Despite a series of salvos from prominent Connecticut Republicans, GOP Senate candidate Alan Schlesinger will not be dropping out, he told me today, calling the attacks "silly."

Schlesinger, you'll remember, has been dogged for weeks by revelations about his gambling habits. First, news broke that he used to gamble under an assumed name, and once got the boot from a casino for card counting. And on Friday, The Hartford Courant reported that Schlesinger had twice been sued by casinos to collect unpaid gambling debt.

A recent Quinnipiac poll showed Schlesinger widely trailing the two Democratic candidates in a head to head match up: Joe Lieberman 68 to 15 percent and Joe Lamont 45 to 22 percent. And even though Connecticut's Republican governor has urged Schlesinger to consider dropping out, Republicans cannot force him off the ticket.

This morning, Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-CT), in the course of an interview during which she praised Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) as "good for Connecticut," said that Schlesinger would have "to search his soul to see if he can be a successful candidate with this personal weakness."

“I’ve searched my soul," Schlesinger told me. "I did absolutely nothing wrong. Period.”

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We checked in today with Connecticut GOP Senate candidate Alan Schlesinger to see how he's doing on day three of his card-counting-under-an-alias scandal. Schlesinger, you'll remember, gambled at the Foxwoods casino under the assumed name "Alan Gold" in the early '90s. And lost money every year, he says.

He's doing pretty well. For one thing, everyone now knows he's a card-counter -- that means he's a numbers guy. "It’s good to have someone good at math go on to the U.S. Senate," he told me. "I’m a finance expert."

What's more, the state's Republican governor Jodi Rell has stopped publicly urging him to drop out of the race. "As of yesterday, she's stopped meddling," Schlesinger said. "From what I’ve been told."

I had a nice chat with Connecticut GOP candidate for Senate Alan Schlesinger earlier today. Despite the revelation that he used to gamble under an assumed name, and once got the boot from a casino, Schlesinger vowed to stay and fight the good fight.

"That's what happens to you when you try to do something for the people," he told me. And besides, the publicity ain't bad. "I just picked up 10 points in name recognition."

The state's Republican governor, Jodi Rell, has suggested he drop out of the race. As AP reported earlier:

"Gov. Rell is disturbed by this new information and believes that Alan Schlesinger should seriously consider whether he should go forward with his campaign," said Rell spokesman Judd Everhart.

Schlesinger shrugged her comments off. Through an intermediary, Schlesinger said, he told the governor, "What's your problem? Worry aout your race and I'll worry about mine.

"She shouldn't have commented on it at all," he added. I don't comment on her messes. By the way, I could."

Even the state GOP chief, George Gallo, has made some strong public comments, insinuating he may ask Schlesinger to leave the race. Again, AP:

Gallo added, "I share the governor's concern about Alan Schlesinger, and I will be meeting with him within the next day to discuss his U.S. Senate bid."

Schlesinger says Gallo doesn't believe the charges. "Gallo laughed about it. He said, 'I have to say this stuff because the governor wants me to say it. So I gotta say it.'"

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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.

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That Connecticut Senate race just got even more entertaining:

Expect calls for Connecticut Republican United States Senate nominee Alan Schlesinger to abandon his race to begin in the next several days. Questions are being raised about the former state representative’s gambling habits that have Republicans sounding rattled.

A persistent government critic and former state police casino licensing commander Bradley Beecher sent emails early this week raising questions about Schlesinger. The ones that have Republicans talking are that their Senate candidate is, in casino parlance, a card counter and has used a “Wampum Card” (the Foxwood casino loyalty card that gets gamblers points for spending money) under the assumed name of “Alan Gold”. Schlesinger said today that he does have a card under that name but has not used it “in this decade.” The candidate, sounding agitated in a phone conversation, says he does recall being told by a casino official that he should not be playing blackjack at their facility....

The most serious trouble for Schlesinger, however, comes from Republican state chairman George Gallo, who told me this afternoon that the gambling questions raise “a lot of questions which Mr. Schlesinger is going to have to answer in the next couple of days.” Gallo, who is close to Republican Governor M. Jodi Rell, said, “Our mistake is that we only vetted candidates using their real names.”