In response to David’s request that SSP readers mention some candidates worth supporting before the second quarter ends this weekend, here’s an update on Jim Himes’ campaign in CT-04 – Chris Shays’ district, the last spot of red in the House in all of New England:
There are just under 500 days remaining until Election Day 2008. And I intend to spend every one of those days running a different type of campaign, one that focuses on person-to-person contact and real grassroots participation.
Now is the time to build the foundation of this campaign. And I’m looking to you to help build it. Become a Founding Member of our campaign today, and help us reach our goal of signing up 500 new Founding Members before June 30th.
What will you get for being a “Founding Member” of the campaign? You won’t get any special access or treatment. You’ll get something much more meaningful: the opportunity and responsibility of being one of the first people to join our effort to change the direction of our country and address the real priorities of our district.
Himes’ non-political background is diverse (grew up in Latin America, public schools, Rhodes Scholar, Goldman Sachs VP, now works at an affordable housing nonprofit), he’s already impressive as a candidate at this early stage, and he’s looking to run a different type of campaign in a district that is usually dominated by big media buys.
Shays’ time is finally up in 2008, if the netroots and grassroots starts building the foundation for this campaign now. Contribute or sign up to volunteer and help Jim reach the goal of 500 “founding members” of the campaign before this month is over.
Or sign up for email updates here.
Disclosure: I am currently doing some early volunteer work online for Jim Himes.
here:
Jim Himes at Silver Star DFA (1 of 4)
Uploaded by mlnmatt
Himes on Shays, from this past March, here:
Chris Shays (R-CT) is the guy who said last August 24 that he supports a timeline for withdrawal of our troops from Iraq and, further, that most of our troops could be withdrawn within 2007 (Washington Post, August 25, 2006). During debates with Democrat Diane Farrell, he repeatedly stated that his (new) position on the war made him “more anti-war than she.” Of course, that was right after his good friend and Iraq War supporter Joe Lieberman had been beaten in the Democratic primary by anti-war candidate Ned Lamont. Right after the election was over, and 20-year incumbent Shays had squeeked by with 51% of the vote- again, he turned around and became once again George Bush’s biggest supporter in Congress.
Specifically, even though he had advocated a timeline for withdrawal just weeks before, Shays turned around and voted in favor of Bush’s troop escalation.
But his biggest hypocritical act was to come a bit later. When the Iraq Study Group’s recommendations came out, the centerpiece of which was its call to withdraw all American combat troops by March, 2008, Shays declared his support for the ISG’s recommendations. Yet when the Democrats added precisely that timetable advocated by the ISG to the supplementary spending bill for the Iraq War, Shays flip-flopped, and voted against it.
How does Shays justify his blatant hypocrisy? He says that he really does favor a timeline for withdrawal, but only if the commander-in-chief, i.e., George Bush sets it. But is there a single honest and informed individual in this country who can’t see through that trick? Bush has said repeatedly that he will not set a timeline for withdrawal. So Shays gets away with pulling a fast one on the voters.
Or does he?
People in this district are mightily ticked off with “Both Ways” Shays, as evidenced by the fact that he registered the most threadbare of majorities the past two elections (51% both times). And no one is under any illusion that he is a blatant hypocrite on the war.
This time round, there will be a very reasonable Democratic alternative in Jim Himes. As was stated above, the guy is a former senior investment banker with Goldman Sachs, a Rhodes Scholar who became an expert in Latin American politics (he’s fluent in Spanish), and has his heart in the right place: he’s a national executive for a major affordable housing non-profit (they’re working with New York’s Mayor Bloomberg to increase the city’s stock of affordable housing in a public-private partnership.)
There are two things that get long-term incumbents dumped: one is corruption and the other is unforgivable hypocrisy regarding a crucial issue. Shays is guilty of the latter. And the voters of this state aren’t going to shed a tear for the last Republican congressman in New England. There are very good reason that we got rid of them. And there are equally compelling reasons for dumping Both Ways Shays.