Combing through the Courant's archives earlier this week, I came across a number of stories about Nancy Wyman's inaugural run for comptroller.
Prominent in several of the stories was the hang-wringing of Democratic insiders over the perceived lack of ethnic and religious balance of the party's 1994 slate. That year, the ticket included four Jewish candidates: Sen. Joseph Lieberman, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, Miles Rapoport, running for secretary of the state, and Wyman.
Former party Chairman Ed Marcus was among those talking about it. "I'd like to say the day has ended when it makes any difference whether someone is Jewish or Catholic or black, but I suppose one has to say, even in 1994, to an extent it does,'' Marcus, who is himself Jewish, said in a news story at the time. ``It is something that has come up in conversations with a number of town chairs and others. It's something that has been talked about.''
Wyman, who one columnist clumsily described as "of Jewish heritage, although not a practicing Jew," said at the time that it shouldn't matter.