Lamont’s partisan playbook
N ed Lamont, the Democratic Party’s endorsed candidate in the gubernatorial election, checks off all the progressive priorities in his stump speech and on his campaign website.
He calls for “investing in education,” including early childhood education, more equitable and reliable state funding for distressed communities and greater access to affordable higher education.
On labor issues, Lamont backs mandatory paid family medical leave, a $15 minimum wage and protection for labor unions.
If elected governor, Lamont says he will work to sustain Access Health Connecticut in light of the continued attacks on the Affordable Care Act by President Donald Trump and the Republicans in Washington. He cites protecting the environment and supporting the growth of renewable energy as priorities.
In addressing the opioid crisis, Lamont said he would build on the multi-agency cooperative model utilized by New London’s Opioid Action Team and make it a statewide model.
Largely absent from Lamont’s platform, however, is how he plans to address what is in our opinion the most pressing problem confronting the state: how to create fiscal stability and sustainability so that Connecticut does not continue to annually confront spending crises.
In the Aug. 14 primary, he faces Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim, whom Democratic voters should not consider a credible candidate, given his past corruption convictions.
As with three of the five Republicans seeking the governor’s seat, Lamont, 64, contends his success as a businessman well equips him to lead the state. Lamont has some political experience, though not much practice at winning.
A former Greenwich selectman, Lamont’s greatest political success so far was defeating Sen. Joe Lieberman in the 2006 primary, his candidacy bolstered by opposition to Lieberman’s support for the Iraq invasion. But Lieberman continued in the race as a third-party candidate and won. Lamont’s 2010 bid for governor did not go well, easily defeated by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in the primary.
As with the Republican candidates, who have not done a good job of explaining how they would balance the budget while cutting taxes, Lamont is not explaining how he will pay for his progressive priorities, while addressing large projected state deficits.
The candidates of both parties are playing to their bases in the primary. Will the primary winners turn to more serious budgetary solutions in the general election? Voters should demand it. We will.