Two 'Oops' Moments

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Two 'Oops' Moments

October 11, 2006

With a 33-point lead in the polls, Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell had little to gain from taking the stage Monday night with her challenger, New Haven Mayor John DeStefano.

Maybe she should have stayed at the office.

Her showing at the Garde Arts Center in New London won't hurt her with voters relieved that this steady-as-she-goes matron is not John G. Rowland, her glib predecessor and former political teammate whose greediness landed him in jail.

But a few gaffes in an otherwise OK performance are what viewers are talking about.

Late in the debate, Mrs. Rell pulled a George W. Bush when considering whether she made any mistakes in office. She didn't name any - though surely she could have wished, for just one thing, that the state Department of Transportation had kept an eye on the contractor who installed hundreds of faulty drains on I-84.

Instead, she tried to keep to the script and accentuate the positive - such as the big transportation package and ethics reform. Mr. DeStefano, however, got the honesty edge in quickly admitting that he was wrong to propose the Long Wharf mall.

And asked whom she would endorse in the Senate race, an apparently flummoxed Mrs. Rell went into an exposition of the good qualities of all the candidates. She could have said that isn't her race.

But the governor did score points when she deigned to step down from her above-the-fray spot to beat back a DeStefano barrage - as when she noted that the Democratic-controlled legislature blocked a utility tax cut, that she dragged some lawmakers to the ethics-reform table "kicking and screaming," that she's not taking special-interest money for her campaign.

For his part, Mr. DeStefano, sounding hoarse, showed his firm grasp on policy-wonk matters. But he's not helped by rude supporters in the audience groaning and tongue-clicking at Mrs. Rell.

A single debate is rarely enough to change many opinions. The two gubernatorial candidates are scheduled for one more. Too often, debates are seen as win/lose matches akin to athletic events. But there's more to them than which candidate gained more points. Debates are now an accepted and expected part of political life, and the public is usually better off for having an opportunity to make an informed judgment.

Copyright 2006, Hartford Courant