announced that a new survey showed that Gov. M. Jodi Rell\u2019s public approval rating had slipped to its lowest ever: 65 percent - which is still a high rating, but cause for concern to Rell\u2019s top lieutenants.

Rell\u2019s recently retired press secretary,
Chris Cooper, to call Quinnipiac poll
director Douglas Schwartz in an effort to
get the results a day early - and Cooper
was successful.

Then Moody relayed the results, in an e-
mail marked \u201cconfidential,\u201d to Kenneth
Dautrich, the University of Connecticut
pollster whose work for Rell in a $223,000
taxpayer-funded is now the subject of
multiple investigations by state agencies
for possible improper political use of
taxpayer funds. He interpreted them by
saying \u201c65 is very good\u201d and observing

office got an early glimpse of the Q-Poll,
are part of mass disclosures of documents
that Rell\u2019s office made this week to news
reporters and to state auditors who are
investigating the Rell administration\u2019s
no-bid contract with Dautrich through
UConn, where he is a professor.

Rell and Dautrich have denied that the
study - ostensibly aimed at finding ways
to streamline state government - strayed
improperly into providing political advice
to Rell during the current period in which
she must decide whether to go forward

previously released documents that Rell\u2019s
people have constantly obtained political
advice from Dautrich since mid-2008,
when he began the government-efficiency
study that is scheduled to run through
the end of next year - even if, as he has
said, his frequent political exchanges with
Moody and other Rell lieutenants were not
part of the study.

\u201cCan you call Doug Schwartz?\u201d Moody
asked Cooper in a 3:44 p.m. e-mail on
July 21, referring to the Quinnipiac poll

\u201cHe just called me back,\u201d Cooper replied
in a 4:02 p.m. e-mail to Moody, adding:
\u201cGov\u2019s approval down to 65 percent from
72 percent. Legislative D\u2019s [Democrats\u2019]
approval is at 39 percent. ... Schwartz says
in all states they poll, Governors\u2019 approval
are down about 10 percent (Gov Rell down
7 percent). Doug also notes that 65 percent
is a very healthy approval rating under any
scenario, much less this current budget

Then Moody relayed the information via
e-mail to Dautrich at 4:22 p.m. under the
\u201cconfidential\u201d label, and he responded
at 6:07 p.m. with the e-mail calling 65
percent \u201cvery good.\u201d He added a caution:
\u201cThe trend is not good -- BUT, we know
the potential floor is 50, since it is 50 that

\u201cBetter for you to get advice from cautious
neurotics than polyanish optimists,\u201d
Dautrich wrote back at 7:44 p.m.

Moody called that \u201cthe quote of the year\u201d
- in an e-mail reply on July 22, the day the
poll came out.

[On Wednesday morning, after reading
this blog item, the state Democratic
Party\u2019s spokeswoman, Colleen Flanagan,

added: \u201cSurprisingly, neither Dautrich
nor Moody were cautiously neurotic
about using state email/time/resources to
conduct blatantly political business.\u201d]

Dautrich followed up the e-mail exchange
at 6:34 a.m. on July 22, saying that 58
percent of survey respondents said Rell
deserves re-election, up 5 percentage
points from the year before - and he
enthusiastically noted that \u201cmost of the
increase comes from independents!\u201d
He added: \u201cSo, in terms of electoral
positioning, the Gov has fortified her
prospects over the past six months!
The important trend is up, not down.
Congrats.\u201d .

When Schwartz was asked if it was the
Quinnipiac University Poll\u2019s policy to
reveal results in advance to interested
parties such as Cooper, Moody and
Dautrich, he referred the question to
Patrick M. Smith, executive vice president
of Rubenstein Associates, Inc., a major
New York public relations firm that
represents the Q-Poll.

Smith said: \u201cTo assure the integrity of
the polling process, we cannot discuss
how it is distributed. But the Quinnpiac
University Poll has worked hard to
maintaiin its independence, providing no
special treatment to any office holder,
candidate or media.\u201d Asked about