Michael Sohn was such a trusted aide to U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays that he was treated like a son.

But Sohn is facing prison today when he is sentenced in federal court in New Haven for embezzling more than $250,000 from the Shays campaign. Sohn was still running the Shays campaign in 2008 when Shays, a 21-year Congressional veteran, lost to Greenwich Democrat Jim Himes in a hotly contested race.

Sohn did not file any federal income tax returns in 2005, 2006, and 2007 - a time in which he was working for Shays. Public records show that he used $13,000 of campaign money to buy an engagement ring for his wife. The couple went on an elaborate, overseas honeymoon at the time when news of the embezzlement first broke, and the couple is now separated.

The Hartford Courant's veteran court reporter, Edmund Mahony, has the details at http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-political-embezzlement-0921-20100920,0,5372791.story

U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman released the following statement today, in the wake of the Senate's failure to advance a bill that would have allowed gays and lesbians to openly serve in the armed forces. Lieberman was one of the chamber's leaders on the effort to repeal the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.

"I'm disappointed by the vote today, but make no mistake: this is a cause whose time has come.  I remain confident that we will repeal this policy that is unjust and discriminatory and counter both to our national values and our national security.  We didn't win today, but we can win this fight this year."

Further proof that women are a key voting block in the 2010 U.S. Senate campaign: Linda McMahon has launched "Mothers for Linda."

"Linda has been a mom through good times and bad and she's the mother and grandmother who is ready to lead Connecticut back to prosperity,'' McMahon's website states.

The McMahon-backed initiative comes on the heels of the state Democratic party's own mother's group: Mothers Opposing McMahon, which has raised questions about the content of McMahon's family business, World Wrestling Entertainment.

Will spots like this help McMahon counter the criticism from Democrats and close the gender gap? She would become the state's first female U.S. Senator yet according to last month's Quinnipiac University poll, she lags behind her male opponent when it comes to winning over woman voters.

Unlike President Obama, who swept into the state last week without making a public appearance, former President Bill Clinton will headline a rally Sunday morning at 10:45 at Wilbur Cross High School. He's coming to stump for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal. 

According to Blumenthal's website, tickets are free but there is a limited amount. Anyone interested in attending is asked to rsvp online.

Sunday looks like its Bill Clinton's day to tour New England: He's also announced campaign stops in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. 

Ed Patru, spokesman for U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon, says the campaign has no plans to pull an ad featuring former President John F. Kennedy, despite a request from Kennedy's nephew to do so.

In fact, Patru said, the campaign is considering giving the web ad an even higher profile by putting it on television.

"Kennedy proposed across-the-board tax cuts because he recognized that a high tax 'reduces the financial incentives for personal effort, investment and risk-taking.' That was the case 47 years ago, and it's the case today,'' Patru said in an email.

"And it's worth remembering that when Kennedy proposed those cuts in 1963, he had plenty of opposition in his own party from big-government politicians like Dick Blumenthal who today are calling for not only higher taxes on businesses, but also a massive middle class energy tax."

Edward M. Kennedy Jr., son of former Sen. Ted Kennedy and nephew of JFK, called the ad "dishonest" and, in a letter to the McMahon camp asked for the Republican candidate to issue a retraction. But, Patru said. "we obviously cannot issue a retraction for something JFK said, besides, we agree with him 100%."

"Ted Kennedy, Jr. and Dick Blumenthal both support higher taxes,'' Patru added. "Linda supports tax cuts. They just have a philosophical difference."

The troubled Department of Children and Families will remain under federal oversight, according to a ruling Wednesday by a federal judge.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell's administration had gone to court in an effort to end 20 years of federal rule over the way the state cares for thousands of troubled and neglected children in state custody.

The state had filed a motion in federal court that, if approved, would have ended the oversight of the state's long-troubled child welfare system, saving the state millions of dollars in future lawyers' fees and court monitoring costs. So far, the state has spent more than $10 million on such fees in the case - plus hundreds of millions of dollars in increased spending each year for a huge department that has grown to 3,400 employees.

The oversight currently stretches to about 6,000 children in state custody and foster care, plus thousands more cases that are investigated each year for possible child abuse.

For months, Republican Linda McMahon has been telling the general public that it's time for something different.

That has been her theme song in television commercials that have blanketed the Connecticut airwaves.

Now, McMahon is spreading that message to a Hispanic audience with advertising in Spanish.

In a full-page advertisement in Hartford-based Identidad, a large, color photograph of McMahon is surrounded by various phrases in Spanish, including her call for something different: "Ahora es tiempo para algo diferente.''

Concerning her creation of more than 500 jobs at Stamford-based WWE, she says, "Ha generado mas de 500 trabajos en Connecticut.''

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon responded today to the concerns raised by President Kennedy's nephew regarding her new online campaign ad.

The ad features archival footage of the former president speaking about how a tax cut would stimulate the economy. Edward M. Kennedy Jr., a resident of Branford and supporter of McMahon's Democratic opponent, took issue with the ad, saying it distorts JFK's legacy. Kennedy sent a letter to the McMahon campaign, asking that the ad be pulled and a retraction issued.

"While I appreciate your interest in my campaign, I must disagree with your characterization of the tax situation,'' McMahon wrote in response.

Kennedy said there's a huge difference between the state of the U.S. economy today and the early 1960s, making any comparison moot.

McMahon responds with a history lesson. "The debate in Washington is not about tax cuts, but surrounds the extension of tax law and preventing tax increases. I do not support raising taxes. However, to give you some perspective on the effects of tax cuts versus tax increases, which you, my opponent and the Administration advocate, I suggest you take a look at history. President Hoover, followed by President Roosevelt, raised taxes, and we all know how things went in the 1930's. The President Lyndon Johnson surtax, joined with bracket creep, resulted in the 1970's decade of stagflation. And the tax rate hikes under Presidents George H.W. Bush and William Clinton are linked with what was the slowest economic growth in 50 years.''

20100922_LEM_Letter_To_Kennedy.pdf 

The Family Institute of Connecticut's clergy advisory council is holding a seminar on the upcoming election and "a Biblical basis for Christian social involvement."

The Oct. 2 seminar at the House of Restoration Church in Hartford is intended for clergy but "other pro-family citizens are certainly welcome to attend,'' the Family Institute states in an email.

Joseph Mattera, a pastor from New York who has spoken out against both the construction of a mosque near Ground Zero and hate crimes against Muslims, will lead the seminar. It will include a panel discussion with political leaders as well as a question-and-answer session.

The two candidates for state Attorney General argued Thursday whether the office has become too big and powerful, but Republican Martha Dean and Democrat George Jepsen both promised during a debate Thursday to push policies that boost business growth and job creation.

Dean was the more combative of the two. She said the campaign is about "ending the job killing practices of the Attorney General and restoring common sense to the office of Attorney General." Then she accused Jepsen, who spent the last six years of a 16-year legislative career as state Senate Majority Leader of presiding over the biggest budget increase in state history.

"Unlike my opponent I bear no responsibility for putting us in the mess that we are in," Dean said.

Jepsen suggested Dean's often made promise to slash both the size of the office and its mission could be counter-productive, referring to one estimate he said shows that the office generates nine times more in state revenue than it spends.

If elected, Jepsen said he would redeploy staff lawyers to fight financial and mortgage fraud, lower electric utility rates and go after tax cheats, moves he said would boost state revenue, level the playing field for honest business and end practices that have collapsed the real estate market and killed the economy.

"People out there are hurting," Jepsen said during the debate hosted by the Connecticut Law Tribune and the University of Connecticut School of Law. "The economy is stuck and the budget is busted."

The election fight between Dean and Jepsen marks the first time in 20 years in Connecticut that an incumbent hasn't been in the race. At times, the exchange between the candidates amounted to a critique of the policies of the current office holder, Richard Blumenthal, who is running as a Democrat for U.S. Senate.

The Kennedy-McMahon story continued to dominate yesterday's news cycle. I guess there's something compelling about Edward M. Kennedy Jr., a member of one of America's most prominent political families, taking on a brash and rich political upstart.

(There's an irony here: Linda McMahon's political ambitions are often written off as a quest for respectability -- the millions made in the somewhat cheesy business of professional wrestling fueling a bid for admission into the world's most exclusive club, the U.S. Senate. It's not unlike former bootlegger Joseph P. Kennedy's effort to gain respectability by promoting the political fortunes of his sons.)

Brian Lockhart of Hearst notes that the spat between McMahon and Kennedy is "a  true sign that...McMahon has arrived on the political scene."

Will we see Kennedy on the campaign trail with Democrat Richard Blumenthal? "Absolutely,'' Ted Kennedy Jr. told me Wednesday night. "I'll be out there doing whatever I can to make sure he's elected U.S. senator." The Branford resident said he and his wife are good friends with Blumenthal and his wife, Cynthia.

Does Kennedy think Blumenthal will prevail? "I think iin the end he is going to be able to get his message out,'' Kennedy said, "People know Dick Blumenthal, they know hes been on the right side and that he's not afraid to take on the special interests. He's done an amazing job.

Connecticut is a very small state, but it has 11 billionaires, according to the latest annual list from Forbes magazine.

Of those, eight live in Greenwich.

http://www.courant.com/business/hc-forbes-richest-list-ct-0925-20100924,0,6225957,print.story

State Rep. Mary Mushinsky - the dean of the House of Representatives who was first elected in 1980 - and fellow legislators are studying e-government.

Amanda Falcone, who was part of The Courant's Capitol reporting crew during the legislative session, has the details at http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-e-government-0925-20100924,0,559868.story

With less than four months left in her term, Gov. M. Jodi Rell still holds her status as Connecticut's most popular governor in decades and still serves as the titular head of the Republican Party.

So why has she been virtually invisible on the campaign trail?

Republicans said she clearly could have helped her lieutenant governor, Michael Fedele, in the primary - but never did. And she has not yet appeared publicly with the party's nominee to succeed her as governor: Tom Foley.

"We have not made an appearance yet, but she is endorsing me. That's what she's told me,'' Foley said in an interview. "She has offered to campaign together, depending on our schedules. She's interested in helping out.''

A multi-millionaire, Foley doesn't need Rell for fundraising in the way that many other candidates would. Instead, she could help by transferring her good will, which has kept her approval rating at about 65 percent. Foley is hoping to firm up some details within the next 10 days, but as the campaign moves toward October, Rell has been a non-factor in the increasingly bitter battle between Foley and Democrat Dannel Malloy.

In the latest Quinnipiac University poll, Foley was trailing Malloy by 9 percentage points with 8 percent undecided and 26 percent saying their could change their minds by Election Day.

Foley could not describe the potential joint appearances with Rell and whether they might be in one large venue or in a series of events across the state

"It's not shaped at all,'' Foley said. "She's offered to do it, and we said we appreciate it.''

Rell was not available to comment, but she has spoken on the telephone several times with Foley - even though she has not issued any press releases or called a news conference to formally announce her support.

An administration source rejected the notion that Rell has been lying low and offered several examples of how Rell is helping Republicans. Rell intends to tape a radio commercial for Linda McMahon, the U.S. Senate candidate who took her first steps in public life at the state Capitol after being nominated last year to the State Board of Education by Rell. Rell will be taping a cable television commercial for another friend, state Sen. Toni Boucher of Wilton.

As part of its responsibility to protect public health, the state Department of Agriculture in July hired a new "agriculture marketing and inspection representative" for tasks such as inspecting livestock and poultry at farms or fairs.

Several applicants had extensive professional and educational backgrounds in farming, breeding of livestock, and production of milk, cheese and other foods -- but they were all passed over by state Agriculture Commissioner F. Philip Prelli, a former Republican state legislator.

As reported in the Sunday Government Watch column, which can be read by clicking here, Prelli instead hired a former pizza restaurant chef and school bus driver with no experience or schooling in farming: Debra Hinman, who had worked as his executive secretary in the commissioner's office since 2007, when she was referred to him for that job by the office of Republican Gov. M. Jodi. Rell.

NEW HAVEN -- Former President Bill Clinton delivered a message to the Democratic base Sunday morning: this election matters.

"There is nothing wrong with this country we can't fix but we have to think and act and chose and make the right choice," Clinton told an audience of about 2,000 Democrat partisans who packed the gymnasium at Wilbur Cross High School.

Clinton came to Connecticut to campaign for Attorney General and U.S. Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal, a man Clinton has known 40 years.

Clinton's 35 minute speech was short on soundbites and heavy with wonkish digressions. He touched on topics as diverse as the German economy, healthcare policy and the benefits of fuel cells.

But he returned again and again to a central theme: America enjoyed an era of enormous prosperity during his presidency but Republicans have steered the country off course. He accused them of shedding "crocodile tears" on the deficit without acknowledging that unbridled spending during the Bush years is largely to blame.

He acknowledged the mood of the country: "I share your anger but anytime in life you make a really important decision in your life when you're mad, 80 percent of the time you make a mistake."

Clinton's is the second high-profile visit Blumenthal has had this month. President Obama attended a pair of fundraisers in the state last week.

Unlike those closed_door events, Clinton's public appearance  was intended to rally the troops, not bring in big bucks, although it did he a fundraising component; for 5,000, participants could have their photo taken with the former president.

 Blumenthal is locked in tough battle with self-funding Republican Linda McMahon, but Clinton's speech was focused on the general Republican agenda and not the specifics of the McMahon campaign. He never mentioned her by name and made only one oblique reference to her former career as CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment. (Clinton mentioned a Colorado gubernatorial candidate who said Denver's bike paths we a U.N. plot, leading Clinton to speculate that perhaps the candidate had spent too much time in the wrestling ring.) Clinton said this is a pivotal election and urged everyone to vote, particularly the young people who turned out for Barack Obama in 2008.

The former president's admonition wasn't lost on 25-year-old Seth Bannon of New Haven. "This election's almost as important as 2008," he said as he walked out of the school.

Clinton cited the important issues at stake: the financial regulatory overhaul, healthcare, student loan reform. 

He remains one of the Democratic party's most revered figures and is much in demand on the campaign circuit this fall.

Tom Petty's "Won't Back Down" blared over the sound system as Clinton departed for his next campaign stop in Taunton, Mass., where he is stumping for longtime U.S. Barney Frank.

-- Daniela Altimari