Politics in Michigan's 9th

Whoey. Trouble in River City

2007-09-25T17:13:00.000-07:00

Apparently all hell broke lose in the last 2 days over the posts mentioned below. The DHinMI/Dana Houle guy accused the poster named "NetrootsProgressive" of being Rhonda Ross, another candidate in the race.

I have no idea if it is true or not, stay tuned.

Is Gary Peters a "Republican Lite"?

2007-09-24T12:15:00.000-07:00

There was a heated debate on http://www.dailykos.com/ yesterday. A poster said that the netroots was jumping on board the Peters campaign just because he was the candidate that has been anointed by the Democratic Party -- but that he is not a true progressive candidate. That instead his

I sent an email to the poster -- but he said he wrongly identified by DHinMI and then after he identified DHinMI as Dana Houle, former Chief of Staff to NH Congressman Hobes, DHinMI banned the poster from DailyKos!

The poster, netrootsprogressive, said that DHinMI/DanaHoule was in a particularly foul mood since he had recently been fired from his job as Chief of Staff to Hobes. Apparently there was some scandal and Houle advised Hobes not to endorse a man who happened to be gay for the position of Director of the NH Democratic party. There is an article here: http://www.cmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070319/REPOSITORY/703190364/1037/NEWS97 and another one at http://marisacat.wordpress.com/2007/09/19/buddhas-a-go-go/

Basically, it sounds like DHinMI/Houle is a complete wack job. And he strongly supports Gary Peters. That is the kind of support Peters can do without.

Anyway the original poster claimed that Peters website contains such bland positions that they could easily be interchanged with those of a Republican. Seems like that should be problem in a Democratic primary. But as the poster notes, Peters has the support of the Democratic powers that be and the money that goes along with that.

Frankly, reading that post and seeing the party establshment line up so tightly behind Peters is reason enough for me to not want to support him. He is already indebted to the Party and that means he will do as he is told instead of doing the right thing. That is not leadership. That is sheepdip.

Probable and Potential Candidates for Michigan's 9th District

2007-09-23T11:07:00.001-07:00

Republicans:
The incumbent, Joe Knollenberg has already announced his candidacy for reelection and now he has a campaign website and a blog. I've lived in this District for a long time and I've gotten more mailings from Knollenberg in the last 6 months than I have in the last 12 years. He must be nervous.

Last year, a moderate Republican woman, Pan Godchaux, ran against Knollenberg in the primary. She seemed like a good candidate, but couldn't beat Knollenberg in the primary. I have not been able to find any information suggesting that she is running this year. That is too bad. She seems to be the ideal candidate -- smart, independent, not afraid to stand up to her own party, well connected in the community, etc. We need more candidates like her.

Democrats:
The only candidate that seems to have announced for 2008 is Gary Peters. He made an announcement in August and has filed with the FEC. The 2006 Democrat candidate was Nancy Skinner. I see a lot of references online to her intent to run, but I cannot find an official announcement. She does have a campaign committee listed with the FEC, but it seems to be the same committee she had for the 2006 election.

There were 3 other candidates that ran in 2006 but dropped out before the Democrat primary. Frank Cona was a history teacher who ran and dropped out. There is no indication that he plans to run again.

John Ashcraft ran and seemed to be a better candidate than Skinner in 2006. He certainly fit the district better with his auto experience and the fact that he has lived in the area. (Skinner was often characterized, fairly or not, as a carpetbagger since she moved from Illinois to Michigan to run.) But he dropped out and there is no indication that he intends to run again.

Rhonda Ross also ran but dropped out in 2006. There are rumors online that she is running again. Her website indicates it is under construction and that it was last updated in 2007 so that seems to be a pretty good indication that she is running. I hope she runs. She seems to have good credentials.

News Impacting Voters in Michigan's 9th District

2007-09-23T10:22:00.000-07:00

If you are like me, you are fed up with the war in Iraq and with the reckless disregard Congress has for us, the voters.

I used to be a Republican. I was born into a family of Republicans and I believed in the principle of a small federal government whose primary purpose was to provide for national defense.

But I am fed up with what the Republicans have done to this country over the past 6 - 12 years.

Congressional Republicans have stood back and let George Bush appoint incompetent cronies to important government positions -- including Rumsfeld who led this country into a disasterous war in Iraq.

Meanwhile, Bush and Congress have increased the size of the federal government to record size while also creating a record debt on all of us. This debt is not only bad from an economic perspective but it is dangerous because the holders of this debt -- particularly the Chinese -- have the power to destroy our economy and our country.

I'm also angry that Congress has done nothing to help protect the auto industry. My job is at risk. My neighbors jobs are at risk. We are all worried about losing our pensions and our health insurance. The Republicans claim to be pro business, but I haven't seen them do anything except to maybe help the highest ranking officials of our companies. Those of us in middle management are stressed and suffering headaches and ulcers because we don't know what will happen to us if our company has another cutback or if it files bankruptcy.

So I will freely admit that I am no fan of Joe Knollenberg. He is the current Congressman for this district and a Republican. He hasn't done a thing to help us since he has been in Congress.

I plan to use this blog to inform people of his latest positions and my view of their impact on this district.

I will also discuss other candidates for this office -- Democrat and Republican. Although I plan to present the facts, I will also give you my analysis and opinion and encourage you to leave comments regarding your opinions on these issues.

The more informed we are for the election in 2008, the more hope we have towards changing Congress and hopefully changing the path this Country is on.