Dems gain D.C. clout

Congratulations to Rosa DeLauro on her election as chairman of the Appropriations Committee, without doubt the most powerful committee in Congress.

How did she get there?

There are a number of reasons:

she is a long-time good buddy of Speaker Nancy Pelosi;

she has always been on the fringe of leadership;

her longevity, 36 years in Congress with 36 years of doing favors and accommodating other Congressional people; and,

her prodigious fundraising ability.

Rosa has for years been raising money and distributing substantial amounts to Democratic Congress members throughout the country as well as to many Democratic organizations. She and her husband Stan Greenberg have been in a financial position to raise and contribute substantial sums. People remember things like that when it comes time to vote.

One more reason she got this high-ranking post: Rosa possesses great energy and is always motivated to seek a step up.

I remember when I was a young state chairman parrying blows from Tom Scott on behalf of Rosa. Scott was a right-wing extremist who got elected to the state Senate from Milford. He would have fit right in as a Trump supporter in today’s political market. Rosa may have put that part of her life in a rear window, but I was happy to be part of protecting her and helping her progress when she needed the help.

Those days are far in the rear-view mirror and today Rosa is in a position to handle her own appropriate responses to any attacks that may come forward — and they have been far and few between once the Scott issues were resolved. She and the rest of Connecticut’s congressional delegation get reelected time and time again and continue to build massive support from their constituents.

U.S. Rep. John Larson also is an old friend. I always thought that John would be the next speaker of the House but as fate would have it, at least at the moment, it seems that he has been swallowed up by various other political factions. Joe Courtney, who ran in that awful gubernatorial campaign as Barbara Kennelly’s candidate for lieutenant governor, knows what it is like to lose — and that was a losing campaign. It never happened to him again and, of course, the winner of that campaign, former Gov. John Rowland has found his own place in society, albeit not a good one.

Joe continues to win and continues to build up seniority in the U.S. House of Representatives. I firmly believe that it will pay off before too long.

In each election, Joe continues to ride roughshod over his opponents and I expect that he will lead a congressional committee before too long. He is definitely someone to look out for.

Joe will break out of the pack, just give him a little more time and Joe, although not flamboyant, is determined. I think there is a lot more that is going to be written about him, especially with the Democrats gaining more power in Washington.