McKinney ready for 2010

To nobody’s surprise, when Tom Monahan posed the question to State Senator John McKinney during their interview on Monahan’s Connecticut Newsmakers Sunday morning program, McKinney’s response was immediate and strong.

Fairfield’s McKinney is “Absolutely” considering running for CT04 in opposition to Greenwich’s Jim Himes, who was just elected last week. Ever since he entered politics, everyone has expected him to seek the seat formerly occupied by his father Stewart for nine terms.

McKinney is poised, articulate and substantive in his public appearances, and warm, engaging, and personable on the retail level. His elevation to Minority Leader in the Connecticut State Senate gave him the kind of high profile position that serves to introduce him to the towns outside his Senate District (Fairfield, Weston, Easton, and Newtown), and he enjoys the support and respect of the Party in CT04. The great grandson of one of the founders of Standard Oil, McKinney can claim a blood relation to the oil industry that is so influential in the GOP. He should enjoy sincere support from that wing of the Party, which likes to take care of its own.

On the downside, the ideological, cultural conservatives will have no real enthusiasm for him; but they aren’t an important factor in Fairfield County. Also, there were some hard feelings when he took Lou DeLuca’s position as Minority Leader. But DeLuca is from CT05, and Fairfield County Republicans on the whole feel no loyalty to him, if they can even remember who he was.

Expect an exploratory committee at a minimum for McKinney as early as this January. To be sure, the Republicans’ Congressional Campaign Committee has already targeted CT04 for the 2010 mid-term pickup effort.