Political insiders have said the smartest thing Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy did in his campaign for governor was choose Mary Messina Glassman as his running mate the day before the Democratic State Convention in May. Democrats who voted in the August primary seemed to agree because they teamed Glassman up with gubernatorial challenger, New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr. While things were tense at first for the duo, it wasn’t long before they started campaigning together against Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell and her running mate Michael Fedele.

This Tuesday Glassman debuted in her first television ad for the DeStefano campaign. Click here for to see the ad. In the ad DeStefano and Glassman are sitting on stools and there’s a photo of President George W. Bush in the background. In the 30-second spot Glassman says she admires DeStefano because he “stands up for what he believes” and would lobby on behalf of the state when President Bush tries to “weaken the environment and cut student loans.“Following a press conference at the legislative office building Tuesday Glassman said that the ad also shows how involved she would be as a lieutenant governor. “When people vote for governor and lieutenant governor they look at the ticket,” and this ad shows “I wouldn’t be a ribbon cutting lieutenant governor,” she said. Glassman said DeStefano’s administration would be accessible to the press and the public. She said “Rell is only comfortable in controlled environments,” which must be “why she doesn’t feel the need to campaign.” Since announcing her bid for re-election, Rell’s campaign has sent out seven press releases. The last one was dated August 29. The abysmal number is probably related to the fact that most of Rell’s press releases come from the governor’s office. Rell admitted Oct. 6 after a bond commission meeting that “we’ve been doing official business stops,” and there are times when office responsibilities and campaign responsibilities overlap. “Sometimes the two meet,” she said. This is Rell’s first campaign for the governor’s office. She was appointed governor a little more than two years ago when John G. Rowland resigned during a federal corruption probe.