From the Durham Fair to a veterans parade in Moosup to a Tea Party rally in Waterbury, candidates for governor criss-crossed the state Sunday in the final push for votes before Tuesday's crucial primaries.
The candidates greeted voters at diners, fairs, and a series of outdoor events on a hot August day as they hoped to reverse a potentially lackluster turnout during the middle of vacation season.
For a brief time Sunday, the center of the Connecticut political universe was a 2.3-mile stretch of Main Street in the Moosup section of Plainfield, not far from the Rhode Island border. That was the site of the 49th annual V-J Day Parade, where the two front runners in the polls - Republican Tom Foley and Democrat Ned Lamont - marched in honor of the veterans who defeated Japan in World War II in August 1945. At least five other major candidates, including U.S. Senate candidates Dick Blumenthal and Rob Simmons, also attended the parade.
Across the state in Waterbury, Democrat Dannel Malloy greeted well-wishers at an Italian festival, while longtime business executive Oz Griebel and Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele both spoke at a tea party rally on the city green. Fedele also shook hands at the Durham Fair on Sunday morning before heading to the Lebanese Festival in Wolcott.
The breakneck pace was part of a weekend-long marathon of appearances around the state. On Saturday, Foley rode into Simsbury on his new, rented luxury bus - similar to those used on long trips by rock n' roll bands and tour groups. With his name emblazoned on the side, Foley's red, white, and blue luxury bus immediately captured attention.
"It's like a moving billboard,'' Foley said.
On a walk-through on the bus in a Simsbury shopping center parking lot, Foley said the vehicle is completely equipped with Wi-Fi for Internet connections and Direct TV "to watch all the negative ads against me.'' The interior is not quite Air Force One with the latest technology and cell phone capability.
"It's basically a traveling office,'' he said.
Foley rented the bus for this weekend, and he intends to have it again throughout October and to the general election on November 2.
After leaving the bus behind, Foley headed out in a small, four-seat car for a short drive to affluent West Simsbury to knock on doors. It was a quiet Saturday morning, and many residents were completing their chores on suburban streets that had virtually no traffic. Accompanied by his wife, Leslie, Foley rang a doorbell, and a retired woman appeared from around the side of the house.
"I'm Tom Foley. I'm running for governor,'' Foley said as he walked toward Caris Carr, the homeowner.
"I'm cleaning out my garage,'' Carr responded.
Carr recognized Foley, saying, "I've been paying attention to the race. I've been on the fence on the governor's race. We've got big problems.''
A longtime Republican who had a sign on her lawn supporting state Sen. Sam Caligiuri for Congress in the Fifth Congressional District, Carr did not commit her vote to Foley and said later that she does not know how she will vote.
"Good luck,'' she said as Foley started to head across the street. "I just hope it's a Republican victory in November.''
Carr had never seen a candidate for governor come to her house in the upscale neighborhood, where the houses are far apart. "Not at this level, not the candidate themselves,'' Carr said.
She was upset that the state legislature, with the approval of Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell, had voted to borrow money in order to pay for the state's operating expenses - a much-criticized practice that is generally done only in desperate times.
"You just can't spend your way out of debt,'' said Carr, a former member of Simsbury's Republican Town Committee. "The economics doesn't work. Don't get me started on this.''
