McCotter Votes Against Economic Recovery

Today the House voted on the $825 billion economic recovery package.  Following the lead of the rest of the Republican Caucus, Thad took a stand for obstructionism over recovery; for partisanship over unity.

President Obama bent over backwards to accommodate the Republican ideas, donating a significant amount of the package to the Republican gold standard of "OMG TAX CUTZ!!!11!!"  Even after this, not a single Republican was willing to vote for the bill.

If there is one lesson from today, it is that House Republicans are irrelevant.  Even with a completely united Caucus, the House GOP was unable to stop a good bill.

And Thad McCotter had better watch out. If/when the Obama plan puts people back to work, restores confidence and gets the economy rolling again, people are not going to forget that he took a stand against it.  And I'm not going to let 'em.

Thad Loses His Soul

Thaddeus McCotter drew some heat last campaign over his vote against expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program.  Catholics United criticized him immensely for it, and he called the group "the devil" over it.  No, Thad didn't back down, and urged other Republicans to hold firm with him.  For, if the GOP was to be "daunted by the politics of SCHIP," it would most certainly "lose its soul."

Well, after 11 Republican Congressmen who voted against S-CHIP lost their seats in 2008, Thad was daunted by the politics of S-CHIP:  Thad voted in favor of the expansion.

Does that mean that Thaddeus has lost his soul?  Perhaps.  But it seems to me that he's simply exposed himself for the opportunist he is.  Thad knows that he is going to be challenged in 2010, and he is unwilling to give Democrats in the District this issue to run on.  Fair enough.

I still think there's a greater issue to be had.  Do we in the Eleventh want a Congressman who would even consider voting against children's health care?

2010 Cattle Call

The Democratic bench in the Eleventh District is actually surprisingly deep.  But who will be the person actually willing to take on Thaddeus McCotter?  Here is the first 2010 Cattle Call, ranking who is most likely to be the Democratic nominee for Congress.

1. Speaker Andy Dillon - Though seen by some as a polarizing figure due to the recall fight that engulfed him this past year, the term-limited Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives will be highly recruited by the Party.  Re-elected to the State House with 66% of the vote last November, Dillon has a strong base of support in Redford.
2. Senator Glenn Anderson - State Senator from Livonia, Anderson would be strong candidate based on geography alone.  He would be able to eat in to McCotter's base in the city, which is certainly a consideration.  He is a strong progressive, but the trick will be getting him to leave the State Senate, where he is not term-limited.
3. State Representative Marc Corriveau - I volunteered for Representative Corriveau in the last campaign, and was very impressed with his candidacy.  As a Democrat who was able to carry Northville in his last election, Corriveau is clearly capable of talking to the white-collar suburban voters that make up a significant portion of this district.  I don't expect Corriveau to run, but if he does, he'll be a force to be reckoned with.
4. Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano - Although an unlikely candidate, Ficano would be a perfect fit for the District.  A Livonia resident, Ficano has been involved in County politics for more than twenty years, and has a reputation as being a strong and fair leader in the community.  If Ficano runs, he would be the heavy favorite for the nomination, and would likely clear the field.  It's improbable, but simply given how strong a candidate he would be, he gets a spot on the list.
5. State Representative Richard LeBlanc - LeBlanc is the Democratic Representative from Westland.  Although enormously popular in that area of the District (he was elected with 88% of the vote), LeBlanc is not established in the rest of the Eleventh, and is an unlikely and not particularly strong candidate in any regard.

That's the way I see it.  Only time will tell who will be the nominee.  Of course, it's more than possible that a dark-horse could take the nomination and the District by storm.  In any event, there's no reason we can't put up a competitive candidate in 2010.

Still Mad At Thad

Well, I kind of let this blog get away from me.  It looked like there was zero chance of winning the Eleventh in 2008, what with the state party ignoring it and the underfunded and uninspiring Joe Larkin the Democratic nominee.

Despite the long odds, we came this close to unseating Thaddeus McCotter last November.  Thad pulled in only 51% of the vote, winning by just six points over Larkin.  This happened even as Larkin spent less than $30,000, as opposed to McCotter's more than $1,000,000.

This race is near the top of the national party's list this year.  The Cook Political Report rates the race as "Lean Republican," and a Swing State Project metric combining margin of victory and PVI lists McCotter as the  fifth most vulnerable House GOPer.

With all that on our side, there is no reason that we can't take down Thad McCotter in 2010.  While much of my confidence last cycle was little more than naivete, there is real reason to believe that we can knock off the House Republican Policy Committee Chairman in the coming cycle.

Joseph Larkin Win Democratic Primary

Livonia lawyer Joseph Larkin is the Democratic nominee for Congress in the Eleventh Congressional District.

Receiving 73% of the primary vote last night, Larkin defeated Ed Kriewall in a landslide.  The work has just begun, with less than 3 months left until the general election.

This race will, unfortunately, not be competitive.  Larkin has only $2,799 cash on hand, good enough for a mere .49% of Thaddeus McCotter's $565,081.  You can't run a competitive campaign with less than $3000.  It's a shame, in a R+1 congressional district, that the Eleventh District would be ceded.

So what's the best case scenario?  First off, Larkin needs to start fundraising.  He'll never reach parity with McCotter, but if he can raise somewhere near $100,000, he can at least run a campaign.  Larkin needs to get out there and campaign - hard.  If he wants to have any chance in this race, he'll need to be campaigning everyday.  He should challenge McCotter to a series of debates.  This race, if nothing changes, with end in a ten point McCotter win.  We need a game changer to make this race even remotely close.  McCotter is too good of a pol to lose this race.  Mr. Larkin, you need to win it.

May Roundup

It's been quite a while since I've posted an update. I've been extremely busy as school winds down - I promise to have more timely updates during the summer.

Unfortunately, while I may have taken the month off, Thad hasn't. So here is a quick roundup of May's happenings:

• Thad's trying to scare up the election year wedge issue of gay marriage. Rep. McCotter is one of 29 Republicans co-sponsoring Rep. Paul Brown's constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in the United States. This follows the California Supreme court's decision to legalize gay marriage in that state. It guess it is no surprise that Thad would take such an intolerant position. In supporting the bill, Thad aligns himself with such agents of intolerance as Virgil Goode and Steve King.
• Thaddeus called the sitting Speaker of the House a dictator. “It’s not a dictatorial strength, which is what people were used to from [former Republican Majority Leader] Tom DeLay and Nancy Pelosi now.”
• Also, Thad has a new mailing going out around the district. In it, Mr. 15% from the League of Conservation Voters calls for conserving our Earth. He also has the gall to say that he supports expanding S-CHIP after he voted against it. He also failed to mention Iraq.

So Thad's been busy. Again, I promise less sporadic updates come summer.

A Path To Victory

Victory in the Eleventh this year is unlikely. With plenty other more enticing races around the country, the national party organization will likely ignore this race. Even the Michigan Democratic Party will be busy, with MI-7 and MI-9 being much better pick-up opportunities.

McCotter has a big name and a bigger checkbook. Our nominee will be unknown and underfunded. It will take, as I've stated earlier, a truly people powered campaign to take down Thad. We'll need a movement, not a candidate to win this race.

We need to educate the voters on Thad's record. We need to hammer Thad on the War, on S-CHIP, on the environment. Thad does not represent our interests in Washington, and we must make that clear to his constituents. Again, it will take more than Joe Larkin or Ed Kriewall to do this.

So in the spirit of a people-powered movement starting in Plymouth, I'd like to announce the formation of a Mad At Thad ActBlue page. ActBlue is a vital tool for progressives across the nation to build winning campaigns. We here in the Eleventh will be utilizing it as well.

Now, I'm a minor. I'm legally not allowed to contribute. So I'm counting on you. My goal is to have eleven donors over the next month. Just enough to show that the foundation for a grassroots campaign exists here in the Eleventh. Please consider making a contribution, and help us move one step closer to ousting Thad.

Spencer Withdraws; Endorses Larkin

I have good news and bad news.

First, the bad news. Tom Spencer withdrew from the race, this time for good. He never had enough funding to be a serious candidate.

The good news is that this primary is not over. The reason that Spencer withdrew was the entry of Livonia attorney Joseph Larkin. Spencer released the following statement explaining his decision:

Dear Friends and Supporters,

The upcoming election is one of the most important elections to come along in a long time. It will determine the future of this country as a republic based on the rule of law and not on the rule of men. For several years now this District has not had a representative that represented the people and as I visited with people in the District, I found that to be one of the most important issues people were disgruntled with.

It is time for us to take back the seat that Mr. McCotter has held and abused and give it back to the people. This election isn’t about me or other single person; it is about the future of our District, State, and Federal Government. In other words, it is about our people and their future. I feel it is important that we get behind someone that truly has the ability to beat Mr. McCotter in the upcoming election and that is why I am throwing my whole-hearted support behind Joe Larkin. He is a progressive Democrat with connections to the party for many years. But even more important, he wants to represent the people of the District and do what is best for our country.

I am asking for those who have supported me in the past and who signed my petitions to give their support to Joe. It will be a hard fight to overcome the entrenched candidate, but I feel Joe is the one to do it. I plan to continue to work to remove Mr. McCotter from office in anyway that I can.

Please visit Joe's website at www.larkinleadership.com. Thanks again for all your support and kind words of encouragement over the past several months.

Sincerely,

Tom Spencer

Larkin looks like he could be a good candidate. His website, Larkin Leadership, contains a detailed platform. He's against our continued occupation of Iraq, he has some great ideas on how to fix the nation's economy, and places an emphasis on the environment that I think will need to be a major issue this fall if we are to defeat Mr. 15%.

The one issue that seems like it might be trouble in the primary for Larkin is the fact that he is pro-life. But I like how he phrased his position to the Observer:

"It seems the only area he's concerned about pro-life is when you're in the womb and not when you come out of the womb," he said. "For example, he voted against extension of health care benefits for poor children. That is an area where I absolutely would have voted yes."

To recap, we still have an interesting primary and there is still a lot of work to do. I think that a heated primary campaign between Ed Kriewall and Joe Larkin would be good for the party, as neither of them have the name recognition needed right now. My message to the candidates: keep it clean, stick to the issues, and together we can win this November.