Syracuse native and Democrat Dan Maffei came within 3,400 votes in his race for this seat in 2006 despite running against better-funded opponent Dan Walsh. He railed against the war in Iraq and, despite lack of name recognition, almost pulled off the upset because of his campaign against the war. Walsh surprised New York Republicans by announcing he won’t run again, and Maffei is now in good position to take this seat for the Democrats. Maffei is pushing for a tax on oil companies’ outrageous profits while his opponent is calling for the gimmick “gas tax holiday” that won’t help anyone.
NEW YORK’S 26TH DISTRICT
Jon Powers
New York State Democrats are rallying behind Iraq war veteran Jonathan Powers, a former Army Captain looking to take the seat vacated by powerful Republican Tom Reynolds. Moved by the war’s impact on the Iraqi people, Jon Powers returned home and founded a non-profit organization called War Kids Relief in Baghdad to help Iraqi children deal with the aftermath of war. Powers has the support of Vote Vets, Vet Pac, and many local labor unions. Captain Powers is an Eagle Scout, and is currently a high school social studies teacher. His opponent is Chris Lee, a wealthy Republican businessman who has the backing of the retiring Rep. Reynolds. His agenda is built entirely around cutting taxes and loosening government regulations or eliminating them altogether. He is not an Eagle Scout.
NEW YORK’S 29TH DISTRICT
Eric Massa
Republican incumbent Randy Kuhl has been a big supporter of the Bush/Cheney war and their foreign policy. He has welcomed both of them to fundraisers in his districts, and before the 2006 elections was one of the few Republican candidates to hold a public event with Cheney, who used the opportunity to blast Democrats who have spoken out against the war. If that wasn’t bad enough, his divorce papers, leaked on the Internet, accused him of endangering his wife’s mental and physical well-being, once threatening to shoot her with two shotguns at a dinner party they hosted. Finally, Kuhl was arrested and charged with a DUI in 1997 and refused to seek counseling for his alcohol abuse. You might say the guy has “issues.”
Eric Massa is another military veteran running for Congress as a Democrat. He spent 24 years on active duty for the Navy, and his biggest assignment was as a special assistant to General Wesley Clark in Panama when Clark was NATO Supreme Allied Commander. Like Clark, Massa was against the Iraq war from the beginning, which is one of his reasons for getting involved in politics. He’s also a cancer survivor who knows what it’s like to “get sick, lose your job, and have bills you can’t pay.”
OHIO’S 15TH DISTRICT
Mary Jo Kilroy
Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy came within 1,062 votes of winning this seat in 2006. Her opponent then, Deborah Pryce, is now retiring after 8 terms, creating a great Democratic opportunity in the unfortunate bellwether state of Ohio. A county commissioner who is making the Iraq war one of her top issues, Kilroy says that “It’s time to bring our troops home. It was a mistake to invade Iraq and it’s a mistake to stay there now.” While Kilroy served as County Commissioner, Franklin County was named one of the five best-managed counties in the country by Governing Magazine. While school board president in Columbus, she helped create the Columbus Franklin County Affordable Housing Trust Corporation to promote home ownership and increase minority home ownership. She also helped create Access Health Columbus to provide healthcare for uninsured and low-income families. She also helped implement the Quality Contractor Policy which rewards or penalizes county contractors based on whether they pay their workers livable wages and with good benefits.
“Lobbyist” just might have replaced “liberal” as the dirtiest word in Washington, as evidenced by her opponent, Republican candidate Steve Stivers’ clumsy attempts to dodge the label. While vice president of government relations at Banc One Ohio Corp. from 1995 to 2002, he was registered as a lobbyist with the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee. When asked about this on the campaign trail, Stivers spun himself in circles, claiming “I was never a lobbyist per se.” After being pressed on the issue, he finally acknowledged that he was registered as a lobbyist, but then added, “it’s interesting that everybody wants to talk about my past. I want to talk about the future.” Funny, that’s what most Republicans I’ve talked to have been saying this year.
Like John McCain, Stivers tries to portray himself as an independent-minded moderate, but his record in the Ohio State Senate hasn’t always lived up to this. He voted against stem-cell research in a bill supported by Ohio Governor Ted Strickland. He’s also earned a zero rating from the Ohio League of Conservation Voters and Naral Pro-Choice Ohio, a 100 percent rating from the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.
NORTH CAROLINA’S8TH DISTRICT
Larry Kissell
Of all the inane comments made about the Iraq War, those made by Republican incumbent Robin Hayes rank right near the top. According to the Charlotte Observer, to stabilize Iraq Hayes proposed “spreading the message of Jesus Christ, the message of peace on earth, good will towards men. Everything depends on everyone learning about the birth of the Savior.” Maybe we should have thought of that before we started bombing the crap out of their country! During the 2004 election cycle, Hayes was the second largest recipient of campaign funds from the machine of Rep. Tom DeLay.
He’s also been a reliable Republican, voting the party line 91 percent of the time. He skipped out on voting on the FISA surveillance bill, but has voted against withdrawal from Iraq, and in favor of no strings attached funding for the war. He voted for the war, the Bush tax cuts, and the extension of the Bush tax cuts. He voted against a ban on “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment on detainees” held by American forces. And that’s just the icing on the cake for his cruel, inhuman and degrading career in the United States Congress.
Larry Kissell came within 329 votes of defeating Rep. Hayes in 2006, and that was without much help from the national Democratic Party. After his strong showing and with the political winds blowing against the Republicans, this could definitely be another Democratic pickup. Kissell, a lifelong Democrat, is a social studies teacher and former textile worker. The top issue he’s fought for has been for a quick end to the war in Iraq. Since 2006 he’s said, “We staged our way into Iraq in one year, there’s no reason we can’t stage our way out in one year.” He’s also been endorsed by the North Carolina AFL-CIO and the North Carolina Association of Educators.
OHIO’S 1ST DISTRICT
Steve Driehaus
Republican Steve Chabot has held this seat since 1992. Early in his career in Congress, Chabot would rail against pork-barrel spending and government waste, saying “I wasn’t sent up here to bring pork back to my district.” After more than a decade in Washington, Chabot has changed his tune. In an article titled, “Chabot aims earmarks at places linked to donors,” The Hill notes that $1.6 million in earmarks in a 2007 appropriations bill were headed to organizations and projects linked to supporters and donors of Rep. Chabot. I wonder if it has anything to do with the upcoming election.
Chabot has been a reliable Republican vote in Congress—91 percent of the time he’s been in line during this congressional session. He’s voted in favor of the war. He voted against the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, against repealing tax cuts to oil companies, in favor of extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and against raising the minimum wage to a measly $7.25. Judging from his record, the only time he’s voted in favor of the less fortunate, needy, or hard-pressed is on a bill that applied to only one American—Terri Schiavo. So if you’re a citizen in Ohio’s first congressional district, the only way your congressman will show any compassion and fight for your healthcare (or Social Security or jobs or affordable housing or anything else) is if you’re in a permanent vegetative state!
Democratic candidate Steve Driehaus was elected in 2000 as a State Representative and was named “Rookie of the Year” and “Legislator of the Year” by the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Ohio Association of Election Officials. He volunteered in the P
eace Corps and served in Senegal. Sadly, he’s an anti-abortion Democrat, but he has the backing of popular Democratic Governor Ted Strickland. In his time in the legislature, he was active in passing legislation to fight predatory lending which led Governor Strickland to create a Foreclosure Task Force.
OHIO’S 2ND DISTRICT
Victoria Wulsin
When we look back at Bush-Cheney and the Iraq war’s biggest congressional cheerleaders humiliating themselves in Congress, “Mean Jean” Schmidt’s November 2005 cheap shot on Rep. Jack Murtha ranks near the top of the list. It occurred after Murtha, who originally supported the war, realized that it was a huge mistake and supported legislation that would bring our troops home. During a debate in Congress, Mean Jean, allegedly quoting a veteran she had recently spoken to, said on the House floor, “He asked me to send Congress a message: Stay the course. He also asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message, that cowards cut and run, Marines never do.” Even though she mentioned Murtha, who served in the Marine Corps for 37 years, and she was quoting another marine, she claims she wasn’t addressing anyone in particular.
She’s voted with Republicans 94 percent of the time in Congress. She voted against lowering the interest rate on student loans (even 124 of her Republican colleagues supported this one, along with the Democrats).
Democratic candidate Victoria Wulsin challenged Mean Jean in 2006 and came within 3,000 votes of defeating her. This is supposed to be a conservative Republican district, but the Republicans have an unpopular candidate who Wulsin almost defeated before, and she should put up a good fight again. She is a doctor and a mother and has won more Democratic votes in the district than anyone before her. Dr. Wulsin has taken the pledge that all members of Congress and congressional candidates should take: “I have pledged not to take taxpayer-funded insurance until all Americans have access to quality, affordable care.” She also pledged to not take any contributions from the pharmaceutical industry. She is also calling for a quick end to the war in Iraq and says, “It’s unfair that well-connected defense contractors like Blackwater and Halliburton get special no-bid contracts without any accountability.”
OHIO’S 16TH DISTRICT
John Boccieri
Despite being anointed by the retiring Rep. Regula, who held this seat since the 1950s, Republicans are not high on fellow GOP-member Kirk Schuring. A State Senator who formerly served in the Ohio House of Representatives, Schuring successfully sponsored a bill that overturned a predatory lending statute in Cleveland, a fateful move that contributed to the financial struggles of many of Cleveland’s formerly middle-class neighborhoods.
A Major in the Air Force Reserve, Democratic candidate John Boccieri served in both Iraq and Afghanistan and more than 40 countries during his 13 years in the U.S. military. He’s also held political office in Ohio as both a State Representative and State Senator, where he’s worked on veterans’ issues, including sponsoring the Military Injury Relief Fund to help Ohio vets transition to civilian life and afford their medical bills. He’s been endorsed by VoteVets.org and Progressive Patriots.
PENNSYLVANIA’S 6TH DISTRICT
Bob Roggio
Republican Jim Gerlach has won 3 elections in a row by 3 percentage points or less, so the Democrats hope they can finally get over the top in 2008. He, too, has received campaign funds from Tom DeLay’s political action committee and has also been fined by the Federal Election Commission for campaign finance violations. He’s actually pretty moderate as far as Republicans go, but one thing really sticks out in my mind: In 2005, The Washington Post reported on how the GOP House leadership held a “five-minute vote open for 45 minutes” in order to convince moderate Republicans in opposition to an energy bill.
The bill was titled The GAS Act, and it had the backing of the energy industry; according to the Post, “it was fervently opposed by environmentalists and their Democratic and Republican allies” because it provided subsidies for refiners and opened some federal land up for new refineries. Gerlach was one of those moderate Republicans who switched his vote under pressure from Tom DeLay and the Republican leadership. After 39 minutes of standing his ground, he caved. Don’t we need leaders who can hold their ground for longer than that?
Democratic candidate Bob Roggio is a businessman who says that his opponent has been a rubber stamp for the Bush administration on Iraq, the economy, and environment. On Iraq, he says, “The war in Iraq was a mistake. Over the past 6 years, almost 4,000 brave troops have been killed, and close to 20,000 more injured (the number is actually over 70,000). We have spent hundreds of billions of dollars, while ignoring the very real domestic needs of our country. President Bush continues to ask for more money, and more troops, but has no new ideas to win the peace. I will fight to end this war, and bring our troops home responsibly, and with honor.”
VIRGINIA’S 11TH DISTRICT
Gerald Connolly
Keith Fimian is trying to hold on to Rep. Tom Davis’ seat for the Republicans, but Virginia is turning blue, and Fimian, a wealthy conservative, faces an uphill battle. Although he has the backing of the Republican whose seat he is trying to fill, the strongest praise Tom Davis gave to Fimian in a recent interview with the Washington Post was that he’s a “credible candidate,” and “He’s much better-looking than I am.”
A member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Democratic challenger Gerald Connolly could be a real leader in Congress on the environment. Most candidates call themselves “pro-environment” whether or not they’ve done something about it or have any serious plans to do something about it; Connolly has both. He worked with the Sierra Club on the “Cool Counties” initiative to fight global warming and has been part of Fairfax County’s nationally recognized environmental programs on parkland preservation, green building policies, and watershed restoration. He is serious about his environmental agenda for Congress and has a detailed plan that you can see by visiting www.gerryconnolly.com/Environment.
He was also against the Iraq war from the beginning.
WASHINGTON’S 8TH DISTRICT
Darcy Burner
Name a notorious figure in the Republican Party and you’ll probably be naming someone who’s raised funds or campaigned for incumbent Dave Reichert. From George W. Bush, who made a visit to Reichert’s district for a fundraiser, to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Dave Reichert has a long list of questionable friends. He’s also received campaign money from the political action committees of two Republicans the law has already caught up with, Tom DeLay and Randy “Duke” Cunningham. Finally, he was backed by a well-known, local GOP activist named Larry Corrigan, who was arrested in an Internet sex sting for trying to arrange a sexual encounter with a 13-year-old girl. Dave needs to find some new friends.
He’s voted with his fellow Republicans 84 percent of the time. This includes voting against the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, in favor of war funding with no strings attached and in favor of the FISA domestic spying legislation.Reichert is anti-abortion, opposes using federal money for sex education, and says that he supports a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. Back when the Republicans were in the majority in 2005, Reichert supported a bill to protect gun makers from lawsuits. It was the NRA’s top legislative priority and when the bill passed it was so far reaching that it retroactively barred lawsuits against gun makers who behaved negligently and caused damage.
Democratic candidate Darcy Burner was raised in a blue-collar military family and vividly recalls her parents’ struggle to pay off her younger sister’s medical bills. After working her way up the ladder at Microsoft, she left the company in 2006 to challenge Dave Reichert, losing in a close contest. Fighting to end the Iraq war is a priority to this mother and community leader, and she also brings innovative technical expertise from one of the most high-tech districts in the country.
Darcy is typical of so many Democrats who are running this year. These 30 seats may be the most likely to win, but that’s not to say another 30 can’t also be
won. And if that happens, we’ll have a veto-proof House (should the unthinkable happen).
Ultimately, whether this comes to be is up to you. If you live in any of these districts, volunteer as much time as you can to the campaign. If you don’t live near any of them, how ’bout a road trip and spending a week or two to help out? And I know many of you could write a check to any of these candidates. Or go online and make a contribution.
Victory is close, and so is four more years of the same insanity. We have no choice. It’s time to act.
Appendix
FOX NEWS/TALK RADIO/MCCAIN CAMPAIGN EASY GUIDE FOR LIFTING LINES OUT OF CONTEXT FROM THIS BOOK
Over the years, I have had to witness a silly parade of right wing talk radio hosts, Fox News commentators, and Republican Party spokespeople make up stuff about me or what I’ve said in the hopes that fewer people would give credence to what I have to say. It’s been a losing battle for them, as I remain blessed with millions of readers and filmgoers, people who have appreciated my work and hopefully been entertained and enlightened by what they have seen. Of course, the more people buy my books or come to my movies, the more the other side ramps up the hate machine against my work. I feel sorry for them, mostly for why they are afraid to debate me on the issues. Instead they go after me, the person.
But truth is not the commerce of talk radio and Fox News and the Republican Party. In order to denigrate me, they will pull lines or statements from this book out of context, hoping to heighten the rage of their listeners and viewers against me. But this is not a good year for the Right, and I guess I’ve started to feel sorry for them. They will be out of power soon, and we all know how that feels.
So, in order to make their job a bit easier, I have gone ahead and saved them the trouble by doing their work for them. Below, I have taken a number of quotes from this book out of context in the style that they are accustomed to doing. This is my gift to them on the eve of their defeat. Go ahead, Rush and Bill, Sean and Scarborough—bloviate away with any of these pre-approved, pre-taken out of context quotes from my new book. They’re on me. Good luck, and enjoy your time in the desert.
Mike's Election Guide Page 13