| DECEMBER 14, 2010 -- Waves of laughter filled the harbor side bar Thursday night as State Senator Andrew Maynard and his former election opponent watched themselves parodied on "The Daily Show," Jon Stewart's nationally televised comedy-news program, where a correspondent portrayed their campaign's Civility Tour as alien as E.T.
Maynard of Stonington and Stuart Norman Jr. of Griswold, standing together in Stonington Harbor Yacht Club's bar, joined about 50 friends and supporters for a viewing party of the show that highlighted the abnormality of bi-partisanship in this age of anything but.
Each man thanked one another, with Maynard praising Norman as an excellent community leader, and Norman saying he enjoyed every moment of the campaign and had not one sleepless night.
"Even though Andy got more votes than me, I did not lose," the real estate lawyer said of Maynard's third-term, 18th District, win.
In a perfect segue to the civility segment, Stewart opened his 7 p.m. show with President Obama's compromise of keeping tax cuts for the wealthy while extending benefits for the jobless, with a backdrop of extreme discontent between the major parties, calling one another terrorists, socialists and mortal enemies.
In his strong British accent, Comedy Central's John Oliver said in the show shot at Sterling's Ekonk Community Grange three weeks ago, "Theory is one thing, but could it be, I've stumbled on the sole example of bi-partisan cooperation actually living in the wild?"
Oliver questioned the men (prompted to act serious, as if being interviewed on "60 Minutes") about their personal lives, with Maynard saying such information about Norman was irrelevant, and Norman saying it was not relevant whether Maynard was gay to which Maynard said, "I am gay as it turns out," to which a disbelieving Oliver exclaimed to Norman, "You KNEW and you didn't use it against him!? My god! They were real and they had a message for the planet."
"I guess the simple message is," Maynard said, "don't be a jackass."
"Remarkable," Oliver said.
"It's kind of sad that this should be remarkable," Maynard replied.
And that is what seemed to strike many of those gathered at the bar.
"I would recommend that the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee air this at the onset of their conventions," Erica Lindberg of Stonington said.
Jim Hutson of Noank agreed, characterizing the Civility Tour as fabulous.
"I think the state senate is a high enough office level to where people like Andy and Stuart who choose to focus on the issues prove it can be done at a significant level from the best state in the country," he said.
At Maynard's request, people brought bags of food and donations for the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center.
"We hadn't known about it, but we're always thrilled," Center Executive Director Vicki Anderson said earlier. "I just have to thank him for thinking of us, as he always does. He's a terrific guy and so was his opponent." |
