Connecticut GOP Chairman Ben Proto, in a recent interview, gave a hint of what evidently lies behind Gov. Ned Lamont's foot-dragging on enacting a statewide indoor mask mandate, as Connecticut devolves into a confusing patchwork of cities and towns with and without them.

"I think (Lamont's) decision to decide on their own mask problem is going to prove to be just an abomination," Proto told the Connecticut Examiner.

"He knew a statewide mandate would not have been met with a lot of enthusiasm, and so he plopped it in the seat of mayors and first selectmen," he said.

I would agree with Proto, but I think we have different reasons for wanting the governor to act.

In taunting Lamont, Proto no doubt relishes the idea of drawing Lamont into issuing an unpopular order that might prove to be good campaign fodder down the road.

I would just like the governor to issue the mandate because it seems like the right thing to do, as coronavirus cases climb, even breakthrough infections among the vaccinated.

It is the official recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and local officials around Connecticut have been begging Lamont to bring some order and uniformity to the process as the state moves into this phase of the pandemic.

But if Proto also simply agrees it's the right thing to do, he could have said so when asked in the interview whether Lamont should issue a statewide indoor mask mandate or ban local mandates, like the Republican governors in Texas and Florida have done.

The Connecticut GOP chairman did not answer the question.

"I just want the governor to make a decision," he said.

A clue to the political weight Proto gives to Lamont's waffle on a mask mandate is that it was the first thing the Republican brought up when asked about next year's gubernatorial race.

And so Lamont is playing his own game, letting the state's big city mayors, mostly members of his own party, carry his pandemic political water, issuing mask mandates that cover lots of people in concentrated populations. At the same time, he doesn't have to offend the anti-maskers.

You could see the governor squirm over the topic as he answered questions during a COVID-19 policy news briefing Friday, struggling to deliver an underlying upbeat message that the disease is almost vanquished in Connecticut, that it's not like the dark days of 2020.

Too bad for him that the graphs he had to display just show the numbers, including hospitalizations, going up.

One thing we've all learned in this pandemic is that masks keep the rising numbers in check.

Alas, it appears that Lamont, instead of following the science, has decided instead to follow the pollsters.

The science, direct from the CDC, is pretty clear: mask up indoors, vaccinated or not, when the transmission rate is as high as it is now in Connecticut.

At the end of his lame explanation for the patchwork of mandates now in place in his state, the governor seemed to acknowledge he is on thin ice and suggested he might yet change course, telling reporters to ask him about it again next week.

While I can see the political calculation the governor seems to be making, it seems, in the end, unnecessary.

It's true that most of those inclined to vote for him might forgive him for not imposing another mask mandate. We are all tired of the pandemic and masks.

But it seems to me that those who would bristle the most if Lamont were to take Proto's bait and issue a new statewide mandate would be those most unlikely to vote for him anyway.

As he changes focus from pandemic management to a reelection campaign, it appears the governor may fear more what's to his right than his left.

I just wish he'd understand that pandemic management is still paramount.

This is the opinion of David Collins.

d.collins@theday.com