The Cool Justice Report: Bob Thiesfield Rotary U.S. Senate Candidate Photo Collection, Litchfield Inn, 4-15-10

DominiQue Sings The National Anthem
photo by Bob Thiesfield

WDRC's Dan Lovallo Show To Feature DominiQue, Star Spangled Banner Singer for Thursday's Rotary Luncheon @ the Litchfield Inn

Republican Front-Runners
For U.S. Senate Race
Work Litchfield Inn Rotary Crowd

Rob Simmons and Linda McMahon agree on many issues.

In what were fairly mellow presentations Thursday in Litchfield, they certainly shared strong feelings about the probable Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Connecticut, state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

Simmons called Blumenthal "worse than Spitzer," the former New York governor and attorney general, Eliot Spitzer. "I'm happy to run against Blumenthanl," Simmons said.

McMahon made fun of Blumenthal, saying Blumenthal could not decide whether he was a Red Sox or Yankees fan. Implicit in that assertion was the notion one cannot be a fan of both teams.

"I have always been a Yankee fan," McMahon said, going on to speak wistfully of Mickey, Whitey and Yogi.

The two Republican front-runners for their party's nomination seemed to be on the same economic page, advocating tax and spending cuts.

Tort reform was also among the issues cited.

When I think of tort reform, I wonder about doctors who maim, molest or kill patients and hospitals who cover up their crimes. Civil lawsuits are sometimes the only way to ensure hope of accountability. The barriers to accountability are already quite high. If dcotors want lower insurance rates, maybe they should begin policing their own profession while looking at insurance reform.

Both presenters were well received by the audience of more than 75 Rotarians and guests at the Litchfield Inn. Simmons, while appearing genuine in his beliefs, rattled off talking points like a seasoned politician. McMahon was forceful but rambled a bit, seeming like she is still getting into her game. She cited a couple local millionaires as her long-time pals and might need to expand that circle in presentations going forward.

In a partial homage to Rotary, Simmons donated two "happy dollars" to the Litchfield-Morris Rotary Club; one for his daughter, who quit a good job to work on his campaign; the other to honor the sacrifice and volunteer spirit of a fallen solider from Voluntown, CT.

Next up at the Litchfield Inn: Republican U.S. Senate candidate Peter Schiff on May 6. Also, Democratic front-runner for U.S. Senate, state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, July 15.

EXCERPT FROM
Andrew Ross Sorkin's TOO BIG TO FAIL: The inside story of how Wall Street and Washington fought to save the financial system -- and themselves.

Page 35

Outside Lehman, however, skeptics were already voicing their concerns.

"I still don't believe any of these numbers because I still don't think there is proper accounting for the liabilities they have on their books," Peter Schiff, president and chief global strategist of Euro Pacific Capital, told the Washington Post. " People are going to find out that all these profits they made were phony."

Count me among the many undecideds in this race.

-- A.T.

FOLLOWING ARE MORE PHOTOS FROM YESTERDAY'S EVENT BY BOB THIESFIELD.

FOR REPRINT USE,
BOB THIESFIELD
PHOTOS ------
CONTACT
tntcomm82@cs.com

OR

BOB THIESFIELD'S EMPIRE IMAGE GROUP