The bitter contest to replace retiring Senator Christopher Dodd pits the charm-free, experienced public servant against the splashy business executive. Connecticut voters should pick experience.
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, the Democrat, has led the way in attacking the tobacco plague, helped clean the region’s environment and supported hundreds of individuals treated unfairly by their health insurance companies, utilities or banks.
Mr. Blumenthal has troubled us by occasionally telling audiences, falsely, that he served in Vietnam. He has apologized in almost every public forum and made sure that he expressed his regret to real Vietnam veterans.
We have larger concerns with the Republican, Linda McMahon. She made her name and lots of money by running World Wrestling Entertainment, a noisy, demeaning business. Her policy positions, when you can discern them, are remixes of failed trickle-down ideas.
She has aligned herself with groups that oppose the minimum wage — even though she now says she would not cut this meager safety net. She essentially expects voters to take it on faith that she will do as well in government as she did in spectacle wrestling.
She is ready to spend as much as $50 million of her own money to win the race, but she does not seem ready to take on the issues of war, the economy, public welfare and justice in Washington.
For the United States Senate in Connecticut, we endorse Richard Blumenthal.
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Connecticut voters have two worthy candidates for governor: Dan Malloy, the Democrat and former Stamford mayor, and Thomas Foley, the Republican and former ambassador. Mr. Malloy is the better choice.
Mr. Foley, who was a major fund-raiser for former President George W. Bush, worked in Iraq shortly after the invasion and then became ambassador to Ireland. He is fairly new to state issues, while Mr. Malloy is steeped in Connecticut’s problems and possibilities.
Both candidates have a way to go in explaining how they plan to tackle the enormous deficits next year. Mr. Foley has promised no borrowing and no new taxes, which would mean steep cuts to balance the $19 billion budget. Mr. Malloy, who is aligned with numerous unions, would have to disappoint these supporters to scale back state costs.
Mr. Foley has thrived in his investment business, although a company he ran in Georgia closed its doors after he sold it and left many unemployed. Mr. Malloy’s stewardship of Stamford brought growth and prosperity to the once bedraggled city.
We endorse Mr. Malloy for governor in Connecticut.
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