Rob and Tom and Sam and Peter

August 6, 2009

In just over a year, Connecticut Republicans will pick a nominee to run against Chris Dodd. With the state’s senior senator hobbled by a bungled attempt at the presidency and serious ethical lapses, it’s possible -- perhaps likely -- that Dodd’s political career is over.

So which GOP candidate deserves the support of Connecticut’s conservatives and libertarians?

Let’s start with the worst choice: Rob Simmons. A right-winger who supports the Simmons campaign needs intensive mental treatment. In his time as a pol in Hartford and Washington, Rob was wrong on nearly every issue. Whether it was entitlements, energy, abortion, campaign finance, fedpork, or transportation, the lifetime government employee unfailingly sided with liberals.

If Rob has changed any of his positions since voters in Connecticut’s 2nd Congressional District booted him out of office in 2006, there’s no evidence to be found on his website. In fact, don’t look for any substantive content on www.joinrobsimmons.com. The “News” section -- there’s no “On the Issues” page -- contains boastful poll data, swipes at Dodd, a brag about fundraising, and a whine about Rob’s union buddies losing work on the F-22 boondoggle. There’s zilch about “global climate change,” healthcare, and taxes. But hey, it’s not like those issues have been in the news much lately, right?

The Simmons website is Wikipedia compared to the Internet HQ of Tom Foley, a Greenwich millionaire who also seeks to challenge Dodd. At www.tomfoley2010.com, we learn the candidate has “spent over 25 years as a businessman and entrepreneur using his problem-solving and management skills to turn-around and expand underperforming businesses.” Great -- the private-sector perspective is horridly underrepresented in the U.S. Senate.

What’s missing from the website is the candidate’s position on any issue. Unless Foley wants to be seen as anything other than a Richie Rich playing at politics, he needs to tell GOP voters where he stands, fast.

Lack of a record is no problem for Sam Caligiuri, the state senator and attorney (isn’t that being redundant?) from Waterbury. Law-and-order activists appreciate his support for the death penalty and a three-strikes bill. Social conservatives are pleased with the senator’s “no” vote on gay marriage. Fiscal watchdogs note the opposition Caligiuri has mounted to Connecticut’s spendthrift ways -- resistance that’s even led him to confront GOP “leader” Jodi Rell.

Caligiuri opposed the nomination of a certain “wise Latina” to the U.S. Supreme Court. Despite her “laudable personal achievements and years of public service,” on July 28 he concluded that “ultimately there is an impression that, when issues come before her on the bench, Judge Sotomayor believes that her role is to make ‘policy’ rather than to interpret law. That is sufficient to reject this nomination.” (Rob’s objection to Sotomayor came nine days later. Would his issue-free campaign have released a statement at all, if not for Caligiuri’s?)

The senator from the 16th District has problems, though. His asinine support of a hike in Connecticut’s minimum wage, and his blind spot on the scam known as “pay equity,” are disappointing. Caligiuri also supports the F-22.

Simmons is Dodd lite. Foley might be a good choice, but how would we know? Caligiuri is solid in many places, with several glaring flaws.

What’s a voter in search of a consistently limited-government, pro-capitalism candidate to do?

Hope for Peter Schiff. Not officially in the race yet, the investor and pundit is a foe of Washington’s fiscal policies and harsh critic of the Federal Reserve’s inflationary madness. Schiff believes rising healthcare costs result “from excess government involvement in the system, tax provisions that encourage the over-utilization of health insurance, and government support of an out-of-control malpractice industry.” Unlike Caligiuri, the president of Euro Pacific Capital recognizes the destructiveness of minimum-wage laws: “When the cost of hiring low-skilled workers moves higher, jobs are lost.” Schiff accurately describes “cap and trade” as a “gigantic tax” that would fund “politically connected special interests that will reap windfalls at everyone else’s expense,” and empower EPA bureaucrats “to draft the details in any manner they see fit.”

This is Connecticut, where RINOs rule the GOP. So Rob Robots will probably get their man. (Get ready for the Robert R. Simmons Supercollider and Shellfish Research Facility. It’ll run on hydrogen.)

But before Connecticut Republicans inevitably nominate yet another leftist, the state’s freedom fighters should do their best to secure a primary win for someone who -- steady, now -- disagrees with Dodd. Peter Schiff is clearly the best choice. If the Darien financial whiz chooses not to run, right-leaning Nutmeggers should support Sam Caligiuri.

D. Dowd Muska is a writer, commentator and lecturer. His website is www.dowdmuska.com.

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