I was a little surprised when I got a call late this morning that Ned Lamont was creating an exploratory committee to look into running for governor.   I had heard the rumors, but didn’t give them much credence on the assumption he was waiting until 2012 for a rematch with Senator Joe Lieberman.    However,  perhaps showing interest in the big office at the state capitol is his new route to Washington.

I can’t help but wonder with the election only a year away, why didn’t Lamont simply announce today that in fact, he is running for governor?    Why a committee?  He can’t seriously be worried about raising money or getting support from his enthusiastic supporters and fans from ‘06.   Also, the timing seems odd: a day after Democrats got their clocks cleaned in New Jersey and Virginia and on the same week he appeared on MSNBC criticizing  his nemesis Senator Joe Lieberman.    

I think Lamont wants to be in the right place at the right time if Senator Chris Dodd should announce he has changed his mind and won’t run for re-election after all.   If a new round of polling shows Dodd still trailing Rob Simmons, Tom Foley and maybe even Linda McMahon, that would mean for most of 2009, Dodd has been on the losing end.   This,  for a 5 term incumbent in a Democratic state.    The situation is not good, and after seeing what happened to Democrats in New Jersey and Virginia, Connecticut Democrats may want to go with a candidate with a better chance of fighting what could be a wave of anger and a desire for change from the electorate.    On “Face the State” this summer, former Democratic Party chairman Ed Marcus said if Dodd hadn’t reversed  the poll numbers by the fall,  Democrats should go with a plan B, as in a new candidate.   I’ve spoken with many Democrats who support Dodd, but are very concerned the party could lose the seat if Dodd is the nominee.  

Enter Ned Lamont.     With Dodd out of the way, Lamont could easily become the frontrunner in the race, and instantly eliminate the raison d’etre of the McMahon, Simmons and  other Republican senate campaigns.     What would their argument be for running?  They are all focused on Dodd and his troubles.    I can’t recall a release or campaign appearance from any Republican candidate that doesn’t mention Chris Dodd.   

I asked Lamont today if Dodd did drop out,  would he be interested.   He could have answered “no.  I am committed to pursuing the governorship,” but he didn’t.  I couldn’t get him to rule out the senate possibility, instead he said he was focused on the exploratory committee.    “Does this mean you are giving up any dream of becoming a senator?” I asked.  Lamont could have said, I’m not interested in the senate.  He didn’t..

Despite the enormous amount of personal wealth Lamont could pour into a race for governor, Governor Rell could still be tough to beat.   The most recent poll shows Rell with a 59 percent approval rating, higher than President Obama’s here in Connecticut, and 57 percent of those polled in the September QU survey would vote to re-elect her.   

The senate race seems a much easier challenge for  Lamont and he would be able to focus on one of his top priorities:  improving health care.   I don’t think he wants his party to hand over  that issue to a Senator McMahon-Simmons-Caligiuri-Foley-Schiff.

Ned Lamont is now almost in the race for governor, and his target was one of the first people to know.   Lamont told me this afternoon he called Governor Rell to tell her personally that he is considering challenging her for the office his party last won when Reagan was president.   “What are you crazy?”  the governor told him jokingly.   Lamont went on to say the conversation was cordial, and beyond that statement he wouldn’t elaborate on what was said between the two.   Lamont told me he also called Dan Malloy, Susan Bysiewicz and the other Democrats eyeing the big office at the state capitol.  He also left a message for Senator Joe Lieberman.  Wouldn’t you love to eavesdrop on that return call?

           Gas cost about a dollar a gallon.  The Hartford Civic Center was home to the Whalers and on occasion, the Boston Celtics.    People had lunch from the vendors at the Main Street Market and I anchored my first newscast with the legendary Denise D’Ascenzo.   It was the fall of 1994, and now Denise and I are celebrating an anniversary:  15 years .

               Sitting next to Denise was intimidating at first, but within days we became fast friends and realized we had plenty in common.   Our grandfathers are from the same region in Italy (Abruzzo) and pretty much we come from similar backgrounds.  For the past decade in a half we have noticed we like the same foods, the same music, and now we even drive the same kind of car (Buick Enclaves.)    We’ve been there for each other through the ups and downs of our lives.    Denise did a reading at my wedding to Kara, and I was there for her when her father died.  We’ve both grieved the loss of children to miscarriage, and shared the joy of the births of Kathryn, Helena and Julian.  

         Anchoring with Denise is never dull and is always fun.   Our days here at Channel 3 are full of discussing news stories of course, but there are a few sophmoric antics mixed in for levity sake…usually silly games with words or what have you.  The next day, I always enjoy listening to Denise tell me how her husband guffawed as she recapped her day over the dinner table.     

      The fall of 1994 was an interesting time to do be anchoring the news.  There was no World Series because of the strike.   The Weicker era was coming to an end and the election of former congressman John Rowland as governor ended a quarter century drought for Republicans.  In fact, all across the country Republicans were enjoying success thanks to Newt Gingrich’s  “Contract with America.”     The most watched political show in state was “CT ’94″ moderated by Duby McDowell.   

       I should point out, Denise is something of a broadcast bigamist, because in late December she will also celebrate 15 years on the anchor desk with Al Terzi.      

      Here is a clip of Denise and me from ‘94:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw1XqSv22Ms

Many of you have askeed for an update on the baby, and I can tell you Kara is still due in September and we are still going to be surprised about whether the baby is a boy or girl.

Helena has named the baby Grover, but we’re pretty sure that won’t be the name!  No offense to the 19th century president and the blue muppet.

Being surprised  means we have to pick out two names.    The choices have been made, but we’re not telling anybody — not even family.

By the way,  I am plagiarizing some of this from my blog of January 18, 2007 when I wrote about the last time we played the baby name game.    Like last time, we eliminated some names right off the bat, including Maxwell, White, Summer, Dog.   Also, any names of people we dated before we got married got nixed.

We also  eliminated Kara and Dennis. My dad’s name is Dennis and I found it
confusing growing up. My name was supposed to be Paul, after my mother’s grandfather Paolo, but as soon I was born, my dad wanted his first-born child named after him.  So, Paul became my middle name.

I’m not a junior, which made it even more frustrating. I was always called Little Den, Young Den, Dennis Junior, Dennis Paul, etc.

To this day, some paperwork still gets mixed up.

There’s nothing against naming your child after living people, but we’re not doing
it. Our child will have his or her own name.

Kara and I also delved deep into our family trees for possible names. We’ve traced the House line back to 1475, so we have 16 generations of names to choose from, including Thomas, Philip, John, Samuel, Caleb, Job, Horatio, Melvin, and Arnold.   

Melvin and Horatio don’t really work as baby names, for us, anyway!   My mother’s father name was “Cresenzo,” a great name reflecting my Italian heritage, but it doesn’t go with House.    Maybe a middle name, who knows.

Kara’s Sundlun heritage has traced back to Lithuania in the 1800s when the name was Zundelevitch. Among the names on that side that we could choose from include Moses, Morris, Isaac, Walter, and Bruce.   

Her mother’s heritage is mostly Hungarian, and includes names like Stephen, Frances, Warner, Margaret, and Louis. 

The most common name in our family tree is  Phoebe….with three generations of Phoebes on my mother’s side.   My grandmother , Phebe Cassidy Chully spelled her name without the “o,” the old Shakespearean way.

Some couples combine names and create a new one. If we combined our fathers’ names, we would have Brennis or Deuce. I don’t think so. So forth with our mothers’ names, we’d have Judalyn or Marilyth. Not.

Kara and I have our fair share of baby-name books and we consulted the Social Security Administration’s Web site for the most popular names.    The most popular boy name right now is Jacob. For the girls, it’s Emma.

Here in Connecticut, the most popular name for boys is Michael, and for girls, Isabella.

We can tell you the names we have chosen do not appear in our family trees, they do not appear on the most popular lists and we didn’t make them up.

That’s all I’ll say … for now.       I also wrote a blog in February /March of 2007 about Helena and how we came up with her name.  Check out in our blog archives.

Feel free to let me know your favorite names and your baby name stories.

This Sunday the former Governor, Senator and Congressman talks about the income tax, casinos, Senator Chris Dodd and who he will vote for in 2010.

Bruce Sundlun picking up his new Buick Lucerne, May 2007

Former Rhode Island Governor Bruce Sundlun, my father-in-law,  took a big step yesterday.   After driving since the Great Depression, he gave up his driver’s license.   For a man who turns 90 this coming winter, it wasn’t easy….for him or us.   This came after a long period of pleading from his family,  incidents that resulted in police action, reports in the Providence Journal detailing his lack of driving prowess, and ultimately, some self-reflection.    We are extremely proud of his decision to turn over his license to the Rhode Island DMV.  We also know how difficult it can be for a family with an older driver. 

What wasn’t reported in the news stories about my father-in-law’s driving is that we, his family, had been trying to persuade him to give up driving for some time.   Most of us refused to drive with him, but that didn’t work.  He still wouldn’t give it up.   Over time he relinquished the controls and became a passenger, mostly because the option was going out by himself and following behind….way behind!  

Whenever we broached the subject of his driving, the Governor’s response was always the same ” I’m a good driver!” he would growl.    “I’ve been trained to drive by the FBI,  the CIA and the DEA.”     He didn’t seem the least bit phased when we countered with the fact that this training occured when  Eisenhower was president!     No, his argument often fell on deaf ears, especially when he backed into my brother-in-law’s car in his driveway.

This is a man who survived being shot down by the Nazis during World War II, won the governor’s race after two defeats, faced the anger of customers whose troubled banks he shut down, and beat cancer.   The man who fought hard against the naysayers to bring a first class airport to Providence wasn’t going to give up driving just  because we asked him to.

In fact, two years ago he needed a new car and liked our car and wanted one exactly like it.   He wanted it to look sporty, and have all the options, namely Onstar so he wouldn’t have to use a cell phone while driving.  Thank goodness for that.   We wisely talked him out of getting a navigation screen, since the last thing my father-in-law needed was a monitor full of colorful maps to distract him from keeping his eyes on the road.   

I had to drive his car last year and Kara and I were stunned by the high mileage.  He drove often and everywhere.  He came to Hartford to visit us, all around the state for fundraisers and charity events, to his alma mater Williams College for a reunion, Boston to visit one of his granddaughters and New York City for an event.    He was also driving to his office at URI every day.

My father-in-law kept driving for a number of reasons, including peer pressure.  He has friends who still drive….friends who are older than he is!   Just last summer, over lunch Kara and I were trying to persuade Bruce to give up driving when his 90 year old friend came over.   Here is how the conversation went:

                                    Bruce:   “How are you, my dear?”

                                   Friend:   “I’ve had a dreadful day.  I had to drive my grandson to the train station near URI, and then take another to the airport and then drive to Providence for an errand and back to Newport.”    

She didn’t exactly help our cause.   We should point out  he also has a 92 year old friend who still drives.

I think my father-in-law should use his experience to help others.  The Rhode Island DMV should put him in a PSA explaining how people can help with a loved one who should no longer drive.

 The cities of Providence and Hartford should build housing for seniors downtown,  within walking distance to stores, services, and hospitals.    It might make giving up a driver’s license less traumatic.  

This morning Kara said “I am so proud of my Dad.”  We all are.

 1967

This Sunday on Face the State we take a look at the late Senator Thomas Dodd, the father of our current senator.   Using some film clips from the Channel 3 archives, the viewers will be able to see and hear from a man whose name has come up frequently this year.

Why are we doing this?  In March I interviewed Senator Chris Dodd and asked him about whether he was thinks about his father more often as he faces the political fight of his career.  I didn’t explain his father’s situation and as a result some of our younger viewers later asked me “hey..who was Tom Dodd and what happened to him?”

Dick Ahles, a retired vice-president of news at Channel 3 will be our guest.  He covered Senator Dodd back in the day.  He also look at the parallels between Tom Dodd’s political troubles of 1970, and his son’s troubles 40 years later.  

Also for some more information check out Genghis Conn’s report on ctlocalpolitics.net http://ctlocalpolitics.net/2009/03/23/2010-and-1970/

See you Sunday and let me know what you think.  DON”T FORGET TO WRITE YOUR NAME AND CITY OR TOWN AT THE END OF YOUR POST!

Swines and pigs created this  scene at Elizabeth Park this weekend.  Shameful.  Litter everywhere and graffiti on the playscape.  Look at this graffiti carefully….it looks like it was done by children.  Were the parents encouraging them?  Who bought the Sharpies?   Those were left on the ground with the other litter.  If you know who did this, call Hartford Police at 860 527-6300

Yes, Denise, Al and I had a long conversation about a fictional dog who was a household name in the summer of 1976.   Who would have thought?   We are news anchors and friends who have talked about everything over the past 15 years…and this was a new chapter in our pod chatter.

It started when Denise came into work literally singing the praises of the 70s on 7 channel on satellite radio.  She was boasting about another 1976 hit, “Don’t give up on us, baby,”   and she proudly told us it was by David Soul….the Starsky and Hutch guy.

Anyway, one thing led to another and soon we were talking about the song “Shannon,”    an ode to a dead dog.  ”Shannon  is gone, I know…she drifted to out sea.”    We really didn’t know anything about the song, so Al, as he is known to do, immediately googled it.   Al went on to report that the song, by Henry Gross, was about an Irish Setter that belonged to one of the Beach Boys.

“Yes, well, it is a melancholy ballad that delves into the crushing emptiness as one pines over the  passing of a cherished canine being,”  Al recited to us…or something like that.  

Wonder what we’ll talk about today?