elections

Elections are the last remaining true mass market. 

Republican Senate candidate Linda McMahon hasn't been bashful about her efforts to attract independent voters. As WNPR's Jeff Cohen reports, that strategy took a new turn today. McMahon clothed some of her campaign workers in purple shirts with a message: I support Obama and McMahon November 6.

A few weeks ago, McMahon released an ad encouraging people to vote both for her and for Democratic President Barack Obama. It irked even some people in her own party. Then, last week, she released her final ad that made reference to Democratic President John F. Kennedy.

Can it be? Is West Hartford the new Bridgeport?

The power’s on at the polling places. The coffee is flowing and the donuts are warm, which is good, because this morning at my polling place, it was 21 degrees.  One poll-standing candidate was wrapped head to toe in a sleeping bag.  Yes, it’s election day in Connecticut...finally.

With less than a day before the polls open, candidates for US Senate made their way to events across the state. WNPR's Jeff Cohen caught up with them. He says he's a congressman with experience, she says she's a businesswoman and a job creator. She says his record stinks, he says she's trying to buy a senate seat.

Maybe no American has had as much impact on - or as much to say about - our Presidential elections in recent years as Ralph Nader. The longtime consumer advocate and Winsted Native ran third-party races for President in 2000, 2004 and 2008, but decided not to run this year.  Instead, he’s been intensely critical of both major parties, the media’s coverage of the race, and the series of debates which regularly leaves out third-party candidates.

It’s been one week since Sandy hit, and the state and region are still clearing up. While Connecticut has not suffered anything like the damage inflicted on New Jersey or Queens, thousands are still in the dark - and it’s unclear how this might all affect tomorrow’s election.

We get an update on power outages from Connecticut Light & Power's Frank Poirot. We'll also hear from Greenwich's First Selectman Peter Tesei. That town was rocked by Sandy and many are still without power.

Education ranks high on the list of issues voters care about, according to a September survey by the Pew Research Center.   But voters haven’t heard many specifics on education policy from either President Barack Obama or Governor Mitt Romney during the campaign. 

That may be because the candidates share many similar views.

State Representative Gary Holder-Winfield describes education’s role in this presidential campaign as "rhetorical".

Connecticut Light & Power is promising to have electricity at polling places one way or another. But there were still close to 100 polling places without it as of yesterday. Secretary of the state Denise Merrill will be assessing the progress in several of the hardest hit towns.

Meanwhile, the campaigns for Senate and the 5th Congressional district are running to the finish line - as the candidates balance the need to get their messages out - with the need to be sensitive to the impact of Storm Sandy.

Bridgeport. Why is it always Bridgeport?

The city is rapidly becoming famous for Election Day problems, and this year will be no exception. Power outages could cramp voting and so could the fact that ordinary polling places have now been converted to storm shelters.

First - highlights of a “mock” presidential debate between two prominent Connecticut politicians at Central Connecticut State University last week. Ned Lamont has Obama’s back. Tom Foley is in Romney’s corner. It’s ON!

This week is also the 50th anniversary of Cuban Missile Crisis - we’ll look at how secret recordings JFK made help us understand the aftermath of this complicated time.

The Watergate burglary was 40 years ago. Thirty-nine years ago, a freshman senator from Connecticut wound up on the investigative committee. Lowell Weicker was the first from his party to begin openly questioning the involvement of President Nixon, not only in the burglary but in a thicket of clandestine operations that became the meat of the scandal.

A poll conducted in 1997 showed Congresswoman Barbara Kennelly leading incumbent John Rowland by four points. 

A political newcomer is challenging two-term incumbent Jim Himes in the 4th Congressional district. Republican candidate Steve Obsitnik is a Navy veteran and businessman from Stamford. Speaking on WNPR's "Where We Live," Obsitnik says if elected, he wouldn't cater to special interests.

It’s been a strange week in politics...just ask President Barack Obama.

Speaking to a Colorado crowd the day after the first presidential debate he said, "When I got onto the stage, I met this very spirited fellow who claimed to be Mitt Romney."

Yeah, the guy he met in Denver seemed different somehow...well prepped, energetic and ready to steamroll the helpless moderator, Jim Lehrer.

We're all about last night's debate. The nation's go-to site on this topic, Presidential Debate Blog, is sort of based here in Connecticut, and we'll have its contributing editor, Mark Samburg, on the show.

Leave your comments below, e-mail colin@wnpr.org or Tweet us @wnprcolin.

For years I have been ignorantly fascinated by Game Theory. By that I mean I know there's this whole interesting study of strategy and decision making that would inform my understanding of a lot of things -- politics, business, psychology -- if I only knew more about it.  

New Haven is hosting voter registration drives around the city targeted especially at ex-offenders. Many people with criminal records mistakenly think they can’t vote in Connecticut.

"Are you registered?"

"Well, you all just convinced me. Now I want to register."  

Tywain Harris was recently released from prison after serving three years for selling drugs.  Today he’s headed to a job interview. Along the way, for the first time, he’s registered to vote.

A new poll out today from the University of Connecticut and the Hartford Courant shows Senate candidates Chris Murphy and Linda McMahon in a virtual dead heat.  It’s the second recent poll to show a tight race in a Senate contest long thought to favor Democrats.

We’ve been hearing for years that political conventions used to mean so much more. That these rallies actually helped parties to “decide” on candidates. Our own history with conventions goes all the way back to the beginning...1766 to be exact, in Hartford. It was organized by the “Sons of Liberty.”

Look at how far they’ve come. Last week on the Daily Show, former RNC chairman Michael Steele said he thinks conventions will change even more.

A new poll out from Quinnipiac University shows former wresting executive Linda McMahon leading Congressman Chris Murphy in their race for Senate.

It’s one of two polls out this week. The other was conducted by Public Policy Polling on behalf of the League of Conservation Voters. It has Murphy up by 4 points.

It's hard to be sincere and not seem like a freak. 

During the countless speeches at the national conventions, there’s group that you will hear about over and over again: the middle class.

But how big is the middle class? In February, Mitt Romney drew fire for comments he made on CNN.

The political future of Chris Donovan is still up in the air and the outgoing House Speaker has a big decision to make.

Donovan may have lost to Elizabeth Esty in last week's Democratic primary race for Connecticut's open 5th congressional district seat, but as things stand now, he is still on the general election ballot as the Working Families Party endorsed candidate.

"He's earned himself a lot of respect over the years fighting for working people and their families," said Connecticut Working Families Party Executive Director Lindsay Farrell.

Former Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz conceded her loss and threw her support behind her now former Democratic opponent Christopher Murphy last night. This is at least a temporary end to a popular political career.

The crowd was small and the scene was mostly somber at the Mattabesett Canoe Club in Middletown. When Bysiewicz arrived to concede, she spoke about her desire to fight for middle class residents, and against Wall Street and corporate special interests. Her voice was at times hoarse, at times emotional.

A well known author. A Roller Derby athlete. A poet and performance artist. A farmer. A comedy performer. A psychology researcher. Those are just some of the people we sent out today to vote in the primaries and report on the experience.

It’s primary day in Connecticut!  The last time Governor Malloy was on The Colin McEnroe Show, he said it doesn't make any sense to have hold primary day in August. Yeah, it’s a little hard to drum up much enthusiasm for a trip to the polls when its 87 degrees and sunny, the Cape is calling, or you are deep in the woods.  

But, at least the candidates have tried to keep things interesting - with high-stakes primary contests in a race for Senate and the 5th district seat.

Republican 5th congressional district candidate Mark Greenberg questioned whether Islam is a religion of peace.

"I don't believe in all manner, that Islam is a religion of peace and we have to be careful about that," said Greenberg on WNPR's Where We Live. "We got to be honest about it. We have to be able to be real about the fact that some people in that religion are out to kill us."