BULLETIN – AT 9:56 P.M. ET:  There has been a stunning development in the Connecticut Senate race to succeed Democrat Chris Dodd, who is vacating his seat.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, considered a shoo-in for the Democratic nomination, and an equal shoo-in for election in November, has apparently and consistently misreprented his military service record, even claiming that he was in Vietnam during the war, when in fact he never was.

The liberal New York Times, to its great credit, is running a major investigative piece on Blumental in tomorrow's edition, and available right now.  It's here.

At a ceremony honoring veterans and senior citizens who sent presents to soldiers overseas, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut rose and spoke of an earlier time in his life.

“We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam,” Mr. Blumenthal said to the group gathered in Norwalk in March 2008. “And you exemplify it. Whatever we think about the war, whatever we call it — Afghanistan or Iraq — we owe our military men and women unconditional support.”

There was one problem: Mr. Blumenthal, a Democrat now running for the United States Senate, never served in Vietnam. He obtained at least five military deferments from 1965 to 1970 and took repeated steps that enabled him to avoid going to war, according to records.

It is difficult to know at this hour exactly what the impact of the Times story will be.  In any sane situation, Blumenthal would have to withdraw, leaving the Democrats without a strong candidate in a state almost as Democratic as Massachusetts. 

Will sanity prevail and will Blumey be bye-bye?  Connecticut is a self-proclaimed "sophisticated" state where military service, at least in the state's western precincts, may not be as important as in the heartland.  (My darlings, the man simply wanted to go to school and has given us a different narrative than may have been wise.  But, whatever.  Have some Brie.)

Republicans have not generally been seen as having a strong shot at Connecticut, but this can change everything.  Stand by. 

May 17, 2010