Welcome Jim! So glad to have you back. How goes the campaign trail?

Good to see you, Jim. Looking forward to your victory in November.

Hello Jim…

Happy New Year, Jane! Campaign goes well–interest in the district is increasing, am hearing from Republicans that “it’s time for a change”, and the, groan, fundraising continues apace.

Looks like Chris Shays bought into “The Program.”

Thanks, Biodun and Egregious, very happy to be back!

“Call time.” Didn’t know much about it before I heard you talking about it, but now I understand it is sacrosanct.

Given all the other fires out there, I’m not sure campaign finance reform would necessarily have been at the top of my list of issues nine months ago. But now that I’ve been living the system, sheesh. The real tragedy is the time sacrificed that might go into really talking to people about the issues that affect them, and of course, the fact that by definition, when you’re asking for money, you are talking to people with money, who, one might assume, are not feeling as much pain from aforementioned fires.

BTW, you are a lucky man to have the fabulous and beautiful Maura Keaney as your campaign manager.

Don’t I know it. I’d add “hard working” to your list of accolades.

By the way, while we’re on the topic, let me thank the 300 or so contributors in the Blue America community for their support. One way to reduce the perniciousness of fundraising is to organize giving around progressive causes, then hold folks accountable when they are beneficiaries of that giving . . . .

Howdy, firepups! In addition to the video above, the Himes campaign also created a Web site – http://www.aperfectjob.info – that highlights Chris Shays’ abysmal record of oversight this year, including the Lurita Doan hearings on politicization of the GSA, Condi Rice, Erik Prince from Blackwater, etc. Just watching the video excerpts on YouTube all together is a pretty compelling argument of why Chris Shays needs to go!

Jane, I think I’d like to hire you as my PR manager. :-) You rock.

Welcome Maura! How do you reach the average voter there, who doesn’t pay much attention to politics, who is likely to vote for the incumbent just because the name is familiar?

But don’t forget . . . he’s absolutely all over the steroids in baseball scandal. Maybe if some of our public school teams were using HGH . . .

Yes, Chris Shays actually said that the baseball players were the “worst behavior” he’d seen in Congress in 20 years!!!! With all the shenanigans of the Bush Administration…to say nothing of the Iran-Contra scandal back in 1987 when Shays first went to DC, after 20 years, Shays says this:

“Let me just say that they were deceitful… They weren’t cooperative. And they were arrogant. And they were like, ‘How dare you question us,’ kind of attitude. And I want you to know I don’t take offense at that. There are certain things as a member of Congress I don’t like. But personally, I was just stunned by it because I haven’t see worse behavior in anyone in my 20 years in public life in Congress.”

The amazing tparty wrote a great diary on this at DailyKos a couple of weeks ago:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/…..473/421592

OK, the video shows good reasons for not voting for Shays.. but we should people vote for Himes?

So Blackwater is “perfect” and baseball players are “the worst.”

Good to know.

Hi, egregious! That’s our biggest challenge, isn’t it? We’re going to be investing a lot of resources into a strong field operation, one that will focus on neighbor-to-neighbor outreach. What we know more than anything is that direct voter contact is most effective, so the more that Jim can meet people in settings beyond traditional political settings, the better. Then we mobilize those people who get to know him and turn them into volunteers who will tell their family, friends, and neighbors about Jim.

In our district, we’ve seen Democrats begin to do much better when they run campaigns that are focused on direct voter contact and on meeting voters where they are rather than forcing voters to come to you. In Darien, for instance, a very affluent town with a 3-1 Republican registration advantage over Republicans, Democrats swept the Board of Selectman races this year and control the 3 top seats in the town for the first time in 187 years. The candidates won largely by meeting people in non-traditional ways, such as meeting young parents through playdate settings.

What a treat to have Jim Himes and the talented Maura on the same thread! We are hoping for the best for you, Mr Himes, as we find Mr Shays quite odious. You are exactly the example other Democrats need in 2008: blurring the differences between Democrats and the GOPs only favors the GOP incumbents.

A clean break is what people seek, and only candidates who offer that will succeed. Please continue your excellent campaign of contrasts, so that your future constitutents have a reason to vote FOR you as well as turn out Erik Prince’s great admirer.

Best wishes to you in the New Year — and please hold the House leadership to their promises when you are sworn in! We — and the leaders! — need caucus members like you who understand the purpose of the safety net, home heat help, S-CHIP, job training, housing, and a leg up when times are tough.

TheKenoshaKid–to be brief: leadership. In 09, we will finally take up the critical issues our country faces: 1)restoring the constitution and the balance of powers, 2) developing a smart energy policy which directs our resources to alternatives and weans us from foreign oil, 3) reforming a healthcare system that covers far too few people far too expensively, 4) doing something about our antiquated educational system.

Chris Shays has never led on any of these issues. In fact, he’s been part of the problem, voting against allowing Medicare to negotiate pharmaceutical prices, voting to raise student loan rates, showing no interest as the Bush administration eroded ancient liberties . . . .

I went to a passable public school that gave me a decent start. As a technology banker, I saw everyday that our innovative capacity–our only long-term source of national wealth–is crucially linked to our educational system. I was in business long enough to recognize the train wreck of our health care system for what it is, and to have some pragmatic ideas on how to start. I’m of a generation willing to accept that we need to remake the old order of oil/coal energy.

So, again, in a word, I’m prepared to lead on these issues, and Shays is not.

Good work on the face-to-face encounters with the voters, thru house parties and so forth.

TeddySanFran–
Thanks for the kind words. I love your “a clean break” construction! Can we put that on our letterhead?

Sounds good to me!

Is this a November 08 election?

Mr Himes, what do you make of the Preznit’s recent “double-veto-threat” of the defense authorization bill? Have you a message for the DeeCee Democrats who maintain they were caught flat-footed by this veto? And what do you think the Unitary Executive Proponents are scheming by claiming the Congress is NOT in session, despite the Jim Webb-enabled pro-forma sessions?

Will honoring the Preznit’s pocket veto (which I understand is not eligible to be overridden) nullify the Senate pro-forma sessions, thus allowing a spate of recess appointments before the Senate returns on January 15th? Don’t you think the House should schedule an immediate vote when they return on January 3rd, thus honoring the REAL (non-pocket) veto and making clear Congress believes itself to have been in session?

I see this as the only way to preserve a court challenge to any recess appointees the Preznit installs between the 3rd and the 15th of January.

A Congress that doesn’t zealously defend its own institutional prerogatives is guilty of the worst kind of anti-Constitutional malfeasance.

Where is CT-04? I have family in Bethel. Shays voted to override the SCHIP veto, didn’t he? Otherwise…… (And if that had come to a 1-2 vote margin, I personaly have my doubts Shays would have voted tghat way on SCHIP.)

Welcome, Jim!

I’m pretty sure I’ve contributed before, but just in case, I’ll jump in with another bump today.

Thanks so much for joining us today.

If today were the first day of your first term, what would you set as a personal goal? Is there a specific piece of legislation you would like to sponsor and build support for?

You bet. 10 months and counting. Please spread the word. This election will be won because we get a wave going, which will happen when people clue their friends in, and they tell their friends . . . .

BTW, the goal by Monday is 500 donors to the Himes campaign. I know people are tapped out after the holiday, but even $5 or $10 would be great.

You can donate here.

C&L has Keith Olbermann on 12/15, when Chris Shays won the Bronze WPITW for his inanity about the baseball players.

And, yes, A Clean Break is yours if you’d like it!

Good Afternoon Jim!

I am supporting Chris Dodd for president but have some mixed feelings about the possibility of his leaving the Senate and having Gov. Rell appoint a replacement. My fear is that she would appoint Shays (or Nancy Johnson) as a replacement for Dodd should it come to that.

How would the folks of the CT-04 respond were you to defeat Shays for the House and have Rell turn around and appoint him to the Senate?

TeddySanFran–
Can you imagine a system in which it is up to one branch of government to decide when another is in session? Gosh . . . the next thing you know, the Supreme Court would be appointing Presidents or something.

In all seriousness, Congress needs to stand for its institutional rights and priveleges or be the Congress it became under Republican leadership. It needs to be full-throated in holding this President’s feet to the fire at every opportunity. People are ready to see it do so, and frustrated when it doesn’t.

Not that Harry Reid listens to me, but let’s let the Republicans filibuster til the cows come home. I really do want to hear each and every Republican explain on CSpan, why SCHIP is a bad idea, or why this President deserves a blank check with our military.

Thanks, Pachacutec! I do remember you from our last session. Am I right in remembering that you speak Spanish?

Okay, you made me laugh (bitterly) with that one — I’m in for a stocking stuffer, and wish it could be more. Hope you make your end-of-year goal, sir!

We really need somebody to voice a view other than “The Surge is a great success.” I wasn’t here the first time you were, Jim, but am I right to presume you would be such a voice?

Okay Pach, if you will I will too.

Anyone want to match me for $25?

Donations: I’m in.

Jane- so much to do, and so little time. Here’s the start:

1) Gather newly elected and other reformist members to introduce initiative to channel the ~$30bn annual subsidy of oil and gas industry into alternatives research. Have same group of reformist members call newly elected Democratic president to ask that he/she(!) call for an immediate reopening of the Bali conference.

2) Defund detainee operations at Guantanamo. Ask newly elected Democratic president to issue statement that the US will abide by letter and spirit of its international obligations, including Vienna.

3) Demand that a bipartisan 9/11-like commission be formed to recommend a federal program for the improvement of our public schools.

No call time.

I’ll match your $25 and raise you $25.

Here’s Rockwell’s Freedom from Fear.

http://www.artchive.com/artchi…..r.jpg.html

Mr. Hines,maybe you would like to comment on the S-Chip issue, given this breaking news, because the signing is being touted as good for Republicans at the polls in ‘08. Thanks.
S-Chip extension ‘having-it-my-way’ signed by P. Bush.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponlin…..ealth.html

<3 artchive

Digg this interview!

BL–
Ah, yes, the surge. Yet more grist for the mill of this administration’s game of sliding expectations. My graduate school roomate was a West Point tank commander. Put him alone on the streets of Baghdad, and violence will go down. Put him and 29,999 of his fellow troops on the ground, and violence will go down even more.

Then what? Oh, yeah, there was that whole poltical compromise/oil sharing thing that was supposed to happen, and when I say supposed to happen, I mean WAS THE STRATEGIC RATIONALY of the surge. We still have a long way to go there.

The thing that troubles me about the whole situation is that I really don’t believe that the Iraqi leadership will get serious about compromise until they see us starting to leave. Let’s play that card, let them stare into the abyss, and call the world together to help them hammer out and guarantee an agreement.

Hi Jim,

When Nancy Pelosi was named Speaker, I was thrilled and eager to watch her lead. Since then I’ve been…less than thrilled.

What’s your assessment of the job she’s done, in terms of consolidating and advancing a progressive agenda?

My take: for a “San Francisco liberal,” she’s been entirely too pliable on some important issues.

Teddy, Happy New Year to you!!!

One thing I have learned as campaign manager the acute and crushing fundraising pressure any campaign is under, and what a difference grassroots and netroots activism can make in balancing out that pressure. Of course, as a blogger and a longtime activist, I knew grassroots activism was important, but now being responsible for raising hundreds of thousands of dollars every quarter, I see the other side of things. And I see how critical it is for grassroots voices to balance out competing pressures. And how critical vast quantities of small donations from grassroots donors can be in maintaining that balance.

May I say again that, being in nearby NYC, I am hoping that all of New England turns blue this November. Let’s make Mr. Shays as extinct as the dodo bird. Every time I see him on TV, including on the floor of the House, he has such a nasty demeanor.

I think a big part of distilling the progressive message in the face of universally bungled government will consist of taking seriously the notion of Freedom from Fear, and addressing the anxiety I sense around my district by pointing out that government once not only protected the vulnerable and the needy, but did great ambitious things that benefited all of us (ironic note as I post this on the internet!). Sounds almost quaint, no?

Sounds awesome! I am not a CT resident, but I work in CT, so I participate in a bit of CT politics scuttlebutt. I will be sure to mention your idea of Freedom from Fear to my coworkers. I suspect it will resonate.

Thoughtful reply. Dead on. Too many Congresspeople seemed intimidated by Gen. Petraeus. Hope you will say in Congress what you just said in your post #44. Thank you for the response.

FWIW, I have lived before in CT, in Wallingford and Manchester. It always seemed that Shays touted his supposed independence and has gotten away with it for years. Yet seeing him in operation on the Oversight Committee has been appalling.

Here’s hoping you are successful in defeating this man who seems to have lost all touch with reality from his statements about Blackwater and cheerleading for Lurita Doane, AG Gonzales and all the other Rs he’s been apologizing for and trying to block the investigations of.

The thing that troubles me about the whole situation is that I really don’t believe that the Iraqi leadership will get serious about compromise until they see us starting to leave.

It seems to me that what they will get serious about when we start to leave is the opposite of compromise. I suspect that they are feigning compromise right now to increase the likelihood that we will leave sooner rather than later, and then–once we do–they will fight a no-holds-barred civil war.

I’m not saying that this is a reason not to leave. I think we should leave sooner rather than later, because by staying all we are doing is postponing the inevitable.

Jersey, too! There’s going to be a couple of open seats.

There’s a DailyKos diary right now on JIm’s work with affordable housing, written by a volunteer, goldrick, if anyone has a chance to read and recommend:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/…..501/427658

Thanks!

Just checking out Shays stats. He’s in his 11th term. Sounds like it’s time for retirement. He got only 51% of the vote last time, so with a little push …

In his last campaign he raised just over $1 million. So far in this cycle he’s raised $186,071, according to the figures on C-SPAN’s page for him. Insurance companies are all in for $1000 apiece, as are a lot of other big corp PACs.

What are your fundraising figures Mr. Himes, both for this cycle and last one?

Okay, I’m in for $50.

Anyone want to match all or part?

NYS is getting bluer with every election.

Sapceneedl–
Boy, do I hear that a lot as I talk to Democrats. People are angry that the Dem Congress has been unable to achieve more against this President and his party in Congress. Most folks realize that the system is set up to create obstacles to change, particularly in the Senate. And it’s hard to make progress against a stubborn president who is willing to question your patriotism, prosecute your colleagues and turn the whole behemoth of the federal government against you.

That said, I really think that the Democrats, if they’re going to lose a fight (and they will lose them), should take advantage of the loss to clarify the positions. As I said above, let’s force the administration’s supporters to tell Americans why SCHIP is bad, why the President has earned the right to conduct unfettered foreign operations, why we should trust his Justice Department.

Thank you!

Democrats, if they’re going to lose a fight (and they will lose them), should take advantage of the loss to clarify the positions.

Absolutely. Don’t go quietly.

And why call SCHIP SCHIP? For crying out loud, call it medical care for children who are without it. Framing please.

CT-04 is adjacent to Bethel — it runs from Greenwich in the southwest corner all the way up the coast of the Long Island Sound: Stamford, Darien, Norwalk, Westport, Fairfield, Bridgeport. One north end, it includes Ridgefield, Redding (adjacent to Bethel) and runs all the way up to the little town of Oxford. Here’s a map:

http://www.himesforcongress.com/districtmap.html

Thanks for the link. Impresive.

Jim,

Yes, “breathing time” for reconciliation and oil revenue sharing were the stated rationales for the surge…but it appears violence is down, with no corresponding progress on those goals.

Ethnic cleansing is nearly complete, and Petraeus is allegedly strinking temporary bargains with groups with diametrically opposing ambitions.

This doesn’t inspire confidence that the surge was ever a good-faith initiative, or that we can expect our folks to leave before 2009 at the earliest.

Thanks again.

Jim, I think “Freedom From Fear” could be a great theme for Democrats to use from coast to coast. It takes the GOP’s only selling point (”vote for us, or everyone dies/goes broke/gets sick/etc.”) and turns it on its head.

Given a choice between fear and hope, I know which I’d rather have — and most folks (of all political persuasions) would likely choose the same.

Give ‘em hope, Jim!

Framing please.

That’s not framing. It’s just not being a total dork.

eCAHNomics-
Not sure those figures are right. This is a $3-4m race. My predecessor, Diane Farrell, raised about $3m, Shays raised close to $4m last cycle. Our fundraising is going well. You’ll see an announcement in the next two weeks, but I can tell you that we’re continuing our pace vs. last quarter.

You can get all Congressional district maps here:

http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/congress.html

Oh I should put up the link again.

In case anyone didn’t get cleaned out at Christmas.

http://blueamerica.firedoglake.com/

Thanks. I was wondering about the accuracy of the figures myself.

Glad to hear that it’s going well for you.

And they’ve got to tell the truth – over and over and over. The GOP opponents of SCHIP told anyone who would listen why SCHIP was bad. Problem was alot/most of what they were saying was bogus. Bloggers can help with this truth-telling function, too.

So true. We could learn a thing or two from the party of “Healthy Forests”, “Clean Skies” and “No Child Left Behind”. Or does being that Orwellian erode the soul?

Peterr–
That’s right. And standby. This cycle’s brand of fear out of the RNC is fear of immigrants and fear of taxes. Time to start thinking about that.

and they look like this after passing the laws!

eCAHNomics –

Shays actually raised and spent $3.8 million in the ‘06 cycle, and he got a lot of NRCC support as well. His opponent, Diane Farrell, raised $3 million and spent $2.9 million.

So far, he’s been outpacing us in fundraising, but we’re keeping up with him in Cash on Hand, largely because we’ve been very frugal and have been running a really grassroots oriented campaign: until last week, we were working out of Jim’s dining room! To save money, Jim and volunteers have stuffed every mailing by hand, and we’ve been lucky to have great volunteers who’ve done a lot of work with database, web design, and other items that often cost a lot of money.

As of the end of last Q, Shays had raised $838K and spent $306K. We raised 617K and spent 70K. We actually had more donors last quarter from Blue America than Shays had total! The small-dollar online donations have made a huge difference. We’re in a big push now to end the quarter strong, especially with a high total number of donors.

Friends–
I’ve got my eight year old and five year old daughters nipping at my heels, so I will need to push off shortly. As usual, the conversation has been great, and I’m so heartened to know that people are paying attention. Let’s see through what we started in 06!

No need to call something the opposite of what it is unless you’re ashamed of what you’re doing. Since we are proud of the D programs, call them what they are with a clever phrase instead of acronyms. Please.

That presupposes they have souls that can be eroded. Given the hatefulness espoused by many of the Rs over the years, it seems doubtful.

Is TV time realy expensive? Would you buy into the NY market? Or Boston Market?

I don’t think it’s being Orwellian to call S-CHIP “Kid Care” or something. It would be Orwellian/Rovian (Bushian?) to call it “Kid Care” while it’s cutting benefits for health care for children.

Seriously, how much more difficult would it have been for Bush to scuttle if it was called “Kid Care” or something similarly simple, catchy, and TRUE?

(Not the fast food place.)

Broken Spanish. My grandparents were native speakers, met in Brooklyn, had a mess of kids who had a mess of their own kids. That’s my generation.

I agree. I don’t think calling SCHIP just that was the problem.

Thanks for being here. Good luck in CT-04!

until last week, we were working out of Jim’s dining room!

I hope it’s a big dining room.

When the election gets closer, come back here & some of us nearby (speaking for myself) would probably spend some time volunteering. I really don’t like Shays.

So all that money & 10 terms in his belt & he got only 51% of the vote (is that accurate?). Mr. Himes can do it!

Late to the party.. But it’s never to late to help the good guys and gals. I’m in. Thanks for everything Jim and Maura.

The NY broadcast market is HUGELY expensive. It also is geographically wasteful from a Congressional race perspective, since the vast majority of people who get NY broadcast (New Jersey, Long Island, NYC, Westchester, Pennsylvania, and CT) are not in CT-04.

Seriously, we could blow a million in a week in NY broadcast and get little from it. (It’s been done.) But voters in PA would know how Jim Himes is!

We know we need to buy media differently here in order to succeed…and we’ve teamed up with a great media firm that is committed to creative and innovative media, including stragetic and targeted cable buys.

But we’re also going to be focusing a lot of resources into field and direct voter contact, internet outreach, etc., not just TV!

Just looked at the map of the district. Good thing the super rich have only one vote each!

Do they (super rich) contribute to Shays, or are they not so political on that level?

I’m in too.
In memory of my dad, another Jim, Jim Allen.
I’ll send you what I didn’t spend on daddy for Christmas.

It was a pleasure spending some time with everyone today! Thanks for the support and kind words. And please do spread the word. As I always say, we need three things right now:

1)Criticism (constructive please!) to make us the best campaign we can be.
2)Buzz, friend to friend, p2p, viral marketing, etc. to help us get a wave going, and
3)The money to win this thing.

We can and do argue long and hard about which is most important, but please send us all three!

Happy New Year to everyone,
Jim

Do you have an email list from your predecessor? I think that’s a great way to contact voters in this day & age.

Happy New Year to Jim & Maura & thanks for spending some of your Saturday with us.

What about the local CT stations like WTNH?

Fantastic! 6 new Blue America donors in the last hour! You guys are the best.

hi jim and welcome!

where in your priority lists are my 3 top favorites these days?
1. restoring habeas corpus
2. deconglomerating the media
3. fair & transparent elections

I hope it’s a big dining room.

When the election gets closer, come back here & some of us nearby (speaking for myself) would probably spend some time volunteering. I really don’t like Shays.

Pretty small dining room, actually. Luckily, Jim’s wife Mary is really cool, and his daughters are pretty resilient. But we moved into a small office recently so we don’t burn them out too soon! And until recently, Jim was still working full time in addition to being a candidate.

We’d love to have your help as a volunteer next year. I know from experience in the Lamont campaign how valuable the Firedoglake community has been as on-the-ground volunteers! And we’ll definitely have field offices within walking distance from Metro-North. You can sign up online to volunteer here:

http://www.himesforcongress.com/volunteer.html

Thanks Jim & Maura.

All good news. Best of luck to you and Jim.

Thanks, Jane, and the whole FDL/Blue America community. It was great to spend time here with everyone today, and thanks so much for your support, ideas, and enthusiasm. Keep up the pressure!

Thanks so much for being here today. You’re doing a great job and it’s going to be a lot of fun to watch what happens with the campaign in the coming months.

Just keep the DCCC in line ‘kay?

it’s going to be a lot of fun to watch what happens with the campaign in the coming months.
You’re such an optimist.
Or, maybe your idea of fun is different than mine.
It’s going to be interesting, at any rate.

Sorry I missed the liveblog, but I left Jim some $$$

I call our local CT stations the “body count of the day.” The stations are so horrible, I race to the tv to shut it off/change the channel because it focuses on deaths of the day with morbid zeal. Coverage of Lamont v. Lieberman was limited to a few seconds of Lieberman whining. Don’t think there’s much hope there.
And Jim Himes, please save the honor of CT!!! Chris Shays is an embarrassment. He comes off like a buffoon and an obstructionist in congressional committee. Will try to pitch in any way I can.