Connecticut Attorney General and Democratic Senate Candidate Richard Blumenthal's lead over his most likely Republican opponent Linda McMahon has dropped 8 points since his lies about serving "in Vietnam" were exposed. But that means he still has a considerable 25 point lead (56%-31%) according to the latest poll. (source) This strong support for a man who repeatedly traded on the service of others to enhance his own political resume is disturbing.

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But there is another set of numbers in this new poll that might be even more troubling and have ramifications way beyond this one election. When asked whether "misspoke" or "lied" better describes how Mr. Blumenthal has portrayed his military service during the Vietnam era, 54% of registered voters asked said he "misspoke" while only 38% say he "lied."

Whether or not voters are satisfied with Mr. Blumenthal's subsequent explanations/apologies (53% said they are while 35% said they are not) , the idea that anyone who actually watched the video or read the various media reports could characterize his fraudulent statements as misspeaking as opposed to lying is incredible.

Since the dictionary defines misspeaking as "to speak inaccurately, inappropriately, or too hastily," one could conclude that to misspeak and to lie are synonyms so no harm, no foul. But when given the choice between “misspoke" and "lied," it is obvious that they have become two very different actions, especially with regard to political discourse. In contemporary US politics, to misspeak has become some kind of involuntary verbal tic - an excuse for saying something inexcusable and usually false. No longer a synonym of "to lie," it has become almost an antonym or at least an easily forgivable lesser degree of lying.

While the American people have unfortunately come to expect most if not all politicians to lie to one degree or another, this new attitude that they aren't lying even when they are is stunning. Call it the Blumenthal Effect.

Hope remains that the voters of Connecticut just haven't paid enough attention to Mr. Blumenthal's recently exposed statements to properly evaluate what he did. But if, after the next 5 months of inevitable McMahon ads featuring the lies, they still decide to elect Mr. Blumenthal; it should be because they prefer his stance on the issues not because they deluded themselves into believing he is an honest man.