
The traveling circus that is a visit from the President of the United States arrived in town this week, and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy got to play the ringleader. It’s nice work, if you can get it, and it was the highlight of one of the better political weeks the governor has had.
Malloy, fresh off his extremely beneficial public spat with Gov. Bobby Jindal, started the week off with mixed but not necessarily horrible news from a Quinnipiac Poll. The headline was that he’s tied with Tom Foley (still), but that’s hardly a surprise. The real bad news is that Foley still far outpaces all his Republican rivals, meaning there probably won’t be a close-fought, messy, distracting primary in which someone like Mark Boughton does all of Malloy’s work for him for a few months.
The good news is that people really like the idea of raising the minimum wage, which was what Malloy had fought with Jindal over last week, and what had brought President Obama to New Britain on Wednesday. Some 71 percent supported raising the wage, and 48 percent said doing so would help the economy as opposed to 27 percent who said it would hurt. Malloy led a contingent of New England governors (absent Maine and New Hampshire) who backed the president’s call for a hike in the minimum wage at what looked and felt like a campaign rally at CCSU in New Britain.
The really good news was a presidential visit that produced plenty of photo ops of the president eating at Café Beauregard in downtown New Britain, a new restaurant that pays its four workers above the minimum wage, and no negative stories of traffic tie-ups, protests, or other nightmares. There were some traffic issues, sure, and there were a few protestors, but the whole thing looked more like a rolling party than a political event.
The politics of presidential visits are always a little risky, since there’s always the chance that the country or your state is about to turn against the commander-in-chief, leading to plenty of grainy photos of the governor and the president on opposition direct mail pieces. Gov. M. Jodi Rell was well aware of this, and tended to avoid George W. Bush whenever he came back to the state of his birth. Obama’s on the downslide these days around here, believe it or not. Malloy’s approval rating was actually higher than Obama’s for the first time ever, though you wouldn’t know it from the enthusiastic reception the president received downtown and from the students at CCSU.
The chances of a federal minimum wage hike are slim at best. The House isn’t about to go for it, especially after a damning CBO report suggested that up to 500,000 jobs would vanish should the president get his way. No amount of feel-good romping around a liberal northeastern state is going to change their minds.
So what was he doing here?
In part, he was showing his appreciation for Malloy’s willingness to step up to the plate on this issue, and in part he was trying to paint the Republicans as out-of-touch for opposing a wage hike that agreeing that the minimum wage should be raised, but it’s still Malloy’s issue.
Support authentic, locally owned and operated public service journalism!
All of this leaves the governor in decent, if somewhat precarious, position for what was always going to be a tough re-election year. His numbers, as a follow-up poll released Thursday said, are still terrible in some key areas. Only 33 percent think he’s doing a good job on the economy, which is by far the voters’ top priority. He also scored poorly on taxes and the budget.
However, because with this governor there’s usually a silver lining somewhere, he scored well on his handling of snowstorms. We’ll see if anyone remembers when the fall comes around.
Susan Bigelow is an award-winning columnist and the founder of CTLocalPolitics. She lives in Enfield with her wife and their cats.
More Labor News

Lamont Inks New Employment Law Backed By Unions
In a victory for state labor unions, Gov. Ned Lamont ignored a lobbying effort by business organizations and signed a bill Tuesday prohibiting employers from holding “captive audience” meetings to potentially discourage workers from unionizing.
Keep reading
States With The Largest Unionized Workforces
Where does Connecticut stand in the list of states with the most unionized employees?
Keep reading
Business Leaders Make Push To Veto Captive Audience Bill
Connecticut business leaders are leaning on Gov. Ned Lamont to veto a bill that would restrict what employers can say in the workplace. The bill, which has been a priority of labor unions for years, is being described by business owners as an unconstitutional attempt to restrict workplace communications and an infringement on employer free…
Keep reading
ANALYSIS | It’s A Wrap: The Winners and Losers of the 2022 Session
It was a short legislative session, but the House and the Senate were able to move a lot of business this year, including the passage of a $24-billion budget with around $600 million in tax cuts.
Keep reading
‘Captive Audience’ Bill Headed To Governor’s Desk
Legislation prohibiting Connecticut employers from holding “captive audience” meetings to discourage workers from organizing received final approval in the House late Friday despite Republican arguments it was preempted by federal law. The bill passed in a 88 to 56 vote, generally along party lines. Eight Democrats joined all but one Republican in voting against it.…
Keep reading
Health Care Workers Call for New Hires
After a record number of health care workers are expected to retire this year, health care staff called on Gov. Ned Lamont to commit to filling 1,000 vacant positions by August 1 of this year. A record 1,137 state workers who notified the state that they will retire this year comes at a moment of…
Keep reading