November 4, 2010

Barnum's alive and well in Bridgeport

Your average Third World dictator runs elections better than Bridgeport.
Today, after two days in the spotlight, Bridgeport officials found a bag of uncounted ballots lying around somewhere.
They still don't seem to have a grip on the results.
You can't help but think the city's most famous native son, P.T. Barnum, is alive and well in Bridgeport.
There is, he once said, a sucker born every minute.
Barnum, of course, was a politician, too, as well as the great showman of his age. So he knew of what he spoke.
But I'm not sure even Barnum could have imagined the secretary of state announcing a gubernatorial winner based on "unofficial" counts when the state's biggest city was still fumbling around in the dark to figure out who voted for what.
Nor could he have foreseen the Associated Press declaring a winner, then revoking it, then making it seem like a certainty that the guy did in fact win.
I don't blame Tom Foley for calling for state police to seize the ballots and have somebody impartial count them.
He's probably worried about corruption.
But I'm not sure they know how to count high enough in Bridgeport. Lord knows its educational test scores lend some support for my concern.
In any case, if Dan Malloy and Foley can't figure out who won, there's a rich woman in Greenwich who's looking for a job. She'd probably take the governor's post as a consolation prize.
Plus, of course, anyone who made her money from professional wrestling is intimately familiar with Barnum's insights.
******
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Typical Dems if you cant win then just cheat!

Anonymous said...

Great piece, Steve.

This whole election cycle has been a circus run by a bunch of clowns for a bunch of clowns!

But the show must go on...

Anonymous said...

Steves the ring master

Anonymous said...

The Houdini Party always manages to pull a rabbit out of their hat!!

Anonymous said...

And it was OK for Katherine Harris to give Bush presidency in 2000?
Let's remember that....