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.