It’s Monday morning, April 28; there are 190 days left until Election Day, 2008.  The front page of the day’s Hartford Courant frets about the skyrocketing global food prices and its effects on people who eat.  Can we finally end federal subsidies for the ethanol industry now?  Probably not.

If you missed any of our coverage of President George W. Bush’s visit to Connecticut last Friday, just scroll down.  Also check out the photographic evidence from the event, if you haven’t already.  Make sure you look for conspiracies - they’re everywhere!

Governor Rell has an op-ed in the Courant this morning, imploring legislators to knock it off with the taxing and the spending: “Quite simply, the budget decisions state government makes over the next several days will either help Connecticut get through the toughest of times or they will make our economic difficulties worse. Our government must live within its means. Spending money we do not have will lead to only one thing: future deficits that neither our businesses nor our taxpayers can afford.”  Keep your optimism in check on this one.

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS, for those in the Know) put their collective foot down today on the Voter Identification laws.  Three Justices (Souter, Ginsberg, Breyer) trust everyone to do the right thing when it comes to voting.  The other six Justices want to see some ID before you vote - trust but verify, as they say. 

But that’s not all from the Supremes - the much-reviled Justice Antonin Scalia was the man in the arena last night for a 60 Minutes profile with Lesley Stahl.  And even though some of Stahl’s questions were posed like she was interviewing someone from another planet, on balance it was a fair and interesting piece.

This week promises to be a big one for GOP CONNECT, our (relatively) new interactive reference map.  The names of McCain for President Coordinators in each town are coming in at a good clip now (as RTCs meet and pick a Coordinator), and you can expect a good number of towns to turn “orange” by the end of the week.

Weather report - 45 degrees and rainy today, a little warmer tomorrow but more rain forecasted.