By Sylvia Cunningham
Incumbent Democrat Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Republican challenger Tom Foley met Thursday evening to debate at the University of Connecticut, and it got personal – fast.
Foley criticized Malloy’s stance on jobs: “Your anti-business policies have driven jobs out of the state.”
But Malloy shot back, calling on the record of his opponent to show it could be worse.
“We’re not driving the state into bankruptcy, something that Mr. Foley has a record of having done in the past,” Malloy said.
The personal attacks are not going unnoticed by spectators, but which candidate is the bigger offender is a debate in and of itself.
Chris Dellaporta is the Vice President of External Affairs of the UConn College Republicans. He says Foley is the one with the vision whereas Malloy is the one firing attacks.
“When you’re watching TV at night and you see what Malloy is doing and his commercials are just not a vision for the future. Rather, they’re just complete attacks against Foley,” Dellaporta said.
Graduate student and employee Maria Seger sees it differently.
“Malloy is much stronger on the issues, and the reason why Foley pivots to the character attacks is because he actually hasn’t presented strong plans,” Seger said.
Republican challenger Tom Foley told the press he wants a truce, but only time will tell if the cease fire will stick. In the meantime, Connecticut voters will just have to roll with the punches.
Photo by Alex Sferrazza/WHUS News