Amann Can Eat His Crème Brule by Christopher Healy

Amann Can Eat His Crème Brule

By Christopher Healy

June 14, 2005

In the end, no one let Chris Caruso in on the joke. He's the Boss Tweed look-alike State Representative from Bridgeport who was put in charge of campaign finance reform by House Speaker Jim "Fish Stick" Amann to steer the Legislature toward public finance campaigns and away from the special interest spigots.

In their wildest dreams, the House and Senate Democratic leaders in legislature never, never thought Gov. M Jodi Rell would call their bluff and their years of demagoging on an issue only dogs and old hippies can hear.

Then Jodi Rell and the Senate Republicans threw a hard eight on the table and all Hell broke loose. For almost three news cycles, the Senate Democrats said and did nothing other than to blame Gov. Rell from accepting their arguments. House Democrats sent Caruso into one-on-one negotiations with Senate President Don Williams - sort of like sending Woody Allen to deal with Henry Kissinger.

Caruso and Williams questioned each other's lineage during a brief meeting that ended when the Senator from Putnam told Amann he was responsible for allowing Caruso to breath the same air as the rest of us.

Gov. Rell held firm, took the high ground, and laid down barrage after barrage onto a group that think she's still not up to the job. If it were a prizefight, they would have stopped it in the third round.

Now, the Democrats hope everyone will forget the whole thing and soon, lobbyists and their clients will be invited to all sorts of social gatherings to fund their attacks on private property and initiative. The real blame here should be laid at the people who pay this tribute, cut their Vichy deals, watch the extreme liberal wing of the Democratic Party destroy the social, moral and economic fabric of this state - and complain about it.

Republicans can take stock in some small victories given the overwhelming numbers they face in each chamber. But Republicans are responsible for being all but insignificant in the legislative process. Many within the ranks are upset with some of the deals that were struck between the Governor and Democrats on the budget, taxes, and other goodies, including the $18 million slush fund set up to help Amann and Williams build loyalty with outright publicly subsidized graft.

But until Republicans get back to basics, get their message down and take back a few City Halls this November, recruit candidates for statewide and local legislative races now and stop playing nice-nice with the enemy, no one should blame Gov. Rell from doing the best she could. Our party can't look to any one savior for the answer. It is time to get pissed and do something about it - or get out.

The Democrats have provided the Republicans with plenty of ammunition - gay marriage, increased taxes on businesses, the dead, the infirm and surcharges on papers filed at Town Hall - not mention looking infantile during the campaign finance debate.

More importantly, Gov. Rell, if she runs, and I think she will, is more generous with the political stage than John Rowland. National Republican leaders would enjoy holding the party's ATM in its hands, particularly with a woman as its executive.

GOP Chairman Bill Hamzy will all but erase the six-figure debt he inherited by month's end and many of the basics of running a party are getting done. Almost a third of the State Central Committee is new and many are activists in their prime, not part-timers looking for a monthly hot meal. We need to get into the enemy trenches and stop trying to protect dwindling territory. The only way to make any headway is to take their political property with ideas, action and daring.

And there is a sense in the electorate that people will be stomping mad when many of the recently passed Legislation hits home. But if Republicans are not ready to be there to jump on it, fan it and offer a credible alternative, we can still lose more seats next year and become a permanent minority.