The other day, among my many many many many mailings from political candidates, I found one that asked a reasonable question: Who would best represent my interests in Washington?
The choices for Congress are between incumbent Jim Himes and challenger Dan Debicella. Yet I didn’t need to read a word of the flyer to know who to vote for.
The color photo of Debicella portrayed a handsome, smiling, obviously very competent guy.
The grainy, black-and-white shot of Himes showed a frothing-at-the-mouth lunatic. I like the guy, but this scared the crap out of me.
A few hours later, a friend showed me a “Dear Independent Westport Voter” mailing he’d just received.
Labed “Voter’s Guide,” it looked like one of those rational, objective League of Women Voter’s, um, “Voter’s Guides.” I’m always eager to learn more about the men and women seeking my vote, so I read on.
I learned that Debicella “Actually listens to people. Sharp and personable. He gets it.”
Himes, on the other hand, is “Unbelievable, Elitist and Condescending. The worst of non-representation.”
One typical politician...
I found more: Senatorial candidate Linda McMahon is “Obviously not a politician or indebted to special interests or unions.”
Her opponent, Richard Blumenthal, though, is a “Career Politician of the type that got us into this mess….Got his name on the ballot twice!”
I’ve met State Senate candidate John Hartwell several times, and have always found him to be pleasant, reasonable and well-informed. However, I now understand he is “Out of touch making outlandish attacks.”
Fortunately, we have 2 State Representative candidates who are on the ball. By amazing coincidence both are Republicans, running in different districts.
...and another.
Nitzy Cohen (Dist. 136) “Gets it.” DeeDee Brandt (Dist. 133) is even better than Nitzy. DeeDee is “Sharp. Gets it. Knows her details and knows the numbers. Knows them exceptionally well.”
So who should I thank for providing such a detailed Voter’s Guide?
The fine print said: “This educational effort has been prepared and funded by a collection of voters (Independents, Democrats and Republicans) who share concerns for our country and state….We wanted you, the independents, to have these details available. We ask you to review the attached, make informed decisions and vote to restore some balance.”
Thanks, anonymous mailing guys! I saw this just in time.
There’s no telling how many reckless, uninformed, and flat-out wrong decisions I might have made today without this very informative “Voter’s Guide”!
