Date: Fri 30-Oct-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

edink-endorsement-Rowland

Full Text:

ED INK: OUR CHOICES

For Governor

It has been hard for voters to get excited about the gubernatorial race this

year, since the outcome appears to be a foregone conclusion. Polls show

Republican Gov John Rowland is still far ahead of his Democratic challenger,

Barbara Kennelly, heading into the last days of the election campaign.

Mrs Kennelly's campaign certainly hasn't generated the same kind of

"fire-in-the-belly" political enthusiasm that characterized the countless

campaigns orchestrated by her father, the late John Bailey, Connecticut's

legendary party boss in the Ribicoff, Dempsey and Grasso heydays. At times,

her campaign seems to have been at a loss to even explain why she is running

for governor. Aside from some politically resonant salvos on the issue of HMOs

and her proposed six-point patient protection act, which was unveiled in the

middle of the summer, Mrs Kennelly's candidacy has been drifting.

Mr Rowland, on the other hand, buoyed by a strong state economy, has staked

out the high middle ground on most issues, even co-opting some of Mrs

Kennelly's health-care positions, broadening his appeal to large numbers of

unaffiliated voters and cross-over Democrats.

In bad times, the state might need a leader with more of a vision and a plan

than Mr Rowland has. But in good times, his facility for moving toward the

center and consensus to protect his own political popularity has proven to be

helpful in keeping the state's economy rolling and the state budget out of the

red. There is no compelling reason to change governors at this time, so we

endorse John Rowland's reelection.