Does Colin Powell's backing make any difference?

Colin Powell, former secretary of state for President George W. Bush and a former chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, endorsed Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama today.

Powell, a Republican, is easily the most prominent member of his party to throw his support to Obama.

Does it matter to anybody?

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

Sarah Palin coming to New England on Wednesday

Though Connecticut's too blue to attract any candidates at all, New Hampshire's not firmly in the Democratic tally so it remains in play.

Hoping to nudge it toward Republican presidential hopeful John McCain, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is going to speak Wednesday at a rally in Salem, N.H.

The Republican town chair in Enfield, Mary Ann R. Turner, is rounding up GOP loyalists to ride a bus to the rally and make some calls for McCain along the way.

The free rally for Palin marks her second appearance in New England.

If you're interested in going, contract Turner at this email address: maryannturner@cox.net. The bus will leave Hartford about 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

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

Presidential polling trends

Probably the best site to keep tabs on how the McCain-Obama race is going is pollster.com, which has the most recent numbers for every state and nationally in an easy to understand format. At the moment, things are trending Democratic.

But there's a long way to go before Election Day.

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

Dodd may be toast after tonight

As he crisscrosses Iowa today, trying to round up some extra votes at tonight's presidential caucuses, U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd is telling supporters he's "not making any deals" to help anyone else. The Democrat told supporters in Iowa City this morning, "This is not a Monopoly game. That’s not the Iowa way of doing it.”
Dodd is aiming at a fourth place finish tonight - after U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, U.S. Sen. Barrack Obama of Illinois and former U.S. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina. If Dodd comes in fourth, he plans to stay in the race. If he falls short, he's done.
Dodd told about 100 backers this morning, according to an account in the Iowa City Press-Citizen, that Iowa Democrats are "not only going to decide who goes forward, but who doesn’t go on.”
Oh, well. At least if Dodd loses, Connecticut will be happy to welcome him back home.
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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Obama, Giuliani get best ballot slots in Connecticut

Associated Press - Sen. Chris Dodd will be fifth on the ballot in his home state when Democrats go to the polls for next month's presidential primary.
A drawing Wednesday by the secretary of the state determined that Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's name will appear at the top of the Democratic ballot, while former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani will be first on the Republican ballot.
There are 16 candidates between the two parties, the most ever in a Connecticut presidential primary. Connecticut is one of 23 states holding caucuses or primaries Feb. 5.
Only voters registered with a party can vote in that party's primary.
New voters and voters who aren't registered with a party have until Jan. 31 to register by mail if they want to vote in the primary. Feb. 4 is the deadline to register in person.

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Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Political junkies - NPR plans special coverage of Iowa and New Hampshire results

Press release from Connecticut Public Radio:

HARTFORD, Conn. – (January 2, 2007) WNPR’s extensive primary election coverage begins live on Thursday, January 3, 2007 from 10:00 p.m. to midnight.

The coverage begins on January 3 when WNPR broadcasts the Iowa Caucus live with NPR's Robert Siegel. Siegel will host from Washington, D.C., while election veteran correspondents Linda Werheimer, Mara Liasson, Ron Elving, and Ken Rudin will report from various locations across Iowa. Candidate speeches will be broadcast whenever possible. The live special will air from 10:00 p.m. to midnight.

A news special, NPR’s Iowa Caucus Recap, will follow the caucus on Friday, January 4, 2007 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Hosted by NPR's Neal Conan, the Iowa Caucus Recap special will offer an in depth analysis of the Iowa Caucus, and give listeners an opportunity to call in with their reactions. Guests on the program will include: Bill Carrick, a Democratic political consultant who has advised nationally prominent Democrats including Richard Gephardt, Senator Edward Kennedy and Senator Diane Feinstein. Another guest on the program will be Mike Murphy, a Republican political consultant who has advised prominent Republicans including John McCain, Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney and Lamar Alexander.

On Monday, January 7, 2007 special editions of WNPR’s Where We Live, with host John Dankosky, will preview the New Hampshire Primary from 9:00 a.m. to 10 a.m. and again from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Afterwards, the station will broadcast NPR coverage of ABC/WMUR Presidential Debates from 9:00 p.m. to midnight.

Then, on Tuesday, January 8, 2007, WNPR will broadcast the New Hampshire Primary Special live from 9:00 p.m. to midnight. NPR's Siegel, along with correspondents Werheimer, Liasson, Elving, and Rudin, will bring you the results.

In addition, WNPR will bring you a recap of the New Hampshire primary on Wednesday, January 9 from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.

For the most comprehensive election coverage, tune into WNPR!

WNPR-Connecticut Public Radio – 90.5 FM Hartford/New Haven; 89.1 FM Norwich/New London; 88.5 FM Stamford/Greenwich; 91.3 FM Southampton, New York; 99.5 FM Storrs/Mansfield; www.wnpr.org

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Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Let's talk presidential politics for a bit

With the Iowa caucuses only days away, the tiny fraction of America that cares about politics is becoming utterly absorbed with the outcome of each party's internal slugfest to capture the presidential endorsement.
I claim no special insight, having met only a few of the candidates, none of them enough to afford me any more than a glimpse.
Though I've spent a fair amount of time in Iowa during the past 15 years, I can't even say I have much a clue what its voters might do this week.
On the Republican side, I've met Ron Paul a couple of times in Washington years ago. Back then, he was a Democratic congressman considered a whack job by almost everyone. He struck me as a more than a little looney, but perhaps he's changed.
I spoke on the phone once with Rudy Giuliani when he was a U.S. attorney. He was an insufferable jerk.
Among the Democrats, I know Chris Dodd the most, having covered him for the past 13 years. He's certainly smart and seemingly genial. But there's no reason to think he's going to get lucky and prove the polls wrong.
I met Hillary Clinton in Iowa last summer when she was campaigning with Bill in Cedar Rapids. They were both pleasant and neither of them seemed self-important. I was kind of surprised that I liked her as much as I did, since she'd always left me cold in the past.
I've never laid eyes on Barak Obama or John Edwards, and I only dimly recall Joe Biden giving a speech years ago that I attended.
That's kind of a long-winded way of saying I don't have any idea what's going to happen.
So who's going to pull it off?

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Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com