Saturday, August 7, 2010

I was deep in the East End of Waterbury this afternoon, knocking on doors off of Monroe Avenue. The makeup of the neighborhood has changed since I last ran, but not the character--it's a nice area, where people care about their property.

Not wanting to alarm anyone, I parked in front of a vacant house. As I sat in my car organizing myself, I saw a woman seated on the porch of the next home down watching me, curious and perhaps concerned.

I went straight over to her and introduced myself. Relieved I was merely a politician, she launched into a tirade about our broken government, that spends without regard to revenue or the capacity of the taxpayers. As has happened to me repeatedly on this campaign, I was hard-pressed at first to convince her that I fully shared her perspective--that my main purpose in running for the legislature is to cut government spending.

Once she realized I was on her side, she engaged me in conversation about the Republican gubernatorial candidates. She'd been following the race, and she was interested in my perspective on Foley and Fedele, since she was trying to choose between them. When I left, I reminded her to make sure to vote in the primary on Tuesday.

"But I'm a Democrat," she said. "I have been for--what?--nearly fifty years. Not that I'll vote that way, this time."

That's what I'm hearing, in Waterbury and Southington: a rejection of the big-spending Democratic party even I didn't expect. The people are ready to face facts, to make the hard choices that will put this state back on track. It's a great year to be a conservative running for office!

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