Dems now begin the real political maneuvering

With the presidential election decided and the transition begun, you may have expected a respite from politics. Silly you. The end of one campaign encourages the calculating and ambitious to contemplate seizing new opportunities.

What a time to be a Connecticut Democrat. They occupy every position of consequence in state government. The formation of a new national administration plants big dreams in the heads of politicians in a small state. Talk among local politicos before the election predicted a Biden administration’s top tier stuffed with state Democratic stars. The first and most important announcements of nominees have included no Connecticut Democrats.

The unexpected strength of Republican House and Senate candidates imposed limitations on Biden’s ability to poach his party’s ranks in Congress. House Democrats have a bare majority. Their Senate colleagues hope to win two Georgia runoffs in January to create a 50-50 partisan divide, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris allowing them to form a majority. Incumbents will have to act satisfied serving in the office they sought.

The most important promotion of a Connecticut politician in Washington looks to be Rep. Rosa DeLauro’s lead in the contest to become chairwoman of the House Appropriation Committee. That’s the center of government spending in the House. DeLauro’s campaign against two other Democrats has included the announcement that she will revive the expensive practice of earmarks. That’s the device that adds a provision in a bill directing money be spent for a specific, narrow purpose, naming the recipient, bypassing merit-based funding decisions.

As the appropriations leader who gets to distribute billions of dollars in largess, DeLauro will bestow and receive many favors. She will be popular among Democrats and Republicans. The New Haven Democrat, elected to her 16th term in November, will have to be careful not to appear gluttonous, but expect it to rain money in some parts of the state. DeLauro has three of her Connecticut House colleagues on her campaign committee, missing only Rep. Jahana Hayes.

Gov. Ned Lamont was an early supporter of President-elect Joe Biden. Lamont was the second governor to endorse Biden. The first was Delaware’s. Lamont and his wife, Ann Huntress Lamont, were donors and campaign contribution bundlers for Biden when the former vice president’s prospects appeared to be fading after dismal showings in Iowa and New Hampshire. Lamont did not waiver. Biden and his people remember loyalty and fortitude in adversity.

Lamont is living the political dream. He made big deposits in the Biden favor bank and has shown no interest in drawing on them for himself. The Greenwich Democrat appears content to remain governor of Connecticut and seek a second term in 2022. Any Connecticut Democrat hoping to snag a spot in the Biden administration will need Lamont’s support. He possesses the influence, should he decide to deploy it, to advance or impede the prospects of a state Democrat itching for a spot on Washington’s big stage.

Biden’s people will also consult Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy on appointments of state Democrats. That’s how it’s done. Our democracy includes many backchannels, and this is one of them. A president, especially one with a closing divided Senate, does not want to tussle with senators over personnel decisions. Senators

are sensitive to slights and know how to magnify their unhappiness.

Any Democrat who wants to catapult out of Connecticut and into Washington will need to alert former Sen. Christopher Dodd. At 76, Dodd may be at the height of his influence in Washington, a decade after sagging approval numbers in Connecticut forced him to drop his reelection bid for a sixth term. What a lucky decision that was for Dodd, who often mentioned he was the poorest member of the Senate. He stayed in Washington as a lobbyist for the Motion Picture Association of America and made a fortune in the era when it was helpful to be a favorite of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, now in a New York prison for rape.

Dodd now works for a Washington lobbying firm and is a valuable property. His long friendship with Biden has endured. Dodd was on Biden’s vice presidential vetting team. The two, who served in the Senate together 28 years, are that rare thing in Washington: friends who enjoy complete trust. A quiet word from

Dodd to Biden’s people can open a path to promotion or end it — and the striving Democrat looking for job may never know why.