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Mark Pazniokas of CTMirror notes in a recent story -- Larson lost to a younger challenger. Could Blumenthal face a similar test? – that U.S. Senator Dick Blumenthal is getting on in years. The seventh oldest U.S. Senator, Blumenthal is now 80 and, Pazniokas reminds us, other Democrat political anchorites have recently lost elections in primaries to a new generation of politicians weary of patiently waiting their turn in the political queue.
“Blumenthal is up for reelection in 2028 when he will be 82,” Pazniokas tells us. “He hasn’t confirmed what he’ll do in two years, but he said he’s taking the steps to prepare for another campaign — in the event he runs again.”
“Taking the steps” involves taking in political contributions for an, as yet, unannounced senatorial campaign. This may be politically expedient, and it is perfectly legal, but some political pecksniffs tell us that the practice is immoral, little more than a clever deception. Democrats in politically safe — read: gerrymandered – seats have a way of shuttling excess campaign contributions to friends and political allies. Entrenched incumbents such as Rosa DeLauro often use bloated campaign coffers as a foil to frighten off competitors both in primaries and general elections.
Blumenthal, we all know – because the news has been shouted by Blumenthal from the rooftops in Connecticut throughout his entire political life – is very good at self-advertising, martialing public opinion and raising money.
Even so, Pazniokas writes, “…after a high-stakes primary in which his colleague U.S. Rep. John Larson, was soundly defeated by a younger challenger, it could be hard for Blumenthal — and other aging members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation — to dodge questions about age and the calls for generational change that are sure to play a role in future campaigns. So far, the 80-year-old senator seems undeterred” -- and even a bit undecided.
Seeking to pacify Pazniokas without quite addressing his misgivings, Blumenthal noted, barely suppressing a yawn, “I’m focused on this November, electing Democrats to the United States Senate so we take back a Democratic majority and that’s my focus. I have a campaign committee. I haven’t announced anything. I’m raising money, but my focus is on November… There’s no magic about age. It’s about energy, new ideas, a commitment to fighting, and outreach and connection with people. It’s what we need to do as Democrats in this election. We need to convince people we’re on their side.”
Its doubtful Pazniokas bought the evasion. Blumenthal does not strike the average news reporter as a man afflicted with tunnel vision. He strategizes, he plots long-term. A cradle to grave politician, Blumenthal threw his hat into the political ring shortly after having graduated from law school. His son Matthew, a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from the 147th district in Fairfield County, is now following in his dad’s well-worn path.
“Let me have men about me that are fat, sleek-headed men, and such as sleep a-nights,” Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar says, “Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look; he thinks too much: such men are dangerous.” Cassius -- a cunning, manipulative, and envious Roman senator – orchestrated the conspiracy to assassinate Caesar. In the United States circa 2026, we only “assassinate” politicians in our ever-changing media. There are, of course, exceptions. Various people have tried, unsuccessfully so far, to dispatch President Trump and other political menaces, mostly on the right side of the political spectrum.
Generally, we prefer bloodless political turnovers, which have become more frequent ever since members of the Democratic Socialists of America discovered the best way to insert themselves into the Democrat Party Big Tent – by using party primaries to rid the tent of ageing multi-term incumbents who lack the requisite revolutionary oomph.
The primary system itself, it turns out, is the chink in the armor of once invincible, multi-term, gerrymandered protected politicians such as Larson. “The 14-term congressman lost to former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin,” Pazniokas tells us, “who mainly campaigned on the need for new voices and new energy in Congress, without needing to lean much on age at all. Bronin called his victory a ‘political earthquake in Connecticut.’”
Blumenthal, like his neighbor and political comrade U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, has not called out the members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) for their blaring anti-Semitism or their habit of knocking off in primaries long serving politicians such as Blumenthal and Schumer. Both Blumenthal and Schumer are Jewish and “of an age. Both are presumptive moderates and highly vulnerable to lean and hungry socialists plotting against them. Without ballast, the political ship is likely to turn in any direction at any time.
The question before the house is: What made Blumenthal run in the past, and what would Connecticut’s political landscape look like if he chose to hang up his spurs? Would son Matt slide into his Dad’s position in the U.S. Senate, providing the DSA is unsuccessful in abolishing the U.S. Senate? Would present Attorney General William Tong cheerily surrender a carefully hidden ambition to replace Blumenthal senior? The route from the Attorney General’s office into the U.S. Congress has been well traveled by both former Senator Joe Lieberman and Blumenthal senior. And what of the other immobile Democrat members in the U.S. House delegation patiently awaiting their opportunity? A decision by Blumenthal to bow out would quick-start the most volatile game of political musical chairs in state history.
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