September weekends in Connecticut are wonderful times to get out and view some of the beauty of our state. On even years, there are major state and federal political campaigns going on. On odd years, there are municipal elections, and the curious noncampaign trail.

Yesterday, Kim, Fiona and I went to three campaign events. The first two were sponsored by town committees to support the municipal candidates and the third was a CCAG barbeque. At each of these events, there were major figures not currently running for office, but sounding and looking a lot like candidates. Perhaps at these small gatherings we can see some of the themes for coming elections.

Dick Blumenthal spoke about fighting hard for the people of Connecticut. Susan Bysiewicz spoke about getting people more involved in elections and in their state. Chris Murphy was noted for his victory in the fifth congressional district and Ned Lamont was noted as the bellweather in terms of getting Democrats to stand up and talk about the issues that matter. Both Chris and Ned made comments thanking people for their support.

George Jepsen was on the noncampaign trail as well talking about key democratic values, and Audrey Blondin, who didn’t get any opportunities to speak that I saw, was constantly working in the background.

There are a lot of important municipal elections this year. Next year will be big elections as we elect a new president, have congressional elections and see how the new campaign finance laws affect state elections. There is a lot less mystery about these elections. The exciting races to watch are all the potential 2010 candidates on the NonCampaign Trail.