Hi wolf109- can you send me an email at the address listed in my MyDD profile? I want to make sure your correct info is in our system.

Thanks!

Charles
Himes for Congress

Jim Himes is apparently running against Harold Ford, Jr.'s favorite Congressman:

When Harold Ford, Jr. walked onto the Quick Center stage for his OPEN Visions forum he knew whose district he was standing in.

"There is not a better Congressman in Washington than Chris Shays," said Ford, to a crowd of about 600 Fairfield University students and community members.

"No national legislator has been to Iraq more times than Chris Shays."

The Fairfield Weekly's favorite Congressman? Not so much:

Ken Krayeske reports from a fundraiser last night w/ Jim Himes and John Larson in Hartford:

Himes wants to know why Shays was so hard on Brian McNamee, the infamous drug-dealing former trainer of ace pitcher Roger Clemens, but let other people, like, say, Erik Prinze, the CEO of Blackwater USA, walk through the Oversight hearings untouched.

"Shays was silent with Lurita Doan, Donald Rumsfeld and Erik Prinze," Himes said. "Then he makes a stand with McNamee. His priorities are messed up. It's what you focus on." ...

"He is an outstanding candidate," Larson said, noting Himes' Harvard pedigree and stint as a Rhodes' Scholar at Oxford. "He has spent time in the community and he will be part of this change election."

You can sign up for updates from the Himes campaign here.

(Disclosure: I work for Jim Himes for Congress.)

With Lieberman endorsing a Republican for President and Bob Kerrey apparently endorsing a Democrat, it's sure a good thing that folks considered the two to be exactly alike in opposing the latter's Senate bid in Nebraska this cycle...

Umm...:

"Sometimes public opinion is wrong. Sometimes the majority is wrong. And I think in this case, if the majority of the Democratic party of Connecticut voted against Joe Lieberman... I would say very respectfully, and very gently, that "you're wrong."

Could take 3-4% (or more) from the GOP nominee, while simultaneously keeping the Democratic nominee honest on Iraq.

Sounds like a win-win for progressives.

Tsongas delcares victory (Via BMG):

http://www.lowellsun.com/breakingnews/ci _7196772

IMO that was the most significant moment of the debate. Obviously the feeling "persists" in the party (see Dobson, Viguerie, etc.), and now the widening rifts in the GOP are a topic for the debates as well.

Chris Shays campaigned for Ogonowski last month.

Seems some of that attitude towards bloggers has rubbed off.

Front page story in the Hartford Courant today on UAW's efforts to organize Connecticut's casinos:

Armed with signatures collected during the summer, the United Auto Workers union petitioned Friday for a federally supervised election to form a 3,000-member bargaining unit of dealers at Foxwoods Resort Casino.

Already, other workers at Foxwoods are following the lead of the dealers - possibly opening up a vast new workforce to a labor movement struggling to hold on to members at private companies.

but I am furious at Admiral Fallon. How dare he!

The two GOP challengers to freshmen Dems Courtney (CT-02) and Murphy (CT-05) have both had a rough go of it so far: the touted Sean Sullivan (CT-02) with very lackluster fundraising so far, and David Capiello (CT-05) with questions arising about his work for a shady subprime lender.

Lieberman, Worst Person In The World. Also at the Hannity Freedom Concert.

The Politico on Himes (and Sullivan):

The Winners:...

4.  Jim Himes (D), challenger to Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.)

Himes, who runs a company that builds low-cost housing in the New York area, has put himself on the map in a big way with his fundraising since entering the race. He outraised Shays by nearly $70,000 -- very rare for a challenger this early in the cycle. And he appears to have raised the most money among all Democratic challengers this quarter.

Himes was viewed as the Democrats' second choice to former New York Rangers' goalie Mike Richter but has now emerged as one of their strongest recruits. ...

The Losers:...

2. Sean Sullivan, running against Rep. Joseph Courtney (D-Conn.)

Sullivan, the former Groton Naval submarine base commander, was once a highly lauded Republican recruit. But after he raised only about $25,000 for the second quarter, he's become persona non grata in Washington. One well-connected Republican operative called his fundraising totals "disastrous."

"We're not happy with him at all," the operative said.

National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole didn't even mention his name when asked about the party's top recruits in New England at a Thursday press briefing -- even talking up the party's chances in a solidly Democratic Maine seat while glossing over Courtney.

Courtney, who only won his seat by an 83-vote margin last year, was considered a top Democratic target. But, with at least $500,000 for the entire cycle, he has a healthy financial head-start over any Republican opponent. And the district is fairly hospitable to Democrats: it only gave President Bush 44 percent of the vote in 2004.