A Feisty Farewell? Rell Zings Rowland

With a sharp tweak at her predecessor, Gov. M. Jodi Rell today delivered a farewell holiday message to the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce, an annual opportunity to offer tongue-in-cheek holiday wishes and zingers to friends and rivals.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell at the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce: 'A bittersweet moment'

It was at the same event in 2003 that her predecessor, John G. Rowland, and his wife Patricia, prompted gasps by turning a parody of "The Night Before Christmas" into an attack on the press and his political critics.

Rell said today she considered delivering her own version of the poem, then remembered, "No wait. That's already been done. And not very well."

Her audience at the packed ballroom of Crowne Plaza in Cromwell laughed. There might have been some expressions of surprise, but no gasps.

Rell is leaving office after 6 ½ years as governor with her own legacy jeopardized by a fiscal crisis. Her successor, Gov.-elect Dan Malloy, has repeatedly blamed Rell and the legislature for leaving him a projected deficit of more than $3.5 billion.

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