Hmm

I'd love to see Lamont in the Senate, but I don't know how much a factor Iraq will be in 3+ years.  Better yet, I'd love to see Ned win as a candidate of the newly revamped "Connecticut for Lieberman Party."

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by: NYPopulist @ Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 14:59:46 PM CST

Haha.

Now THAT would be something else.

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by: James L. @ Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 15:01:08 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Interesting

Dodd is only going to be 63 in 2007 according to Wikipedia.  Wonder why he has decided not to run again?  It does explain the Presidential run however, he has nothing to lose. 

I haven't really given Connecticut in 2010 any thought yet.  2007 Governor races are more interesting at the moment.  But I would put Ned LaMont at the head of any prospective candidate list.  Liberman will oppose him but Ned would not be facing an incumbent in 2010 and that is an entirely different dynamic than he faced in 2006.

"My name's Dr. Multimillionaire and I kicked your ass." -- Rep. Steve Kagen D-WI to Karl Rove

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by: walja @ Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 15:03:26 PM CST

CT 10

Shays not that formidable.  I think Murphy has a great shot. Blumenthal may want it. The Republicans are really weak with Bench strength.

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by: democraticavenger @ Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 15:38:48 PM CST

Murphy

I like the idea of  Murphy running, but I doubt the CT Democratic Party would let a 2 term congressman jump the line for a rarely open seat.

Of greater interest to me would be candidates like former Lamont campaign manager, Tom Swan and state representative Peter Tercyak (he campaigns on a Vespa and has a cool dog - what more could you want?).

I'm proud to work for the Service Employees International Union.

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by: Matt Browner Hamlin @ Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 17:23:26 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Uh, missing 1 name

Don't count out Rosa DeLauro!!

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by: AngryYoungDem @ Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 15:52:54 PM CST

Good call.

I wasn't aware that she was interested, though.

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by: James L. @ Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 15:55:07 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Very good point

Rosa could def run. I think Larson is happy in the House.

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by: democraticavenger @ Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 16:11:04 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Greenberg

Stanley Greenberg is working for Dodd for President, even though he has many Clinton ties. Greenberg is married to DeLauro; maybe there is an endorsement in the deal.

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by: Borat Obama @ Sun Jan 21, 2007 at 18:20:13 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Dodd

was Greenberg's first client and Hillary was already using Penn for polling.

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by: Politicalhack @ Mon Jan 22, 2007 at 10:00:33 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Thanks

I knew a little and you knew a little more :)

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by: Borat Obama @ Mon Jan 22, 2007 at 15:08:45 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Sure

that's what makes this place great.

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by: Politicalhack @ Mon Jan 22, 2007 at 22:23:38 PM CST

[ Parent ]

YESSSS!!!!!! Lamont in 2010!!!

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by: annefrank @ Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 16:35:46 PM CST

If Dodd does not get the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination

Will he run for Governor in 2010.

Possible replacements other than Bluementhal

Larson
DeLauro

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by: CMBurns @ Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 16:42:58 PM CST

Has anyone asked Lamont?

He deserves it if he wants it.  Even if it is just because he took on Holy Joe.

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by: Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle @ Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 17:11:48 PM CST

Hm I think Chris Murphy should take on the Republican

Senator from Connecticut in 2012. He's a riseing star who has beaten everyone he has taken on and he's still young and will be a great alternative to Joe. He also can have appeal to the 5th District voters who are the most conservative of the 5 districts which would help him big in the general.

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by: D in FL @ Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 17:48:44 PM CST

Possible Candidates

Some of the more obvious choices/possibilities, in alphabetical order:

Richard Blumenthal, Attorney General

Susan Bysiewicz, Secretary of State

Joe Courtney, Congressman

Rosa DeLauro, Congressman

Ned Lamont, '06 candidate

John Larson, Congressman

Chris Murphy, Congressman

Denise Nappier, Treasurer

Kevin Sullivan, former Lt. Gov.

Nancy Wyman, Comptroller

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by: TXObserver @ Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 17:48:58 PM CST

Republicans?

What about Rell?  Is she gonna run?  I would think she would be tough to beat.

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by: writestuff @ Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 17:50:33 PM CST

Wow.

I completely forgot the obvious.  Who knows what she'll do.

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by: James L. @ Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 17:56:20 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Are we SURE Dodd isnt going to run again?

The article seemed to suggest that by changing his filing status for 2010, Dodd gets to use Senate money for his Presidential race.  Are we sure this isnt a formality?  Obviously Dodd would be free to change his mind after the 2008 campaign season is over, and refile for Senate, no?

Just wondering.

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by: texas dem @ Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 18:40:01 PM CST

It's always possible.

But until he says otherwise, I'm going to assume that this is his last term.

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by: James L. @ Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 18:41:47 PM CST

[ Parent ]

my thoughts here

Jodi Rell could drop the governorship and run for this, and she'd be VERY hard to beat. That's why, I was hoping that Dodd wouldn't retire, making her hesitate to run with the looming race against a popular five term incumbent ahead.

Call no man happy until he is dead-Aeschylus

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by: ArkDem the Ragin Cajin @ Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 21:08:22 PM CST

Rell

I don't think she'll be as tough to beat by then.  She was replacing the corrupt Rowland and recovering from Breast Cancer.  Lots will happen in 4 years.

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by: Politicalhack @ Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 21:27:48 PM CST

Rell would be tough

She is very popular, and won re-election overwhelmingly in a heavily democratic year.

Shays could put up a fight for the senate, but would certainly not be the favorite.

John Larson won't run (house leadership).  I hope Lamont doesn't run, because he'd probably lose again (too polarizing, Lieberman would openly oppose, has-been, etc).  New Rep Chris Murphy, who beat out US Rep Nancy Johnson is my personal favorite.

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by: Terryus @ Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 22:39:28 PM CST

How was Lamont polarizing?

I think people are finally starting to see through Holy Joe now .. the last few weeks have opened a lot of eyes

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by: Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle @ Sat Jan 20, 2007 at 02:18:29 AM CST

[ Parent ]

My prediction

Rep. Chris Murphy (D) vs. Gov. Jodi Rell (R), Murphy would win by around 55-45.

Lamont should take on Shays in 2008, he lives in CT-4.

25, Male, Democrat, TX-26

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by: trowaman @ Sat Jan 20, 2007 at 01:16:00 AM CST

Rell isn't unbeatable at all

I wouldn't be surprised if Gov. Rell did run, but...

1. She may not be so popular in four years.  Governors' approval ratings tend to be pretty volatile (who thought Bob Riley would survive in AL?).

2. Even if she is still very popular, that tends not to be enough in a situation like this.  It's not all that unusual for a solidly red or blue state to have a popular governor of the other party.  But when it comes to giving the other party another vote in the Senate, voters tend to get cold feet no matter how popular the governor is.  Just ask Bill Weld, Mike Sullivan, Tony Knowles, etc.  The only exception I can think of is Evan Bayh, and he had the advantage of drawing the least conservative opponent the Republicans could have put up against him in his first race (so the far right base couldn't be bothered to turn out in full force for him).  I don't see anything similar to that happening in Connecticut.

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by: RamblinDave @ Sat Jan 20, 2007 at 04:12:38 AM CST

Off-party governors running for Senate

It does work sometimes, or at least we'd better hope it does, but you're right that it's very very hard.

Ben Nelson is the only obvious one, other than Evan Bayh whom you mentioned.  And Nelson got beat the first time he ran for Senate.

We're going to try to make Kathleen Sebelius, Brad Henry, and Dave Freudenthal work.  We'd run Bredesen and Easley if only they were willing.  We might be running Mark Warner.  We successfully ran Mel Carnahan in a year when Missouri went solidly to Bush.  Also Schweitzer might be running for Baucus's seat in 2012, and I suppose Napolitano might be going for McCain's seat someday soon.

But it still mostly doesn't work.  The transition from state to federal issues is killer, and the Senate in particular has a big say in the hotbutton federal issues.  Suppose Schwarzenegger runs for Senate against Barbara Boxer.  Is he pro-life or pro-choice?  Either way he's destroyed, and that's just one issue.

Republicans who could try this game: Schwarzenegger, Dino Rossi, Huckabee, Pawlenty, Tommy Thompson, Engler (whatever happened to him?), Christie Todd Whitman (where was she in 2006?), Jim Douglas, Jodi Rell, Linda Lingle.  The only ones who I think could pull it off are from legitimate swing states -- Huckabee, Pawlenty, Thompson, and Engler.  A Jim Douglas or Linda Lingle doesn't have a real chance, even at an open seat.

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by: texas dem @ Sat Jan 20, 2007 at 06:45:19 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Good point

I'd forgotten about Ben Nelson.  I certainly hope some of the red state Dems you mentioned have a future in the Senate, but then I don't like what that says about Gov. Rell!

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by: RamblinDave @ Sat Jan 20, 2007 at 14:10:33 PM CST

[ Parent ]

The two frontrunners

are Ned Lamont and Dick Blumenthal, and of those two, I'd have to say that Blumenthal has the institutional edge, since he's been waiting so long to ascend to either the Governorship or the Senate.

My hunch is that Blumenthal, if he sees an opening for the Governorship (assuming Rell's term-limited) will run for that, leaving the Senate race open for Lamont, assuming he wants to make it.

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by: Raf Noboa @ Sat Jan 20, 2007 at 10:21:39 AM CST

Murphy

I'm kind of skittish about Murphy solely for the fact that we would then have to defend that open seat, the least Democratic in the Connecticut delegation.

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.

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by: TheUnknown285 @ Sat Jan 20, 2007 at 15:13:02 PM CST

don't discount Jim Douglas in Vermont.

In response to ramblindaves statements about Jim douglas and Baucus's re-election/retirement in 2012: Baucus's up again in 2008, then 2012, tester is up in 2012.  as for jim douglas, as a liberal Vermonter Bernie-ista I can say douglas would stand a very good chance in an open race for the senate, Bernie and Leahy would crush him, but in an open race he'd have a very good chance.  Case and point, welch barely beat Rainville in a year when Bernie decimated Tarrant with 2/3's of the vote.  During this same election, douglas was reelected with 57% in both a heavily democratic year and with the entire liberal caucus of Vermont energized by the Bernie/Tarrant race.  Needless to say, if a seat in the senate open's up (supreme court justice Leahy) ol' Dougie boy would have a chance, especially if congressman Peter Welch, Matt Dunne, or peter Shumlin were the only candidates the dem's could come up with.

being normal is for the mediocre.

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by: doug_tuttle @ Sat Jan 20, 2007 at 19:06:59 PM CST

Blumenthal will probably go for the Senate; Malloy and DeStefano still interested in being Governor

If Dodd does indeed step down in 2010, my guess is that Dick Blumenthal would run for the Senate and would be unbeatable within the Democratic Party.  That assumes, however, that a Dem hasn't won the White House in 2008 and that by 2010 Blumenthal isn't already sitting on the Federal bench somewhere and therefore out of the picture.

If Blumenthal doesn't run, there will be several other Party pols who will line up for the seat.  I wouldn't count any of the Congressmen/women out (Larson, DeLauro, Murphy, maybe Courtney), plus Susan Bysiewicz the Sec of State, each of whom has a following.  Lamont's viability four years from now is difficult to predict given his lack of office holding experience, but he could also be helped by a Democratic President in '08 who might appoint him to a sub-cabinet position giving him more policy and political gravitas.

On the Republican side, I doubt Chris Shays would run, but you never know.  Waiting in the wings, especially if there's an open seat, is State Senator John McKinney whose father preceeded Shays in the House.  Another potential contender is Kevin O'Connor, the U.S. Attorney for Connecticut.  Both are young and attractive and would do well in the suburban and rural areas.

For Governor, Rell is widely expected to step down after serving her current term, but again you never know (many thought she wouldn't run for a full term after taking over from the disgraced John Rowland).  Either way, for the Democrats expect New Haven mayor John DeStefano and Stanford mayor Dan Malloy each to try again.

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by: GoldCoastProgressive @ Sun Jan 21, 2007 at 00:26:32 AM CST

He's not retiring

From Political Insider:

"In order to transfer all of his money he raised for his 2010 re-election to his [White House] campaign account without penalty, he had to file a statement with the FEC saying he wouldn't run. It's simply an accounting thing, nothing more. In fact, should Dodd not be elected [President] in '08, he, indeed can legally open a new Senate 2010 account. He did this so that he could raise maximum amounts from donors who gave to that 2010 campaign account."

In addition, "an inquiry to Dodd's campaign about the above mentioned story prompted the following response from spokesperson Beneva Schulte: 'It's a legality that isn't an indication of future plans.'"

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by: thesleepthief @ Mon Jan 22, 2007 at 13:07:49 PM CST