Connecticut Local Politics

The AP is reporting over $750K raised at the fundraiser today. More on how much was raised for the Cappiello campaign as opposed to the CT GOP and other entities later, although I suspect it was a significant amount.

Update: Sources with knowledge of the fundraiser suggest that the money may be split 60% for Cappiello’s campaign and 40% for the CT Republican Party. That could be around $450K pumped into Cappiello’s coffers–a successful fundraiser for them, to be sure. Update 2: AP reports the same split..

Christine Stuart reports on the president’s speech in Hartford, in which he tied the fight against malaria to the war on terror:

Fighting malaria is a “strategy that advances our security interests,” Bush said. “From experience we understand that the terrorists and extremists can only find fertile recruiting grounds where they find hopelessness.”

“Their ideology is so backwards, so distorted, so hateful nobody really wants to follow it unless you’re so hopeless that it becomes appealing,” he said. “So the best way to defeat this ideology of hate is with acts of compassion and love. The best way to defeat an ideology of darkness is to spread the light of hope.” (Stuart)

That’s absolutely true. I commend the president for his actions in helping to combat malaria (and I say that in all seriousness, that’s a good fight to wage and he’s done a decent job of it), but I wish he’d apply that lesson to other areas. We can’t, it seems, fight an ideology of darkness as effectively with war and torture as we can with acts of compassion, love and hope.

Tparty at MLN notes that Chris Shays was on the plane. Nice to be able to catch a ride home.

Christopher Keating reports on the efforts of protesters to get close to the Kissinger pad out in Kent. It didn’t go so well.

The Courant has more coverage on their site.

In all, it sounds like the sort of weird day that happens whenever someone like Bush breezes through Connecticut.