Jim Himes May Be on the Wrong Side of Democratic Firewall.
Another day of discouraging news for first term incumbent United States Representative Jim Himes. Subpar fundraising figures have been accompanied by the popular RealClearPoltics.com deeming the race between the Greenwich Democrat and Republican state Senator Dan Debicella a toss-up.
Shelton Republican Debicella has been a methodical steamroller. He made short work of his August primary challengers while continuing to raise prodigious sums of campaign cash. In the fundraising quarter that ended on September 30th, Mr. Debicella reported an $802,000 haul. That will likely be more than the other 4 Republican Connecticut congressional candidates combined. It’s $227,000 more than Goldman Sachs alum Himes raised for the crucial period. Plus, his $575,000 is a significant drop from what he raised in the same period during his successful 2008 campaign against veteran Republican Christopher Shays.
Congressional Democrats, who have had to become ruthless in deciding where to fight as they scramble to keep their net losses to any number below 39, will have to face the harsh realities of political life in the district that includes most of Connecticut’s portion of metropolitan New York. The first is that Himes won in 2008 on a massive turnout of voters in Bridgeport. They gave him 80% of the vote against Parson Shays. The Bridgeport Democratic organization is riven by local divisions. It failed to deliver for its candidate for governor, Ned Lamont, in the August primary. There’s no evidence its recovered from that public demonstration of impotence.
The cost of campaigning in this district is a challenge to every campaign. Because the New York media market is most expensive in the nation, the investment to save sinking Mr. Himes could be put to more effective use on behalf of 3 or 4 other besieged incumbents battling in less expensive media markets. In addition, the 4th may be one of the few districts in the nation in which the Democratic mantra of taming Wall Street may be a millstone among a measurable chunk of voters, so the former investment banker from the swank end of the district is meeting resistance from a class of affluent voters that had been trending Democratic–and they vote.
Then there’s confident Mr. Debicella. He’s a moderate Republican in the tradition of the district. Democrats will struggle to find a credible way to demonize him. So far they’ve failed.
If Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) calls, he’s probably shorting Himes Preferred and leaving the race on the hot side of the firewall as he sounds another retreat.
2 comments
More Jobs or More Government?
Incumbent Congressman Jim Himes is for the same type of command-and-control policies that have consistently led to low growth and high structural unemployment in Eastern Europe in the twentieth century and in Western Europe today: his only problem with pork-barrel stimulus is that there has not been enough of it. His only concern with the healthcare bill is that it did not go far enough. He voted to adjourn congress without addressing January’s massive tax hikes.
The incumbent is for unlimited government. On his watch, he voted for a government that increased borrowing by a trillion dollars a year. His answer is always the same: more government. More taxes, more spending, more job-killing regulation.
Challenger Dan Debicella believes that there is a better way: he is for policies conducive to economic growth such as replacing the pork-barrel stimulus with a payroll tax cut. He opposes all tax increases and intrusive regulation that stifles job creation.
Dan is for a constitutional, limited government. He would cap the size of the federal government at 20% of our gross domestic product. He would force politicians to make trade-offs between competing priorities instead of always growing the size government. He would reduce the number of government employees.
If Dan Debicella shares your beliefs and you want to help him advance those beliefs in congress, then you can do so here: http://www.40seats.com/ct4 . Both sides should be able to agree that your choice is clear and it is important. What kind of country do we want to live in? Do we want to continue down the current direction or do we think that there is a better way?
Sorry, can’t support a person who voted for Cap & Trade, Obamacare, Bailouts, etc.. I’m supporting Debicella this time around.