A Citizen Q&A with Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley

Last June, former Ambassador to Ireland and Greenwich resident, Tom Foley, 58, announced he would run for the U. S. Senate in 2010 against Christopher Dodd. But then came November, when Gov. Jodi Rell announced she would not run again, and there was an abrupt change of direction. Foley would run for governor of Connecticut.

Lining up with Foley for the race are six other Republicans: Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele, former Congressman Larry DeNardis, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, Newington Mayor Jeff Wright, Chester First Selectman Tom Marsh, and businessman R. Nelson "Oz" Griebel. (Another possible opponent, should Foley make it to Election Day is fellow Greenwich resident and Harvard graduate, Democrat Ned Lamont.)

In a state where the critical issues are economic, Foley holds a businessman's card. Before entering government service, Foley had 25 years of experience in senior management and private equity investing, first with McKinsey & Company in New York, then Citicorp Venture Capital before founding the NTC Group in 1985, which acquired new, under-performing businesses and turned them around. The concern grew to employ 6,000. It has now scaled down but Foley still owns Stevens Aviation, a supplier of aviation services.

That entrepreneuring experience and his substantial support for the presidency of President George W. Bush won Foley a challenging assignment in Iraq from 2003-2004 as Director of Private Sector Development for the Coalition Provisional Authority. His job was to develop ways of reviving the private sector economy in Iraq, along with foreign trade and investment. For this service he was awarded the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award in June, 2004. He was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Ireland in 2006, serving through 2008.

Foley's wife, Leslie, is an attorney in New York and his son Tom is a college freshman. His interests include the arts -- he's a former trustee of The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington -- and children's education. He has served on two Connecticut State Commissions involving education and children's rights. He holds a BA in economics from Harvard and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

The Citizen asked him a few questions about his decision to run.

What were pivotal arguments that decided your switch to run for governor? What do you see as positive indicators for your candidacy?

If Jodi Rell had announced in the spring of 2009 that she wasn't running for re-election, I would have started off running for Governor. I am very Connecticut focused and I think our next Governor will have more to do with how our state recovers from its current problems than our next Senator. I also believe that my background as an executive and problem-solver is a perfect match with the skills and experience needed in our next Governor. That said, when the governorship wasn't open, I felt I could serve the state well as a senator, too.

People all over the state seem enthusiastic about my candidacy because I am not a career politician and haven't been part of the problem. I am not a Hartford insider. I have `real world' experience as an executive and problem-solver. I know what it takes to meet a payroll and to help businesses thrive so they can hire more employees. I know what it's going to take to turn things around in our state and I am out on the campaign trail talking about it candidly.

The polls confirm what I am sensing as I travel around the state. I am ahead of all the other Republican candidates by at least nine points in the primary test ballot and am, with the margin of error, doing better against all the likely Democratic opponents. So Republicans sense that I am the candidate with the best chance of winning in November.

In your brief and aborted run for the Senate, you reportedly spent half a million dollars of your own money. If you should be pitted against possible Democratic opponent, Ned Lamont, both you and Lamont are likely set to spend millions to be elected. By contrast, your possible Republican contenders are likely to sign onto Connecticut's new voluntary system of publicly financed campaigns limiting gubernatorial candidates to $4.5 million -- how do you see this leveling the playing field?

Actually, I raised more money from others than was spent on the Senate race. I also expect that I will raise more money from others than I contribute myself to my campaign for Governor. So, I don't see myself as self-funding the way Linda McMahon and Ned Lamont say they will be.

Three of the Republican candidates say they plan to use the public funds and two others say they won't. The Citizen's Election Program, although well-intended, just stacks the playing field in a different way. It favors people who already have high name recognition, i.e. career politicians and incumbents. It also puts a $60 million dollar additional strain on an already bloated state budget. Citizens benefit from candidates being able to communicate about their backgrounds and positions on issues. Voters don't benefit from limiting a campaign's expenditures, only under-funded candidates do. Fundraising is an important part of the political process that vets candidates and is an early test of their legitimacy. Government funding of political campaigns makes our election process less, not more, democratic.

What have you learned from your business management and entrepreneuring experience that can be applied to kick start Connecticut's stagnant economic growth, to bring down the high numbers of unemployed, and to harness a soaring deficit?

Connecticut is a very business unfriendly state. Government policy in Hartford costs our state jobs by driving employers out of the state and discouraging others from coming here. I can help unwind some of the more toxic policies and solve problems with our state bureaucracy that also hinder job creation. I also will encourage industries that have been identified as ones for whom Connecticut should be attractive to come here and invest in our economy. Finally, I have a lot of experience at diagnosing and solving problems as an executive. I can apply these skills and experience to reduce the size and cost of state government.

What in your diplomatic experience would enable you to successfully deal with a Democratic-controlled General Assembly? And what steps do you see that have been overlooked in dealing with the budget?

I don't think my diplomatic experience will be called upon as much as my business experience for dealing with the legislature. I am an excellent negotiator. I have already diagnosed what must be done and have a plan for getting Connecticut headed back in the right direction. I am committed to solving Connecticut's problems. I understand that some of the decisions that need to be made won't be popular, but I believe a governor who provides strong leadership through these challenging times and fixes our problems will be rewarded with the confidence of the voters. If each decision is weighed by its popularity, a Governor can't provide the leadership needed to garner the cooperation of the legislature. I won't get caught in that trap.

Connecticut is increasingly a gray state with the numbers of young people leaving the state. Why do you see this happening and what are some of your thoughts on how this could be reversed?

It's a national phenomenon, but Connecticut is getting more than its fair share because we aren't doing enough to create jobs here and make Connecticut a place our young people want to be. Connecticut is one of only two states in the nation with a net loss of jobs since 1989. Connecticut's business-unfriendly policies including healthcare and other mandates on businesses that raise their costs are job killers and have contributed to the problem.

Regarding your energy and environment policy approach as stated on your Web site, how would you encourage Connecticut's energy industry leaders to develop more efficient sources of energy?

I wasn't promoting more efficient sources of energy, but more efficient use of energy. Green homes and buildings, more fuel efficient cars, and investment in technologies that reduce energy consumption are only three of many ways the government can help promote more efficient use of energy.

With your interest in children's education, how would you attack our state's considerable achievement gap?

Charter schools have shown that inner city children can perform at levels equivalent to suburban children if they are given the opportunity to do so. Charter schools like Amistad Academy in New Haven don't spend more money per child than our non-charter inner city public schools. The major differences are in the amount of time the children spend in school and on task, instilling a culture of achievement, strong and empowered principals including the power to hire and fire teachers, regular assessments of student progress, and encouraging parental involvement.

I support more charter schools and more choice for parents, but we will not solve our inexcusable achievement gap soon enough unless we use what has been learned in charter and magnet schools to improve our regular inner city public schools. I am committed to doing that as Governor.

You have stated you wish to have Connecticut take a leadership role in lowering the cost of health care. How might you go about that as Governor? Where do you stand on the new health care bill?

I am against the new health care bill because it doesn't do anything to lower healthcare costs and unleashes a new entitlement program that the country can't afford. Here in Connecticut we must bring down the cost of healthcare which is one of the highest in the country. High healthcare costs increase government deficits and reduce the number of jobs available here. We can lower in-state healthcare costs by paring back state mandates on healthcare coverage, promoting wellness programs, eliminating policies that provide first dollar coverage, which removes incentives for people to be efficient in their consumption of healthcare services, cap medical malpractice claims, switch to electronic record keeping, and increase competition by permitting multi-state policies.

Who are your role models for state leadership, and why?

A good governor is one who has a clear vision of where he or she wants to take their state and who is guided by a set of basic principals for determining policy and for interacting with their legislature. To be effective, a governor must be a good leader. To be a good leader one must be a consensus builder not a divider, a listener who thoughtfully tries to understand and consider everyone's point of view and a problem-solver who can bridge the differences between people. Ronald Reagan provided that kind of leadership when he was governor of California. Haley Barbour and Mitch Daniels have and are providing that kind of leadership in Mississippi and Indiana. Chris Christie seems to be off to a similar start in New Jersey.