Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dannel Malloy, the former mayor of Stamford, gathered Monday with public officials and party leaders from “east of the river” to announce their endorsement of his candidacy – on the the day before Greenwich businessman Ned Lamont is scheduled to officially announce his own candidacy for the party’s nomination for governor.<\/p>\n
The Malloy announcement, at the Marco Polo Restaurant in East Hartford, drew a sharp response from the Lamont campaign – and by the end of the day operatives for both were exchanging verbal darts that seemed to raise the prospect of bitterness between the camps very early in the game.<\/p>\n
The controversy began when Malloy – who has been campaigning since last year although he is still technically in the “exploratory” stage of his gubernatorial candidacy – joined dozens of supporters from towns including East Hartford, Manchester, South Windsor, Bolton and Glastonbury at the Marco Polo.<\/p>\n
The list included Mayor Melody Currey of East Hartford, that town’s Democratic chairman, Bud Salemi, state Sen. Gary LeBeau, D-East Hartford, and state Rep. Tom Kehoe, D-Glastonbury. Malloy issued a statement saying he is “overwhelmed and energized” by their support.<\/p>\n
In response, Lamont’s new campaign manager, Joe Abbey, issued a statement saying: “Ned is not a career politician and has never been the insiders’ choice for office. In this political climate, it’s clear voters want candidates who will challenge the status quo and shake up the system, and who won’t participate in the same old political deals motivated by selfish political ambition that they’ve seen become commonplace in both Washington and Hartford.”<\/p>\n
Abbey has been a longtime operative in Democratic campaigns around the country, and most recently managed the unsuccessful 2009 Virginia gubernatorial campaign of Democrat Creigh Deeds. He arrived in Connecticut a couple of weeks ago. His statement continued: “As this campaign progresses voters who are concerned about their jobs and the future of Connecticut are going to see a stark contrast between the candidates vying for the Democratic nomination for Governor.”<\/p>\n
Malloy’s campaign consultant, Roy Occhiogrosso, fired back, saying some of the language in Abbey’s statement was immoderate. “Did he really use the term ‘selfish political ambition’? Ironic,” Occhiogrosso said. He added: “Why’s Ned overreacting like this? It’s a little unsettling. Is he seeing significant support moving toward Dan, and getting rattled by it? There’s more to come.”<\/p>\n
Asked about Ochiogrosso’s retort, Abbey said he had nothing to add to his original statement – although he did say: “I think the larger point I was trying to make was endorsements are fine, and we’ll get our share … [but] I would say Ned’s more of an ‘outsider’ candidate” who isn’t “part of the inside crowd.” Voters “are looking for a change,” Abbey said, adding, “I’m not criticizing Dan Malloy’s endorsers or anything like that.”<\/p>\n
Ochiogrosso said that further comment by Abbey reminded him of Jackie Gleason’s classic character Ralph Kramden on “The Honeymooners” television show. Occhiogrosso said that it sounded like Abbey was saying “homina homina homina” – which was what Ralph Kramden used to say when he was flustered.<\/p>\n