Democratic candidate for governor Dannel Malloy, left, and Republican candidate Tom Foley, right, speak prior to a debate in Middletown, Conn., on Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2010. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
The gamesmanship and rhetoric have all the hallmarks of a campaign.
But the two enemy combatants for the state’s highest office in 2010 aren’t ready to call themselves candidates again for 2014 — wink, wink.
Republican Tom Foley told Hearst Connecticut Newspapers Monday that Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy should just get on with the show and announce his bid for re-election.
“It sounds like he’s being coy,” Foley said. “If you’re not planning to run, you would almost certainly have announced that by now. It sounds to me like he’s running. If he’s definitely running then he should say so and declare his candidacy.”
Roy Occhiogrosso, a former adviser to the governor who is expected to reprise his role as Malloy’s campaign manager, said Foley is one to talk when it comes to being cagey.
“Tom Foley sounds like the person who ought to announce his candidacy since he has already apparently been asking people to be his running mate,” Occhiogrosso said. “As the governor says when he is asked about it, there will come a time for a campaign. Now is not the time. He should stop accusing other people of being coy while he’s being coy.”
Foley, who lost by 6,500 votes to Malloy and served as U.S. ambassador to Ireland under President George W. Bush, has been invited to appear at multiple Republican Town Committee fundraising events around the state in August and September.
“I think they consider me a draw, so it helps them attract a bigger crowd if people know I’m coming,” Foley said.