Blumenthal Not Running for Governor.
Sheesh, did anyone think he was at this point?
That leaves Malloy and DeStefano in a two-man race. Bysiewicz is out, Sullivan has backed off his earlier lean towards a run, and now Blumenthal is staying away. The big loser? George Jepsen, who was considering a run for attorney general himself.
13 comments:
This just arrived in my inbox:
Today, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced that he would not run for Governor in 2006. I respect Dick's decision. The people of Connecticut will continue to have the finest Attorney General in the nation fighting every day for them -- all of us are truly lucky that Dick is such a dedicated, honest, hard-working public servant. He takes on fights no one else would, and he does so without regard for what they mean for him politically. He takes them on because it's the right thing to do. I'm proud to count Dick as a close friend of more than 20 years, and I look forward to being on the statewide ticket with him in 2006.
Dan Malloy
Obviously, Malloy had a heads-up. I wonder if Blumenthal will endorse him for governor, like he almost did last week?
Yes Ghengis, this is certainly good news for the Malloy camp. It will be interesting to see how this changes the 2-man Democratic race.
This, while not a surprise, is big news, especially for the Malloy campaign. The fundraising windfall certainly will go their way, and this frees up a lot of other folks who have been sitting on the sidelines to come out in support -- political and financial -- for Malloy.
I was joking around with Attorney General Blumenthal about some of this at the State Democratic Party fundraiser on Sunday. I offered him a DeStefano sticker to wear and talked about endorsements.
There was plenty of guessing about what Dick will do and when he will do it.
Now that he has announced he won't be running for Governor, the guessing continues as to whether he will endorse either John or Dan and which way his supporters will fall.
While Malloy supporters are hoping much of this support will go their way, I wonder if it is a bit pre-mature to be talking about this as good news for the Malloy camp.
Meanwhile, I want to point people to the quote from Mayor DeStefano in the AP:
"Everyone wants to talk about the horse race, really this is about the couple that went to work today to make Connecticut better for their kids, and frankly Jodi Rell has left us in a difficult place," DeStefano said.
Ahhhh....does it seem like the Malloy guys are reaching a little lately? DeStefano has the money and all the labor and Malloy is trying to use the announcement that a guy no one thought was going to run for Governor announce that he was, in fact, not going to run for Governor. Furthermore, is there anything in the Attorney General's history that would indicate him getting involved in a contested democratic primary?
For reference, here is the statement released by the DeStefano campaign regarding Blumenthal's announcement:
Attorney General Blumenthal has served the people of Connecticut with great distinction over the past 15 years. He has been one of our nation’s great attorney generals. During the course of this campaign, I will seek his advice and counsel.
Everyone wants to talk about the horse race, but this is really about hard working families who went to work today to make a better life for themselves and their kids and frankly, Jodi Rell is making this more difficult.
I am running for Governor to make a difference in the lives of the hardworking people of this state—from creating jobs, to improving our schools, to reducing transit gridlock, to reducing property taxes—I believe Connecticut can do better.
We need new leadership and new vision for Connecticut.
I’m going to challenge the system to solve problems, not tread water; to make progress, not simply get by. Voters face a big choice—between re-packaged status quo or leadership, accountability, and progress that make a difference for people.
I look forward to the contest of ideas about how we can build a better Connecticut that serves all the people of this great state.
Yeah....shocker. Thought this was funny though.
http://www.jtlusk.com/bblog/public_html/article.php/2005101111045263
"Blumenthal says he will not endorse either DeStefano or Malloy for the nomination, but he will actively campaign for whichever one gets the Democratic nomination next year."
This is from Mark Davis of WTNH during his coverage of Blumenthal's announcement. You can view the whole story here:
http://wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=3963336
What makes a valuable endorsement, anyway?
In my opinion an endorsement can help by (1) creating press coverage, (2) persuading people that respect the endorser, (3) bringing money that the endorser influences, and (4) helping to build field organization.
So, while big name political endorsements are important in terms of press and perhaps persuading a few people, it seems that the smaller endorsements that make the bulk of a well-organized field operation and fundraising network are just as (if not more)important.
Now that the field is set, it will be interesting to see which campaign begins to get the endorsements that signal this grassroots structure - not just individuals with name recognition. Unions, local party leaders, smaller advocacy groups are going to be key.
Maybe DeStefano's PR staff should go back to school. It's Attorneys General.
It looks like Dan Levine at CT News Junkie beat everyone to the punch with the news that Malloy edged out DeStefano in fundraising this quarter. However, DeStefano remains comfortably ahead in money in the bank.
You could normally look up the data yourself, but the SOTS site appears to have crashed.
Speaking of SOTS, the other unnamed losers in Blumenthal not running are the remaining Secretary of State candidates, who were probably praying that Bysiewicz might find another race to pursue in an open AG seat.
A few quick comments to DemIdealist:
Team DeStefano is not trying to downplay the value of big name endorsements. Rosa endorsed John. We are very proud of that.
I would love to get Blumenthal to endorse Mayor DeStefano before the convention. However, according to the article Julio cited, Blumenthal will not endorsing anyone until the nomination.
Big name endorsements are important. We are proud of Rosa's endorsement. Smaller name endorsements are also important. We are proud of Manchester Mayor Stephen Cassano's endorsement.
Labor endorsements are important. We are proud of the endorsements of the Connecticut Building Trades and of Council 15.
We are building a broadbased campaign with endorsements from all sectors of Connecticut.
You all are making too big a deal about Blumenthal's endorsement. No one outside of political circles cares about endorsements-- and they have all decided who they are supporting already.
The real effect here is money. I do think Malloy benefits more if there are lower Fairfield County Dems who were holding their wallets for Blumenthal.
And in the end this will be all be about money. Whoever raises more will win. If it is a tie in fundraising, then we have an interesting race.
And, of course, it doesn't matter...either will lose to Rell :)
The big winner in this was Rell.
Blumenthal's involvement in local communities and his past experience in statewide elections since 1990 had him better positioned then an other democrat for 2006.
With that said, Malloy and DeStefano will both benefit from his decision. Both will appeal to Blumenthal's donors, political supporters and staff for support and involvement in their own campaigns.
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