>By Chairman Chris Healy

Dick Blumenthal has proven he can cover more ground than any public official alive. A state audit showed that Connecticut’s Speed Racer has logged more than 70,000 miles over the last 10 months. We have long wondered how Dick Blumenthal has done it, been literally everywhere and anywhere was a camera or situation beckons. He is often rightly compared to the film character “Zelig” – who morphs and appears magically throughout time to grab a spot in the photo.

There is a reason, we think. He has a very good driver and a fast car, both paid for at taxpayer expense to present himself at charity events, graduations, weddings, bean suppers, town committee nominating conventions, promotion ceremonies for local firemen and anywhere where two homo sapiens are found standing in the upright position.

Dick Blumenthal has been squired about a standard Crown Victoria, an eight-cylinder bad boy with 224-horse power, which maybe averages between 18-24 per mile on a 19-gallon tank. Now that is a carbon footprint to be proud of.

When confronted with leading all Constitutional officers’ in mileage for an office that was once considered part-time, Blumenthal backpedaled with news that he was just thinking about switching cars to a more green model. By comparison, Gov. M. Jodi Rell logged 21,000 miles during this same period, and she also had a 104-mile round trip to her Brookfield home.

But Dick is excited about his new driving options – even though he tried to blamed the car pool for his rig being bad on mileage.

“The point is that, we’ll have a hybrid,” Blumenthal said. “Of all the distinctions that I have as a constitutional officer, the first to drive a hybrid will be a noteworthy one.”

Yeah, and I was about to go out and buy a windmill.

Here are some fun facts about Speed Racer Blumenthal:

• Blumenthal travels have taken him three times the circumference of the world.
• Blumenthal has driven the width of Connecticut 1,200 times.
• Taking out his daily commute to his gated home in Greenwich, Blumenthal still logged 1,200 miles per week.
• Approximately 3,136 gallons of the good stuff were needed to keep Dick riding.
• At an average cost of $3.40 per gallon, the cost of filling up Dick’s wheels for the same period was $11,415.

Friday, Dick Blumenthal was not at a function and his absence was duly noted. A Democrat at that event told me with a smile “Dick is losing his touch.  And let me tell you, he is seen on the streets more often than our local Aldermen.”

We are all comforted that Speed Race will be reducing his carbon footprint a bit, especially in light of recent Legislative action that would probably make it illegal for him to continue as the Connecticut’s premier fellow traveler.