Issues Take Back Seat In Connecticut Elections

They say we're all winners when we participate in the electoral process, but this year the voters of Connecticut haven't won by much.  There were just 21,000 ballots available for 69,000 registered voters in Connecticut's largest city, the Democratic stronghold of Bridgeport.  This is gross incompetence by election officials.  The most incredibly negative gubernatorial campaign at first appeared to be a win by Republican Tom Foley.  His attack ads were just slightly milder than Democrat Dan Malloy's spots, so I thought the better man won since Foley was the slightly lesser of two evils. Then the extent of the Bridgeport fiasco became apparent.  Then there's the $50 million senatorial campaign waged by World Wrestling Entertainment executive Linda McMahon which relentlessly played up Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's Vietnam blunder, quoting the one occasion he erroneously said he served in the military "in Vietnam" instead of "during the Vietnam era."   Here in eastern Connecticut, Republican Janet Peckinpaugh took a refreshingly high road in her late challenge to Democratic second district congressman Joe Courtney, but she never presented a convincing argument as to how she'd do a better job at fostering job growth in a section of the state too dependent on  a few big employers.  The voters deserve better than attack ads that drag the level of discourse into the gutter.  Thank God it's over for now!    
UPDATE (12:22pm 11/3/10): Maybe it's not over.  NBC Connecticut reports:  Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz declares Dan Malloy the winner of the Governor's Race based on unofficial results.
UPDATE (10:43pm 11/3/10): A new development.  NBC Connecticut reports: The Associated Press has withdrawn its call for Dan Malloy in the race for Governor. New AP numbers show Republican challenger Tom Foley ahead by more than 8,000 votes.
UPDATE (11/5/10): Are we done?  CNN reports: Democrat Dan Malloy has won the tight Connecticut governor's race over Republican Tom Foley, secretary of state Susan Bysiewicz announced by statement Friday.  Figures Friday evening showed Malloy received 566,498 votes and Foley got 560,861 votes.