In New Ad, Shays’ Opponent Links Him To Bush
Hartford Courant, Tuesday, September 09, 2008
By MARK PAZNIOKAS
For most Republicans, George W. Bush's name couldn't disappear fast enough from the Republican National Convention last week. But one group is happy to feature the unpopular president - Democrats.
In a new television commercial, Democratic challenger Jim Himes features a photograph of U.S. Rep. Chris Shays, R-4th District, embracing the president as an announcer makes the case that Shays has sided with Bush on key issues.
"Twenty-one years ago, Chris Shays went to Washington saying he'd be independent," the announcer says. "But now he stands with George W. Bush on Iraq, energy, his disastrous economic policies and privatizing Social Security. It's time for new solutions."
Democrats are using the same theme throughout the country, assisted by a trove of photos showing the president hugging their opponents.
Michael Sohn, Shays' campaign manager, said that the tack is not new in Connecticut, where Bush's popularity dipped earlier than in some regions. Two years ago, Democrats used photos and video of Shays and Bush in a mailer and on TV.
"This is cookie-cutter stuff," Sohn said.
At the Republican convention, Democrats rented billboards showing Bush and the GOP's presidential nominee, John McCain, in an embrace beside a headline that said, "Does This Look Like Change To You?"
Al Franken, the comedian-turned-Democratic Senate challenger in Minnesota, features Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., and Bush in a commercial that resembles the Himes' piece.
"He says he is working for you," says the Franken ad, which shows an embrace between Coleman and Bush. "But on the 10 issues most critical to the Bush presidency, Norm Coleman has stood with George Bush."
As one of the more physically affectionate presidents, Bush has left a gallery of huggable and kissable moments for campaigns.
Two years ago, the photo of Bush kissing Democratic Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman at a State of the Union address became an icon for Democrats who thought Lieberman too cozy with the Bush White House.
This past January, it was Shays who kissed the president, despite his staff's suggestion that he avoid any photo opportunities that might undermine his image as a Republican with an independent streak.
"We had a lot of images to choose from," said Michael Sachse, a spokesman for Himes.
Sohn said that some of the bills cited in the commercial to justify a claim that Shays supported the president's "disastrous economic policies" actually contained popular provisions, including the elimination of the marriage penalty and passage of a child tax credit.
But Himes said that Shays also supported extending the Bush tax cuts for the very wealthy and opposed closing loopholes for oil companies.
One of the bills cited in the commercial, a Shays vote on Social Security, occurred before Bush was president. The Himes campaign said that Shays also has more recently supported limited privatization of Social Security.
None of the claims undermines Shays' independent voting record, Sohn said.
In 2002, when Bush was at the height of popularity after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Shays had supported the president on 82 percent of House votes. In the four years that followed, his average was 59 percent.
In 2007, after Democrats took over and scheduled floor votes on bills that had long been bottled up by the GOP, Shays voted with the president 33 percent of the time, slightly less than Barack Obama.
The new Himes ad can be seen at http://himesforcongress.com/blog_entry/new_ad_21_years.
