Race for MI-1: The ‘Lumberjack’

I used to live in Marquette, which is located in the Upper Peninsula of Michgan and is in the first congressional district.  The area is currently represented by Bart Stupak (D) and I think he does a nice jb of balancing democratic values with a rather conservative political climate in the district – although I strongly disagree with his stance pro-life stance.

On the Republican side, he has three potential challengers:  Tom Casperson (current state legislator), Linda Goldthorpe (lawyer) and Don Hooper (crazyman).  I can confidently say that I expect Casperson to be the nominee after the August 5th primary because he has the name recognition, ‘experience’ and the establishment support; he already seems to be running his campaign as though he is in the general election.

And I sure do have some insight and thoughts to share on Mr. Casperson.

McCain plans $400M campaign despite Public Financing

Wow.  $400 million is A LOT of money, but that is how much McCain’s campaign manager says the campaing is budgeting for during the election (both primary and general).  This is not all his own money, obviously, especially since McCain has chosen to keep his promise to accept public financing.  The plan looks as follows:

The McCain campaign expects to benefit from the Republican National Committee’s widening fundraising edge over the Democratic National Committee. The party committees are allowed to coordinate spending with their presidential nominees, as well as make independent, uncoordinated expenditures.

At the end of May, the RNC had more than ten times as much money in the bank as the DNC — $40.6 million to $4.4 million. June financial reports are due with the Federal Election Commission on July 20.

Both parties also have formed joint fundraising accounts with their candidates. Davis said the McCain Victory 2008 committee had $67.8 million in the bank at the end of June. Combined with McCain’s own war chest, the Arizona senator now has about $94.5 million as he prepares to enter the general election. (Full article)

With Obama opting out of public financing, there has been a lot of debate about the system and whether it works or not.

Hillary’s Legacy

Well, this may not exactly be her legacy overall, but I figured I would make the title somewhat interesting.  Today, the Clinton campaign sent out e-mails to supporters asking for help in retiring campaign debt accrued during the bitterly-fought primary.  Being a Hillary fan myself, I figured I would pass the message along. 

What is also interesting is that you can get a t-shirt if you donate $50 or more.  The e-mail says:

I know you’re as proud as I am of everything we achieved and I hope I can count on you to work with me on the issues that brought us together. By helping us pay down the debt from one of the hardest-fought races in Democratic primary history, you’re making a real difference today for all our future efforts.

Plus, if you contribute $50, you’ll get one of our winning t-shirts. It’s a great statement

I was behind Hillary all the way, and I’m debating whether I should get one or not.  Anyway, just figured I’d share this with you all, just in case you have a little extra money lying around or whatnot.   You can go to go here to contribute.

Dave Camp: We can Win! (and at the rate Democrats are going… he may be right)

At his annual picnic the other day, Dave Camp had this to say about the election climate for the MI GOP:

“We’re going to win big. Let’s go get ‘em this fall,” Midland Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Camp told supporters at his annual Picnic at the Tridge Monday.

    He wasn’t speaking only of his bid for a 10th consecutive two-year term in the House.

    ”This state is winnable” for Republicans “all the way down the ticket,” Camp said.

    ”Don’t believe anything the pundits tell you,” he said.

Not that I expect much reality coming from Representative Camp, but I believe he is living in the bubble known as Midland.  However, at this point in the race, I am fairly positive his seat is safe; I have yet to see a single sign for Concannon for Congress in the Midland area.  If you’re out there Mr Concannon (or someone from his campaign) listen up:  YOU CAN’T IGNORE MIDLAND!  No one expects you to win in the city, although Granholm and Stabenow did in 2006, but you can drastically close the margins and it must be done if you plan on winning.

I’m not so sure about the rest of the state though, the rest of Camps republican buddies may be in for a rough ride.  Oh, and polling organizations are starting to put Michigan into Obama’s column, so good luck there.

Ban Volcanos?

One of Carl Levin’s possible 2008 opponents for the US Senate, Bart Baron, had this to say about auto emissions and their impact on the environment:

Let’s get off the back of the auto, oil and petro-chemical industries. I would like to point out that one major volcanic eruption spews more particulate, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide then all the auto emissions, ever. Major volcanic eruptions occur frequently.

I got this little tidbit right from his website.  It is also on ontheissues.com.  He may be on to something, especially since volcanos are also a threat to national security with all the lava and death and such.   If you want some more entertainment, I would suggest checking out www.bartbaron.com, his official website for Senate; I call tell you that I’ll be sad when this guy loses the August Republican Primary to Jack Hoogendyk – Baron would be much more fun to run against!

Dave Camp and Energy

So, I am on a role today in terms of writing.  I figured I would keep up with the energy/environment kick I seem to be on (ask anyone who has been around me, it’s not just on here), so I present to you from www.ontheissues.org Dave Camp’s (R, MI-4) record on ‘Oil and Energy’.

Voted NO on tax incentives for renewable energy. (Feb 2008

Voted NO on investing in homegrown biofuel. (Aug 2007)

Voted YES on criminalizing oil cartels like OPEC. (May 2007)

Voted NO on removing oil & gas exploration subsidies. (Jan 2007)

Voted NO on keeping moratorium on drilling for oil offshore. (Jun 2006)

Voted YES on scheduling permitting for new oil refinieries. (Jun 2006)

Voted YES on authorizing construction of new oil refineries. (Oct 2005)