Before anything else, yes I am stealing
Stephen Colbert's bit for the title of these diaries. This diary is the third in a little series I'm writing, profiling important Democratic races in Connecticut not involving the names Lieberman or Lamont. Thusfar we've had
CT-Gov and
CT-2, head on down below the fold for a little info on the fourth district race.
Currently, Connecticut's
fourth district is represented by balding white guy
Chris Shays.
Fairfield County (basically the whole district, excluding the part sticking into New Haven county which was even more heavily for Kerry) voted 51.4-47.3-1.4 for Kerry, and just like the 2nd district has a moderate Republican representative.
A look at Shay's
general voting record makes him look decently liberal, and rising up decent opposition would be tough (tough to get people riled up about replacing a liberal Republican incumbant with a slightly more liberal Democratic newbie). However, a closer look at his so-called
key votes on tight issues show his real colors. 11/13 times he voted with the Republicans on these tight issues, and the 2 times he didn't it didn't matter.
McCain amendment?
Change the Army Field Manual so inhumane treatment isn't inhumane treatment (hey, there's a way to end the war in Iraq!).
Stem Cell research? It's veto time.
Shays has a very interesting history. He started out serving in the
Peace Corps in Fiji, yet now manages to support the war in Iraq. Shays support for Iraq should hold some especially heavy weight as he
chairs the important House
National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations subcommittee of the Government Reform committee. This is one of many important committees related to Iraq, and upsetting their leadership (hopefully also the party that leads it) would send a strong message. For example, he convened a hearing on,
"National Strategy for Victory in Iraq" that supposedly "examined" the November 2005 plan to win in Iraq. I'm
sure it was a very hard hitting hearing (sarcasm is difficult to express online). Oh, and the foiled liquid explosive terrorist plot?
Shays commented:
"The key today was this plot was foiled before the would-be terrorists got to the airport. Comprehensive screening is an important part of preventing an attack, but detection and prevention has to be our first line of defense. This is why we need to be able to infiltrate terrorists' cells with good intelligence and stop their actions well before they happen," Shays explained. "Today is another reminder that we are fighting a global war against Islamist terrorists and underscores the need for a strategy focused on detection and prevention. The Brits and the U.S. government used this approach to successfully disrupt this plot and we have to continue to focus on detection and prevention using the commonsense tools provided by the PATRIOT Act."
Yes that's right, commonsense tools.
He's now served 10 terms in the House, and came to power originally in a special election to replace moderate Republican
Stewart McKinney (
No relation) who
died of complications due to AIDS (the first Congressman to die from AIDS) likely due to a blood transfusion he recieved while being operated on.
Challenger Diane Farrell was the selectwoman of Westport, which falls within the district. Good news for her? To start, while elected in 1997 with only 59% that picked up signifigantly to 71% in 2001, drawing in Republicans (which could hurt Shays) and indys (pumping up her cushion for victory).
According to FEC filings she's staying competitive with money. In 2004 she ran against Shays (when support for Iraq could still somewhat work) and lost 52-48. Now she's back, with Cook Political listing the race as
a Republican toss-up, D+5. Farrell even has some serious
endorsements at her back like the AFL-CIO, NOW, Emily's List, NEA, AFT, the list goes on.
The final message here is really the same as it was yesterday. Moderate Republicans are a nice and rare breed, and I'd be ecstatic if this is what.. Say Republicans from Oklahoma look like. However, Shays is representing the highly liberal Connecticut, and doing it from a rather conservative vantage. If the 4th votes for Lamont, I hope it follows that pattern and votes for Farrell, bringing us 1/15th closer to a Democratic House.