Senatorial candidate gives book talk, outlines campaign

Merrick Alpert, a democrat who is running against current Sen. Christopher J. Dodd in the August 2010 primary elections, spoke Wednesday following his book talk at the Co-op about a variety of issues he is concerned with as he prepares for his political campaign.

Alpert, a Hartford native, said he is passionate about the idea of changing our state for the better.

"Hard work was something I experienced from the onset," he said, citing his experience of being raised by a single working mother who held two jobs to support her family.

Alpert said that the first thing that needs to change in this state is for "people to have faith in their elected officials."

There is a long-standing issue of the public learning of the corruption of the government, and not having faith in those representing them, he said.

"If you don't get involved, then nothing changes," Alpert said.

Because most people hold jobs outside of governmental control, Alpert feels that working with this aspect and creating more of these jobs will help to improve the state.

"The worst thing we can do is to entrust our jobs to someone who has never held a private sector job," he said, citing Dodd as an example.

John Troyer, a UConn philosophy professor who taught Alpert as an undergrad said that it is "time for a change from Christopher Dodd" and that he "trusts" both Alpert's politics and his personality.

Alpert is primarily concerned with three major issues in his campaign: Private sector jobs, clean government and getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

For "clean government," Alpert noted that it is important for our next senator to not be a "career politician," but rather someone who can relate to the people being represented.

He referred to incumbent Sen. Chris Dodd as being "bought and paid for" because of his accepting financial contributions from the government. Alpert prides himself in not receiving money from the government, but rather individual contributions from community supporters.

Charles Feign, a 6th-semester biology major, said that he believes Dodd is "bought by financial industry." He hopes that Alpert can bring a change in that regard.

When asked what would be the most significant difference in his campaign compared to others, Alpert said, "I offer a new path from the prospective of someone who is not all about money."

He is also an advocate for getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan, having spent six months as a U.S. Peacekeeper in Bosnia. He said he "felt a moral obligation that if U.S. troops were to be in harm's way, so should I."

He said that he is "more interested in rebuilding Connecticut than Kabul."

Alpert is also a strong supporter of education, saying that UConn "turned my life around" and that "a quality education begins with early childhood."

He feels that everyone has the right to a quality education, and that we should also focus on improving vocational school education, which is not being taken seriously.

"We need to stop trickle-down economics […] focus more on Main Street than Wall Street," he said. "We should invest in what works, and stop doing what doesn't."

With all this said, Alpert understands that it takes years to create jobs and businesses.

"I'm interested in realistic goals […] It took a long time to get into this mess, and it will take a long time to get out," he said.

CORRECTION: In the print version of this article, it says that Alpert is a mayoral candidate when he is in fact a senatorial candidate. The Daily Campus apologizes for this error.