May 1, 2008

Visconti promises change in DC

Calling himself “an activist at heart,” Republican congressional contender Joseph Visconti vowed Thursday to bring change to “a place of unending bickering, manipulation and stagnation.”
Visconti said the man he aims to unseat, 10-year incumbent Democrat John Larson, “is part of the establishment” and hasn’t done enough to bring down spending and taxes.
But knocking off the East Hartford Democrat won’t be easy, as Visconti recognizes. The 1st District congressman has whipped everyone the GOP has put up against him by wide margins.
This time will be different, Visconti said, though he admits he’ll never raise the kind of money that Larson’s campaign routinely collects.
Visconti, a West Hartford town councilman, said he’s going to rely on a grass roots effort fueled by a savvy use of the internet to take down the incumbent, who also faces a challenge from the Green Party’s Steve Fournier.
Visconti said that with John McCain at the top of the Republican ticket this year, “Connecticut is in play” instead of a solidly Democratic bastion. That gives the GOP the chance to pick up more independent voters, he said.
By turning out the GOP base, pulling in more than half the independents and chipping away 10 percent or more of the registered Democrats, Visconti said he can gather as much as 48 percent of the total vote. If Fournier picks up a few percent, too, then Larson can be beaten, Visconti said.
Though Visconti has been touting his candidacy for the past couple of months to Republican officials across the sprawling district, Thursday marked his first formal public declaration of his plans. He gave speeches in a half dozen towns, including Bristol.
City Councilor Ken Cockayne, one of two GOP councilors in Bristol, said that Visconti would bring a new energy to Congress.
“We need someone who has not been sheltered in Washington for 10 years,” Cockayne said.
Visconti didn’t specify clear positions on many issues, but instead tried to paint a broad picture of a capital city “occupied by special interests that are holding our liberties and economic futures hostage to their agenda.”
He accused officials in Washington of allowing the nation’s future “to be ransacked by the well-connected, and the fruits of our labor to be squandered on redundant bureaucracy, which is the number one product manufactured in America today.”
Visconti said that unlike Larson, he won’t push for a quick withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
He said that “no one wants war,” but supporting the troops means backing them in their mission.
Visconti said he favors more efforts to increase the country’s energy supply through new drilling, more nuclear power plants and conservation.
He’s not falling in line behind President George W. Bush. Taking aim at one of the president’s signature domestic policies, Visconti said, for example, that “parts of No Child Left Behind need to be left behind.”
Visconti said that he would “close the borders,” but would endeavor to treat anyone already in the country humanely.
“We need to enforce the law,” he said, dismissing the current efforts as “a joke.”
As a businessman, Visconti said he can bring “common sense” to the Congress and “set things right” that have gone wrong for too long.

Here's a PDF of Visconti's speech

Here's a PDF of a biography provided by Visconti

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm putting money on this guy to WIN in November!!




NOT!

Anonymous said...

It's a shame jerks like John Larson are a sure thing for us in Bristol. It'd be great if this guy does well (in this district "well" mean >40%).


LOL

Anonymous said...

Be prepared to lose your money then.

Did he sing any numbers from his recent recordings? Maybe he and Dr. Estella can do a duet for the next parade.

Anonymous said...

This guy is the most viable candidate the GOP has run in the
1st Congressional District in years.

I wish him the best.

Anonymous said...

Phil Steele was close with the WH GOP as well. They must dislike John Blow-hard-son immensely.

Go Visconti Go!!

Anonymous said...

Joe Visconti's handlers would have us believe that he beat John Larson with 48% of the vote.

Looking at the candidate and the numbers, its a stretch.

On one hand, I don't blame them for having such confidence.

You can't come into this saying you are going to lose.

In reality, the devil will be in the details.

Visconti needs to raise money to get his message out to the voters and build a field operation.

And he does not have time on his side here.

Visconti's "everyman" persona will only go so far.

Will be interesting to see if he can best Phil Steele's 33% mark from 2002.

Although the percentage is low, Steele had the best showing against Larson since Kevin O'Connor in 1998 (41%)

Anonymous said...

Don't worry, Mocabee will make be the difference and save the day!

Anonymous said...

Mocabee is out of his league.

Plus, he's a real blow hard.

Anonymous said...

If it wasn't for Mocabee we would have a Republican Mayor and at least two Republican Council members.

Lets see how he does with Visconti

Anonymous said...

If Mocabee stumbles there is always Schafrick to fall back on.

Anonymous said...

May 3, 2008 9:54 AM;

"Joe Visconti's handlers would have us believe that he beat John Larson with 48% of the vote"

-What the heck are you talking about? No one really thinks this guy has much of a shot of beating Larson.

-I am not a "handler" of this guy and I haven't supported Visconti in any way...yet.

-All I know is that John Larson is wrong on Iraq, wrong on immigration and wrong on taxes. He is bad for America and even worse for Connecticut.

The best idea for voters in November is to DUMP JOHN LARSON.

-But I admit I doubt they'll take my advice.

Anonymous said...

Visconti for COO.

Anonymous said...

Vis who ? Just ahother wannabe to run the world his way !