By tomorrow night at this time, Democrat Richard Blumenthal may already be crowned his party's U.S. Senate nominee. It's a moment he's been waiting for all of his political life, but only time will tell if this week's revelations that the he misrepresented his military service will destroy his ambition.
New quotes unearthed by Hearst Newspapers' Neil Vigdor from the Stamford Advocate's archives are adding fresh fuel to questions about Blumenthal's credibility on the matter. ("I wore the uniform in Vietnam and many came back to all kinds of disrespect. Whatever we think of war, we owe the men and women of the armed forces our unconditional support,'' Blumenthal was quoted as saying at the 2008 Stamford Veterans Day parade.)
Even before the crisis erupted, the campaign had brought in two experienced Democratic political consultants: Marla Romash, a former television reporter and senior advisor to Al Gore and John Kerry, among others, and Mandy Grunwald, who helped engineer Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential victory.
Since the New York Times broke the story about Blumenthal's misstatements, he's also heard from White House political director Patrick Gaspard, a member of President Obama's inner circle.