Mike Callaghan is the type of candidate we say we want, but are we willing to support him?
For example, Callaghan is not afraid of being a Democrat while running in a district that went for George W. Bush in 2004.
While all of the other Congressional seats in the state are held by Democrats, the oddly shaped West Virginia 2nd District is held by a Tom Delay Republican, Shelley Moore Capito. Yet on his signs and campaign materials, Callaghan has Democrat in large letters. He’s not running from the party like others.
Indeed, if you see Shelley Moore Capito’s blue campaign signs, no where do you see the word “Republican” or her party affiliation. It’s not on her web site either. Go to it, and one of the most prominently displayed testimonials is from a Democrat. Now there is a candidate running from her party.
Kos mentioned the other day in a front page post that it bothers him when Democrats don’t include their party affiliation in their campaign materials, but he said he understood it when some of them don’t in the red areas.
Callaghan runs proudly as a Democrat.
Nor is he afraid of taking very progressive positions.
At a press conference the other day, he stated (pdf):
The key to restoring and increasing funding for vital children’s and healthcare programs within the state lies in rolling back the tax cuts to the wealthy and immediately forming a plan for withdrawing troops from Iraq, Callaghan said.
“[The war] is a huge financial drain on our country,” he said. “I demand an immediate plan for the withdrawal to stop the bleeding of resources.”
See his very effective online ad on children’s funding cuts at his web site.
This district had long been held by Democrats. Capito, the daughter of the convicted and corrupted Gov. Arch Moore, took the seat in a narrow victory in 2000 when then Congressman Bob Wise ran and won election as governor. Capito has seemingly followed in her father’s footsteps by being the largest recipient of the crooked Tom Delay’s campaign contributions. In return, she’s been a loyal Republican rubber stamp. However, the certainty of her votes for the Republican party has not translated into any benefit at all in her District. A recent analysis of her efficiency showed her the least effective of all the West Virginia delegation — and she’s the only one in the majority party. How ineffective is she? Go to the “Getting the Job Done” page on her own web site. It’s blank!
I canvassed for Mike today. (Fellow kossack blonde moment canvassed with me and provided a lot of support — literally by letting me leaning on her and going up the stairs.)
We are competing against a well-financed campaign. We have not seen any good polling data on this race in months. But the fact Capito is dropping a lot more on advertising in this race compared to 2004 indicates to many of us she knows something we don’t know. She’s nervous about losing.
She should be. Mike is a former federal prosecutor. He’s served as the secretary of environmental protection where he went after coal mine operators in violation of the law pretty hard (which is one of the reasons the state’s robber baron Don Blankenship is so opposed to him). Mike can talk the good-old boy talk that many West Virginians want to hear because he is a good-old boy who grew up fishing in the stream in the front yard and hunting in the woods in the back of his house.
People in this district are beginning to wake up to the fact that Shelley Moore Capito has not done anything for them. The right wingers also are beginning to realize that while Capito may be an extremist to us, she’s not as rabidly right wing enough for them. In other words, she’s a closet pro-choice supporter. Go to the “Meet Shelley” page of her web site. It’s blank too! Indeed, no where on her site does she describe her position on the issues. So why should they come out to support her?
Mike is the kind of candidate the net roots should be behind because he’s on our side on the issues.
So if you haven’t contributed to Mike, I ask you to do so. If you’ve given before, thank you. And I’m sorry to have to ask you to dig into your pockets and give again.
You can give either through Act Blue or by mail.
You can also contact Mike’s campaign here brandy@mikewv.com or sign up to volunteer at frontoffice@mikewv.com.
Please.
