Sensing that they can capitalize on the national wave of frustration that is rolling through the country, state Republicans held a rally this week to call for returning common sense to Connecticut.
After the singing of Lee Greenwood's "Proud To Be An American'' and "The Star-Spangled Banner,'' House Republican leader Larry Cafero of Norwalk and Senate GOP leader John McKinney of Fairfield stepped to the microphone to fire up the troops who had gathered outside the state Capitol.
"Give us a chance. Give us a look,'' Cafero implored. "Give us the opportunity to restore common sense. ... Our state government is too big, too intrusive and too quick to spend the public's money.''
The Democrats have controlled the state House of Representatives since 1987 - following a brief period of Republican rule that was swept in with the Ronald Reagan landslide of 1984. They have also controlled the state Senate since 1997 - after a similar, two-year period of control that came when Republican John G. Rowland was elected in 1994 and the GOP held a 19 to 17 advantage in the Senate.
Cafero and McKinney then alternated in reading the seven "principles of the common sense commitment'' that they unveiled. The principles, Cafero said, are "nothing new or earth-shattering. It's common sense.''