Click photo to enlarge
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., joins Jim Himes, a Democratic candidate for Congress, for a discussion on the economy in Stamford, Conn. Saturday Sept. 13, 2008 at the home of Richard and Susanne Gonzalez, right.

STAMFORD ­-- In a sign of a tight 4th Congressional District race, the nation's highest-ranking Democratic woman, Nancy Pelosi, turned up in Stamford on Saturday to lend her support to Jim Himes.

In an effort to highlight "the kitchen-table issues of Americans," the House speaker and Himes spoke in front of the Colonial Road home of Richard and Susanne Gonzalez, a couple who called themselves "an average middle-class family" that has recently fallen on difficult times.

Richard Gonzalez, a Stamford native who went to high school with state Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, said that last week he lost his job as a client manager in Fairfield. Their 2-year-old daughter, Chloe, was described as having a history of severe medical problems.

The couple was introduced to Himes by McDonald, who helped them secure health coverage for their ailing daughter.

"This is the American story," said Pelosi, gesturing toward the Gonzalezes, who stood beside Himes, holding their twin daughters, Ava and Chloe. An older daughter, Michelle, 22, arrived later.

Pelosi described the family as "sitting around their table saying, 'How are we going to make ends meet; how are going to afford health care that Chloe so desperately needs?' "

In discussing what she called the "fragile existence" of the middle class, Pelosi portrayed Himes, a former Goldman Sachs investment banker, as the candidate most closely tied to their interests. "This was a kid who mowed

Advertisement
the lawns, who worked in a hardware store," she said of Himes.

Like Himes, who spoke before her, Pelosi criticized his Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, for saying the economy was fundamentally strong, a quote the Himes campaign has repeatedly cited.

But she also had harsher words for the incumbent, calling Shays "an enabler for President Bush" whose "complicity has been harmful for this district and this state."

The district that Himes is trying to win contains most of Fairfield County, one of the wealthiest regions of the country. Nevertheless, the backdrop for Saturday's news conference conjured a humbler, though not working-class, image.

The Gonzalezes own a house in a complex called Colonial Mews, which consists of attached two-bedroom homes. The brick buildings with black shutters, sit on small crowded lots, modest in comparison with other homes in the neighborhood.

Referring to Himes, Richard Gonzalez said, "We think he's an excellent representative for folks like us."

Nearby, neighbors Besh and Anu Pertab looked on with great interest, both at Pelosi and the media blitz that had descended upon the lawn they shared.

Holding their 1-year-old twins, the two said residents in the complex are younger families.

Besh works for Legg Mason, an asset-management firm in Stamford, and his wife, Anu, is a former attorney turned stay-at-home mom.

This week, the congressional opponents were focused on different spheres.

On Friday, Shays turned his attention to foreign affairs, holding a telephone news conference to outline his lengthy observations on trips to four political hot zones, including Iraq and Afghanistan.

Originally a supporter of the Iraq war, Shays declared that security had improved dramatically in the region, adding that al-Qaida was "basically defeated."

Rather than an economic burden, he painted Iraq as a ripe investment opportunity for the United States, saying that the country was currently "awash with money" and that foreign investors from China, Russia and Europe were already there.

Throughout the call, Shays said that he would bring back the troops from Iraq by the end of 2009, six months earlier than under the time line laid out by Democratic presidential nominee U.S. Sen. Barack Obama.

At Saturday's event with Pelosi and Himes, there was little mention of the war, although Republican presidential nominee John McCain's name came up frequently.

At one point, Pelosi was asked if she had seen watched GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's interviews with Charles Gibson on ABC.

"Unfortunately, I was at a bocce tournament in Hartford," she said, to the laughter of the press.

But she said that based on reports she had read, the Alaskan governor's responses demonstrated "poor judgment."

"But more importantly, it's poor judgment on the part of John McCain. We're talking about a heartbeat away from the president.

"He knows better."

Staff Writer Elizabeth Kim can be reached at elizabeth.kim@scni.com or at

964-2265.