Rooting for a Republican throwback

One of the charms of the 5th Congressional District race in this otherwise charm-deficient election is having two pretty good candidates and if you doubt it, you’ve already forgotten Chris Donovan, Lisa Wilson-Foley, Mark Greenberg and Dan Roberti.Both Elizabeth Esty and Andrew Roraback are moderates who would be expected to vote with their parties more often than not but vote their consciences when they find themselves at odds with the party line. The only difference is Roraback has a record to prove it.There’s no question Roraback is by far the more experienced of the two and his 18 years in the State House and Senate give him a decided edge over Esty, with her single term in the State House. She was reportedly defeated in her bid for a second term because she voted to abolish the death penalty in the wake of those vicious murders in her home town of Cheshire, a vote that was brave or foolhardy, or maybe a little of each. And a vote that left her without much of a record to run on.With his moderate Republican record, Roraback was right to be offended by a national Democratic Party ad linking him to Republican crazies like Michelle Bachmann, Alan West and Sarah Palin and making the absurd claim that the Republican House is eager to welcome him as one more Tea Party vote. The Connecticut Tea Party, such as it is, was later good enough to confirm his apostasy and denounce him. He was, however, mistaken in his demand that TV stations stop running the ad. The last time I looked, the FCC was pretty touchy about TV stations interfering with the content of political advertising for a very good reason. Imagine the chaos if television stations were allowed to censor ads submitted by or on behalf of candidates. Esty, though, could have impressed the independents she needs by disavowing the ad more fervently instead of just saying she never called Roraback a Tea Partyer. She did call him “a vote for John Boehner and the Tea Party caucus,” which is about as close as you can get and she did it after Roraback proclaimed his opposition to Paul Ryan’s voucher plan for Medicare.Roraback on the other hand, could undo a lot of good feelings if he suddenly decided to run similarly obnoxious ads in the name of self-defense.But an ad using that tape of Esty telling senior citizens at a town meeting they should move if they didn’t like paying higher taxes for Cheshire schools is fair game. It’s sort of a limousine liberal version of Romney telling “60 Minutes” the poor can use the emergency room when they’re sick. And that was a 21st century version of Marie Antoinette’s cake recommendation.So my choice would be Roraback, the candidate who has built a reputation for moderation, integrity and bipartisanship over a long career. These are qualities as needed as they are rare in the Congress today. Roraback convinced me of his independence and good sense when he declined to sign that pledge to never vote for a tax increase. This is the abomination foisted upon the ignorant wing of the Republican Party by anti-tax fanatic Grover Norquist and signed by numerous Republicans who should know better, including Mitt Romney and Linda McMahon and 275 members of the current House. Esty, on the other hand, looks as if she’s running to be Nancy Pelosi’s best friend when she attacks Roraback for suggesting the Social Security age needs to be raised in a decade or so and other necessary changes are needed in this nearly bankrupt entitlement. My decision to vote for Roraback would have been even easier if Donovan had been the Democratic candidate and I would surely have voted for Esty if one of the other Republicans had won the primary. But Roraback is an exceptional Republican, a throwback to a better Republican Party and I hope he makes it. Simsbury resident Dick Ahles is a retired journalist. Email him at dahles@hotmail.com.