This is a short diary, but an important one for anyone who's been following the ongoing saga of MI-08.
Progressive Democrat and Alan Grayson-like Congressional candidate Lance Enderle will be a guest on Nicole Sandler's "Radio or Not" program this evening at 6:40pm EST.
OK. As many of you know, I've been posting diaries about the unusual situation going on in Michigan's 8th Congressional District, where all-around wingnut Republican Mike Rogers has been in office for the past 10 years.
Congressman Mike Rogers (MI-08) believes that Wikileaks whistleblower, Army Pfc. Bradley E. Manning, has committed treason and should be put to death by the government. Right now he sits in solitary confinement in a Virginia jail.
"I argue the death penalty clearly should be considered here," Rogers said. Rogers said Manning put "tens of thousands" of American military members and allies abroad in danger by his actions.
"He clearly aided the enemy to what may result in the death of U.S. soldiers or those cooperating. If that is not a capital offense, I don't know what is."
Tried, found guilty and sentenced to death by a U.S. Congressman, all before his day in court. That's today's GOP. Guilty verdict first, death penalty second, fair trial before a jury of your peers ... well ... whenever.
Manning was arrested by the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command in May 2010 and detained without charge for over a month in a military jail at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. In early July, two misconduct charges were brought against him for "transferring classified data onto his personal computer and adding unauthorized software to a classified computer system" and "communicating, transmitting and delivering national defense information to an unauthorized source".
"If Manning is the source of the video, then he did what he had to do to expose a possible war crime. So regardless, he's wrongly imprisoned and we want to do everything possible to support him," said Jeff Paterson, Project Director of Courage to Resist. "I know from past experience working with military objectors that public support and the right civilian defense team can be the difference between an administrative separation and years in the stockade."
If you wish to help with Pfc. Manning's legal defense fund, point your browser to the Bradley Manning Support Network. He'll need all the help he can get, especially since self-appointed judge, jury and executioner, Congressman Mike Rogers, has already dispensed with his right to habeas corpus.
Also, if you are in Michigan's 8th Congressional District, be sure to write in LANCE ENDERLE in the Democratic section of the ballot in today's primary so that Rogers has an opponent in the November election. More details in Brainwrap's excellent Rec Listed diary at Daily Kos.
(Promoted from the diaries. This story is gaining traction nationally. There are suggestions that perhaps Kande Ngalamulume actually INTENDED to drop out of the race when he did in a strategic manner to benefit Congressman Mike Rogers. Is this true? I don't know. But the timing and manner of his departure from the race is suggestive and worthy of further investigation. In the meantime, anyone in MI-08 should be doing what they can to get Lance Enderle the write-in votes he needs to be on the ballot in November to face off against Mike Rogers. They are estimating that he needs 2,000 write-in votes. If you're in MI-08, please consider helping Lance anyway you can. - promoted by eclectablog)
With only 2 days to go before the primary, and the extremely long odds of a write-in campaign winning, this story needs as much exposure as possible, as quickly as possible!
This, of course, is where Howard Dean's 50-State Strategy kicks in, right? DON'T CEDE ANY DISTRICT TO THE REPUBLICANS; run a candidate everywhere, no matter how long the odds. And here's the thing: Rogers won the seat in 2000 by just 111 votes, the closest Congressional election in Michigan's history, I believe. He's managed to win re-election easily in the following 4 races, mostly due to the Dems not fielding a serious candidate (exception: Jim Marcinkowski was an awesome candidate in 2006, but Dem resources were spread so thin picking up the low-hanging fruit in dozens of other races that he was tragically lost in the shuffle.
Cut to the 2010 campaign.
Earlier this year, a guy named Kande Ngalamulume decided to take a shot. Unfortunately, after finding a lack of financial support, he dropped out of the race on June 2--in a very public manner (via email press release), several weeks after the filing deadline. According to the local press, he then left the state.
Since he waited until after the filing deadline to drop out, and was the only one to file, his name will remain on the August 3rd ballot and, presumably, the November general election ballot anyway unless either dies or registers to vote in a different state--and so far, he hasn't filed elsewhere. If he does, then the 8th District Dems can legally challenge his name being on the ballot and could scramble to get someone else to replace him, but otherwise, they're in a bind. Rogers now has a completely uncontested race, and is free to roam around the state, raising money for whoever the GOP has running agains Mark Schauer (MI-07) and Gary Peters (MI-09), or turning over a chunk of his million-dollar war chest to the RNC, or whatever he likes. The 8th District Dems are in a pickle.
However, there is one more way out of this pickle, Which brings me to the point of this diary:
Lance is a government school teacher (he was laid off last year; don't get me started about the state budget cuts by the GOP-controlled Michigan State Senate). He also happens to be a pro-choice, progressive Democrat, who was very active in Democratic politics in the '90's up north (He worked for Bart Stupak for a number of years; say what you will about Stupak, but aside from his recent HCR/Abortion debacle, he's been a pretty solid Dem on most of the other important issues). He got burnt out and got out of the political game 10 years ago...until a few weeks ago.
Lance decided that he was so pissed off about the thought of Mike Rogers getting a free ride that he's going to attempt the impossible improbable: He filed to run for U.S. Congress as a write-in Democrat.
His primary goal (pun intended) is to at least win the nomination. While stopping there would normally be pretty meaningless, given the unique circumstances at hand, this would be huge.
I got in touch with Lance after hearing about him jumping into the ring and he's brought me on board to handle his campaign website.
The bad news, of course, is that not only does he have to get more votes than the only name actually on the ballot on Aug. 3rd; not only does he have to hope that the voters of the district know how to spell his name; but he also only has 2 more days to get the word out about it.
If you can't donate money, please at least help spread the word, Thanks!
Full disclosure: While I'm working at a substantial discount, I am still being paid. Mostly, however, I'm just upset at the mess caused by Kande's withdrawl and am trying to help salvage the situation.
P.S. Here's a pic of Lance, for what it's worth:
Update:I'll actually be offline for the rest of the afternoon so I won't be able to post any further updates/responses until early this evening, however, I'll be sure to do so when I can.
Also, I have jury duty all day tomorrow (Monday), so I won't just be offline, I won't even be able to follow the story since you can't bring cameraphones (read: my iPhone) into the courthouse. I'll be checking in/following up tomorrow evening, however, and of course on Tuesday (primary day itself).
Thanks again to everyone who's been helping out on this!
Edited by eclectablog to put the entire diary on the front page.
OK, first off, this is a very strange situation, so please bear with me. More importantly, please rec this diary up; we need as much exposure as possible, as quickly as possible.
Michigan's 8th District has been "represented" (if you can call it that) by a Republican named Mike Rogers since 2000, when he won a squeaker of a race by just 111 votes to fill the U.S. House seat vacated by Debbie Stabenow when she was elected to the U.S. Senate.
You might be thinking that, given the closeness of the race, that MI-08 should be a district that the Dems could take back if they put their minds to it. Unfortunately, up until now, that hasn't happened. He won 68/31 in 2002, 61/37 in 2004, 55/43 in 2006 and 56/40 in 2008.
The closest anyone has gotten to him was Jim Marcinkowski in 2006, a former CIA agent and Naval Operations Specialist--and that was in an extremely Dem-friendly year (Marcinkowski, a former Republican, actually ran for Congress mostly because he was furious about the outing of Valerie Plame, who was a friend of his from his CIA days).
Now, don't get me wrong--Rogers isn't a star in the GOP. As far as I can tell, he's very good at raising money and getting re-elected, and not much else. Once in a while, he'll pop his head up on TV long enough to say something incredibly stupid, like blaming Pres. Obama for McChrystal's insults in Rolling Stone. Other than that, he's kind of a cypher, a rubber stamp for the GOP, but boy is he good at keeping his seat.
OK, so, Rogers is sitting pretty, right? He has a million bucks in the bank, it's a GOP-leaning year, and the district seems to have been pretty much ceded by the national Dems.
This, of course, is where Howard Dean's 50-State Strategy kicks in, right? DON'T CEDE ANY DISTRICT TO THE REPUBLICANS; run a candidate everywhere, no matter how long the odds. At worst, you'll at least make sure to get the Democratic message out and force the GOP incumbent to stick around their district and spend a few bucks out of their war chest. At best, the incumbent will be caught with their pants down (either figuratively or, more likely, literally), and voila, you pick up the seat after all!
Cut to the 2010 campaign.
Earlier this year, a young guy named Kande Ngalamulume (he was born in Zaire, now known as the Congo) decided to take a shot. No political experience, he'd lived outside of Michigan since 2002. His biggest claim to fame was having been a track star at Michigan State. However, he seemed like a good enough guy, and rightly got a lot of kudos for stepping up to the plate this year. He gave up his job in Pennsylvania to move back home.
I met him in February, and in March he hired me to take over the maintenance of his campaign website (someone else had set it up, but wasn't able to do the day-to-day updates). I can't afford to do campaign sites pro bono, but recognized the shoestring nature of his campaign and gave a hefty discount for my time. No one else seemed interested, so he was the only one to file, and had the Democratic nomination to himself; his name will be the only on on the ballot on the August 3rd primary.
Unfortunately, after finding a lack of financial support (he had only raised a total of around $25,000 or so, I believe), he dropped out of the race on June 2--and not only did so in a very public manner (via email press release), but did so several weeks after the filing deadline...and then left the state.
Since he waited until after the filing deadline to drop out, and was the only one to file, his name will remain on the August 3rd ballot anyway, unless either dies or registers to vote in a different state--and so far, he hasn't filed elsewhere. If he does, then the 8th District Dems can legally challenge his name being on the ballot and could scramble to get someone else to replace him, but otherwise, they're in a bind. Rogers now has a completely uncontested race, and is free to roam around the state, raising money for whoever the GOP has running against Democratic freshmen Mark Schauer (MI-07) and Gary Peters (MI-09), or turning over a chunk of his million-dollar war chest to the RNC, or whatever he likes. A GOP seat is now 100% safe, 2 Democratic seats are further threatened, and the 8th District Dems are in a pickle.
However, there is one more way out of this pickle: If someone runs as a write-in candidate against Kande Ngalamulume in the Democratic primary and wins, the problem is resolved. Yes, they'd still face the longest of odds against Rogers in November, but at least they'd be doing the yeoman's job of keeping Rogers distracted, preventing him from helping the GOP out too much, and saving some face for the local party.
NOTE: Edited to remove the unnecessary negativity about Mr. Ngalamulume; I shouldn't have been speculating on his reasons for doing what he did, and they're irrelevant to the current situation anyway.
Lance is a government school teacher (he was laid off last year; don't get me started about the state budget cuts by the GOP-controlled Michigan State Senate). He also happens to be a pro-choice, progressive Democrat, who was very active in Democratic politics in the '90's up north (He worked for Bart Stupak for a number of years; say what you will about Stupak, but aside from his recent HCR/Abortion debacle, he's been a pretty solid Dem on most of the other important issues). He got burnt out and got out of the political game 10 years ago...until a couple of weeks ago.
Lance decided that he was so pissed off about the thought of Mike Rogers getting a free ride that he's going to attempt the impossible improbable: He filed to run for U.S. Congress as a write-in Democrat.
His primary goal (pun intended) is to at least win the nomination. While stopping there would normally be pretty meaningless, given the unique circumstances at hand, this would be huge.
The bad news, of course, is that not only does he have to get more votes than the only name actually on the ballot on Aug. 3rd; not only does he have to hope that the voters of the district know how to spell his name; but he also only has 35 days to get the word out about it.
The good news (I hope) is that he has you...and me! Yep, after being burnt by one MI-08 Democratic Congressional Candidate, I've willingly signed on to help out another one, in the same race, even! I got in touch with Lance after hearing about him jumping into the ring and he's brought me on board to handle HIS campaign website from top to bottom.
Now, I know what you're saying: This guy doesn't have a chance in hell. OK, probably, but if you'd told me on September 12, 2001 that the next President elected--with more votes than any other candidate in history, I might add--would be a black Democrat named Barack Hussein Obama, I'd have said you were nuts.
Alright, hyperbole and wishful thinking aside, Mike Rogers remains a total jackass. At the very least I think it's worth a shot. Besides, look what happened to Mark Foley--a 12-year incumbent in a 65%+ Republican district. Then he gets caught sending porn messages to underage boys and voila! We have an extra Democrat in Congress! (Yeah, that guy turned out to be kind of a jerk as well, but you get my point; anything can happen in a political campaign, but if you don't have someone running, you have no chance of picking up the pieces).
If you can't donate money, please at least rec this up and spread the word. Thanks.
Full disclosure: While I'm working for far less than my normal rates, I am still being modestly paid. Mostly, however, I'm just pissed at the mess Kande caused and am trying to help salvage the situation.
He isn't facing your standard, uphill battle to unseat an incumbent, either.
Enderle is blunt-honest, humorous and trying to do the near impossible by defeating longtime incumbent U.S. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, who has an estimated $900,000 in his campaign treasure chest.
The 41-year-old laid-off schoolteacher said he's not a rank-and-file Democrat but a "living, breathing and bleeding" one.
"I just don't play the game," Enderle said.
"I'm not a politician," he said. "I'm John Q. Public."
Like Kande Ngalamulume before him, Mr. Enderle has a BIG job ahead of him trying to unseat a well-funded, five-term incumbent and I give him credit for his effort.
But, seriously, Michigan Democrats, is this really the best you can do? Isn't there some mid-Michigan Democrat with some name recognition and [gasp!] maybe some actual credentials that you could field for the November election? Former mayors Sam Singh (currently running for MSU Board of Trustees) or Mark Meadows (currently the 69th District State Rep.), maybe? Or howzabout 67th District State Rep. Barb Byrum?
Mike Rogers (MI-08) says dumb things pretty regularly but this is particularly absurd. Check out the video at about 0:49 in.
But, I tell you, I think this is a huge symptom when a guy like General McChrystal feels so frustrated to express himself the way he did (or at least he allegedly did) in that article, it shows the symptoms of the problem of the policy in Afghanistan. The diplomacy level and the military level are working at cross-purposes here and it's causing a huge problem.
Ah. So if only it weren't for that damn Obama Afghanistan policy, this never would have happened. Apparently Congressman Rogers is unaware that General McChrystal was one of the authors of the counter-intelligence (COIN) strategy that he's condemning!!!
But, hey, let's not let that get in the way of a good ObamaSlamTM, eh?
You can't have military commanders out there working against the policies of the president even if they're wrong. That's my job and it's the job of others to comment on the policy of how they're doing this and for us to bring to light that there are serious problems with the way they are going about the fight in Afghanistan and it's causing serious problems...
Problems like having our commanding generals not being able to shut the hell up? Yeah, Mike, that's a real problem. Good thing they have guys like you to take the blame off their shoulders and place it squarely in President Obama's lap. Funny, though, how you stayed so quiet about our military strategy in Afghanistan when George W. Bush was president, despite the fact that it really hasn't changed. Just another IOKIYAR example, I suppose...
While it pains a liberal like me to see Rogers go without an opponent, I have long been skeptical that Mr. Ngalamulume had the credentials to be anything more than a speedbump on Rogers' reelection as a member of Congress. Unseating a five-term incumbent is tough enough but getting elected in MI-08 which includes conservative strongholds like Howell, Brighton, and Fowlerville would be particulary difficult for someone without wider name recognition and without a longer resume to stand on.
Because the filing deadline has passed, Mr. Ngalamulume's name will remain on the ballot. Anyone wishing to be a write-in candidate, an even tougher prospect, has until July 23rd to file.
Kelly Chesney, spokeswoman for the Secretary of State's Office, said Ngalamulume's name will appear on the Aug. 3 primary ballot regardless of his withdrawal. She said if a write-in candidate receives more votes in the Democratic primary than Ngalamulume, that candidate's name will appear on the general election ballot Nov. 2.
Write-in candidates for the primary face a July 23 deadline to apply so their write-in votes will be counted.
Mr. Ngalamulume made the following statements regarding his withdrawal from the race:
It is with a grieving heart that I must announce I am ending my campaign for Congress. After two difficult months of trying to get this grass-roots campaign off the ground, it is now apparent to me that there is not enough interest amongst the political establishment and many constituents in this district to replace Mike Rogers in Congress. As a result, I am suspending my campaign at once.
All along, I knew that trying to unseat a five-term incumbent would be a rather difficult proposition; however, I did not let that deter me from jumping into the trenches to fight for the future of this great state that I love. I will always be proud of what we were able to accomplish, with very limited resources, and in such a short period of time.
I have to confess that these types of comments, blaming the "Democratic establishment" and the constituents for a candidate's inability to create enthusiasm for their campaign ring a bit hollow to me. Connie Saltonstall did pretty much the same thing when she dropped out of the race to replace Bart Stupak in MI-01.
I know it's painful to be in the position to withdraw from a race. But, please, take some ownership of your campaign and don't blame others. If a candidate can't generate the buzz needed to be successful, that candidate should at least be candid enough to admit it.
That said, I give Mr. Ngalamulume credit for getting into the race in the first place. It took courage and I wish him well on his future efforts in the political realm. Heck, we went to the same high school. That counts for something, right?!
Vowing the voices of the vast majority of the American people would not be silenced by the Democrat Congress' Stalinist tactics, Republicans took to the dimly-lit, microphone and C-SPAN-silenced House floor. There, they demanded a vote to lower gas prices by unleashing America's oil and energy resources" from the clutches of the left-wing special interests controlling Speaker Pelosi and her Democrat Congress.
It's Swift Boat ads all over again. Our fine friend Thaddeus and his cohorts think they can spin, lie and bully their way into another election year. All of a sudden August 2008 is feeling a lot like August 2004.
What's Thaddeus huffing and puffing about? Let's take a look.
"the Democrat Congress' Stalinist tactics"
Stalinist? Hardly. Last Friday the House voted to adjourn and take a five week recess, same as they do every year at this time. Same as they did when Tom DeLay, Dennis Hastert and Newt Gingrich were Speaker and the Republicans were in the majority and setting the agenda. Under House rules--which is an extended version of Robert's Rules of Order, motions to adjourn are not debateable. The body votes immediately on the motion. If the motion passes--all you need is 50%+1 of those present--the session ends and everyone goes home. It's the way every legislative body works.
So for all the bluster, nothing unusual happened. McCotter only wants you to think something happened. The majority sets the agenda. It always has. Tom DeLay constantly reminded us the fact, by refusing to entertain legislation to end the war, rescind the Patriot Act, create a sustainable energy policy, or investigate the long list of Bush administration abuses. Funny how Republicans want one set of rules for them and another for everyone else when it suits them.
"they demanded a vote to lower gas prices by unleashing America's oil and energy resources from the clutches of the Left-wing special interests controlling Speaker Pelosi and her Democrat Congress"
If this weren't sad, it would be funny. After Dick Cheney held closed meetings with the heads of energy companies to fix prices (anyone remember Ken Lay and Enron?), it's hard to believe the Republicans can say this with a straight face. What Thaddeus is really saying is "Republican and big oil interests are different from the Majority's, and we don't like it." If you listened to scientists instead of oil company lobbyists once in a while Thad, you might figure out that drilling in the Arctic and the Gulf of Mexico isn't going to fix our energy problems, nor will it lower gasoline prices.
This is our generation of Americans' 'Boston Tea Party!'
Wow! I had no idea that John Adams and the Sons of Liberty were shills for whale oil companies.
House Republicans will be rearranging schedules, flying thousands of miles, and refusing to take a paid vacation. Instead, the GOP will take to the House floor every day to ensure the voice of Americans' is heard; there is a vote to make our country energy secure and independent; and keep America the greatest nation on Earth!
Flying thousands of miles. Now that's a way to conserve energy.
Thad, your constituents are curious--why--during all those years of a Republican majority in both chambers--wasn't a comprehensive energy policy developed?
Oh, I forgot. Drilling in the Arctic is your energy policy.
A word to the wise about your excessive use of exclamation points, Congressman McCotter. They make you look silly and they make creative writing teachers cringe.
