State of the Tong and Bysiewicz Senate campaigns

Separate phone conferences held with reporters yesterday morning by former Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz and state Rep. William Tong of Stamford provided a glimpse into the state of their campaigns for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination.

The two – along with, I guess, out-of-nowhere candidate Matthew John Oakes – are competing with U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, who has generally been acting like the frontrunner.

And Bysiewicz over the past few days has been treating Murphy as such. Her campaign has been working to portray Murphy as a stooge of Wall Street executives and other wealthy folks like Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney.

Yesterday’s phone conference was organized by the Bysiewicz camp in an attempt to get the press to pay more attention to her charges.

“I’m the only candidate in this race that has a plan to hold Wall Street accountable,” Bysiewicz said to around eight participants.

She also expressed frustration over Murphy’s endorsement from the Working Families Party, saying, “Quite frankly, it puzzles me … It shocked me.”

The Murphy campaign ignored Bysiewicz and did not issue any email rebuttal.

As for Tong, he has over the past several months been trying to focus solely on the issues and on fundraising. That approach continued yesterday morning, as Tong used his phone conference to focus on his economic plan.

Tong earned some coverage from the Associated Press.

What’s interesting is of the eight or so individuals who participated in the call, the reporter most interested in what the candidate had to say wasn’t from Connecticut but with Voice of America out of Hong Kong.

Tong, the first Asian American elected to the General Assembly, does not enjoy as high a profile as Murphy or Bysiewicz and has been relying on the Asian community for money and endorsements.

Brian Lockhart