Remember Alan Schlesinger's
gambling problem? Quick summary: the likely Republican candidate for Connecticut's US Senate Seat has been revealed to be a closet gambler, and Connecticut's Republican Governor
has asked Schlesinger to reconsider his candidacy. However, Shlesinger is
staying in the race:
Connecticut Republican Senate nominee Alan Schlesinger on Thursday said he will not drop out of the race despite a call from Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell for him to consider doing that.
Schlesinger held a news conference at the Capitol in Hartford at which he announced he would stay in the race and defended himself against questions that have been raised about his gambling habits.
While there's still a chance Schlesinger could be gone (and
replaced by Jack Orchulli), leaving Schlesinger on the ticket has interesting implications for Ned and Joe. If, God forbid, Joe should win the primary, he looks headed for a landslide of Biblical proportions given his
support from CT Republicans:
[Schlesinger] does not have the support of U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Bridgeport, who earlier this year encouraged his party to cross-endorse Lieberman. Michale Sohn, Shays' campaign manager, yesterday said he still plans to vote for Lieberman.
Now, if Ned wins and Joe goes off the reservation and runs with a big I next to his name, things get trickier. On the one hand, Republican turnout will may depressed, helping Ned, but that might not be the case due to Gov. Rell also being on the ticket in November. Now, since a lot of Republicans could be leaving Schlesinger for Lieberman depending on how big of a scandal this becomes, I think the argument that "a vote for Ned in the primary is a vote for the GOP in November" doesn't hold water anymore, unless of course Lieberman caucuses with the GOP, which knock on wood shouldn't happen.
This is just my initial reaction ... what are your thoughts? This definitely hurts the GOP in CT, but by how much? And how much does this actually help Joe?