It's not often you hear a U.S. senator admit to welling up with tears, but that's what we heard this week from Connecticut's ranking Democrat, Richard Blumenthal, once the state's tough-guy attorney general.

It's been that kind of quiet Senate race this year in Connecticut, where, for me, anyway, personal anecdotes have stood out as interesting tidbits from the conversation.

We also heard a good one this week from Blumenthal's challenger, state Rep. Dan Carter, who admitted, in an interview with The Day's Editorial Board, getting liquored up with a colleague before introducing legislation at a closing session of the General Assembly, where he represents parts of Danbury, Bethel, Redding and Newtown.

Blumenthal was also in an Editorial Board interview when he talked about tearing up.

As the nation breathlessly awaits the outcome of some cliffhanger Senate races around the country that will determine the political makeup of the Senate majority, Connecticut's race is about as predictable and ho-hum as they come.

Blumenthal, a brand name in Connecticut politics for decades, needs only a glance over a shoulder to see his challenger, according to the polls, a speck in the distance.

Indeed Blumenthal has followed political orthodoxy this election and pretty much ignored his opponent, though he did do one televised debate, a venue he says he chose because it reached the widest possible audience.

He also says he has aggressively campaigned, meeting often with voters and answering questions from the media along the way.

Carter strikes me as a little whiny when he complains about Blumenthal not doing more debates. He should be grateful he got one, given his lopsided standing in fundraising and polls.

The two candidates offer predictably distinct points of view on the major issues of the day.

Blumenthal defends the Iran nuclear deal he voted for as the best way to keep nuclear arms away from that terrorist-supporting regime, with thorough inspections and dismantling already underway. Carter says they will get a nuke anyway.

Blumenthal is proud of his Senate filibuster for more federal gun control, while Carter defends his vote against Connecticut's gun-control law passed after the shootings at a school in his own district.

Carter wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Blumenthal wants to improve it and make a new health care option, allowing younger people to buy into Medicare, to increase competition in the system.

Carter, who supports Trump, follows mainstream Republican values, from cutting federal spending to more local control of schools.

Blumenthal is a longtime supporter of Hillary Clinton, a fellow graduate of Yale Law School, and urges Connecticut Democrats to get out and vote, even if they are confident she is going to take this state, to give her a bigger mandate.

You can hear and judge the policy discussions of both candidates in videos on the theday.com.

Be sure to listen to Carter's story of drinking and lawmaking at the close of the General Assembly. It is both a bit startling and refreshingly candid, offered as an example of reaching across the aisle, when a colleague produced a paper bag with a bottle of Scotch late in the night at the end of the session.

They drank the Scotch and drafted and introduced a bill, he said. It didn't pass. But they were proud of it, Carter says, as he tells the story today.

Blumenthal's story, offered without prompting, also was endearing.

The senator says he often attends, whenever he can, the Friday sessions at federal courthouses, induction ceremonies for new citizens.

The new citizens usually are accompanied by proud families or friends. Blumenthal, in greeting them, tells them they are the only citizens who have actually passed a citizenship test.

He said he has seen some kiss the little American flags they are given, so proud to become an American.

Blumenthal suggests anyone who feels depressed about American democracy should attend one of these sessions.

It usually, he says, brings tears to his eyes.

This is the opinion of David Collins.

d.collins@theday.com