And Another Player Strikes Out! (But WHO?)

 One of the more interesting characteristics of the incoming Malloy administration - at least from the viewpoint of political oddsmakers - is the large number of elected Democrats who have been tapped to fill state administrative positions.

This isn't curious from the Governor-elect's point of view: after nearly two decades of uninterrupted Republican control of the state's administration, the Democrats are understandably rusty...and are thus notably lacking in experienced administrators.

No...what makes this interesting is those elected personages who have been lobbying to get a plum state job...and the associated fallout.

As I reported back in November, a member of West Haven's "elected class" has been making it known that an administrative position, if offered, would be favorably considered.  Since the time of the original report, the Governor-elect has selected a whole bunch of elected officials...but not our own "favorite son".

Hmmmm....

Could it be that our special someone (who hasn't been known for the stickin' out of the political neck) didn't do enough for our new governor whilst he was simply a candidate?  Is it possible that someone has less political pull stateside than believed?

Or is there a deeper, more sinister answer?

This particular "hungry child" was just newly re-elected...and should Steve (oops, my bad!) get the job before being sworn in, state law mandates an election to fill the position.  However, if the state job shows up after noon tomorrow (once he is sworn in), the West Haven Democratic Town Committee chooses his successor...without the chance of a challenge.

Think about it: before tomorrow, there's a chance that  someone could become state representative, who would not be beholden to our Golden Boy (who has chosen his minions wisely).  But, after noon tomorrow, this "danger"  - the danger that the voters get to choose their representative - can't happen.

So, the next few days or weeks will tell the truth of the story.  If our boy gets his plum, you can know the "fix was in":  either between Picard and Malloy directly, or between Picard and Steve...with the implicit cooperation by Malloy.  This would show that our Mayor is better at political conniving than are any of his opponents.

If there isn't a job offered, then it was our hometown kid who whiffed at the plate.  Either way, the Mayor won't lose (as usual)...and his opponents don't win (again, as usual.)

Let's see what we shall see, shall we?