The 2010 elections provided some of the greatest political advances in history for Republicans, but that wave never fully arrived in Connecticut as the party lost races for governor, U.S. Senator, and five Congressional seats.
Those failures have prompted some rumbling that the losses should spell the end of the nearly four-year tenure of Connecticut state Republican chairman Chris Healy.
But in a bizarre twist, Healy is now being mentioned in the national media for a major promotion - to be chairman of the Republican National Committee.
Healy's name has been floated widely in The Associated Press, Roll Call, and The Washington Post's influential political blog, among others.
In a 24-hour whirlwind, Healy's candidacy has grown from a behind-the-scenes, back-room whispering campaign to a full-blown public race. As a nearly four-year member of the national committee because of his state chairmanship, Healy already knows many of the 168 national members - and he needs 85 votes to oust embattled, outspoken chairman Michael Steele.
"A number of people on the committee, which is where it counts, urged me to think about running,'' Healy said in an interview. "We need to create a real national Republican army. The record does not indicate that the Steele team can do it. At some point, you have to come out and say the emperor has no clothes.''
Healy, 53, said he has no idea who mentioned his name to The Washington Post, adding that he has "full confidence of passing a polygraph'' on the leak. He is being mentioned along with former Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, former Nevada Gov. Robert List, former New Jersey chairman David Norcross, and current Wisconsin chairman Reince Priebus, among others.
Based on the losses last week in high-profile races, Healy said he is prepared to hear questions about why Connecticut's party chairman should be picked over others in states where Republicans made huge gains.
"I think that's a fair point,'' Healy said. "We were unsuccessful, but in the big strategic picture, people on the RNC can look me in the eye and say I took a party that was dormant and made it fully engaged in the Internet age. We recruited a lot of good candidates without a lot of help from the chief executive - and that's fine. ... We didn't even have a web page when I took over. Now, we have one of the best social media networks. We've got thousands and thousands of people on Facebook and Twitter.''
Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell taped radio commercials for U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon and gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley, but she was not a major public presence on the campaign trail.
When asked if Rell had helped the Republicans, Healy responded, "No, she didn't do anything, which is unfortunate. She chose not to, and that's her choice. It just is what it is. You can't make people do things if they don't want to.''
Healy said he would not criticize Rell personally, saying she needed to speak for herself. Rell could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday night.
Insiders also said that Rell did not help the state House Republicans, who increased their total by 14 seats - the highest one-year gain by any political party since the state's party lever was eliminated in 1986.
A leading Republican, though, disagreed sharply with Healy.
"It's amazing,'' the Republican said. "Chris Healy evidently recruited every candidate, raised every dollar, and was evidently responsible for every Republican who won this year. At the same time, Governor Rell and other Republican leaders seemingly did nothing to help any candidate. The only thing bigger and more inflated than Chris's ego is the Goodyear blimp. He would fit right in with all the other modest, team-playing politicos already dominating the Washington scene.''