Veteran Capitol reporter Chris Keating reports that Blumenthal's current troubles - and how he handled them - evoke memories of another high-profile incident in his career.
During his 1990 race for attorney general - his first race for statewide office - Blumenthal faced a story that a restrictive covenant on his home mortgage in Stamford prevented the sale of the property to African Americans.
The covenant, which was present on other properties throughout the country, would have allowed discrimination of buyers of the property on Dolphin Cove Quay - an upscale area near Stamford's waterfront. The home was a condominium, where the surrounding land was held in common ownership.
The story spread quickly, and Blumenthal handled it by holding a press conference in much the same way as he did Tuesday. Instead of the army of veterans who gathered around him Tuesday, Blumenthal appeared in April 1990 with state Sen. Margaret Morton, an African American from Bridgeport who supported him.
Morton spoke on behalf of Blumenthal at the time - in which he was facing a bitterly fought contest against Jay B. Levin, a New London attorney who was also seeking the Democratic nomination for attorney general.
Farmington attorney John Droney, who was a Democratic powerhouse at the time as the state party chairman, said that Blumenthal had handled the issues in the same way. Droney, who served in Vietnam, attended Tuesday's news conference in West Hartford with the veterans.
"It's repeating itself - both in 1990 and now,'' Droney said.
Droney, though, says that the current stories about Blumenthal are far more severe than the 1990 ones about the real estate covenant.
"It didn't have the sizzle that this thing has,'' Droney said. "It wasn't that big a deal.''
In both instances, various supporters rallied around Blumenthal.
"That's a tribute to him - in both instances,'' Droney said. "You're going to get attacked and when you're attacked, you stand up.''
Reached Tuesday night in Washington, D.C., Levin said that he battled Blumenthal for the nomination for 1 1/2 years, four nights a week at Democratic town committees and events around the state. He said that people brought Blumenthal's Vietnam record to him as a source of controversy.
In addition, Levin said both in 1990 and Tuesday night that he had nothing to do with the stories about the real estate covenant. Stating that both he and Blumenthal are Jewish, Levin said that he cannot imagine anyone of Jewish ancestry being involved in the restrictive covenant.
"I accept his explanation on that as I did back then,'' Levin said of the covenant.
Despite their clashes, Levin says now that he considers Blumenthal to be a friend. As such, he strongly defended Blumenthal - saying they were together numerous times in front of crowds where Blumenthal could have embellished his record.
"It was crystal clear to me that he never, ever said he served in Vietnam,'' Levin said. "We were much closer to that era when we ran.''