Courant Endorses Blumenthal, Malloy

Unsurprisingly – Connecticut Commentary predicted it nearly two weeks ago – the Hartford Courant has endorsed Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, for the U.S. Senate and Dan Malloy for Governor. The Courant is a left of center paper that generally endorses incumbent Democrats or such Republicans as are indistinguishable from Democrats.

The kinds of politicians generally supported by the paper have given us this year a state deficit that some expect will expand in the near future to $4 billion, the only state in the nation that has lost population, a state and municipal tax burden that ranks 38th in the country, a property tax collection that is number two in the nation, the fourth highest gas tax in the country and a return on every dollar sent to Washington in taxes of 69 cents.

In the gubernatorial race, the paper is willing to wing it with Mr. Malloy. Voting for Mr. Malloy, the paper avers, “requires a leap of faith that he is not, as Mr. Foley charges, in the pocket of the public employees unions… Engaging the unions is not being rolled by them…” except when engaging the unions is being rolled by them. The Courant should sit down and have a candid chat with the outgoing much rolled Republican governor, a moderate, the only kind of Republican the paper is willing to tolerate.

Actually, Malloy, despite his credentials as a union conciliator, very likely will have the same problem as Rell with liberal Democrats tied to unions through sympathetic leaders in the legislature and campaign contributions, more about which later.