Ned Lamont might run for governor of Connecticut:
Dear Stephen,
I wanted you to be one of the first to know that, this afternoon, I will be filing papers to establish a committee to explore a potential candidacy for Governor of Connecticut.
Since our 2006 campaign for Senate, I have continued to meet with citizens across our state — as co-chairman of the Obama campaign in Connecticut, founder of a state policy institute at Central Connecticut State University, and as an outspoken advocate for health care reform. I have been constantly reminded during these conversations that Connecticut is not living up to its potential and that too many of our families are still being left behind.
Whether it has been health care and the economy, losing jobs, young people leaving the state, or the never-ending budget crisis, we have all seen our state head in the wrong direction.
Simply put, Connecticut’s current Chief Executive is not getting the job done.
Over the next few weeks, I look forward to continuing these conversations with voters across the state. And I also look forward to hearing from all of you.
It’s good to hear from Ned. I’ve been thinking about him lately. I covered the 2006 primary in which Ned unseated Joe Lieberman to win the Democratic nomination, only to lose the election after Lieberman decided to run as an Independent. Doug Hoffman reminded me of Ned. Both men had a kind of Jimmy-Stewart sincerity about them, and both were welcomed by their movements as insurgent alternatives to unacceptable party favorites. (One important difference: Liberals’ rejection of Lieberman really did amount to a single-issue litmus test. Ned was a troops-out-now anti-warrior, whereas Lieberman favored a renewed commitment and a new strategy. Scozzafava also failed a single-issue litmus test: There wasn’t a single issue on which she held a conservative position.)
Ned lost his race, just as Hoffman did. But the enthusiasm for his campaign portended good things to come for the Democrats.