Democrats in Connecticut are up in arms today after it was revealed that Gov. Jodi Rell (R) has been using taxpayer money to fund a secret series of polls and focus groups aimed at testing the political viability of her programs a year before she’s up for reelection.
The political operation was kept secret and was hidden inside a grant given to a University of Connecticut professor that was supposed to fund a study into ways to “streamline state government,” according to the New London Day, which broke the story today after a month-long investigation.
Records from the project obtained by the paper show that Dr. Kenneth Dautrich, the professor awarded the $220,000 grant and a “confidant of Rell’s chief of staff,” used the state money to “pepper” Rell’s office with advice “on everything from income taxes to leadership qualities to the public’s opinion of a potential political rival.”
From the report:
For instance, in mid-December, 2008, as Rell and her staff were preparing a budget proposal that would seek to close a growing multi-billion-dollar budget deficit without resorting to tax hikes, Dautrich, with help from UConn students and using his taxpayer-funded budget from the government streamlining project, convened a focus group of nine voters at a small research facility in Wethersfield.
The purpose, he wrote to a Rell aide before the meeting, was “to probe a lot on things like ‘what do you expect from good leaders?’ and ‘what kinds of decisions would give you confidence in Connecticut’s leadership?'”
Other polls covered rhetoric, policy moves and even “the public’s opinion of a potential political rival.”
[One memo sent to the governor’s office] advises Rell to hold firm on her pledge to avoid tax hikes, warns of the relative popularity of Attorney General Richard Blumenthal — at the time a rumored Democratic gubernatorial candidate — and reports that participants were especially well-disposed toward one of Rell’s favorite metaphors: the comparison of Connecticut’s budget woes to that of a family struggling with financial hardship.
Democrats, not surprisingly, were upset at the news.
State party chair Nancy DiNardo told the Hartford Courant:
“It’s beyond outrageous that Gov. M. Jodi Rell used more than $200,000 in taxpayer dollars to fund what was, in essence, a focus group to gauge support for her possible re-election bid next year. At the very least this looks as though it violates state ethics guidelines, and possibly even the law.”
For her part, Rell told the Day the research was standard political practice in Connecticut. From a statement released by her office today:
“Along with numerous other efforts to gather input — including a public comment page on my office Web site — Ken provided a critically important sense of how the people of Connecticut wanted to see the state budget unfold. Ken’s work was invaluable and he helped us to determine ways to save taxpayers money. He has my sincere appreciation for his hard work.”
