May 27, 2008
4th District
Democrats select Himes
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by Chipp Reid
Hersam Acorn Newspapers
Democrats from the Fourth Congressional District gathered in Bridgeport on Monday to nominate Greenwich businessman Jim Himes to run against 21-year Republican incumbent Christopher Shays.
Nearly 300 delegates from 17 communities gathered at Cesar Batalla School to show their unanimous support for the 42-year-old father of two. Mr. Himes, a former Wall Street investment banker, said in accepting the nomination that he wants to help heal divisions he said Republicans created in eight years under President George W. Bush.
“All that is best about us starts with Americans coming together for a common purpose,” he said. “Our unions, our town committees, our work in every corner of government, we are what keeps our democracy alive and strong.”
Mr. Himes, in his acceptance speech, distanced himself somewhat from the anti-Bush rhetoric that characterized former Westport First Selectman Diane Farrell’s two attempts to unseat Mr. Shays and Ned Lamont’s try at defeating U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman. A senior campaign official said Mr. Himes intentionally toned down criticism of the Bush administration to concentrate on his own platform.
Still, the strong anti-Bush message the Democrats used to recapture the House and Senate in mid-term elections in 2006 remained in effect at the convention. Both Ms. Farrell and Mr. Lamont spoke to the delegates, with Ms. Farrell introducing Mr. Himes and saying she is “convinced this will be the year we take the last Republican out of New England,” referring to the fact that Mr. Shays is the only Republican Congressman from a New England state.
His platform
In his acceptance speech, Mr. Himes threw down a gauntlet, pinning his hopes for Washington on exasperation over education costs and the federal No Child Left Behind law, frustration over congestion on Interstate 95 and the Merritt Parkway, and re-birth of manufacturing thanks to “green” technology.
“Together we will fix an energy policy that is killing our planet,” Mr. Himes said. “It requires innovation and new technologies and focused investment — all the things that we used to create the computer and the Internet and the cures for hundreds of diseases. And best of all, if we get energy right — as we must — we’ll create thousands of jobs right here in Connecticut.”
The Rhodes Scholar also spoke about a subject close to him: Affordable housing.
Mr. Himes is the head of Northeast operations for Enterprise Community Partners, where he helped secure financing for “thousands” of affordable housing units in the metro-New York area.
“Tomorrow morning, a widow in Trumbull will look at the gas bills and the property taxes and the costs of her health care and sadly conclude that she can no longer live in the town in which she spent her entire life,” he said. “That is what must change.”
The Democrat also assailed “unfunded educational mandates” that he said “have blown a hole” in school budgets. He said his own path in life began with a “good public school.”
“That public school, those teachers and the support of a community of good people opened door after door for me,” he said. “That is why I believe so deeply that we owe every single American child the very best education possible.”
Mr. Himes, who was born in Peru in 1966 and moved to Pennington, N.J. in 1976, borrowed heavily from campaign platforms of both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. His “It’s time for a change” echoed the message of the Illinois Senator. He also said he would campaign for universal health care, a favorite topic of Ms. Clinton.
While most of his speech concentrated on his platform, Mr. Himes took several shots at Mr. Shays and the war in Iraq. He said Mr. Shays “has followed George Bush whenever he asked … in getting us into this disastrous war in Iraq … [and] in opposing timelines for bringing the troops home.”
Although Mr. Himes criticized Mr. Shays’ support for the Iraq war and said he would bring the troops home, he did not call for an immediate withdrawal.
A centrist
The Democrats choreographed just about every stage of the convention to portray Mr. Himes as a centrist, right down to their choice of a new public school in Bridgeport, the Cesar Batalla School, as their venue.
While Mr. Himes leveled several broadsides at his Republican opponents, he left the more strident criticism to others. He played up his connection with the Hispanic community. Mr. Himes grew up bilingual and conducted his master’s research in El Salvador. He has sat on the steering committee of Aspira of Connecticut, which promotes academic and leadership development among Hispanic youths.
Mr. Himes could face an uphill battle in unseating Mr. Shays. He is a relative political neophyte, serving first on the Housing Authority in Greenwich before winning a seat on that town’s Board of Finance. Senior staffers admit one of the biggest hurdles Mr. Himes faces is simply name recognition.
The Democratic nominee left the convention on an upbeat note when he linked his campaign to the final year of the Bush administration.
“This district deserves a leader who will represent our values, reflect our needs and deliver results,” he said. “So now, it’s our turn to ask Chris Shays to follow George Bush one more time — into retirement.”
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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