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Politics & Government

The Subtle Differences Between Meek, Obsitnik

Republican candidates for the CT's Fourth Congressional District, Chris Meek and Steve Obsitnik, are both vying to become the Party's choice to run against Rep. Jim Himes, a Democrat who has held the seat for the past two terms.

Republicans will go to the polls tomorrow to vote for their presidential candidate to face Barack Obama in November. But with Rick Santorum suspending his campaign (he's still on the ballot), and Newt Gringrich and Ron Paul considered long-shots, at best, is now the "de facto" nominee for president for the GOP — thus turnout at the polls is expected to be low.

Voters in the Fourth Congressional District are more interested in the outcome of the tight race between Republican candidates and Steve Obsitnik, who are both vying to become the Party's choice to run against , a Democrat who has held the House seat for the past two terms. Both men say they are the Party's best shot at defeating Himes, as they head into the Republican state convention on May 18 at the Hartford Convention Center — but with arguably more similarities than differences, some voters will be hard-pressed to decide.

Recent interviews reveal similarities and differences in the two candidates' platforms. The economy and jobs are front and center in both their campaigns, but how they would go about solving the challenges of job growth and competitiveness are different.

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For example, in a recent interview with Hersam-Acorn Newspapers, Obsitnik says he wants to lower the corporate tax rate so firms can bring in more revenue, thus allowing them to create more jobs.

Meek, meanwhile, is focused on strengthening housing market and lowering gas prices, as he sees those two challenges as central to getting the U.S. economy back on track.

Find out what's happening in New Canaanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

For more, check out the Hersam-Acorn interviews with Meek and Obsitnik.

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