Today, the Hartford Courant issued an articulate, astonishing editorial on the recent conduct of State Sen. Thomas Gaffey, D-Meriden, saying he should be censured by his peers in the State Senate for failing to disclose a personal relationship which affected $1 billion in education spending.

Republicans should no longer whine and complain about how the Courant is indifferent to the actions of Democrats. At least in this case, the Courant has been thorough in its reporting and now, in its judgment.

“A Compromising Affair” sums up what Sen. Gaffey failed to do during the entire closed door debate and scheme to add $1 billion in state bonding spending on the Connecticut State University System (CSUS) which manages the operations of the four branch colleges of UConn.

In addition, the Courant said Gaffey should be removed from his position as Vice Chairman of the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee, which has oversight of spending on public colleges and universities.

“Mr. Gaffey’s failure to disclose his relationship with Jill Ferraiolo, the assistant vice chancellor for governmental affairs, reflects poorly on his ethical judgment. It should also disqualify him from serving on the legislature’s Committee on Higher Education and Employment Advancement, which oversees public and independent colleges and universities, including CSUS.”

On Wednesday, Democrats in the Senate huddled in a closed-door meeting without staff at the State Capitol to discuss the Gaffey matter and to question the seven-term incumbent of the details. Sources said several Senators asked specific questions about the nature of Gaffey’s role in negotiating the deal which moved $1 billion in spending onto the bonding package that passed the Senate, 24-12, along party lines.

Governor Rell vetoed the bonding proposal, citing excessive spending and a lack of fiscal controls on the CSUS proposal. State Sen. Joan Hartley, D-Waterbury, chairman of the Higher Education Committee, was never consulted on the proposal and vowed not to vote to override the veto until controls were implemented. Senate President Pro Tempore Don Williams, D-Brooklyn, then threatened Hartley with a loss of privileges, including her chairmanship. In the end, Hartley won out and Williams backed off. All the time, no one knew about Gaffey’s relationship with the then married Ferraiolo.

State Sens. Bob Duff, D-Norwalk and Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, were both quoted in the Wednesday Stamford Advocate as supportive of some form of review of Gaffey actions, but they were subsequently mum after the closed door meeting on Thursday.

Gaffey must have given them a convincing story.

With former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee running television ads like this one in Iowa, and with Iowa polling numbers starting to show Huckabee with a lead, the Mitt Romney for President campaign announced tonight that their man Mitt will take to the podium in Texas this Thursday to talk about his Mormon religion. The problem, of course, is that the expectations for this speech will be impossibly high for Romney, as the obvious comparison is made between Mr. Romney and then-candidate John F. Kennedy’s speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association on September 12, 1960.

Reviewing President Kennedy’s speech, the soaring oratory is striking not only for its quality, but also in stark contrast to modern oratory which so often demurs from the lofty nature that this speech exhibits. For Mr. Romney, there is much to borrow from in this speech - or rather, perhaps - to be compared against.

“For while this year it may be a Catholic against whom the finger of suspicion is pointed, in other years it has been, and may someday be again, a Jew–or a Quaker–or a Unitarian–or a Baptist. It was Virginia’s harassment of Baptist preachers, for example, that helped lead to Jefferson’s statute of religious freedom. Today I may be the victim- -but tomorrow it may be you–until the whole fabric of our harmonious society is ripped at a time of great national peril.”

“But if the time should ever come–and I do not concede any conflict to be even remotely possible–when my office would require me to either violate my conscience or violate the national interest, then I would resign the office; and I hope any conscientious public servant would do the same.”

-John F. Kennedy, 9/12/1960, Houston, Texas

How Mr. Romney will ever reach this standard is hard to imagine. Nonetheless, on Thursday, all American eyes should turn once again to Houston as a potential President takes to the podium in defense of his beliefs.

From Hitwise:

1. http://www.barackobama.com/ 26.95%
2. http://www.hillaryclinton.com/ 25.19%
3. http://www.johnedwards.com/ 19.67%
4. http://www.dennis4president.com/ 10.51%
5. http://www.joebiden.com/ 8.93%
6. http://www.richardsonforpresident.com/ 4.85%
7. http://www.chrisdodd.com/ 2.03%
8. http://www.gravel2008.us/ 1.86%

Senator Chris Dodd’s apparent “stealth campaign” continues to go well. His website is polling behind Dennis Kucinich, not to mention Sen. Biden and Gov. Richardson. “Margin of Error” is beating him in his adopted state of Iowa. Things are even worse in New Hampshire. Even Dr. House would have a hard time fixing Dodd’s numbers.

From Capitol Watch:

“Governor O’Neill was a good friend and a great governor,” Rowland told Capitol Watch in an e-mail hours before attending O’Neill’s funeral Mass. “He was a humble public servant who appreciated the responsibilities of office, took them seriously and did his job with a sense of fairness and decency. His leadership and hard work in the areas of education and transportation will stand for many generations. He will be missed by his many friends across Connecticut. Patty and I will keep him and Nikki in our prayers.” - former Gov. John Rowland