44% in the new poll. This is a 2 point shift in favor of the Democrat who only led by 7% (47-40) in the previous poll conducted by Rasmussen. The shift isn't extremely large, but it does put Blumenthal over the 50% mark for the first time in a couple months which definitely is significant because it is an upward shift, which as I stated in my last post, the shifts are more important than the raw numbers.
The poll that has received the most attention in the media is the Quinnipac University poll that was conducted between September 8 and September 12. The Quinnipac Poll shows Blumenthal leading McMahon by a margin of 51%-45%. This is a shift that is in favor of Ms. McMahon being that she was down 10% in the last poll conducted by the University. However, the most recent poll was conducted among 750 Likely Voters in Connecticut as opposed to their last poll that was conducted amongst Registered Voters.
The change in the sample from Registered voters to Likely voters is one that many would argue favors the Republicans in a year that they are poised to recieve a net gain in both houses of Congress. Therefore, it could be said that the most recent Quinnipac poll may be more accurate come November than Rasmussen's poll, but juxteposed to their previous poll (Blumenthal up 10%) it is irrelevant because of the difference in sample. On the other hand, Rasmussen's poll was conducted among Likely Voters in both cases, therefore it is more reliable to note the shift. The only way we will know if any sort of shift has occurred like Quinnipac suggests is to wait for their next poll conducted among Likely Voters.
The Rasmussen Poll released its new data on September 9. They conducted a poll of 500 Likely Voters in the state of Connecticut. The results showed Mr. Blumenthal leading the race with 53% of the vote opposed to his opponent Ms. McMahon who garnered 44% in the new poll. This is a 2 point shift in favor of the Democrat who only led by 7% (47-40) in the previous poll conducted by Rasmussen. The shift isn't extremely large, but it does put Blumenthal over the 50% mark for the first time in a couple months which definitely is significant because it is an upward shift, which as I stated in my last post, the shifts are more important than the raw numbers.
The poll that has received the most attention in the media is the Quinnipac University poll that was conducted between September 8 and September 12. The Quinnipac Poll shows Blumenthal leading McMahon by a margin of 51%-45%. This is a shift that is in favor of Ms. McMahon being that she was down 10% in the last poll conducted by the University. However, the most recent poll was conducted among 750 Likely Voters in Connecticut as opposed to their last poll that was conducted amongst Registered Voters.
The change in the sample from Registered voters to Likely voters is one that many would argue favors the Republicans in a year that they are poised to recieve a net gain in both houses of Congress. Therefore, it could be said that the most recent Quinnipac poll may be more accurate come November than Rasmussen's poll, but juxteposed to their previous poll (Blumenthal up 10%) it is irrelevant because of the difference in sample. On the other hand, Rasmussen's poll was conducted among Likely Voters in both cases, therefore it is more reliable to note the shift. The only way we will know if any sort of shift has occurred like Quinnipac suggests is to wait for their next poll conducted among Likely Voters.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
State of the Race (Polls)
The Rasmussen Poll that was published on August 11 showed that Blumenthal held a lead over McMahon by a margin of 47% to 40%. Do note that in many cases the raw numbers of polls at this point in an election are not as important as the shifts in numbers that occur. Many voters remain undecided and new stories break seemingly daily, so polls can change quite a bit in a short period of time.
The Quinnipiac University Poll shows the largest lead of any poll with Blumenthal leading 50% to 40% over McMahon and was published on August 4. However, University polls can sometimes have a slant depending on who inside the University conducts them. Yet, it can't be forgotten that even if this poll is skewed the numbers published in the Quinnipiac Poll could likely affect sentiment for both parties in the sense of volunteers and donations if they feel their candidate is either in trouble or running away with the race.
So as of today, the poll numbers show Blumenthal winning the race by a margin of 8-9 percentage points. However, like I mentioned previously, the polling numbers could help or hurt both candidates. For Blumenthal, he may see a surge in donations and volunteerism because he looks to be a winner OR he could see a decline in both because voters feel he is running away with it. The same can be said about McMahon who could lose donations and volunteers beacuse people don't want to donate their time and money to a loosing cause OR it could give them a sense of urgency to help close the gap and make the race even more competitive come Novemeber. Regardless of the polling numbers, there is a long time between now and November 2, so we may very well see these numbers shift several times in either direction. What the result of these shifts are will be seen over time.
The Quinnipiac University Poll shows the largest lead of any poll with Blumenthal leading 50% to 40% over McMahon and was published on August 4. However, University polls can sometimes have a slant depending on who inside the University conducts them. Yet, it can't be forgotten that even if this poll is skewed the numbers published in the Quinnipiac Poll could likely affect sentiment for both parties in the sense of volunteers and donations if they feel their candidate is either in trouble or running away with the race.
So as of today, the poll numbers show Blumenthal winning the race by a margin of 8-9 percentage points. However, like I mentioned previously, the polling numbers could help or hurt both candidates. For Blumenthal, he may see a surge in donations and volunteerism because he looks to be a winner OR he could see a decline in both because voters feel he is running away with it. The same can be said about McMahon who could lose donations and volunteers beacuse people don't want to donate their time and money to a loosing cause OR it could give them a sense of urgency to help close the gap and make the race even more competitive come Novemeber. Regardless of the polling numbers, there is a long time between now and November 2, so we may very well see these numbers shift several times in either direction. What the result of these shifts are will be seen over time.
Richard Blumenthal's political biography
Dick Blumenthal served one term as a state representative in the Connecticut State Legislature from 1982-1984 when he was elected to the Connecticut State Senate which he also served one term on from 1984-1990. In 1990, Dick was elected as Connecticut's Attorney General, a post he has held for the past 20 years; a feat never before accomplished in the state.
Linda McMahon's Political Biography
Linda McMahon has never served as an elected official. However, she was the CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment until 2009. She also served on the Connecticut Board of Education in 2009 as an appointee of Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell.
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