The Courant's lukewarm endorsement

I can't remember a major local newspaper giving as ambivalent an endorsement in any campaign as today's Hartford Courant.

Sure, the headline reads "Endorsement: Malloy In Democratic Primary For Governor", but when you read the entire article, they don't seem to think that Ned Lamont wouldn't make a durned fine governor either!

The Democratic Party hasn't made it easy for editorial boards and voters to choose between its two gubernatorial contenders on primary day. Both Ned Lamont, a 56-year-old cable TV entrepreneur from Greenwich, and Mr. Malloy, 55, from Stamford, are smart, personable, capable, innovative. Both support humane social policies, such as ending capital punishment. Both promise an economic revival.

The Courant editors then go on to try to find significant differences between the candidates, but seem to come up short.

Ned Lamont has made a fortune building cable systems for college campuses and knows well how small businesses are the engine of job growth. He has served on the Greenwich board of selectmen, was a volunteer teacher at Harding High School in Bridgeport, and is a professor of political science and philosophy at Central Connecticut State University. He showed courage in taking on Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman in 2006 and winning the Democratic primary on an antiwar platform. (Mr. Lieberman won the general election as an independent.)

Mr. Lamont, rather than retiring to lick his wounds, joined a brain trust that includes former state budget guru Bill Cibes to devise a blueprint for statewide prosperity. Mr. Lamont pledges to squeeze out waste in state government and has a sound plan for attracting 21st-century business to the state.

A very significant factor that the editors obviously chose to ignore is the intensely negative campaign that Dan Malloy has begun to indulge in during the last week. It's almost as if mentioning that might make their chosen candidate for governor look a little less like the perfect mayor they're portraying Malloy to have been.

I don't know, but isn't the concept of character considered a factor when these guys sit down and discuss their endorsement? How can you even begin to write an article for endorsement and totally gloss over the shameful turn Malloy has taken in recent days? Are you editors so far removed from reality to think this ISN'T an issue?

In the final paragraph of the article, the paper obviously is hedging their bet:

The state could badly use Mr. Lamont's entrepreneurial skills in a top post. But Mr. Malloy's own considerable skills have meanwhile been on full display in Stamford.

I guess "Mr. Malloy's" skills should also include this snippet from earlier in the article:

That's not to say Stamford is perfect. Most of its schools fall short on mastery test scores, in part because of their high percentage of disadvantaged children. Mr. Malloy's attempt to streamline the anachronistic patchwork of volunteer and city fire companies created animosity that still smolders.

Strong praise indeed for the candidate who misled the voters about 5,000 jobs he claims he "created", and who regurgitates proven false Joe Lieberman propaganda, and who digs even deeper into the mud for his obscene race-baiting, and who won't stop at anything to either win, or destroy the chances of his opponent to win.

"Scorched earth" policies have no place within our party. But Dan Malloy seems to be doing his absolute worst to ensure either it's him, or no Democrat, to lead the state. Will somebody close to Dan please scold him about his behavior, and convince him to start acting like a responsible adult?