Election 2010: Is Connecticut Out of reach?

Isn't amazing how politics can change over the course of one year?

Twelve months ago Connecticut was a high value target of Conservatives and Republicans alike, due to the corrupt five-term Senator Chris Dodd. We could all smell his political blood in the water, later to be confirmed by polling data collected by several organizations. In short, we thought a victory was possible.

That all changed when Senator Dodd announced his retirement from the Senate, and the highly popular Attorney General announced his intention to run for the Democrat Nomination. All of our thoughts of flipping the Acorn state ended just like that, and the polling data confirmed what we all sensed.

Then we received two political blessings:

1. Richard Blumenthal was caught lying about his Military record.
2. Self-funding Linda McMahon won the Republican Nomination.

Suddenly, we were back in the game: the polls tightened between Blumenthal and the presumed Republican Nominee, Linda McMahon, and the "spotless" Democratic Attorney General could be labeled as a candidate with "integrity" issues. Our thoughts raised again in conjunction with health care leaving the people skeptical of all Democrats nationwide, even in deep blue Connecticut.

Then it happened again. As soon as our thoughts drifted back towards covering Connecticut with large red blankets, the polls kicked us in the teeth: Blumenthal was leading all of his potential Republican opponents by twenty-five points, just days after the being caught lying about his Military record.

We never recovered from that shock. Sure, McMahon won the Republican Nomination, and she pulled within a few points of actually leading. But the people of Connecticut long made up their mind: it would be a Democrat, or nobody. All we could do was reason with them, which failed without a doubt according to a new poll from Rasmussen:

Blumenthal (D) - 56%. McMahon (R) - 43%. Undecided - 1%.

Connecticut is officially out of reach.