2006.11.12: November 12, 2006: Headlines: Figures: COS - Fiji: Politics: Congress: Hartford Courant: How Chris shays won re-election
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2006.11.12: November 12, 2006: Headlines: Figures: COS - Fiji: Politics: Congress: Hartford Courant: How Chris shays won re-election
How Chris shays won re-election
Shays had something to offset the disadvantage of his party affiliation: He constantly reminded voters of all the pork he had brought home over the years, boasting of the federal funds he secured for projects ranging from road improvements to the renovation of a dental-hygiene training clinic. He also sought to cast himself as a gracious elder statesman, largely eschewing harsh personal attacks against Farrell. And, even when he indulged the temptation to wander into wing-nut territory - strangely declaring at one point that Abu Ghraib "was not torture" but was a "sex ring" - he quickly apologized, which only served to reinforce his bland, above-the-fray campaign slogan: "Listens. Learns. Helps. Leads." Most important, Shays faced Farrell's criticisms on Iraq head-on. Although he ultimately bowed to reality in Iraq and, in August, came out in favor of a timetable for withdrawal - a move Farrell blasted as a cynical election-year ploy - he did not, a la Joe Lieberman, try to avoid the issue. Congressman Chris Shays of Connecticut served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Fiji in the 1960's.
How Chris shays won re-election
How Shays Won - To His Surprise
November 12, 2006
By JASON ZENGERLE
[Excerpt]
Shays' Strategy
How did Shays manage to win? Certainly not because of the GOP. At every turn in the campaign, he played down his party affiliation. Shays' campaign literature and ads were scrubbed clean of any trace of the dreaded R-word; instead, they hailed the candidate for his "independence." Even when Shays appeared at the Connecticut Republican Party's convention in May, he seemed to go out of his way to distance himself from the GOP, telling a reporter, "I can't say we have, as a party, earned the right to stay in the majority, but I think I've shown I can be effective."
And the Republican Party's attempts to help Shays only hurt him. The National Republican Congressional Committee blanketed Shays' district with fliers attacking Farrell for being soft on terrorism - "Diane Farrell: Coffee talk with the Taliban," read one mailing - and questioning the wisdom of her spending decisions when she served as a selectwoman in Westport.
"They said that Chris' opponent spent $40,000 on a turf field," complained Shays' campaign manager, Michael Sohn. "This is Fairfield County, Connecticut! People spend $40,000 to have their lawn done for them in the summer! ... The NRCC was dropping bombs on our own home."
But Shays had something to offset the disadvantage of his party affiliation: He constantly reminded voters of all the pork he had brought home over the years, boasting of the federal funds he secured for projects ranging from road improvements to the renovation of a dental-hygiene training clinic.
He also sought to cast himself as a gracious elder statesman, largely eschewing harsh personal attacks against Farrell. And, even when he indulged the temptation to wander into wing-nut territory - strangely declaring at one point that Abu Ghraib "was not torture" but was a "sex ring" - he quickly apologized, which only served to reinforce his bland, above-the-fray campaign slogan: "Listens. Learns. Helps. Leads."
Most important, Shays faced Farrell's criticisms on Iraq head-on. Although he ultimately bowed to reality in Iraq and, in August, came out in favor of a timetable for withdrawal - a move Farrell blasted as a cynical election-year ploy - he did not, a la Joe Lieberman, try to avoid the issue.
Indeed, just like Farrell, Shays made Iraq the cornerstone of his campaign. He repeatedly emphasized his record on the war, including the more than 15 hearings he has held on Iraq as the chairman of the National Security Subcommittee of the Government Reform Committee, and the 14 trips he has taken to the country since the start of the war - the last of which, he said, ultimately convinced him that "stay the course" was no longer a viable strategy.
"I ran a race that my political advisers said I shouldn't run," Shays said the morning of the election. "I didn't run away from the war."
Jason Zengerle is a senior editor at The New Republic. This was reprinted from the Nov. 9 issue.
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Story Source: Hartford Courant
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