GOP’s Lousy Gambler Won’t Drop Out of CT Senate Race

It’s amazing to go to bed with a wish in your heart, and wake up the next morning to find it answered.

Last night, Paul mentioned a breaking scandal in the Connecticut Senate race: the GOP candidate, Alan Schlesinger, has publicly admitted to gambling — repeatedly — under an assumed name, and getting thrown out of casinos for card-counting.

Not only that, but by his own telling, Schlesinger’s a lousy gambler. That’s right: the guy lies about his name, counts cards — and still loses.

What a wonderful piece of muck, I thought. Too bad the guy’s likely to pull out of the race. Still, a boy can dream. And with that, I put on my sleeping-cap, tucked in the dog, and drifted off.

What did I find when I awoke this morning? Schlesinger’s gonna fight! Despite pleas from the state’s Republican governor, M. Jodi Rell, and the state’s GOP chairman, George Gallo, Schlesinger has opted to damn the torpedos, and go full speed ahead.

“Under no circumstances will he withdraw,” the Hartford Courant says Schlesinger has vowed.

According to the Courant, Schlesinger said his party leaders are simply “overreacting” to “an innocent act.”

“I was in politics. I used a pseudonym just for this reason, this stupidity we’re going through now,” Schlesinger said.

Schlesinger said he did nothing wrong, other than try to keep his name off Foxwoods’ marketing list. . . .

Schlesinger said he has gambled only once a year at Connecticut casinos over the past five years, though he visited Foxwoods and the Mohegan Sun more frequently in the 1990s, typically to play blackjack. He said his card-counting skills have limited his losses, but he never made money gambling.

“I never had a year when I won,” Schlesinger said, but he said he has been spotted as a card counter and confronted by casino officials. “At various times, I’ve been asked not to play blackjack.”

Schlesinger said casinos are oversensitive to card counting, even when the gambler is losing. Banning him from a blackjack table made no sense, he said.

“I’ve given them a lot of money. They should love me,” Schlesinger said.

I don’t know if the casinos love you — your party sure doesn’t. But we do, man. If you ever want to hang out — stop by Foxwoods’ $5 blackjack tables. We’ll be the guys sporting fake mustaches and speaking with bad accents.