Lamont, Stefanowski Fire First Debate Blanks
In a season of promises, I make a pledge to you that I expect to keep. I will not devote a column to every gubernatorial debate. To do so would punish you and me.
The first encounter of the two major party candidates Wednesday night in New London requires some attention because it sets the tone of the four debates scheduled to follow. These are odd events. They do not attract a wide viewership, but most of the people who do watch want to learn more about the candidates. The candidates, however, seem intent on telling the audience as little as possible.
So it was on Wednesday.
Leapin’ lizards, what a mishmash of diversions. Ned Lamont is in an odd position. He is a Democrat who needs to separate himself from unpopular Democratic incumbent, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. Lamont and Malloy are not allies. They faced each other in a bitter Democratic primary eight years ago that Malloy won. Lamont has to be careful about turning this election into a referendum on the past eight years. He wants voters to look to the future while reminding them he was the anti-Malloy.
Stefanowski is running on a con and has decided, based on Wednesday’s performance, that he will not vary from it. What little we know of Stefanowski casts no light on his beliefs. A little more than a year ago, the Madison Republican was a Democrat. He has played no part in the civic life of Connecticut and did not vote for 16 years, so he could not have been too upset with Malloy’s record as governor.
Stefanowski’s most generous campaign contribution reveals that he thought career politician Christopher Dodd, who represented Connecticut in the U.S. Senate for 30 years, would make a fine president of the
United States. Stefanowski also thinks we do not need a minimum wage, which is especially strange for someone who was a Democrat last year.
Wednesday night found Stefanowski clinging to the notion that, if Connecticut eliminates the state income tax, all other problems will vanish. How he would start to do that with the state facing years of budget deficits remains the enduring mystery of this campaign. His dodge to providing details is to ignore the short-term challenge and point to the long-term one of unfunded liabilities. A candidate who won’t reveal how he would solve a $4.6 billion deficit next year is unlikely to know what to do about what he says is the $100 billion in unfunded liabilities to retired state employees that stretches far into the future.
Lamont used Wednesday night to unveil ideas for marginal savings. If he has others, you may learn of them at subsequent forums. Stefanowski promises billions in cuts and savings but gives us no preview. He claims he will bring a laser focus to the budget, but seems worryingly unfamiliar with the details of how state government works. It is grinding work to craft a balanced budget that provides the services — such as public safety and education — that state residents expect. If Stefanowski possesses the talents he claims, he ought to bathe us in details before November. Connecticut has endured enough post-election ugly surprises.
One of the questions panelists posed Wednesday night was particularly instructive for voters. Stefanowski declared the week before the debate that he sees no role for the state in the crumbling foundations crisis that is plaguing homeowners in the northeastern quadrant of the state. That was a cruel abandonment of middle class residents by a man who boasts of working for General Electric, a company that received $139 billion in aid from the federal government during the financial crisis 10 years ago.
Stefanowski conceded Wednesday that the state should at least find out the magnitude of the problem, a grudging concession to reality. Lamont appears to know that the crisis is already devastating homeowners and communities. He provided a deft summary of the problem. In the condensed form that a 60-second response imposes, Lamont showed he is conversant in the complicated subject and has some ideas on the hard way forward.
It was a rare moment of serious substance in 60 minutes of the candidates belittling each other as moderator Ann Nyberg tried to quiet the baying audience. But we still do not know what either of those candidates will do about that $4.6 billion deficit awaiting them and us.