Himes tries to derail incumbent
Greenwich Post, Thursday, August 28, 2008
by Bill Bittar
Commuters waiting for the next train on the Fairfield station platform on a sunny Tuesday morning were approached by a tall man wearing a blue dress shirt, a tie and a smile.
It was Jim Himes, the challenger to 4th District incumbent U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays. Fresh off a landslide victory in the Democratic primary, Mr. Himes mingled, shook hands and distributed campaign pamphlets.
"I was a commuter for 10 years," he told a man headed for Stamford. "Now I'm signing up for a commute down to D.C."
Mr. Himes was received warmly by most of the early morning crowd, but on some occasions he was reminded that trying to unseat a longtime incumbent can be an uphill battle.
"I hate to tell you, but Christopher Shays is getting every vote in this house," one man told Mr. Himes. "He's a good guy, and he's doing a good job."
But fellow Democrat Diane Farrell gave the Republican a run for his money the last time around, and Mr. Himes believes Mr. Shays is vulnerable.
In an election year marked by the controversial war in Iraq, a faltering housing market, inflation and a gas crisis, Mr. Himes is banking on voters looking for a change in the country's leadership.
"I've got a tough fight, but I think I can do it because I've got the kind of real world experience in both the private sector and with a nonprofit," he said. "I understand the economy. I know how to fix it."
The married father of two and former Goldman Sachs executive lives in Cos Cob. He also ran the northeast operations for Enterprise Community Partners, which finances affordable housing projects.
Stemming the tide
On Monday afternoon, Mr. Shays stood behind the podium in the packed room at Norwalk City Hall. He was moderating the Army Corps of Engineers Flood Summit Meeting, addressing severe flooding problems throughout Fairfield County.
The congressman updated his list linking communities with problem bodies of water, as well as a list of key phone contacts. The Army Corps of Engineers is putting together a study that aims to dictate a positive course of action.
Recent floods have residents worried and some told Mr. Shays they want to see progress.
"We appreciate all you've done, Chris, but we haven't seen anything," one audience member said.
"You won't see any progress for a few years," Mr. Shays admitted, later sharing his frustration over the Democratic-controlled Congress delaying action on funding requests until after the election.
Mr. Shays said despite the sometimes slow pace of goverment action, he is proud of his accomplishments.
"My office has been incredibly effective in bringing meaningful appropriations, whether it's in transportation, education or health care," Mr. Shays said after the summit. "I think I'm independent. I'm not partisan. I believe I'm very effective. I think that my opponent has a very weak case that he should replace me."
Points of agreement
After decades of costing less than $2 a gallon, gas prices have skyrocketed over the past few years, eventually soaring past the $4 mark. Now that the summer is nearly over, many homeowners are bracing themselves for the expected spike in winter heating bills.
Both Mr. Shays and Mr. Himes believe the United States must lower its dependence on fossil fuels.
Mr. Shays wants to push for better mileage from cars and trucks and better efficiency from electric products. Mr. Himes is advocating for government incentives, making green building more attractive for developers.
Both candidates support energy conservation efforts.
Another thing the two political opponents see eye-to-eye on is the need to reduce the country's $700-billion dependence on foreign oil.
"We need to be promoting in a very aggressive way renewable fuels: solar, wind, geothermal," Mr. Shays said. "And we need to be producing more domestic fossil fuels - oil and gas."
However, Mr. Shays opposes President George W. Bush's plan to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
Mr. Himes calls proposals for drilling "a dishonest discussion," "taking our eye off the real decisions we need to make on alternative energy."
Energy is not the only issue of agreement. On education, both candidates want to fully fund the controversial No Child Left Behind Act.
The economy and Iraq
"This year the voters of this district are really suffering as a result of the economic mismanagement of this country," Mr. Himes said.
The 4th District challenger noted the loss of jobs, foreclosures and record debt.
Mr. Shays wants to implement the Foreclosure Relief Bill passed by the House to enable more people to keep their homes.
"We need to get our economy growing again," he said. "We need to be more investment based than consumption based. And we have a huge issue as it relates to our economic competitiveness worldwide.
"And obviously we want to bring our troops home from a successful mission in Iraq," he added.
Mr. Himes wants an immediate drawdown of U.S. troops from the Middle Eastern country. He also vows to tackle domestic issues, such as transportation.
If elected to Congress, Mr. Himes says he will try to gain membership on the transportation committee.
The fact that Fairfield County rail commuters are still waiting for new cars shows the current leadership has the wrong priorities, said Mr. Himes. He claims his opponent's attention has been too distracted by Iraq.
"Chris Shays is in Iraq while the people in this country cry out for solutions," Mr. Himes said. "He's just not focused on the problems that are hurting families in this district."
"First off, the only person who has said that is my opponent," Mr. Shays said when asked about the criticism. "That's my job. I don't know how anyone could criticize my visiting the troops, who are risking their lives."
Mr. Shays believes his advocating for the removal of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and for the training of more Iraqi troops played a role in stabilizing the country.
"If we had failed in Iraq, we would have basically been handing it over to Iran," Mr. Shays said.
Showdown in November
The fate of the candidates will be decided Tuesday, Nov. 4, when voters take to the polls.
