Candidates Expected To Add Extra Heat To Pizza & Politics

By Steve Bigham

Those with an appetite for both pizza and politics are expected to pack into the Fireside Inn Monday night from 6 to 9 pm for the annual Pizza & Politics night.

The Chamber of Commerce and the Lions Club sponsor the political forum each year. Next week’s event promises to be one of the more spirited debates in recent memory as Fifth District candidates Jim Maloney and Mark Nielsen square off just 15 days before the election.

Both candidates are waging an all-out battle for the seat in Washington. Some have called this year’s race “democracy at its best,” while others see it as nothing more than mudslinging. The two candidates have been exchanging barbs over fundraising methods, criticizing each other’s record, and trying to see who can plant the most lawn signs between Waterbury and Danbury. And, although next week’s match-up has not achieved the same hype as this weekend’s Tyson-Golota bout, organizers say the event should be a heavyweight spectacle sure to draw a crowd.

This week, The Bee caught up with both candidates for a preview of what, besides pizza, they plan to bring to the table.

Mr Nielsen, feeling confident that this is his year, predicted this would be the most important Pizza & Politics in a decade or more. “It’s rare to have a congressional race this close. It’s a secret to no one that most congressional races are decided before they start. This is different,” he said.

The Republican candidate called the Fifth District race a rematch of the “one-percenter” of 1998 when he fell just short against Mr Maloney, who was first elected to office in 1996 with a victory over Gary Franks.

Mr Nielsen called Newtown a bellwether town whose results are usually a carbon copy of the district. Congressman Maloney defeated Mr Nielsen by just 100 or so votes in Newtown two years ago.

Mr Nielsen sees Texas governor George W. Bush making a “late-inning rally” to take the lead and believes he will be crowned the winner on November 7. And while he does not feel this is a coattails kind of a year, he does believe a Bush win will serve his candidacy well.

This week, he was calling himself a reform-oriented Republican as opposed to Mr Maloney, to whom he referred as a labor-affiliated Democrat.

“He is the number one recipient of labor support on the East Coast,” Mr Nielsen said.

Congressman Maloney said his support from labor is due to the fact that they see Mr Nielsen as hostile in the interest of the working people.

“In the context of this campaign, I have a broad-based support. I am strongly supported by the business community as well as the working men and women. Mr Nielsen is really on the far right. He has a lifetime labor record of six percent. In other words, he roughly had to vote against anything that working families would want,” Mr Maloney said.

Mr Nielsen points out that the Fifth District has been notoriously difficult to win in a candidate’s first try. However, many candidates, including Mr Maloney, have found success the second time around. A lot of it has to do with name recognition, Mr Nielsen said.

Mr Maloney disagrees.

“First of all, he still has relatively low name recognition. He spent most of his time opposing me and not developing any positive name recognition. He is substantially lower in name recognition than I was in my second campaign. To win two years ago, I had to run 20 points ahead of the Democratic ticket because the Republicans and Gov Rowland won big that year. The general climate this year is much better,” Mr Maloney said.

Education, targeted tax relief for families, health care, and campaign finance reform will all be discussed.

Katherine Sturges from the Connecticut League of Women Voters will serve as the moderator at the forum.

Pizza will be served at 6 pm followed by the debate. The event is open to the public and tickets may be obtained at the following Newtown locations: Newtown Florist, 22 Church Hill Road, Clavette Josselyn & Co, LLC, 65 Church Hill Road, and the Cyrenius H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street. Admission is $10 per person and advanced tickets purchase is strongly suggested, as it is anticipated that this event will be sold out. For more information, call the Chamber of Commerce at 426-2696.