Male Republican Gubernatorial Candidates Blast Democrats At Debate, While Two Female Candidates.....

[George II]

Source: Hartford Courant

Male Republican Gubernatorial Candidates Blast Democrats At Debate, While Two Female Candidates Observe

(Full headline)

In a show of solidarity with the two women Republicans who were shut out of the GOP’s gubernatorial debate, Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti volunteered to give up his seat Wednesday night to Erin Stewart and Toni Boucher.

The politically calculating gesture opened a two-hour showcase in which the leading GOP contenders for governor tried to find the sweet spot between burnishing their conservative credentials and demonstrating their electability in a blue state.

The all-male lineup of Republicans served up ample red meat to a standing room only audience at West Haven’s Notre Dame High School on gun control, collective bargaining, sanctuary cities and draining the so-called swamp.

But it was the elephant not in the room — the absence of Stewart and Boucher from the stage — that loomed large over the third of five Republican debates.

Read more: http://www.courant.com/politics/hc-pol-republican-debate-west-haven-20180221-story.html

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Republicans once again show their abject misogyny by barring the only two female candidates from the debate tonight.

[BigmanPigman]

1. No wonder this country is so fucked up still!

99% of gun violence is committed by men and current gun laws are made by men too.

[Yupster]

2. American young men really are in crisis

right now.

The rates of crime, drug abuse, dropout rates, incarceration rates, low grades, school discipline, suicides are all out of control.

Many boys grow up without male role models. With less men working in schools, sometimes the only men the boys see are the custodians.

This is a crisis we better start paying attention to.

[murielm99]

3. This is one reason why we need to

pay teachers more and encourage men to teach elementary school.

The school district next to mine has a man who teaches kindergarten and a man who teaches third grade. I know the little boys love them.

[Hortensis]

4. Read the article. Neither woman qualified for inclusion.

It looks bad in this era when people are expecting better. So just perhaps because of that they'll consider changing the rules, which apply to candidates (and potential candidates in this case) regardless of gender.

I'm sure these women had reasons for still only considering running, but how about at least a frown for the fact that no Republican woman has made herself a serious candidate yet, leaving the stage to be occupied only by men?

[George II]

5. Last night the Democrats had a forum too, with all eight potential candidates, including....

....Susan Bysiewicz, who is only an "exploratory candidate", too.

Why do the republicans have such a bizarre rule?

[Hortensis]

6. Conservatives tend to be more rule oriented,

less accepting of deviations from rule, and less inclined to stretch them. Imposing a rule on some and ignoring it for others, like we apparently did, would be a sign of weakness of principle, and of course we are the unprincipled, bizarre ones.

Requiring hefty fees to actually be produced by those seeking entry also keeps out those who lack the cojones to raise them. It's considered a measure of competence and helps keep out inadequate, frivolous candidates, or so the general idea is. Anyone who remembers the 17 Republican presidential candidates on stage in 2015-16 of course knows how important fielding high quality candidates is to them.