Bigots Attempt to Smear New Britain Dems
I’m following up on this posting at the New Britain Community News Site from last week:
The New Britain Democratic Party condemned a fraudulent, vulgar and offensive letter mailed to residents in early September that made derogatory statements about Polish and Latino residents of the city. The letter, deliberately designed to look as if it were an official mailing from city Democrats, was sent through the U.S. Mail to a number households.
The Democratic Town Committee (DTC) called on all Republican-supported candidates to disavow and condemn the letter and insist that their campaigns and supporters refrain from such offensive political pranks. News stories in The Hartford Courant and New Britain Herald subsequently quoted several elected officials, including Republican Ald. Louis Salvio, as condemning the anonymous mailing.
“Racial and ethnic slurs have no place in our activities. This fraudulent letter is clearly a dirty trick designed to discredit efforts to increase involvement and participation of Democratic Party volunteers and their support of Democratic nominees ahead of this year’s elections,” said McNamara. “This letter embodies the kind of prejudice that I and the New Britain DTC fight to eradicate through political action every day.”
This despicable, hateful mailer purports to be official correspondence from the New Britain Democrats–a diverse, inclusive, and tolerant group if there ever was one–and in addition to slighting the Hispanic community in New Britain, the anonymous coward also takes a swipe at the Polish community in town.
A partial screen-cap of the front side of the letter (click image for full-size):
A partial screen-cap of the back side of the letter (click image for full-size):
On the back side, it appears to be the Associate DTC Membership form that was modified very amateurishly, changing “Voter Registration” to “Spanish Voter Registration” and adding “Illegal Immigration” to the list of issues groups, among other modifications. According to a report in the New Britain Herald, the letter was mailed to some government officials, one of whom was Democrat James Wyskiewicz:
“To me, that’s even below the belt,” Wyskiewicz said of the mailing.
He added that he thinks between 75 and 100 people may have received it as well. His wife, Patty, who sits on the New Britain Democratic Town Committee, received one.
Because of the amount of time and money it would take to send out a mass, in-color mailing such as this, Wyskiewicz said he did not think it came from a random resident.
“I think it had to be someone who was politically connected,” he said.
He added that he believed the mailing came from someone outside the Democratic party.
“To me, it sounds like its coming from a Republican,” he said.
I hope that all candidates on the ballot in New Britain denounce this dirty trickery. As far as I know, none of the major-party candidates or their supporters would stoop so low (perhaps I’m giving the Republicans too much credit). However, no one should hesitate to distance themselves from this letter.
As State Rep. Tim O’Brien notes in the New Britain Community News article, this letter is reminiscent of voter suppresion tactics used against swing state voters in 2000 and 2004.
We won’t stand for that. Not in New Britain.