Democrat Jim Himes is running against faux moderate, Bush enabler Republican Congressman Chris Shays in Connecticut's 4th district this cycle and he's up on the air with his first ad, a great bio spot, check it out below.

This race is personal for me as CT-04 is my home district and in fact a vote for Shays in 1990 was one of the very first votes I ever cast. Now, mind you, back then, and even throughout the 90s, Shays did a decent job of actually representing what was pretty much a moderate district. But since Bush took office, Shays completely betrayed his constituents by standing by as the administration and the congressional leadership, which Shays may not have always agreed with but never did anything to effectively obstruct despite having been in congress since 1987, waged a disastrous war and ran roughshod over our constitution, our planet, our economy...well, the list goes on and on.

Last cycle, Shays was able to skillfully apply an Iraq blurring strategy to barely avoid ouster but this year that's going to be a lot more difficult. Not only is Jim Himes a better candidate with a stronger and clearer position on Iraq than Shays's 2006 challenger, but now there is a congressional record of Shays's voting against any and all bills that would have led to the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Add that to the bluing of the district and the huge uptick in turnout we're likely to see this year, especially in the underperforming urban center of the district, Bridgeport, and the fact that Himes has raised the most money of any challenger this cycle and we have a real shot to finally send the last Republican congressman left in New England packing.

So, do me a favor and watch the ad, rate it up, spread the word about Himes, especially to any family and friends in Connecticut and, of course, contribute what you can to his campaign. Shays has a massive warchest and the Republicans are going to throw everything they have to defend this seat, so we are going to need to really step up in order to elect Jim Himes to represent my Republican parents in CT-04. So, do it for them. Show them what real representation in congress looks like.