The state loses a fine leader

   

By Reginald Johnson

 

      Commentary

   The state of Connecticut lost one of its best leaders with the recent passing of Lowell P. Weicker.

The long-time senator and later governor was never afraid to steer an independent course and do what was right.

Weicker, who I covered as a reporter in the 1980s for Fairpress, was the last of an extinct species known as "liberal Republicans." While he was a senator, he was the first Republican to call out former President Nixon for the Watergate abuses and actively took part in the investigation of that scandal. In helping to lead the probe of Watergate, Weicker performed a major service for the country.

Lowell P. Weicker. He served three terms in the U.S. Senate and one term as Connecticut's governor. (Photo Wikimedia Commons)

Later he bucked the conservative drift of the GOP under Ronald Reagan and began to be hated by the Republican right. He even went to Cuba, met with Fidel Castro and praised the communist government. Unfortunately those words came back to haunt him, when Democratic Party senate challenger Joe Lieberman ran a red-baiting campaign, trying to undermine Weicker in pro-defense industry Connecticut. That attack, plus Weicker's lackluster re-election campaign, led to his defeat and loss of his senate seat in 1988.

Weicker jumped back into politics in 1990, winning the state's governorship on an independent slate. There again, he went against the grain and pushed for a long overdue, but highly unpopular, personal income tax. Despite vitriolic opposition, Weicker and his allies were able to push the tax through. Weicker also worked with officials in Bridgeport to help that city climb back from bankruptcy.

Lowell Weicker was not perfect. My understanding was he could be rude at times and a touch arrogant. But if you look at his record on a range of issues, he was really quite good. He left his mark and he will be missed.

Lamont for Governor

Opinion

  

    By Reginald Johnson

  

 I can’t really point to anything specific about policy or issues in Connecticut that makes me think Ned Lamont is the best person to be the Democratic nominee for governor.

  But sometimes in these elections you have to go with a gut feeling and my gut feeling tells me that Lamont is a better choice than Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim in the Tuesday primary.  I liked the way Lamont took on powerful incumbent Sen. Joe Lieberman 12 years ago in his unsuccessful bid for the US Senate. He spoke forthrightly about the need for a better foreign-policy and ending the Iraq War and respecting the sovereignty of other countries. Though foreign-policy doesn’t have anything directly to do with being governor, Lamont showed a feistiness and an honesty that I really liked. They are qualities that will help him govern the state very well.

   And on the issue of integrity, I am still bothered by what Joe Ganim did back in the 1990s in Bridgeport. His corruption hurt the city badly, and it’s a hurt that’s not easily forgotten. I didn’t vote for him in his comeback bid in 2015, but once he won re-election, I figured it was time to give him a chance to redeem himself and make up for what he had done.

   To his credit, Ganim has run a clean administration in the 2 ½ years he’s been back. He also brought taxes down for some residents, and I include myself as one of them. So that’s nice. However, I don’t think Joe Ganim has really paid his dues for what he did. I get the distinct impression that within a year or so after he returned to the mayor’s seat, he was plotting his next move, which was to run for governor.  Instead of working hard for the people of Bridgeport, putting his nose to the grindstone and really trying to turn the city around --- and that is clearly a difficult, long-term project --- Ganim was focusing on personal gain: ‘How do I move up?’

    If this was 2022, and Ganim had been back as Bridgeport’s mayor for six years or so, and built up a good record, I would look at a Ganim candidacy for governor a lot more positively. But not now.

  Ganim should stay on as mayor and work to continue to redevelop the city, upgrade the educational system and bring in more affordable housing.

   So here’s hoping Ned Lamont wins the Democratic primary and goes on to be the state’s next chief elected official. I think he has good progressive instincts and he will work for the betterment of Bridgeport and the state’s other struggling urban centers, including Hartford and New Haven.  And helping the urban areas should be a top priority for any new governor.