Parade Fans Polite, But Many Miffed By Prevalent Politicking

By John Voket

Newtown First Selectman Herb Rosenthal said that if future Labor Day parades restrict campaigning and politicians, he would be just as happy watching all the festivities from a lawn chair in front of his Main Street home.

“The Labor Day Parade should be about fire trucks, marching bands, and the town’s many volunteer groups, schools, and floats,” Mr Rosenthal told The Bee just two days after Newtown made national news because of a political fracas involving two US Senate candidates.

As the statewide endorsed primary winner, Democrat Ned Lamont was welcomed to march beside fellow party leaders from local and state offices including Mr Rosenthal, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, and Lt Governor Kevin Sullivan.

But a hastily dispatched invitation from a member of the local Democratic Town Committee to Senator Joseph Lieberman, who is running for reelection as an independent after losing the primary to Mr Lamont, set off a sequence of events that landed Newtown’s annual Labor Day rite on the front pages of newspapers across the nation, along with broadcast reports on CNN and ABC News.

Much to the chagrin of parade organizers and the first selectman.

While Mr Rosenthal maintained he fully supported Mr Lieberman marching elsewhere in the parade, he was adamantly opposed to the sitting Senator standing with other endorsed Democrats, including Mr Lamont. As a result he made a hasty mid-August call to the Senator’s office retracting the DTC invitation.

“It’s unfortunate the letter ever went out,” Mr Rosenthal admitted in retrospect. “But if I didn’t call, it would have created an issue within our united party. It could have caused the Senator and the town committee embarrassment…it just wouldn’t have been appropriate.”

Following Mr Rosenthal’s call to the Lieberman camp, an aid to the Senator contacted The Newtown Bee, resulting in a report on the political faux pas. Within a few days of the original article, statewide and national press organizations began picking up on the story, generating the appearance of numerous unfamiliar press representatives and a huge satellite transmission truck stationed at the flagpole during most of the Labor Day activities.

As the focus on Newtown’s parade turned from fire trucks to the brewing political firestorm, the escalating controversy was fed further by the first selectman’s original comments, which were often restated out of context or in misconstrued applications.

“In the end there was way too much focus on it,” Mr Rosenthal said. “I never thought our call to him would be made public.”

While several broadcast reporters brazenly walked into the parade’s line of march to shoot television images and interview participants, not limiting themselves to the political players on hand, the parade slowed to a halt on several occasions. Parade committee representatives were seen on at least two occasions shooing camera crews and reporters away from the marchers in front of the Queen Street reviewing stand.

At the same time, parade watchers in the area repeatedly complained that the extensive politicking and in-your-face campaigning was detracting from the experience many families came out to enjoy.

“Who do I write to complain about this?” one passerby said.

“Maybe they should make these guys give a big donation before they let them march again,” said another.

While virtually all the sideline viewers greeted each wave of political participants with polite applause, even Mr Rosenthal seemed a bit miffed that a crowd in excess of 50 placard-toting Lamont volunteers stopped the parade at the Queen Street reviewing stand chanting in support of their candidate for almost two minutes.

Although he admitted not seeing the Senator at all during the parade, the first selectman also pointed out that Mr Lieberman apparently created a growing gap between his group and the parade unit preceding him because he frequently stopped to shake hands and interact with the crowd along the route.

Mr Rosenthal said as he watched Newtown parade scenes play out on news broadcasts Labor Day evening, he kept hearing the parade described as an event marking the official kickoff to fall political campaigning in Connecticut.

“Until this year, I don’t think the political aspects were much of a problem,” Mr Rosenthal said. “I think to some degree it’s good to have the politicians here, because it may be the only time a lot of people can put a face to the names they keep reading about.”

As a former parade committee chairman, Mr Rosenthal said he would have no problem if future committees revisited the rules and strengthened guidelines about separating marching politicians from their campaign machines.

“I firmly believe they shouldn’t be allowed to have supporters marching in their place,” he said. “They shouldn’t allow anyone’s posse in the parade if the candidates themselves don’t come. Political appearances should be tasteful and not dominate.”

Parade committee chair Kym Stendahl said she was disturbed when she learned a CNN camera crew had captured an alleged shoving incident that erupted at the end of the parade route between members of two political factions, and were planning to use the footage. Agreeing that certain political supporters were “more in your face than usual,” Ms Stendahl also described the Lamont chanting that held up the parade at the Queen Street bandstand as “very unfortunate.”

On the other hand, she called Mr Lieberman “a true gentleman,” saying he was always welcome to march in Newtown “any time he wants.” Ms Stendahl took to heart comments about an honorarium in exchange for marching, and the assertions about politicians being left to march at the end of the parade instead of in the first unit.

“Unfortunately it’s parade protocol to have the politicians leading off the parade,” she said. “But I will look into the idea about requesting an honorarium.”