The Changing Political Landscape
John Kalamarides – Chair, WDTC
The last several weeks have seen a real change in the political landscape. Senator Chris Dodd has announced his retirement. Dick Blumenthal, Connecticut Attorney General, has stepped up to the plate and announced that he will run for Dodd’s seat. Susan Bysiewicz, Secretary of State, who had been leading the polls in the Democratic contingent for Governor announced she was switching to run for Attorney General.
George Jepsen, formerly head of the Democratic Party in Connecticut and Majority Leader of the Connecticut Senate, announced that he, too, would run for Attorney General almost assuring a primary fight. Denise Merrill, Connecticut House Majority Leader, has announced that she will run for the Secretary of State position. All this cleared the way for former Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy and former Democratic US Senate candidate Ned LaMont to move to the top of the several remaining candidates who have announced for Governor. There are a slew of other candidates for Democratic slots that either have established exploratory committees or have announced outright.
Now we see that the long-held Democratic Senate seat of the late Ted Kennedy has been won by a Republican who promises to fight Washington-style health care reform.
Positive Changes Afoot
The news is filled with stories of how the Democrats are falling apart and that there is a resurgence of the Republican Party. To that I say, between now and Election Day in November we will see many more changes on the political landscape, and some of those will be big plusses for the Democratic Party.
By stepping aside now Chris Dodd has done the right thing to allow those Democrats who have waited in an orderly line for years to announce their intention to move up the ladder. We try to be polite to our politicians unless they have gone far from our policies on issues. And these men and women are skilled and seasoned officials. They will come to the campaigns with energy and ideas.
Connecticut is a small state. We know these people who are running. We speak with them often. We tell them what we think. We invite them to our meetings to make presentations. We vet them on a local basis. They will be here for our Democratic meetings to speak and tell their story.
Fighting for Progress in Washington
Will the US Senate change a great deal with an additional Republican? Probably not. Getting bills through the Senate has not been easy. A major elected official long before this election told me the Senate was “dysfunctional.”
Meanwhile we have here in Fairfield County a young, intelligent, congressman in Jim Himes who can brave Town Halls on important issues like Afghanistan and has the courage to deal with rude and outrageous calls from the audience as he tries to hear what the voters have to say about increasing the funding of another war left over by the Republicans.
Will President Obama be any less determined after this Massachusetts change to forge ahead with the agenda he has started? No. He will re-group and move ahead. He has three more years to make a real difference, and with some good fortune and successes, another four beyond.
And so we Democrats today are not intimidated or threatened by the changes in the political landscape. We will continue to pursue our Democratic goals and ideals and work to see them implemented.
