Congressman Jim Himes announced Tuesday night at a Democratic Town Committee fundraiser at Testo’s Restaurant that President Obama will visit the state’s largest city to campaign for him and other Dem candidates on Oct. 30.
OIB has also confirmed that the Secret Service has been in touch with Bridgeport officials in scouting a location for the visit and the Arena at Harbor Yard is the likely location. The Bridgeport Sound Tigers have a hockey match scheduled for 7 p.m. that night, but it would not prevent a daytime visit from Barack.
Himes made the announcement at a jammed Testo’s Restaurant for Democratic Town Chair Mario Testa’s DTC fundraiser. Himes faces a testy reelection from Republican Dan Debicella.
(OMG side note: State Rep. Chris Caruso, who probably hasn’t stepped foot in Mario’s restaurant in 15 years, attended the fundraiser. I need blackmail photos!!!)
Lennie I was there when the announcement was made. Things must be tougher than first thought. Well Himes backed the party and he does need their help. I was at the pasta night attended by at least 380 people. Chris Caruso was even there and entire delegation was also there. All the candidates were there except Blumenthal somebody said he had a Marine Corps Reserve meeting. Pasta was great and the BS was even better.
Yeah baby!!! I sure as hell want to get to meet President Obama!!!
Go Himes!!! Debicella is toast in the Park City!!!
Anybody who knows where this will be please let me know fast I do not wanna miss the chance of meeting Obama.
NAME the OIB blogger who, in January 2010, predicted President Obama would come to Bridgeport before the upcoming election.
Hmmm I think that was Local Eyes!!!
Uh oh, there goes the neighborhood.
*** Hope they give him a tour of Marina, P.T., Greene’s Apts. the Hollow, East End & the downtown area first, before all the smiling faces snapshots! *** Back to Basics ***
Obama will be in and out of here faster than the tornado. If he wants to help Himes he’ll need to be here on election day to drive people to the polls.
My independent vote goes to Debicella, a guy who relates more to Main Street than Wall Street, a guy with a better sense of what Bridgeport needs versus his own needs.
Yes, truly Obama will need to be pulling votes in Longfellow or his appearance will be USELESS.
Get a grip.
It seems to me the Democratic Party is running a series of campaigns instead of a unified front.
Yesterday for the 2nd time an SEIU union member came to my door supporting Dan Malloy. I asked him about Himes and Blumenthal and the other candidates and he stated he was told to push only Malloy. So I guess Malloy really has cut a deal with the unions which can only mean we the citizens will pay if he is elected governor. I stand by what I said earlier. I will only vote for candidates who have never held office, enough of the same old bullshit.
BTW donj I would venture to say they will be using the arena for Obama’s visit.
tc–I think a better name for that union is SEIOU.
The sooner the Democratic Party wakes up and realizes their party has been hijacked by the socialist party the better.
And for Himes, Dodd and Finch to accept $11 million from the government is obscene. Was the money borrowed from the Chinese? Or printed??? Isn’t it coincidental that it comes just before election time??? Money spent on transportation isn’t going to help this town one bit. What’s preventing this city from becoming more economically successful IS THE CRIME RATE. This is shoot-out city. It’s in a state of emergency. The $11 million should have been handed to Gaudett to hire more officers.
What a bunch of criminals this party has become.
*** Was the DTC better off when Stafstrom was running the show? And just what does it take to be a successful political chairperson in an urban city where everyone involved is “looking” for something? Should Lennie make an “OIB” comparison of chairs from other urban cities to shed some light on this often-talked-about subject? *** INQUIRING MINDS WOULD LIKE TO KNOW ***
Independent Soul,
What planet do you come from?
Dan Imbecila has a better sense of what Bridgeport needs versus Barack Obama???
Dan Imbecila can see Bridgeport from his car window every time he drives by.
Please, oh independent one, tell me one piece of legislation Dan introduced in Hartford to help Bridgeport? Please point to one piece of legislation that came from Dan to help the Bridgeport school system? Please give a couple of examples where Dan broke from the Republican ranks to help Bridgeport out.
If Dan Imbecila knows all that much about Bridgeport’s problems and did nothing to help, well then maybe election day can be payback day too.
Independent Soul what are you smoking??? Debicella knows what’s best for Bridgeport??? Hell to the no he don’t.
Town Committee, regarding Dan Malloy; on page A5 of the Connecticut Post of 9/22/10, in an article by John Burgeson (“Malloy visits state’s ports to revitalize deep harbors”), an economic development plan, by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Malloy, to revitalize Connecticut’s deep-water ports, including Bridgeport, is outlined and discussed …
While Bridgeport Harbor – and Connecticut’s other deep-water ports – should be dredged, and modernized/re-enabled for major shipping opportunities (of an ocean-going nature), we have to be sure that we aren’t being set up to be feeder-barge patsies for Stamford/Gold-Coast interests who simply want to protect their prerogative to exploit the Bridgeport labor force by limiting Bridgeport tax base and job growth and keeping traffic moving toward Stamford in the AM and away from Stamford in the PM. Indeed they have successfully maintained the aforementioned situation by intentionally lobbying against any major development in Bridgeport that would entail the loss of “cheap,” Bridgeport-based labor, or that would add more traffic to I-95 – such as a casino or major manufacturing … Remember; if Bridgeport’s labor force can work in Bridgeport for a living wage, Stamford et al. will have to competitively recruit and accommodate their own local workforces – which means big municipal outlays for schools, services, sanitary infrastructure, and affordable housing … (In the article, Malloy was quoted as saying that “… with the redevelopment of these ports … we’ll be able to get a significant amount of truck traffic off of I-95 …” That certainly sounds like feeder-barge-port promotional talk to this Bridgeporter!)
Remember, also, that it was Gubernatorial Candidate Malloy, who, during his 14 years as mayor of Stamford, lobbied mightily – and successfully — against Bridgeport’s interests, undermining our development opportunities at every turn (e.g., the defeat of the Bridgeport casino initiative in 1995; derailing of plans for location of the major Royal Bank of Scotland facility in downtown Bridgeport in 2005 – which would have meant hundreds of living-wage jobs and a big addition to our grand list, as well as an anchor for more downtown development) … Does anyone think Dan Malloy is going to work against Stamford — and for Bridgeport — interests as governor?!
Remember also, that if indeed the Great Port Revitalization Plan of Candidate Malloy is just a feeder-barge-port ploy, such an operation, if located in Bridgeport Harbor, will result in massive warehouses and trucking operations on our waterfront (both of which cost more to host than they pay in taxes — for many reasons, such as road destruction by trucks), and that such operations will also ruin adjoining East End/East Side neighborhoods, tie up I-95 into and out of Bridgeport (unless, of course, port operations could be staggered to accommodate Stamford’s commuting workforce, and/or new roads, through and around Bridgeport, were to be built …), and will also result in lost, lucrative tax-base opportunities on and around Bridgeport’s waterfront, while yielding only a few warehouse and truck-operator jobs (feeder-barges were designed to minimize labor needs – so there wouldn’t be a lot of high-wage longshoreman’s jobs involved) …
Beware of Dan Malloy – gubernatorial candidate and “snake-oil salesman” …
Foley will probably be inclined to ignore Bridgeport — but at least he isn’t as likely to screw us (and other cities in the state that aren’t Stamford …) as is Snake-oil Salesman Malloy …
Jeff I agree with you 100%. Malloy has spent his political life screwing Bridgeport. If Stamford ever loses the Bridgeport labor force or a good portion of the Bpt labor force they are in serious trouble.
He is going to do squat for Bridgeport. We have political people touting Malloy but that’s only because they are looking to get state jobs if he wins. Many of these same Malloy pushers used to work for him in Stamford.
With the unions sending their members out everyday for Malloy it doesn’t take a genius to see he sold out to the unions and that means we taxpayers will be taking a screwing.
Hey Independent Soul.
I just checked out the Debicella website.
I was shocked by the urban agenda he has outlined there.
Shocked that he didn’t even bother to put something up on his website to make believe he gives a damn about Bridgeport.
Nothing.
Nada.
Not a word.
He must understand the problems of Bridgeport and has decided he wants nothing to do with trying to fix them.
Imbecila
Until you clean up this city and get rid of the crime, nothing you do for Bport is going to work. Oh, and a Republican mayor for a change would be great.
Nice to see some higher-ups are reading OIB. I’m really snickering at the Himes chief operative who said such a Presidential visit was above his “pay grade!” I guess he was really off his Mark!!!
TC and Jeff Remember if he were our mayor then we would have wanted him to do the same for us. What our current leaders cannot do.
TC were you a union firefighter or non union? Do you have a pension from being a union brother?
bpt guy You know the answer to that question my talking about the unions especially SEIU was that they were only backing Malloy and not the rest of the top ticket. This is the same union that was tied in with Acorn so you have to wonder.
I have worked in both a union shop and in a non union Company. I did well in both but made more in raises and bonuses with the non union company because you got paid on results and the wage pool was not spread among all the employees even the least productive ones. The union did provide us with good benefits but that came from a bunch of years where we took zero raises. It was not uncommon in the ’70s and part of the ’80s where you were given increased benefits instead of raises, at the time we were all pissed but on hindsight it was the best thing that ever happened.
Imbecila thinks that because he slept at a Holiday Inn (not the one in Bridgeport), he knows what BPT needs.