Unity, some caution at GOP rally
SOUTHBURY — President Donald J. Trump generates enthusiastic crowds at campaign rallies elsewhere, but he was rarely mentioned Saturday by Republicans at a unity rally in Connecticut, where activists were reminded all politics is local, and the only issues that matter are taxes and the economy.
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton both introduced Republican gubernatorial nominee Bob Stefanowski at the rally and endorsed the nominee’s blinkered view of the campaign as revolving around a single issue —his supply-sider’s approach to slashing taxes to stimulate economic growth.
“Some people are trying to nationalize this and make this a national campaign. This campaign is not a national campaign,” said Boughton, who ran second to Stefanowski in the five-way GOP primary. “This campaign is about Connecticut. It’s about your home. It’s about your street, your neighborhood, the town that you live in.”
The rally in a function room at Pomperaug Regional High School was the first for the entire statewide ticket since Stefanowski, a businessman seeking office for the first time, defeated Boughton, who was the frontrunner as the GOP convention-endorsed candidate. On a rainy and raw Saturday, it filled a room with seating for about 200.
Tax-cut contest
Stefanowski, who trailed Democrat Ned Lamont by eight percentage points in a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday, pronounced the race a dead heat and said his campaign’s tight focus on fiscal issues have framed the campaign.
“We have an argument right now about who the better tax-cutter is going to be. That’s the turf we want to be on. That’s why we’re going to win this election.” Stefanowski said. “I’m going to focus on what matters in Connecticut, which is this economy.”
Matt Corey, the nominee for U.S. Senate, taunted Sen. Chris Murphy, the Democrat seeking a second term, for refusing to debate him more than once. “He’s not man enough to stand on stage with me,” said Corey, the owner of a bar and a window-washing business.
Stefanowski’s approach has generated some quiet grumbling among Trump supporters who would like to see the party celebrate the president’s tax cutting, his nomination of conservative Brett Kavanaugh to the Su- preme Court, the nation’s historically low unemployment, and an economy seen as strong until the stock markets faltered in recent days.
State Sen. Eric C. Berthel, R-Watertown, whose district includes Southbury, said he has heard those complaints, but does not share them: “What’s going on in Washington is being used as a distraction in Connecticut.”
Democrats gather
Trump figured more prominently at a Democratic rally in New Haven, one in a series of smaller events Democrats staged across the state with an eye toward keeping closer to their communities on one of the four weekends before Election Day.
“It could not be more clear now that if you’re a woman, if you’re an immigrant, if you’re aConnecticut taxpayer, if you live in the city of New Haven — the president of the United States has declared war on you and your family,” said Rep. William Tong, of Stamford, the Democratic nominee for attorney general.
Murphy cast the stakes of the election in near-apocalyptic terms. “And if we don’t win this election … we will also potentially put this country on a slow descent away from democracy, away from democratic norms, to a country that none of us may eventually recognize,” Murphy said.