In recent weeks, however, the effort seemed to wane as the fundraising tallies for the two gentlemen headed in opposite directions - with Cappiello’s coffers growing while Nania’s fell flat.  It still came as a surprise, however, when former State Rep. Nania informed Chairman Healy that he would not be mounting a Convention challenge to Cappiello yesterday.  His gracious exit from the race clears the way for Cappiello’s nomination tomorrow.

Republicans all across Connecticut will gather in their various Congressional Districts this Saturday, May 10th, to nominate candidates for Congress.  The First Congressional District Convention will be held at West Hartford Town Hall Auditorium, at 10am.  It is anticipated that West Hartford Councilor Joseph Visconti will be nominated.  Former Commander Sean Sullivan will stand for nomination in the 2nd Congressional District.  And in the Fourth District, Congressman Christopher Shays will be re-nominated for another term in Congress.

“Today, Anthony Nania formally informed the Connecticut Republican Party that he is withdrawing for the Fifth Congressional race. Mr. Nania has also told us he intends to support our nominee, State Sen. David Cappiello, during the campaign, and after his recuperation from major orthopedic surgery.”

“Republicans are now more united than ever in purpose and action to support and elect Sen. Cappiello as our next Congressman for the Fifth Congressional District.”

Their conclusion? It was lousy.

Stay tuned, we’ll have a full update later.
“Blogging by Blackberry”

“I decided that everybody’s temper is just getting a little too short right now,” Rell said about six hours before adjournment. “By midnight, I think everyone’s going to be a little tired.”

Despite efforts by the House Republican “Fighting 44″, the Democrats refused a vote on the GOP’s alternative budget that would have eliminated taxes on estates and businesses, reduced the gas tax at the wholesale level and provide an early retirement plan for 4,000 state employees that would save $160 million.

House Speaker James Amann, D-Miflord, eyeing the door toward an early retirement, blocked all efforts to have the Republican budget called.

Senate Democrats approved a health care bill that would open the state health plan to small businesses and municipalities.  The bill, backed by the public sector labor unions, would be the first step to state control of private health insurance. Gov. Rell has expressed deep skepticism about the proposal as has OPM Secretary Robert Genurario. All Senate Republicans and one Senate Democrat, Joan Hartley of Waterbury opposed it, so a veto would be sustained.

Democrats pledged to come back in a Special Session to push for more staffing at nursing homes that would bankrupt nursing homes, push again for pension revocation for public officials (but not those covered by collective bargaining) and to extend the Conveyance Tax on the sale of homes.

House and Senate Republicans will hold a press conference at noon today to discuss the session and offer their insights into what this means for Connecticut.

Chairman of the Connecticut Republican Party Chris Healy has released an audio message on the Republican “Do Something” Budget that has been proposed by the House Republican Caucus and the Senate Republican Caucus.  You can find that message by clicking play below.

New York Senator Hillary Clinton and IL Sen. Barack Obama split the differenence last night in the North Carolina & Indiana primaries, with Sen. Obama drawing a huge 56%-42% victory in the Tarheel State and Clinton squeaking to victory in the Hoosier State, 51%-49%.

Clinton was defiant in her speech to supporters last night, pledging to fight on to West Virginia and Kentucky, and pressing for the inclusion of Florida and Michigan in the delegate counts.  But as numerous pundits have noted, Clinton fundraising has slacked in recent weeks as many donors grow skeptical of her chances.  Word comes today that the Senator has made another loan to her campaign of $6.4 million dollars - on top of a previous $5 million loan earlier in the year.  The Clintons are on the ropes.

This is not the case for Sen. Barack Obama - the self-described ”skinny African-American with a funny name”.  With the tough Pennsylvania defeat now behind him, a better than expected win in North Carolina, and a surprisingly good Indiana showing, the media has covered Obama as though he had clinched the nomination - this despite the fact that the spread in delegate counts between the two candidates is almost the same as it was pre-Pennsylvania.  Nonetheless, the Big Mo’, as they say, is clearly with the Obama campaign and the decisive superdelegates are getting the messages.

“Most Hartford residents understand two basic facts about the city: Hartford’s responsibilities outweigh its resources and its government has shrunk (some departments are just shells). Nevertheless, Hartford’s Republican Party has a responsibility to comment on this year’s budget and its potentially dangerous outcomes.

The most startling and underreported statistic is the continuing overtaxation of small businesses — the heartbeat of the city. A bakery in the South End will see a property tax hike this year of more than 30 percent on top of a 20 percent increase last year — obviously unfair. Such increases are self-defeating.”

. . .

“Of course, the answer to all this, according to the tax reform task force, the mayor and the council, is more state aid. Well, sorry, folks, the man behind curtain is just that, a false hope. Hartford already gets much more state aid than any other city — $38 million more than New Haven. With this year a fiscal train wreck and next year’s state budget a potential meltdown, our city has to either reduce expenditures or raise taxes just to keep afloat. And we’ve seen the effect of overtaxation: shrinking business investment in the tools that create wealth.”

DeLauro’s official website has all sorts of comments on not cutting the gas tax and ensuring the safety of imported food, but she has failed to take issue with a proposed funding cut in a bipartisan program that offers food to hungry children living in poverty.

According to Dole and McGover, the bill would cut the program from “$840 million over five years to $60 million this coming year. After that, there would be no guarantee of funding at all. The $840 million in funding represents less than 1 percent of the proposed total spending in the farm bill.”

The bill does include more needless subsidies of agribusiness and protections that are not needed. Strange, from a Congresswoman who posts a picutre of her reading to a child in school, that she would turn her back on the very poor she claims to champion on a daily basis.

Maybe we should ask DeLauro if finding out whether astroturf is dangerous is more important than feeding hungry children, or has Dick Blumenthal already gotten to the bottom of that pressing health issue?

EJ has already caught a Democratic gubernatorial candidate glad-handing at a polling place, as well as an Obama for America ‘helper’ in place to offer assistance - inside the polling location.  As always, EJ reports the infraction to the authorities and usually gets the proper results.

Make sure that you read through the entire thread of the day to find out just what is going on.

The polling is very tight in Indiana, with the fault lines between urban and rural voters being hammered by both campaigns.  Sen. Clinton - the woman whose pedigree includes Wellesley and Yale Law and resistance to being anything other than Hillary Rodham - is now the boilermaker swilling, gas tax cutting friend of the common man.  Meanwhile, Barack Obama looks on unimpressed, as his legions of young people continue their march.

If Senator Clinton wins in both North Carolina and Indiana, it will be a huge boon to her campaign and give her the credibility with superdelegates she needs to make a persuasive case for the Democratic nomination.  Two wins for Obama probably means that Clinton is out, unable to raise money or mount a credible case for the superdelegates.  A split continues the muddled picture that has characterized the campaign to this point.

Polls close in North Carolina at 7:30pm and 7:00pm in Indiana - though a portion of Indiana is on Central time, meaning that they won’t really come in until after 8pm EDT.  Stay tuned - we’ll post the results here when we get them.