If you don’t like a government paid for by corporations, you need to help pay for a government you do like.
Yesterday, I unveiled the Booman Tribune ActBlue list. One of the candidates I selected is Linda Stender, candidate for the 7th Congressional District of New Jersey. The 7th district on one of those strangely drawn districts (see below) that are the result of gerrymandering. Most of the district is made up of affluent Christie Todd Whitman Republicans. But it also contains the heavily black South Plainfield and some poorer rural communities in the West. I grew up about thirty miles south of the 7th District.
Stender’s opponent is Mike Ferguson. He’s not a pro-choice Republican, like Whitman. He’s a wingnut. Here’s Stender’s ad on the subject.
Here is Stender’s position on Iraq:
Linda Stender, like most Americans, disagreed with President Bush’s decision to go to war with Iraq.
In Congress, Linda will fight for proper equipment for our soldiers to keep them safe. She will demand accountability from the Pentagon and the Administration, so that our taxpayer dollars are not being wasted. Linda will also push the President for an exit strategy, one that safely phases troops out of Iraq, and a plan to bring American soldiers home from Iraq within one year.
The latest internal poll from Linda Stender’s campaign shows a quickly tightening race. In May, Linda was down 46%-33% but since then she’s cut that gap nearly in half, with Ferguson ahead by just 7 points now: 47%-40% (4.9% MOE). Though Stender has increased her name recognition from 18% in May to 47% now, it’s still only about half of Fergusons (86%). That’s bad news for Ferguson since Stender still has room to grow as she boosts her name recognition (and no doubt Ferguson will continue to help her do that with his ads). After spending over a million dollars on ads, Ferguson was only able to improve his numbers by one point. The really bad news for Ferguson is that he’s an incumbent and still polling below 50%. These numbers have Democrats smelling blood.
In the generic ballot, Democrats lead 44%-38% and 62% of voters give Bush a negative approval rating while only 37% give him a positive rating.
Okay. So, Ferguson is a pro-life pro-Bush, pro-war Republican in a district that trends Republican, but is not pro-life, pro-Bush, or pro-war. All she needs is some more name recognition and the seat is hers. That should be motivation enough to give to her campaign. But let’s look a little deeper at her opponent.
What do you think of a married Congressman that goes out with his staff to college bars and inappropriately gropes women? Not very impressive behavior, is it? A pro-life groper. That’s one step further than Arnold Schwarzenegger. Let’s look at some of Ferguson’s other accomplishments.
Mike Ferguson took $57,000 from indicted former Republican Leader
Tom Delay – more money than any other Republican in Congress. Ferguson
refused to return the money and voted to cut Congressional ethics rules
to protect Delay from prosecution (“DCCC Research, Delay Database;” H.
Res. 5, Vote 6, 1/4/05; Washington Post, 1/5/05)
Mike
Ferguson broke campaign finance laws by illegally loaning his campaign
a half million dollars. The Federal Election Commission penalized
Ferguson with a $210,000 fine – the largest penalty ever for a sitting
member of Congress (Associated Press, 6/13/03)
Mike
Ferguson voted to let lobbyists wine and dine him. In 2003, he voted to
weaken House ethics rules, pushing through language that would allow
lobbyists to cater meals to members’ offices and let charities pay for
lawmakers to travel and stay at golf resorts and other locales (H. Res.
5, Roll Call 4, 1/7/03; Washington Post, 1/8/03)
Mike Ferguson was at the center of an FEC complaint over illegal
contributions. In 2004, a public watchdog group issued a complaint that
six political action committees – including Ferguson’s – helped a
Cincinnati businessman donate more than legally allowed to a candidate
in one of the year’s most competitive congressional races. Four of the
PACs – including Ferguson’s – share the same PO Box (Gannett News
Service, 5/29/04)
It should be clear by now why I selected this race. Mike Ferguson is known as ‘Mr. Embryo’ by his colleagues. He opposed stem-cell research. He’s an extreme opponent of women’s rights, and he is an adulterous, groping, boor on top of it. He’s wrong on the war, he’s a Tom DeLay crony, he breaks FEC regulations, he’s pathetic.
These are not the values of America, New Jersey, or the 7th District. The 7th District is made up of socially moderate Republicans, not pro-life warmongers. Linda Stender is a much better fit to represent them than Mike Ferguson.
So, please, do us all a favor and give Linda Stender some coinage so she can raise her name recognition in this expensive media market. Even if you only have $10 bucks, it’ll help send Ferguson packing and give us a pro-choice, anti-war woman in Congress.
