Quantcast
Channel: Worth Reading » newspaper endorsements
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 2

Who will win?

0
0

malloyfoley_ap_101026_420_1

Tomorrow (Nov. 4), Connecticut voters will go to the polls and decide whether incumbent Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy or Republican challenger Tom Foley will lead the state for the next four years. The contest has been a hard-fought affair and as far as I’m concerned, the candidates shouldn’t be proud of their campaigns. Quite frankly, neither Gov. Malloy nor Mr. Foley put forth a comprehensive vision for the future. (Yesterday, we, as an editorial board, declared that all things being equal, Mr. Foley is the better choice.)

At this juncture, it would be foolish for anyone to predict a winner, given that public-opinion polls have long had the candidates in statistical dead heats. While surveys released in the last several days indicated there has been some slight movement toward Gov. Malloy, I wouldn’t put too much stock in them. After all, Mr. Foley led on all polls released in the week before the 2010 election, and he still lost.

Indeed, a repeat of 2010 – when uncertainty reigned for almost a week after Election Day – is a real possibility.

There is, however, one thing I am willing to go on record with: If Gov. Malloy wins, it will be in spite of, not because of, his current term.

The people of Connecticut have never had the warm fuzzies for the governor or his approach to running the state. Since he took office in 2011, Gov. Malloy consistently has had low approval ratings, with but one poll – conducted in February 2012 – giving him majority support. This apparently is a result of Nutmeggers’ uneasiness with his economic and budget policies. Also, as the recent head-to-head polls demonstrated, voters are not even fond of the governor personally.

Accordingly, a win for Gov. Malloy can be chalked up to his campaign’s relentless demonization of Mr. Foley – remember, going negative tends to work – and the Republican’s own missteps. In light of the governor’s term-long struggle for love, it is hard to see how a victory can be construed as a full-throated endorsement of him and/or his policies.


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 2

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images