(Editor's Note: I will only write about the 8th. If you believe any of the other races are close, feel free to post in the comments, where I'll probably laugh at you)
It would be tempting to use the mule rule here, but Democrat Jim Marshall has been involved in enough high profile issues over the last two years to merit a closer look.
Marshall drives progressives absolutely wild. He voted against the children's healthcare program Peachcare. He supported the Iraq war and the surge. Hell, he touts a cozy relationship with right wing talk shows in his radio ads.
Progressives will tell you he needs to challenged to push him to be more Democrat-like. Realists will tell you in order for any Democrat to win the 8th district, a candidate has to be Republican-lite.
Despite all the weirdness of Marshall's stances, none of them are the white elephant. None of them should be the determining factor.
The true outlier is the bailout.
It was one of those votes where if your re-election is fairly safe you can vote for the thing and weather the consequences or if you are in trouble, it is an opportunity to spout populist rhetoric to stir up the passions of the anti-Washington/Wall Street crowd. Very few voted simply in a way which they believed was right.
It takes a brave man to run as a Democrat in a district so ardently Republican. It takes a braver man to cast a critical vote which may destroy his political career.
I do not know if the bailout is wisdom or folly. Only time will tell if it was a necessary evil or a tremendous boondoggle. However, I do know that it provided Jim Marshall with yet another opportunity to display a willingness to do the difficult instead of the convenient.
That particular trait is a rare commodity in politics these days. Agree or disagree with the particulars of the politics, but we should all agree the 8th and Georgia is fortunate to possess a representative with this type of resolve.
VOTE Jim Marshall.
It would be tempting to use the mule rule here, but Democrat Jim Marshall has been involved in enough high profile issues over the last two years to merit a closer look.
Marshall drives progressives absolutely wild. He voted against the children's healthcare program Peachcare. He supported the Iraq war and the surge. Hell, he touts a cozy relationship with right wing talk shows in his radio ads.
Progressives will tell you he needs to challenged to push him to be more Democrat-like. Realists will tell you in order for any Democrat to win the 8th district, a candidate has to be Republican-lite.
Despite all the weirdness of Marshall's stances, none of them are the white elephant. None of them should be the determining factor.
The true outlier is the bailout.
It was one of those votes where if your re-election is fairly safe you can vote for the thing and weather the consequences or if you are in trouble, it is an opportunity to spout populist rhetoric to stir up the passions of the anti-Washington/Wall Street crowd. Very few voted simply in a way which they believed was right.
It takes a brave man to run as a Democrat in a district so ardently Republican. It takes a braver man to cast a critical vote which may destroy his political career.
I do not know if the bailout is wisdom or folly. Only time will tell if it was a necessary evil or a tremendous boondoggle. However, I do know that it provided Jim Marshall with yet another opportunity to display a willingness to do the difficult instead of the convenient.
That particular trait is a rare commodity in politics these days. Agree or disagree with the particulars of the politics, but we should all agree the 8th and Georgia is fortunate to possess a representative with this type of resolve.
VOTE Jim Marshall.
2 comments:
"If you believe any of the other races are close, feel free to post in the comments..."
John Lewis will be close to 100%. Does that count?
:-D
I had the fortune of knowing him when he was mayor of Macon. I don't agree with his stances, and I live in Gingrey's district at the moments. Still, in terms of numbers, a Blue Dog Georgia Democrat is better than a New England Republican in my book.
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