Although stating publicly that he made a decision in running for governor back in early January, the latest Quinnipiac poll was released today which shows that Danbury's last honest man is losing ground among the field of Republican candidates for the gubernatorial nomination.
When asked who would support for the state's top elected position, Tom Foley leads the field with at 30 percent, up 13 points since the last poll in January. Mark Boughton barely registers a blip on the screen at 4 percent, DOWN two points since the last poll in January.
While his favorable numbers are still below 10 percent, eighty five percent of those polled said they haven't heard enough about the man who's been Danbury's mayor for almost ten years.
The Q-poll also finds that people support for Sunday alcohol sales (56-39 percent) while opposing keno gambling (70-27 percent) and reinstating toll booths on highways (56-40).
You can read the complete report by clicking here.
UPDATE: The last honest man attempts to find a silver lining...
Let's keep rockin on... remember, this is about delegates, not the general population.
Hmm, now it's not about the poll numbers but the GOP convention. Interesting
Lets take a look at what Boughton had to say about his higher poll numbers in January from his so-called "expert analysis."
Although Greenwich multi-millionaire Tom Foley and Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele had higher ratings in the latest Quinnipiac University poll, Boughton noted that he had 6 percent of the vote in the poll without yet having declared his candidacy.
So in other words, Boughton had no problem touting the Q-poll when he didn't officially declare his candidacy for governor (although he did hint his intentions to the press at the time). Now that he's been a candidate over a month, and has been traveling across the state with his recycled campaign speech, Boughton opts to ignore the his latest poll data showing that that his numbers are taking a nose dive.
They don't call him the last honest man in Danbury for nothing...
I'll make it simple and get to Keating's point in the write-up that Mark referenced.
There is a WORLD of difference between public opinion and delegates who will cast their vote at the GOP convention.
The whole convention thing is a crazy game of chess which takes too long to explain but for those who don't know a thing about conventions (which probably accounts for a majority of the public), arm twisting and deal making is the name of the game at events. Because of this, most stuff that goes down at conventions have nothing to do with the mood of the general public. As someone who was a state legislator and better known within the political inside baseball arena as opposed to the general public, logically, Boughton's delegate percentage should be higher than his general public poll numbers.
As someone who's been to a few of these events over the years, I can tell you that conventions are nothing more than the ultimate in inside political baseball. Whether or not Bouhgton twists enough arms to grab 15 percent of the TOTAL delegate vote is somewhat irrelevant when it comes to his chances in grabbing the nomination IF he makes it to the primary in August.
To recap:
- With NO money,
- no guarantee that the state's public campaign finance program will be in place in time for the race,
- the fact that he's going around to the various RTC in the state touting accomplishments as mayor...most of which he INHERITED from the previous administration,
- and NO real name ID to speak of,
The two most important elements in a campaign are MONEY and NAME RECOGNITION and with Foley's warchest, Boughton is in an overwhelming uphill battle when it comes to being relevant in this race. Linda McMahon's rise in the poll over Rob Simmons has shown that political experience isn't needed when it comes to the GOP.
As Q-poll director Doug Schwartz stated:
Like Linda McMahon, Tom Foley is the only candidate for governor who is on TV, which helps him break away from the Republican pack.
As the high undecided drops, and Foley continues to flood the airwaves, expect his numbers in the polls to increase. At this point, Foley only real challenger is Mike Fedele, which is why Foley is sharpening his attacks against the Lt. Gov while completely avoiding anything that comes out of Boughton's mouth at the various forums the candidates have held across the state.
In short, only candidates who are down in the polls talk about delegates at a convention most people have no idea about. Boughton's latest rant is no exception.
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