Connecticut Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, a candidate in the Aug. 12 Republican gubernatorial primary, has weighed in on the recent haughtiness of his opponent, Greenwich businessman Tom Foley.
Sen. McKinney, of Fairfield, told the New Haven Register Mr. Foley, the GOP’s 2010 gubernatorial nominee, “appears to think he is entitled to this election.” The senator cited what he perceives as Mr. Foley’s failure to provide policy specifics, and combativeness with those who push him for more details.
Read about it here, courtesy of the Register.
I tend to agree with Sen. McKinney’s assessment. Mr. Foley does seem to think that because he came so close to winning the 2010 election, he can just kick back and essentially be anointed the Republican nominee without questions. Also, as I noted in my post from yesterday (Aug. 7), Mr. Foley has been fond of singing his own praises in grandiose terms.
That said, Sen. McKinney’s campaign conduct hasn’t been anything to write home about, either. Several of his ads portrayed Mr. Foley’s actions and policy positions dishonestly.
Obviously, we don’t yet know how the general election will play out, but as someone who is unhappy with Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy‘s stewardship of Connecticut, I can’t help but worry that the primary-campaign demeanor of both Republican candidates will soil the GOP brand ahead of the fall campaign.
Thanks to Gov. Malloy’s consistently weak approval ratings, the state Republican Party has a golden opportunity to reclaim the governor’s office it held from 1995 to 2011. As such, I would strongly urge the loser of this wild and wacky primary campaign to immediately do anything and everything to repair any damage to the Republican image.
As we posited in a July 23 editorial, either Mr. Foley or Sen. McKinney would do a better job than Gov. Malloy, and the chance to send the governor back to Stamford can’t be allowed to slip away.