2008.07.28: July 28, 2008: Headlines: Figures: COS - Fiji: Politics: Congress: Hartford Courant: Chris Shays Confronts A Tough Election Cycle

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Chris Shays Confronts A Tough Election Cycle

Chris Shays Confronts A Tough Election Cycle

When the Democrats recaptured Congress two years ago, voters turned out two congressional Republicans in Connecticut and two in New Hampshire, leaving Shays as the only Republican from New England in the U.S. House. "It was an unbelievable tide," Shays said. "It was, 'I like you. I always voted for you, but I want a Democratic Congress.' And I would say, 'You're going to get a Democratic Congress whether or not you vote for me. But wouldn't it be better to have a Democratic Congress with me there?'" A slim majority agreed, giving him 51 percent of the vote over Democrat Diane Farrell, the former first selectwoman of Westport. Congressman Chris Shays of Connecticut served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Fiji in the 1960's.

Chris Shays Confronts A Tough Election Cycle

Republican Chris Shays Confronts A Tough Election Cycle

By MARK PAZNIOKAS | Courant Staff Writer

July 28, 2008


BRIDGEPORT - — After years of going his own way, U.S. Rep. Chris Shays wasn't about to be cowed by a global positioning system. He told his campaign driver to follow him, not her dashboard GPS.

"You're taking a left," Shays commanded from the back seat, directing the aide around traffic on a recent day of campaigning. "Then you're going to be taking a right."

He watched her make the turns, then asked if she knew where she was going.

It is the same question that confronts Shays, a Republican trying to find his way to re-election in the 4th Congressional District, the last in New England represented by the GOP brand.

In 21 years in Congress and 33 years in politics, the 62-year-old Shays has established his own brand as a nimble contrarian, tacking left and right, which helped him survive his party's reversal of fortune in 2006.

This year, Shays is once again trying to float above party identification as he braces himself for what pollsters say could be another gathering Democratic wave. His race is widely rated a toss-up.

He is quick to offer himself as a Republican who could work with Democrat Barack Obama, though Shays is the co-chairman of Republican John McCain's presidential campaign in Connecticut.

"On the issues, I work with Republicans and Democrats. If Obama's elected, he'll probably be turning to me," Shays said. "If he is going to do what he says and work with Republicans, I am going to be one of his natural allies that he'll turn to if he wins."

When the Democrats recaptured Congress two years ago, voters turned out two congressional Republicans in Connecticut and two in New Hampshire, leaving Shays as the only Republican from New England in the U.S. House.

"It was an unbelievable tide," Shays said. "It was, 'I like you. I always voted for you, but I want a Democratic Congress.' And I would say, 'You're going to get a Democratic Congress whether or not you vote for me. But wouldn't it be better to have a Democratic Congress with me there?'"

A slim majority agreed, giving him 51 percent of the vote over Democrat Diane Farrell, the former first selectwoman of Westport.

This year, his main Democratic challenger is Jim Himes, a former Goldman Sachs executive who now helps run a nonprofit that develops housing for the poor. Himes has raised nearly $2.1 million, the most of any congressional challenger in Connecticut.

Shays has raised $2.3 million, some at fundraisers beneath a white canopy that is a semi-permanent fixture on his lawn overlooking Black Rock Harbor in Bridgeport. No one accuses him of taking Himes lightly.

Two weeks ago, he skipped his 40th reunion at Principia College, a school in Elsah, Ill., that serves Christian Scientists, rather than miss this city's annual Puerto Rico Day parade and festival. The district's population is 12.8 percent Latino.

"This is a Democratic year, absolutely. No question about it," Shays said. "I'll have a close election, because it is a Democratic year."

Shays can quickly recite his alliances with Democrats on legislation, such as a health care coverage plan he co-sponsored in February with U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin, D- Rhode Island, a quadriplegic who has focused on health insurance issues.

On his desk at home, Shays keeps a two-pocket folder that markets him to reporters and voters as a bipartisan centrist.

One pocket contains material about his and Langevin's ideas on affordable health coverage; the other is filled with analyses from Congressional Quarterly and the National Journal that he says illustrate his independence from an unpopular President Bush.

In 2007, after Democrats took over and scheduled floor votes on bills that had long been bottled up by the GOP, Shays voted with the president only 33 percent of the time, slightly less than Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and Chris Dodd.

In 2002, when Bush was at the height of popularity after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Shays had supported the president on 82 percent of House votes. In the four years that followed, his average was 59 percent.




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Story Source: Hartford Courant

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Fiji; Politics; Congress

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