CONNECTICUT UPDATE – AT 9:57 A.M. ET:  We told you last night that the expected Connecticut Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, running to succeed Chris Dodd, has become enmeshed in a major scandal.  He apparently intends to fight on.

The state's attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, who expected to be crowned as Dem Senate candidate at a convention this Saturday, is accused of repeatedly falsifying his military record by claiming that he served in Vietnam, which he never did.  The unmasking was done by The New York Times (to its credit), and there are reports that it received the lead from elements within the Republican Party.

Blumenthal has scheduled a "rally" with veterans for tonight, apparently to try to counter the charges, although he doesn't deny them.  (I don't know how you counter charges that you don't deny.)  Even if he fights on and gets the nomination, the blume is certainly off the rose.  He has only one opponent for the Dem nomination, a minor figure who comes out of the party's left wing and opposes the American effort in Afghanistan.  In ordinary times, this would be no problem for Blumental.  The Times have suddenly turned abnormal.

This presents an opportunity for Republicans in a usually reliable blue state.  It can be done.  Remember Scott Brown.

May 18, 2010