A visit with Jim Himes

This afternoon I was among several local bloggers who were invited into the home of Greenwich DTC Chairman and (self-described) "so-so" soccer player Jim Himes.

Maura wanted to introduce the potential 4th District Congressional candidate to us, so she arranged this very informal talk to allow us to meet him. Jim is in the early stages of deciding whether to challenge Chris Shays for his seat in the 4th, and he is interested in sharing his views with the blogosphere.

So Greenpeas, MattW, Thomas Hooker and JonK from My Left Nutmeg joined Caffeinated Geek Girl from Connecticut Local Politics and myself in meeting with Jim. CT Blogger and Spazeboy (among others) wanted to attend but sadly couldn't make it.

My impression of Jim is that he is an intelligent and articulate person, interested in the public good and willing to make an effort towards improving society. He's written passionately about the importance of economic growth and private charity, and he feels that education and solving the problems with health insurance are crucial to ensuring a prosperous state. Jim is also involved in providing affordable housing.

I'm sure there will be more details of the meeting on Connecticut Local Politics and My Left Nutmeg, but I just wanted to post a quick overview of the meeting. It was a pleasure to meet Jim, and I look forward to us seeing more of him in the future.

ADDENDUM: I remembered that Jim was the spokesman for the Greenwich delegation to the State Democratic Convention last year. I checked my convention video (viewable HERE at about the 6:00 mark), and this is what he said when announcing the votes for Senate nomination:

"Madam Chairwoman: Greenwich - Gateway to New England, hometown to Ned Lamont...and not really accustomed to leading the battle for the soul of the Democratic Party...casts three votes for Joe Lieberman and nineteen votes for Ned Lamont."