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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.

Comments

Bruce Rubenstein said…
Don..i think it isnt that easy to peg the Courant as a left of center paper given their endorsements of Rowland over 2 or 3 successive candidates and Rell over DeStefano.I can also think of other Republicans who they endorsed for bigger races over the Democratic candidate.I think it would be fairer to say that they tend to lean to candidates from within the political establishment,who might be incumbants or office holders in other elected office, Republican or Democrat.My gut tends to tell me that the editorial board are fiscal moderates and social liberals.The high executives tend to be Republicans and the reporters tend to be Democrats.
Don Pesci said…
Bruce,

My own feeling – never very well hidden -- is that Rowland often enough danced to the tune of the Courant’s drummers to be considered a safe Republican. As usual, your comment is on the mark: The establishment press generally supposes establishment politicians. Rowland campaigned as a conservative. He even danced on the limb, promising in his campaign to eliminate the income tax that the Courant agitated for. That was abandoned as soon as he entered office. His administration was, I continue to insist, left of center, though I am perfectly willing top admit that where the center lies depends on one’s point of view. The Courant is “moderate” in the same sense that the New York Times is moderate; which is to say, it is not moderate at all.
Don Pesci said…
Bruce,

Someone did some careful analysis of the question of news bias during one of the late Ronald Reagan’s presidential elections and found that while the general public voted Reagan in by a fair majority, a pitiful minority of members of the First Estate voted with the majority. There is an ocean of data showing that the Mainstream Media, a dreadful misnomer, is left of center. The Courant falls into this grouping. As for the other papers, by their endorsements shall ye know them.
Bruce Rubenstein said…
Rowland left of center? I would grant you that he governed as an establishment moderate but I dont think left of center.He did do a 180 as soon as he got in office on the income tax..my thinking is that he became hooked on the narcotic of all that state revenue from the income tax that he could spend..and did.
Don Pesci said…
OK, you win. The felon was a moderate, close in his thinking to Democrats. Really, his screaming matches with Republican legislators, mostly centering around their resistance to Democrat proposed budgets, are the stuff of legend.
Bruce Rubenstein said…
Don....It not about "winning" so much is it about placing Rowland as accurate as I can on the philosophical scale.I do remember the fighting with Republicans over budgets.Then again, Rowland didnt buy into most of the Democrats left social agenda.While he spent alot of money,and bonded plenty, he didnt drastically increase the size of government or public state employees.On balance Id rate him an establishment moderate,you may think otherwise.
Bruce Rubenstein said…
Don...I do agree that in my view most reporters tend to shade to the left and the editors and senior staff and owners of the media,tend to shade to the right in the media.

The NYT is liberal certainly,though I always enjoy David Brooks' writings.The Courant as I said before,appears to me to be a mixed bag.
Steve said…
Another reason I can think of that the Courant would have endorsed Rowland & Rell is that polls probably showed them well ahead of their opponents. Both were very moderate Republicans & with a Democrat controlled legislature there's not much downside to backing an obvious winner.

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