Update 2: Video of the speech from last night, again via CTBlogger:

(Photo by CTBlogger on Flickr)

Last night in Bridgeport, Democratic delegations from every one of the 17 towns in the 4th CD gathered to unanimously, enthusiastically, and officially nominate Jim Himes as their candidate for Congress this November. Speakers included Bill Finch, Diane Farrell, Ned Lamont, and more... and, of course, Jim. As the CT Post reports, delegates at the convention were to a person voicing their feeling that this is - finally - the year:

"The country's in a different climate than even two years ago," said John Mitola, of Fairfield, referring to one of two races in which Shays narrowly withstood challenges by Diane G. Farrell, the former Westport first selectman.

"There's a lot of people who want us out of the war, and Shays is not going to give us that," said Norwalk Common Council President Fred Bondi.

"Jim's a solid guy," said Bridgeport district leader Daniel Roach, who also pointed to public distaste for the war.

"This year is our time," declared Linda Arden, of Stamford, who added she saw calls for change at every elective level.

CTBlogger has some great photos up already on Flickr. More coming soon.

Update: More photos are up on the campaign Flickr page:

• The Wilton Bulletin has an article on last weekend's DTC breakfast, and quotes some of Jim's speech there:

For Jim Himes, who is challenging Congressman Christopher Shays for the 4th District seat, the issues that convinced him to run more than one year ago and were highlighted when he first met with Wilton residents at the previous year’s event at Trackside are more pressing than ever.

Issues such as the war in Iraq, the loss of civil liberties and a need to take on a national energy initiative continue to be the thrust of his campaign.

“It’s a little sobering because not only haven’t we turned these things around, they’re worse,” said Mr. Himes.

He said “George Bush and his cronies in Washington” are “eroding the American dream” with deliberate policies that have directly led to the economic downturn and the situation many Americans find themselves in today.

• Genghis at CT Local Politics notes that the Cook Report has changed their rating of CT-02 to "solid Democrat" (from "likely Dem"). In other prognosticating news, Cook has also rated Rep. Shays as one of the most vulnerable incumbents in the nation, and Roll Call recently rated CT-04 a "tossup."

• The NYT yesterday had a sobering editorial on the startling recently reported statistics of income inequality in Connecticut. (Read Jim's op-ed on the issue from last month.)

• Michael Ian Black writes to his Congressman.

Leave a comment below and let us know what else is going on.

• Jim's interview on "Where We Live" this morning is up on WNPR's website - listen here: mp3. (Also, there seems to be an interesting show scheduled for tomorrow on transportation issues in Fairfield County.)

• The Courant's Jesse Hamilton writes up Diane Farrell's endorsement and Monday's convention today. Westport Now also has a post up about the Farrell endorsement.

• Jim will be a speaking at a forum on "21st Century Activism and the Future of the Democratic Party" at Fairfield Ludlow High School next Tuesday May 13th, along with Democracy For America's Jim Dean, State Rep. Kim Fawcett, and First Selectman Ken Flatto. Since the event is focused on 21st Century Activism, you should probably RSVP on Facebook, and while you're at it, friend Jim on Facebook as well.

Anything else happening?

The Fourth CD Nominating convention, where the Democratic candidate for the 4th CD will be officially nominated, is taking place this coming Monday night, May 12th at Cesar Batalla School in Bridgeport. We've set up a special "convention central" page with everything you need to know about the convention - you can RSVP, invite your friends, RSVP to the after-party, or become a "virtual delegate" by contributing online.

It's all here:

http://www.himesforcongress.com/convention

Sunday afternoon in Stamford, Fourth District Democrats presented a united front against Chris Shays in advance of the 4th CD nominating convention next Monday May 12th, as two-time Democratic candidate Diane Farrell officially endorsed Jim Himes in front of a crowd of supporters. Here's the Stamford Advocate's report:

Himes, a Greenwich resident who runs a New York City nonprofit housing agency, is attempting what Farrell failed to do in two bids - unseat longtime incumbent U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Bridgeport, in the 4th Congressional District, the only one in the state held by Republicans.

"It's a huge honor for me to get Diane's endorsement for this race," said Himes, who was joined by his wife, Mary, and two daughters, Emma, 8, and Linley, 5.

"By all rights, Diane should be our congresswoman," he said to applause....

Farrell said Himes will succeed because Shays' continued support for the war in Iraq and Bush's fiscal policies "will give voters pause."

"I think the story of this campaign is Jim's qualifications," she said, "and the closeness of the last two races indicate that voters have looked closely at Shays' record."

More photos from yesterday on the HimesForCongress Flickr page.

A quick note: Jim Himes will be joining host John Dankosky for an interview on WNPR's "Where we Live" on Tuesday morning, May 6th at 9am.

For more info, and to listen live on Tuesday morning, visit Where We Live's website. 

At an event at Norwalk City Hall yesterday, 5 years to the day after George Bush declared "Mission Accomplished" on board the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, Jim Himes spoke about the mission not accomplished in Iraq, and how our continued presence in Iraq is affecting other unaccomplished missions - the economy, health care, education, and energy - that we face here at home. Watch video highlights here (and subscribe to HimesForCongress on Youtube):

Today's Stamford Advocate has more on yesterday's event:

Himes' campaign manager, Maura Keaney, said what Shays says and does are two different things.

"His real power in Congress is where he votes," Keaney said. "The most recent timeline was proposed by the Iraq Study Group, which (Shays) claimed to support. But now he says that's not realistic and moves the goalpost back another year, and another year, and now five years have gone by."

Going back down memory lane, this was Chris Shays' opinion of Bush's Mission Accomplished speech as expressed to Larry King on CNN, five years ago last night:

REP. CHRIS SHAYS (R), CONNECTICUT: Well, this was so exciting. We were looking at 18 and 19-year-old kids. That's the average age on this ship. And on a scale of 1 to 10, our military performed at an 11. And this president had a right to rejoice. But it was just a compassionate, wonderful speech.

Jim has a great op-ed in the Stamford Advocate today on the unique economic challenges and inequalities in Connecticut and the fourth Congressional district in particular, and a way forward towards facing these challenges. Here's an excerpt:

The great question facing America in the 21st Century is not whether we will be successful, but who gets to share in that success.

The answer to that question is particularly important here in Connecticut where income inequality is growing faster than in any other part of America, according to a study released this month.

While the top fifth of Connecticut residents are doing extraordinarily well (their income grew 45% over the last 17 years), the working class has lost real ground, losing 17% of their household income. Disturbingly, Connecticut is the only state where income for the worst off among us has actually significantly decreased.

As a result, Stamford and Norwalk are growing less and less affordable for middle class families every day. The National Low Income Housing Coalition reports that rents in Stamford and Norwalk are the most expensive in the country. Neighborhoods in Stamford that have historically been affordable for young families breaking into the middle class – Glenbrook, Springdale, the East Side, and the Cove – are now too expensive for most working families. A worker wishing to rent a simple two bedroom apartment here must earn more than $31 an hour, nearly twice the national average hourly wage.

Simply put, our middle class families are being squeezed.

How can we reverse this trend?...

Read the full piece and forward to your friends, family, and co-workers.

Todd Beeton has a good roundup this morning of local CT blog coverage of the President's visit to Connecticut on Friday - with Chris Shays riding shotgun on both Air Force One and Marine One:

In good blogger style, the CT netroots made sure no one forgot that the exceptionally unpopular Mr. Bush was coming to town and so held a march against the war to protest his arrival. My Left Nutmeg covered it HERE with more pics HERE. Looks like a great turnout.

As for the fundraiser itself, helpfully, the CT Republican Party has provided its own documentary evidence of the event, although a few pictures seem to be missing. In a great catch by MattW, take a look at the CT GOP's Flickr photo stream, and you'll see there's a conspicuous gap of about 7 missing photos between the last shot of David Cappiello and the first picture of George Bush up on the stage with Kissinger. Hmm, why the scrubbing I wonder? Bizarrely, CT-04's Chris Shays, who co-chaired the event, doesn't seem to have the same compunction about appearing with Bush in public.

CTBlogger, CTBob, NBPoliticus, CT News Junkie, Orient Lodge, MattW at MLN, Scarce at MLN, and CT Local Politics all had a lot more to say this past weekend about Friday's Bush-Shays jaunt to CT. Click on the links for more.

Jim has an op-ed in this morning's Connecticut Post on building a green economy in CT-04.

And this email just went out to supporters:

Dear Friend,

  Today is Earth Day, a day to remember the fact that our stewardship of this planet is the primary legacy we will leave all of our children.

As I argue in an opinion piece in today's Connecticut Post, now is the time for us to act decisively to ensure that our state is a leader in green collar jobs, and that our children have the opportunity to live in a healthy and sustainable world.

We need to act together in order to face this huge challenge.

Please take a minute now to invite your friends, neighbors, and family to join us in this collective effort, and then let us know your thoughts. Help us reach 100 new people today:

http://www.himesforcongress.com/earthday

We all realize that the health of our planet is an issue that affects every aspect of our lives, and which deserves our attention every single day. We are mired in a financial mess brought on by Bush-Shays economic policies and mired in a disastrous war brought on by Bush-Shays foreign policy.

And there are other huge challenges on the horizon, so many of which are tied to climate change, our nation's energy policy, and our planet's very survival.

When I'm in Congress, not a single day will go by where I don't stop to reflect on this basic truth.  To get there, I need your help.

The time to act is now. If we are going to make progress, we need more allies on our team, and I'm counting on you to help spread the word.

Can you think of a co-worker, neighbor, friend, or family member who cares as much as you do about our country's future - our economy, our planet? Please forward today's Op-Ed to them and ask them to join you on our team:

http://www.himesforcongress.com/earthday

Thanks,

Jim