Greenwich Resident Ned Lamont Is Surprised To Learn That Manchester, East Hartford And South Windsor Will Most Likely Send 75 Malloy Delegates To The Democratic State Convention
By LennieGrimaldi
Ned Lamont and his personal fortune are expected to officially enter the race for governor on Tuesday.
Nice to have 10, 15, 20 million of your own dough to spend. Makes you an instant player. Because he has plenty of loot and built a profile defeating Joe Lieberman in a Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in 2006 only to lose to Joe in the general election, Ned starts as the guy to beat on the Democratic side. Former Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy, the party-endorsed Dem for governor in 2006, will have something to say about that.
Lamont and his army of Nedheads defeated Lieberman in the primary as the anti-war candidate. Lamont, however, had trouble persuading independent voters to see it his way. And this is still Lamont’s nagging challenge that may create an opening for Malloy. Who’s better suited to win a general election? The guy who had Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and all the liberal special interests preening behind him into the cameras on primary night in 2006, or someone who has balanced budgets, attracted development, stabilized taxes, supervised a workforce? It’s not an easy juggle for Malloy either who will try to get to the left of Lamont on side issues without compromising his general election appeal.
Lamont had all the liberal’s liberals supporting him in 2006, the unions, activists and serial primary voters that generally decide primaries. Former State Comptroller Bill Curry, twice the Dem party nominee for governor, had a great primary profile, not good enough to win a gubernatorial general decided by Connecticut’s largest bloc, unaffiliated voters. Whether former ambassador to Ireland Tom Foley, former Congressman Chris Shays (if he decides to get in) or someone else, the ultimate Republican nominee is better equipped to stand up and scream: government is too expensive and if we don’t do something soon this state is headed for the rocks. That’s because they don’t need union support to win. Will the ultimate Democratic candidate boast the stomach to take on the unions, the state work force, the teachers, the professors, the college administrators? Not in a primary. So it’s a delicate balance: how to keep serial primary voters happy without general election voters viewing you as a sell-out.....
Nice to have 10, 15, 20 million of your own dough to spend. Makes you an instant player. Because he has plenty of loot and built a profile defeating Joe Lieberman in a Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in 2006 only to lose to Joe in the general election, Ned starts as the guy to beat on the Democratic side. Former Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy, the party-endorsed Dem for governor in 2006, will have something to say about that.
Lamont and his army of Nedheads defeated Lieberman in the primary as the anti-war candidate. Lamont, however, had trouble persuading independent voters to see it his way. And this is still Lamont’s nagging challenge that may create an opening for Malloy. Who’s better suited to win a general election? The guy who had Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and all the liberal special interests preening behind him into the cameras on primary night in 2006, or someone who has balanced budgets, attracted development, stabilized taxes, supervised a workforce? It’s not an easy juggle for Malloy either who will try to get to the left of Lamont on side issues without compromising his general election appeal.
Lamont had all the liberal’s liberals supporting him in 2006, the unions, activists and serial primary voters that generally decide primaries. Former State Comptroller Bill Curry, twice the Dem party nominee for governor, had a great primary profile, not good enough to win a gubernatorial general decided by Connecticut’s largest bloc, unaffiliated voters. Whether former ambassador to Ireland Tom Foley, former Congressman Chris Shays (if he decides to get in) or someone else, the ultimate Republican nominee is better equipped to stand up and scream: government is too expensive and if we don’t do something soon this state is headed for the rocks. That’s because they don’t need union support to win. Will the ultimate Democratic candidate boast the stomach to take on the unions, the state work force, the teachers, the professors, the college administrators? Not in a primary. So it’s a delicate balance: how to keep serial primary voters happy without general election voters viewing you as a sell-out.....
PLEASE SEE:
Exploring candidate for governor Dan Malloy used a slow news day to to announce a passel of endorsements from delegate-heavy East Hartford and Manchester, along with South Windsor, Glastonbury and Bolton. Under the restrictive rules for picking delegates, the endorsements provide a big boost to Malloy’s chances of prevailing at the Democratic state convention.
The Malloy scheduled the Marco Polo Restaurant presser in East Hartford for the day before Lamont’s formal announcement of his candidacy for governor.
Busy as the Lamont campaign ought to be, they found time to issue a graceless response to the Malloy endorsement
Lamont campaign manager Joe Abbey issued a press release, claiming this:
“Ned is not a career politician and has never been the insiders’ choice for office. In this political climate, it’s clear voters want candidates who will challenge the status quo and shake up the system, and who won’t participate in the same old political deals motivated by selfish political ambition that they’ve seen become commonplace in both Washington and Hartford.”
“As this campaign progresses voters who are concerned about their jobs and the future of Connecticut are going to see a stark contrast between the candidates vying for the Democratic nomination for Governor.”.....
.....The Lamont campaign will need a different set of press release templates going forward.
Roy Occhiogrosso of the Malloy campaign asks, “Why’s Ned overreacting like this? It’s a little unsettling.
Roy Occhiogrosso of the Malloy campaign asks, “Why’s Ned overreacting like this? It’s a little unsettling.
Is he seeing significant support moving toward Dan, and getting rattled by it? There’s more to come. And did he really use the term ‘selfish political ambition’? Ironic.”.....
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