So what about the $100 million for UConn's Health Center that Sen. Chris Dodd tucked into the federal health care reform bill? Hartford Courant columnist Rick Green asks all five U.S. Senate candidates for their opinions, now that the money is key to the health center improvement plan announced Tuesday by Gov. M. Jodi Rell. While expressing varying degrees of enthusiasm for the health care bill itself, four of the five essentially say, "We'll take the money!" Republican Peter Schiff is the exception.

 

Blogger Kevin Rennie tees up the Hearst newspapers' 16 questions for the candidates for governor and U.S. Senate: How many residences do you own? What kind of watch do you wear? Where was your most recent family vacation? And so on. "Nothing on the economy or issues of war and peace," Rennie notes in his Daily Ructions blog. Not that there aren't some personal questions worth asking, he says: "Whether and what a candidate reads can give us a hint at whether or not he possesses any intellectual curiosity, an attribute often overlooked in a campaign. A candidate's favorite restaurant does not tell us much."

 

Same question, different answers: Two new surveys asking respondents which candidate they favor in their Congressional district, the Democrat or the Republican, reached markedly different conclusions. Gallup's respondents gave the Democratic candidates an edge, 47 to 44 percent. The Rasmussen Reports poll found the Republicans well ahead, 44 to 37 percent.  A couple of differences: Gallup polled "registered voters," while Rasmussen asked "likely voters." Perhaps more significant, Gallup conducted tradition telephone interviews, while Rasmussen relied on its automated telephone response system, which it claims is just as accurate. (Gallup: 1,585 registered voters; MOE 3 percentage points. Rasmussen: 3,500 likely voters; MOE 2 percentage points.)