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Much criticism has been leveled at the New York Times’ reporting on Attorney General Richard Blumenthal’s war record and whether he mislead the public about serving in Vietnam when he was stateside in the Marine Corps Reserves during the war.

Critics have argued, based on some additional reporting by members of the Connecticut press corps, myself included, that The Times did not give a full picture of the situation and unfairly slanted the story to present the most damning report possible of the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate.

Today the Times’ Public Editor, who addresses such concerns, weighed in. If you’ve at all been following this controversy, it is well worth your time.

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Kathleen O’Rourke/Staff photo

By Bill Cummings

HARTFORD — Kevin Lembo, the state’s health care advocate and a Guilford resident, secured the Democratic endorsement to run for comptroller Saturday during the state convention.

State Rep. Tom  Reynolds and Waterbury Mayor Micheal Jarjura gained enough votes to qualify for a primary. Fairfield First Selectman Ken Flatto dropped out of the race during the first ballot and threw his support to Lembo.

“I’m honored to accept your nomination for comptroller. In the next six months it’s our duty to engage the people of Connecticut about our future. We need to explain our values and how they are different than their values. We need to be clear about how we are going to set things right,” Lembo said.

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I’ve been meaning to blog this since last night, when Linda McMahon won the Republican Party’s nomination for U.S. Senate.

McMahon during her victory speech took a few moments to acknowledge her opponents, including celebrity economist Peter Schiff, many of whose delegates switched support to her when it became clear there man had no chance of winning the nomination.

“I’m going to talk to Peter about every day for financial advice,” McMahon said.

By that point, however, Schiff had already told my colleague, Neil Vigdor, he would try to petition his way onto the primary ballot.

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It’s no secret that the floor at the Republican nominating convention is a sea of white faces.

So Corey Brinson, a black lawyer from Bloomfield, stands out.

Brinson today was vying for the GOP nomination for Secretary of the State.

Prior to the vote – which he ultimately lost to state Consumer Protection Commissioner Jerry Farrell - Brinson told me the lack of diversity is a problem within the party. But it’s not just a lack of minorities, Brinson said. The GOP needs more women and also more young people.

“My candidacy is a referendum on whether the party wants to embrace its past or future,” Brinson told me.

Brinson went into the convention feeling pretty good about his chances. And, while Farrell, who is white, beat him by 787 to 500 delegate votes, Brinson earned more than enough support to mount a primary if he so chooses.

“Forty percent (of delegate votes) first time out is very good,” Brinson said afterward as supporters encouraged him to primary Farrell. He said he will announce his decision Monday.

Just before the tally was announced, I broached Brinson’s earlier comments about his candidacy being a referendum with Farrell, a nice guy who clearly is passionate about being the next Secretary of the State. I kind of felt bad raining on his parade, but figured he deserved a chance to respond.

“I don’t think any of us are minorities. We’re all Americans. We all have something to offer,” Farrell said. “I put myself forward. I am who I am. I can’t be something else.”

George Gallo, a former state GOP Chairman and current Chief-of-Staff for the state House Republicans, said his party has always been open and accessible to all candidates.

“Oftentimes from a party standpoint it’s our preference to have minority candidates because it helps us grow the party,” Gallo said, adding: “If no one’s responding to the invitations, maybe our party needs to send out more invitations.”

But he said Brinson’s garnering 500 delegate votes is a positive step and hoped it would encourage other minorities to consider the GOP.

“That sends a significant message, I believe, to people in the minority community,” Gallo said.

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Kathleen O’Rourke/Staff photo

By Bill Cummings

HARTFORD — Fairfield First Selectman Ken Flatto dropped out of the race for the Democratic endorsement for comptroller as the first ballot was under way Saturday.

“I have decided to release my delegates and ask them to do what I’m going to do and cast my ballot for Kevin Lembo,” Flatto said. “Nancy Wyman has been one of the outstanding comptrollers of this century. I believe this ticket needs to unify. I understand there are a lot of different feelings. I ask you all come together and allow Kevin Lembo to be comptroller,” Flatto told the convention.

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Kathleen O’Rourke/Staff photo

By Bill Cummings

HARTFORD — Democratic State Rep. Denise Merrill, a House majority leader who has served in the Legislature for 17 years, won a close victory Saturday to capture the endorsement for secretary of state, beating challenger and State Sen. Jonathan Harris of West Hartford 966 to 826.

In accepting her nomination, Merrill, who is from Mansfield, thanked her supporters and vowed to take the fight to Republicans.

“What a great day to be a Democrat. I am so honored and willing and able and excited to accept your nomination as Connecticut’s next secretary of state,” Merrill said.

“You see what Republicans have done in other states and what our secretary of state has done,” Merrill said, referring to outgoing Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz.

Merrill’s victory came after challenger Gerry Garcia of New Haven dropped out of the race following the first ballot and threw his support to Harris. Merrill prevailed in the second ballot. Garcia said he plans to wage a primary. Harris also qualified to join the primary if he so chooses.

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Hartford businessman Oz Griebel did not secure the Republican Party’s gubernatorial nomination this afternoon but will mount a primary against the official candidate – Greenwich millionaire Tom Foley.

Speaking to reporters afterward about his chances, Griebel said he felt “really good about the momentum” but added “I’ve got to work my a– off.”

Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield, who endorsed and nominated Griebel, was standing nearby and sought to clarify the candidate meant to say he had to work his butt off.

But maybe that’s what Connecticut needs during the ongoing budget crisis – a Governor who is willing to let loose with some colorful language once in a while.

Retiring Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell is known for her civil tone, and her successor is facing a $3 billion deficit. Coincidence?

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So you may wonder who exactly comes to these conventions. At least I did when I started trying to figure out how candidates got on the ballot. But the non-scientific answer is that the people who come here are the super motivated sorts. Sure, for some people it is there jobs to come to the GOP convention, shake hands, network, etc. But the vast majority of people here do something else for a living other than collecting votes. For many, the only skin in the game that they have is their core ambition to make the state better (and thus put forward the best candidate). But who makes up the demographics of those highly motivated group of people? Well from one kid’s perspective, they’re all old people.

Of course there are a plethora of folks my age here and active at the Republican convention, but for the most part they are all campaign side. My circumstance of being a 22 year old delegate is rare…in fact I have trouble finding ANY others. Luckily I have friends in a few campaigns back from my days interning in Washington D.C. for former Congressman Chris Shays, but now that the “sexy” races are over, most of the campaign staff has cleared out. Even then, talking to kids my age would inevitably bring up some talking point or another and make the conversation less friendly and more professional (i.e. annoying), but at least there was SOMETHING I could relate to beyond ideology.

But I must say, to the credit of all the old timers here, they are the ones who are staying. They are the ones sticking it out. It seems to me that they are the ones with the political stamina. And thus they are the ones who ultimately influence who is on the ballot. Now if I’m one of them at age 22, I’m kinda worried about what I might become when I’m the older gentleman. Whatever may happen, though, I wouldn’t have it any other way.