Time Out: Foley unfiltered on the GOP brand, taxes and Malloy

He's gone from the "Green Zone" of Baghdad to the Emerald Isle.

Yet there is one destination that has proven elusive for Greenwich Republican Tom Foley.

And it's not the U.S. ambassador's residence in Dublin.

It's the governor's office, which Foley will seek for a second time in 2014 after coming 6,500 votes short to former Stamford Mayor Dannel P. Malloy in 2010.

Foley, 61, a GOP bundler and Harvard Business School friend of former President George W. Bush, discussed the Republican brand, the fiscal climate in his home state and his political foil with Hearst Connecticut Newspapers recently.

Q: You wrote an op-ed in Politico this week praising Abraham Lincoln and calling on Republicans to live up to his legacy, particularly when it comes to fighting poverty. How do Republicans get their message to resonate better with minority and low-income voters, and is it possible for a candidate of your means and your background in venture capital to make that connection?

A: The op-ed pointed out that Lincoln was first and foremost an extraordinary person. But what made him great and what has endeared him to generations is that he was committed to a noble cause. What I was suggesting in the piece was that if Republicans were to commit themselves to a noble cause that was clearly in everyone's interests and would take the country forward, that it would broaden the party's appeal. So I mentioned poverty as one opportunity to do that. I believe that if the Republican Party took on the challenge of addressing poverty in this country, that it would show that Republicans are interested in serving everyone's interests and moving the country forward on an important challenge and would endear us to minorities, urban dwellers, younger people, Hispanics and other constituencies that today aren't typically Republican.

Q: What gives you optimism that a Republican can win statewide office in Connecticut after the recent blue tide and the makeup of the electorate in this state?

A: It's a very challenging state for a Republican, but as you know, I came within 6,000 votes of winning the governorship in 2010, which I think shows that a Republican can win statewide office here. I was a first-time candidate. The challenge is particularly tough for a first-time candidate, starting off with no name recognition. Republicans have an easier time in Connecticut in the governor's race because it's a mid-term cycle. So you don't have a Democrat incumbent president on the top of the line. President Barack Obama won the state by about 18 points, which made it virtually impossible for a Republican on the under ticket to win statewide office. That won't be the case in 2014 in the governor's race.

Q: This week there was a new report that revealed that the state was trying to lure Bushmaster Firearms International from North Carolina to Stamford before the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre and then withdrew the development deal afterward. What do you think that says, the fact that the state was trying to lure this business and now, obviously, there's all the discussion about the assault weapons?

A: Well, the Connecticut Policy Institute, which I founded, published an op-ed that was following on a white paper about incentives that states offer and pointed out that many of the incentives that Connecticut has offered have been haphazard and probably don't make sense. So I think that the offer to Bushmaster to come here was, again, another one of those ad hoc incentives offered to a company to bring jobs here that doesn't tie into a logical long-term economic development plan for the state. So I think it was probably a mistake in the first place and then it was allowed to get politicized by the governor. I'm not surprised by the reaction of the firearms companies to what the governor is trying to do here in Connecticut.

Q: What are some of the specific changes we would see in a Tom Foley administration concerning tax policy?

A: Well, there wouldn't be any new taxes. The solution to the budget is actually pretty simple. If you held spending level for two years, the budget problems would go away. There's no need to raise taxes, though I wouldn't be surprised if Gov.Malloy does raise taxes because I don't think he has any intention of holding spending flat.

Q: You recently alluded to Gov. Malloy's 48 percent public approval rating, his highest since taking office, as partially a product of a "Newtown bounce" during a Sunday talk show. Would you still use that wording and how would you respond to your critics, namely Democrats, who called it insensitive and tried to draw a comparison between you and the NRA.

A: It actually wasn't my wording. It was wording that others had used in responding to a Quinnipiac poll. The point I was trying to make is that leaders during crises get what I call a halo effect. Everybody during a crisis looks to their leaders and wants to look favorably on them and their ability to address a crisis. The Quinnipiac poll is the first poll that had come out measuring his favorables and unfavorables since Sandy Hook and the storm in the fall, and so I was making the point that whatever benefit he got from those two crises was embedded in those two poll results. The good will that comes from a leader during a crisis has a pretty short half-life, so I don't think that the governor can count on that result and those polls lasting unless he does something about the issues that matter most to Connecticut residents, which are jobs and the economy. And I pointed out on that "Capitol Report" show that, despite a 48-percent favorable perception of the voters, he only had a 42-percent re-elect number, so many of those people who perceive him favorably still aren't planning to vote for him in 2014.

Q: What would you say are some redeeming qualities of the governor, if any?

A: (Laughing) Trick question. I just think I would have handled the challenges that face the state so differently from Gov. Malloy and I'm disappointed in the policy and direction that he's taken our state. I don't think that he's addressing the issues that matter most to our citizens and I don't think he's solving people's problems. So it's hard for me to think of any redeeming parts of his administration because he's not getting the job done.

Q: You were tasked with overseeing private sector development for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq by President Bush. What was it like living in Baghdad?

A: It was very challenging. It was difficult, both in terms of the job and responsibility I had, and the work environment, but I think everybody who was there was glad to be there and committed to the goal of having Iraq emerge as a Western-style democracy with representative government, rule of law and respect for human rights. We achieved a lot in the short amount of time that we had and I'm proud of my service there, as well as the service of all of the others who were there with me.

Q: Now we get the lightning round. Do you have a Twitter account and do you do your own tweeting?

A: Sometimes.

Q: Do you ever have other people do your tweeting for you?

A: Yes, if you're in a campaign, certainly. It's almost required that somebody at least assist with tweeting.

Q: Best perk of being ambassador to Ireland?

A: Well, representing the United States of America overseas is a wonderful privilege, but the best perk I would say is that you can get anybody over for dinner.

Q: Who are some of the people you had over for dinner?

A: Bono and The Edge. Seamus Heaney. Van Morrison.

Q: Is it true The Edge was at your wedding?

A: Yes.

Q: Was Bono there?

A: Bono was out of the country.

Q: Favorite U2 song?

A: That was a little out of my generation, a little late for me. They had some very good music. And Edge, who's primarily the music writer and the lyricist, is extraordinary.

neil.vigdor@scni.com; 203-625-4436; http://twitter.com/gettinviggy

Source: http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Time-Out-Foley-unfiltered-on-the-GOP-brand-4380713.php

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