New Haven’s Henry Fernandez (pictured) has consistently opposed Dan Malloy’s gubernatorial campaigns in the past. Now he has decided to back Malloy’s current bid for governor, with enthusiasm. He explains why here.
It would be easy to assume that I support Dan Malloy. I am an unrepentant Democrat. And I have little doubt that while voting for Rosa DeLauro and Dick Blumenthal, I would have filled in the circle for Dan. But, we are different kinds of Democrats and have some history. I am a staunch progressive Democrat while Dan has dabbled in middle of the road Democratic Leadership Conference circles. I ran John DeStefano’s campaign for governor and we took a beating from Dan before pulling out a 2 point primary victory. Dan did after all break the 11th commandment and go thermonuclear on another Democrat in a primary. He put DeStefano in a dress in what is now a legendary last minute ad that claimed DeStefano hated women or some such. Even more important, Dan has always been a bit too vague for me on things like how much rich people should pay in taxes or how much health care poor people should get.
So it should come as no surprise that I was a delegate for Ned Lamont at the state convention. I didn’t work for Ned after the convention, because I didn’t think he ever really figured out a message to get any of the progressives who fought for him in 2006 to care this time. But he is a good guy. Unfortunately he and Dan pretty much ran as the same kind of middle of the road Democrat and well, Dan is just one tough opponent. Trust me on this.
But I now see something in Dan Malloy that I never saw before. I do not doubt it was always there, I just never saw it. He is willing to stand strong for what he believes is right. In the face of one of the ugliest crimes in the history of Connecticut, Dan has been a brick wall against the death penalty. While a number of other high profile Democrats have either changed their position or gone into hiding, Dan has powerfully weathered consistent questions from the press and an opponent who raises the issue at every debate.
Yet Malloy has never wavered. He has avoided sound bites and consistently explained his position. He talks about how he came to oppose the death penalty from both a moral and a factual perspective. He cites the reality of racial bias, the fact that studies show the death penalty does not deter crime, and how as a former prosecutor he understands the weaknesses in the criminal justice system.
It would be so easy for Dan to have swapped his position for something more popular. Instead he has been a one man force for change, educating Connecticut residents at every stop. He may not have chosen this role, but there is no question he has not hidden from it.
I happen to believe he is right. The death penalty is a disgrace.
• Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1977, no fewer than 138 individuals have been let off death row because they were found to be innocent.
• The death penalty is most heavily used in states where prosecutors are elected.
• If Harris County, Texas was a state, it would rank second only to Texas in the number of executions.
• My wife used to represent people on death row as an attorney and to take just one example, she once proved a client innocent who had been on the row for six years, only to have him die from liver failure, shackled to a hospital bed, before his appeal was completed. “Rotten” was the word the appellate judge used to describe the tactics the prosecutor in his case used to gain a conviction. This forgotten man died proud to have proven his innocence but he did not die free.
• All states with a death penalty legitimize the most egregious miscarriages of justice. While Texas and Mississippi may execute people regularly who were poorly represented by incompetent lawyers, as long as Connecticut also has a death row, Texas’s and Mississippi’s human rights violations don’t exactly stand out.
But none of that is really my point. My point is Dan Malloy has exhibited a form of leadership which we see too little of today. He stands for a position which the frequently inaccurate Q‑Poll tells us is unpopular. And he does so for one reason — he thinks it is the right thing to do.
So I will vote for Dan Malloy. I will do so proudly. In fact, there is no vote I will take this November that I am more confident about. I like Rosa, and I like Dick, but I have a new respect for Dan. I know I won’t always agree with him. We are after all very different kinds of Democrats.
But I now know that he will stand for what he thinks is right. And he will do so in the face of the great challenges that our next governor will no doubt face. Whether you agree with me on the death penalty or not, hopefully we can agree that it is time for a governor that does not listen to the wind but stands strong even when it blows hard against him.
So Malloy can raise our taxes and increase the bureaucracy that is strangling this state, but as long as he is against the death penalty you're willing to vote for him? While I too admire, and agree with, his position, nothing will ever change the fact that he is a typical tax and spend Democrat. The legislature can take up the issue of the death penalty again and hopefully Governor Foley will not veto its abolition.
Social progressivism is necessary, but so is fiscal conservatism. I think Foley will offer the proper balance for our state, just as Rell did.