Mark Pazniokas of CTMirror notes in a recent story -- Larson lost to a younger challenger. Could
Blumenthal face a similar test? – that U.S. Senator Dick Blumenthal is getting on in years. The
seventh oldest U.S. Senator, Blumenthal is now 80 and, Pazniokas reminds us,
other Democrat political anchorites have recently lost elections in primaries
to a new generation of politicians weary of patiently waiting their turn in the
political queue.
“Blumenthal is up for reelection in 2028 when he will be
82,” Pazniokas tells us. “He hasn’t confirmed what he’ll do in two years, but
he said he’s taking the steps to prepare for another campaign — in the event he
runs again.”
“Taking the steps” involves taking in political contributions
for an, as yet, unannounced senatorial campaign. This may be politically
expedient, and it is perfectly legal, but some political pecksniffs tell us
that the practice is immoral, little more than a clever deception. Democrats in
politically safe — read: gerrymandered – seats have a way of shuttling excess
campaign contributions to friends and political allies. Entrenched incumbents such
as Rosa DeLauro often use bloated
campaign coffers as a foil to frighten off competitors both in primaries and
general elections.
Blumenthal, we all know – because
the news has been shouted by Blumenthal from the rooftops in Connecticut
throughout his entire political life – is very good at self-advertising, martialing
public opinion and raising money.
Even so, Pazniokas writes, “…after a high-stakes primary in
which his colleague U.S. Rep. John Larson, was soundly defeated by a younger
challenger, it could be hard for Blumenthal — and other aging members of
Connecticut’s congressional delegation — to dodge questions about age and the
calls for generational change that are sure to play a role in future campaigns.
So far, the 80-year-old senator seems undeterred” -- and even a bit undecided.
Seeking to pacify Pazniokas without quite addressing his
misgivings, Blumenthal noted, barely suppressing a yawn, “I’m focused on this
November, electing Democrats to the United States Senate so we take back a
Democratic majority and that’s my focus. I have a campaign committee. I haven’t
announced anything. I’m raising money, but my focus is on November… There’s no
magic about age. It’s about energy, new ideas, a commitment to fighting, and
outreach and connection with people. It’s what we need to do as Democrats in
this election. We need to convince people we’re on their side.”
Its doubtful Pazniokas bought the evasion. Blumenthal does
not strike the average news reporter as a man afflicted with tunnel vision. He
strategizes, he plots long-term. A
cradle to grave politician, Blumenthal threw his hat into the political ring
shortly after having graduated from law school. His son Mathew, a member of the
Connecticut House of Representatives from the 147th district in Fairfield
County, is now following in his dad’s well-worn path.
“Let me have men about me that are fat, sleek-headed men,
and such as sleep a-nights,” Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar says, “Yond Cassius
has a lean and hungry look; he thinks too much: such men are dangerous.”
Cassius -- a cunning, manipulative, and envious Roman senator – orchestrated the
conspiracy to assassinate Caesar. In the United States circa 2026, we only
“assassinate” politicians in our ever-changing media. There are, of course,
exceptions. Various people have tried, unsuccessfully so far, to dispatch
President Trump and other political menaces, mostly on the right side of the
political spectrum.
Generally, we prefer bloodless political turnovers, which
have become more frequent ever since members of the Democrat Socialists of
America discovered the best way to insert themselves into the Democrat Party
Big Tent – by using party primaries to rid the tent of ageing multi-term
incumbents who lack the requisite revolutionary oomph.
The primary system itself, it turns out, is the chink in the
armor of once invincible, multi-term, gerrymandered protected politicians such
as Larson. “The 14-term congressman lost to former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin,”
Pazniokas tells us, “who mainly campaigned on the need for new voices and new
energy in Congress, without needing to lean much on age at all. Bronin called
his victory a ‘political earthquake in Connecticut.’”
Blumenthal, like his neighbor and political comrade U.S.
Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, has not called out the members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)
for their blaring anti-Semitism or their habit of knocking off in primaries
long serving politicians such as Blumenthal and Schumer. Both Blumenthal and
Schumer are Jewish and “of an age. Both are presumptive moderates and highly
vulnerable to lean and hungry socialists plotting against them. Without ballast, the political ship is likely
to turn in any direction at any time.
The question before the house is: What made Blumenthal run
in the past, and what would Connecticut’s political landscape look like if he
chose to hang up his spurs? Would son Matt slide into his Dad’s position in the
U.S. Senate, providing the DSA is unsuccessful in abolishing the U.S. Senate?
Would present Attorney General William Tong cheerily surrender a carefully
hidden ambition to replace Blumenthal senior? The route from the Attorney
General’s office into the U.S. Congress has been well traveled by both former
Senator Joe Lieberman and Blumenthal senior. And what of the other immobile
Democrat members in the U.S. House delegation patiently awaiting their
opportunity? A decision by Blumenthal to bow out would quick-start the most
volatile game of political musical chairs in state history.
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