Rowland Shunned

Governor Rowland has been replaced as chairman of President Bush's re-election effort in Connecticut. Rowland has also decided not to lead the Connecticut delegation to the Republican National Convention.

According to the Associated Press:

Rowland won't even participate as a delegate to the GOP convention, the Courant reported. Lt. Gov. M. Jodi Rell will take over leadership of the Connecticut contingent.

State Republican Chairman Herb Shepardson said Rowland voluntarily stepped aside as a convention delegate.

"He said to me, 'I've been a delegate, and I don't want to take that away from someone,'" Shepardson said.

[. . .]

Rowland was state chairman of Bob Dole's presidential campaign in 1996 and of Bush's campaign in 2000. He led the Connecticut delegation to the GOP convention both years.

The governor did not attend a fund-raiser for Bush in Greenwich in January, saying he did not want to distract attention from the president.

On Wednesday, he did not attend Vice President Dick Cheney's speech at the Coast Guard Academy graduation or a White House reception for the University of Connecticut men's and women's basketball teams honoring their national championships.

Shepardson said that two Greenwich Republicans - business executive Thomas Foley and former Ambassador Craig Stapleton - are now serving as the co-chairmen of the Bush campaign in Connecticut. He and other Republicans declined to say how Rowland was replaced in that position.

The Hartford Courant reports that Lt. Gov. Rell hasn't yet been asked to lead Connecticut's delegation to the Republican National Convention:

In Rowland's absence, Rell is named first on the official state list of 30 delegates and 27
alternates for the convention, which is a traditional, quadrennial coronation of the party's nominee. The list includes longtime party insiders and Rowland administration officials such as Jo McKenzie and Fred Biebel.

Rell's press secretary, Cathleen L. Hinsch, said Rell had not yet been recruited to serve as the leader of the delegation.

"She'd be honored to do it, but she hasn't been asked," Hinsch said. "She hasn't talked to the governor about the convention."

It's just amazing how much Rowland's political world has changed in the seven months since he admitted lying about gifts. He has become a pariah and has no way to turn things around.