A barnburner is what Roll Call is calling the race between Jim Himes and Chris Shays in Connecticut’s 4th Congressional District. The article is behind a subscription wall, but the Himes Blog has an excerpt:

The one Connecticut contest that does look like a barnburner this cycle is the Shays-Himes race…..

Democrats here say that Himes is focusing intensively on assembling the kind of get-out-the-vote efforts that could have put Farrell over the top. They also say that Shays’ continued support for the Iraq War keeps him out of sync with the district.

“Voters in that district have finally reached a tipping point,” argues [Roy] Occhiogrosso, the Democratic consultant.

Democrats say that in this generally Democratic state, the fact that it’s a presidential year should produce conditions similar to the 2006 midterm wave. The district includes wealthy areas that have been trending Democratic as well as more urban areas with a strong Democratic lean.

Calling the race between Shays and Himes a barnburner is interesting by its definition. One definition of barnburner is “someone who burns down a barn” but the other definition is “an impressively successful event.” Because it won’t be “impressively successful” if an incumbent wins, this can only mean that Roll Call thinks that there will be a Himes victory in this race — defeating an incumbent would be both impressive and successful.

If you want to have a hand in the impressive success of this electoral event, click on over to the Himes for Congress site for a long list of ways you can get involved.