Changing of the guard

      6 Comments on Changing of the guard

Somewhat poetically, the Hartford Courant homepage features side-by-side photos of, and stories about, Connecticut’s soon-to-be-former senior senator, Chris Dodd, and the man who will almost certainly be sworn in as his replacement — and the state’s new junior senator — in almost exactly one year, Richard Blumenthal:

courant-dodd-blumenthal-crop

Blumenthal, the state attorney general for approximately the last 164 years, has held onto the title of “up-and-coming Democrat” long past its expiration date, and is now finally cashing in his decades of political capital to seek Dodd’s suddenly open seat. It’s hard to imagine any Republican defeating him in deep-blue Connecticut, even in a bad election cycle for Dems. I wonder if Rob Simmons will reconsider his now-quixotic Senate bid, and run for the open governor’s seat instead.

6 thoughts on “Changing of the guard

  1. Joe Loy

    David K, bite your Keyboard fingers. ;> My kid is leading an Upright life. Leave him be. 🙂

    Chris Dodd has been a damn fine Congressman & Senator. He will be deeply missed. / I wish him all the best; and hope he gets to spend all the time he wants at his much-investigated Irish Cottage, and to tell those who don’t Like it that they can go jump into Galway Bay with his compliments. ;}

  2. Sandy Underpants

    You really think Blumenthal will stand up to the 24 inch pythons of Linda McMahon?

    Whatcha gonna do, brother when the WWE and the McMahon’s run wild on Connecticut? Sen. McMahon to the floor.

  3. Joe Loy

    Joe Mama, yes indeed he has & while I’m at it, so was his old man. / Censure, schmensure: back in Them days Connecticut believed in God and Senator Dodd and keepin’ old Castro down. ;> (Ironically, Tom Dodd’s political philosophy — informed, I’m sure, by his prosecutorial experiences at Nuremburg — was more akin to Joe Lieberman’s today than to son Chris’s: mostly Liberal on domestic policy issues; fiercely Hawkish towards America’s foreign foes.) In 1970 when the “disgraced” Dodd skipped the Democratic Party nomination process altogether and just ran for a 3rd term by petition under the “Dodd Independent” party label, he still pulled a full 25% of the vote at the general election. Not bad for a Disgraced Senate Censuree.

    So, JM, put That in yer Bwaaaaahaaahaa and smoke it. ;>

    Sandy U: Hee Hee & Yes Yes. / But don’t Count her Out. She’s personally got mucho dinero to commit to the race — much more than does GOP “establishment” candidate Rob Simmons. / And Dickie “Television Man” Blumenthal, through all of his 5 count them 5 statewide AG election campaigns, has never Once faced anything more than a Placeholder opponent – a Sacrificial Lamb, you should pardon the expression – on the Republican ticket.

    For politiconerds, this is now a rare & fabulous year in Connecticut. Our traditional longtime Incumbencies tend to freeze things up for veritable Ice Ages, politically. Now all of a sudden we have statewide “open seats” for US Senate AND Governor – and, consequently thereof, for Attorney General and for Secretary of the State (whose 3-term Dem incumbent, Susan Bysiewicz, will almost certainly seek either the Governorship or [less likely, sez I; Susan is not the soul of Patience and she’s heard the Top Job beckoning her for a long time] the AG post. / In this context, keep in mind that (a) the CT Democrats have not elected their party nominee to the Governorship in 24 years, and (b) the CT Republicans have not elected Their party nominee to either U.S. Senate seat in 28 years. / Oh, but it’s going to be Fierce. 🙂

  4. Leanna Loomer

    as a side note to dodd’s decision not to run, i strongly recommend his book ‘letters from nuremberg: my father’s narrative of a quest for justice’. written with lary bloom, dodd uses his father’s correspondence with his mother (not your typical pillow talk between spouses) to document the whole panoply of events at nuremberg during the nazi war crimes trial. chris dodd did us all a service by publishing and giving a framework for a unique eyewitness account of the resolution of one of the greatest crimes against humanity of our — or any — time.

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