POSSIBLE GATE CRASH IN RHODE ISLAND: MEET CARL SHEELER

If someone even knows there's a Senate race in Rhode Island this year, they might be aware that the "moderate" Republican incumbent, Lincoln Chafee, is being challenged by a Democrat. Chances are if they don't live in either Rhode Island or Georgetown they don't know who the Democrat is. And even if they do live in Rhode Island or Georgetown they might not be aware that there are actually two Democrats, the Establishment/DSCC fave, Sheldon Whitehouse, and a leftfield progressive, Carl Sheeler. About a week ago my pal Christy hipped me to Sheeler's campaign. I dragged my feet. "Awww... Whitehouse is gonna win the primary anyway and him and Sheeler are pretty much the same on everything," I whined. "Besides, Whitehouse can beat Chafee. We don't want to jeopardize that... do we Christy?" I'd do anything for Christy so even when she said she didn't want to jeopardize defeating Chafee, it was still buzzing around in my brain. Then I realized it wasn't only because I wanted to give Christy a hand. My whining sounded like I had been programmed... by Chuck Schumer and the DSCC!

Isn't this the exact same scenario the crafty Schumer had set to work in Pennsylvania, a scenario that will wind up burdening us with Bob Casey, an anti-choice kook who gratuitously bragged he would have voted to confirm Alito and who will be, yes, much better than Santorum (unless Choice is an important issue to you, in which case it's just about a wash), but as bad as Lieberman or a Nelson? The DSCC makes it look like only Whitehouse can beat Chafee and that a Whitehouse primary victory is inevitable anyway. They "encouraged" Secretary of State Matt Brown to withdraw (just as they got Ford Bell to quit the primary challenge to Amy Klobuchar in Minnesota, Paul Hackett to quit the primary in Ohio, Rosalind Kurita to quit the primary in Tennessee...). But Sheeler's an ex-marine and anything but a quitter. Starved for publicity and finances-- the DSCC may have no power to hurt Republicans but they sure are experts at hurting progressive Democrats-- Sheeler is struggling on into the September 12th primary.

I did a little interview with Carl Sheeler the other day. I found him knowledgable, personable and intellectually curious, more a regular guy than a politician. If I lived in Rhode Island I'd vote for him.

"Carl," I started, "it seems like the DSCC has made Sheldon Whitehouse's primary victory seem inevitable but-- at least from a California perspective-- Whitehouse doesn't seem like a bad choice, more like a Sherrod Brown or Amy Klobuchar than a Casey monstrosity. Or am I reading this wrong? Are there significant reasons we should be concerned that the DSCC is railroading Sheldon Whitehouse down our collective throats-- other than the nature of railroading per se? It doesn't seem that if he wins he'll be a Paul Wellstone, but he'll certainly be a big improvement over Chafee and probably better than most of the Democratic senatorial caucus."

CARL: "I'll respond by asking what I think is an overarching reply to a fundamental question: Can we expect a change in leadership and party direction if we're being enticed by establishment Democrats who are being prepackaged by DC?

In Rhode Island, the 80% of voters, who I implicitly trust, have no use for vanilla candidates with boilerplate responses to how we take back our country.

Chafee beats Sheldon on likeability. Heck, the DNC recognized this and tried to get Chafee to cross party lines. If they had, I'd not be runing right now. We need a US Senate majority leader to be a Democrat so we can regain checks and balances with people who want to hold special interests, large corporations and our executive branch accountable. We all know why we don't have national healthcare and adequate funding for our schools, our seniors and our retirees. We need progressives with teeth and the courage of their conviction. Not carefully scripted soundbites bought with the millions raised from the same trough the GOP feeds from.

On SurveyUSA's June poll, Sheldon has as many people who rated him favorably as unfavorably at 30% and 35%, respectively with 35% undecided or don't know.

This is because Sheldon has been quoted in local media saying it's his "legacy" to hold federal office. The remaking of a patrician to run against another blue-blood when people vote on likeability and authenticity puts Sheldon in the loser seat.

I'm running against Sheldon in part because his initial position on Iraq, until the polls suggested otherwise, was to "stay the course in Iraq". If you look carefully at his positions stated on his website and their dates they consistently mimick most of my own by two to six months.

I spend most of my time among the public to feel their pulse as any well trained military officer and business man or advisor would tell you. It's a lot easier in this state. I've gathered a large base of support from vets, minorities, activists, social advocates and faith based groups who have felt ignored by Democrats. Sheldon is relying on labor management and mostly wealthy liberals. The rank and file may not connect just because leadership says he's their guy.

Sheldon, the media and even opponents have referred to me as very likeable, committed and intelligent. Those attributes resonate with every day families-- which we in Rhode Island are.

DWT: Why haven't you-- with a far more progressive and enlightened platform than anyone else running for the Rhode Island U.S. Senate seat-- been able to get any traction with voters? September 12th is coming soon. Is Rhode Island small enough to go door to door and introduce yourself to everyone? It seems Ned Lamont had an even tougher job than you did. Is the reason he is having more success tied up with finances?

CARL: Aahhh... to have the funds and business connections of Ned Lamont. Ned looks like a progressive compared to Lieberman and his stay the course position on Iraq. Howie, if you had 1,000 supporters giving you $100 a piece or 100 supporters giving you $1,000 which would you select? The point is that 90% of all our contributions come from Rhode Islanders and average below $100. Compare this to 70%+ of Sheldon's are from out of state and average about $500.

As a business owner and adjunct professor of entrepreneurship, business and finance, it's important to know psychographics and demographics and the best way to get the best message to primary voters in a frugal but efficient way. Look at the degree the polls have fluctuated with Brown and Sheldon and Chafee over the past year. Sheldon's campaign has actually conveyed they have no primary.

We have made our first media buy of 220 spots for the two weeks beginning in late July. The piece has an edge and will be a first of its kind in the nation like our Be Patriotic, Impeach Bush billboard was...

The ads will provide the legitimacy many folks who silently support our campaign have been waiting to see. I'm patient. The sprint part of this marathon will begin and I've run long distances in real life. Much of our campaign was based on the knowledge that there's an inherent arrogance of certain front runners and their advisors. They did this with Myrth York in Sheldon's failed gubernatorial campaign. People don't foget he disappeared off the scene once losing to her and now we have a GOP governor.

What our campaign has is a "connection" to working families and the middle class. I grew up in very modest background and am very comfortable walking and talking in these neighborhoods-- especially the minority ones. Sheldon's time as Attorney General has not made him friends in these communities. This is a VERY relevant issue. In Providence and surrounding cities there are many ward primaries with almost all having one to five latinos running for these seats. It's never occurred before and due, in part, to these folks feeling their communities are being underrepresented by establishment Democrats. If they turn out large numbers in the primaries, we have an excellent shot.

DWT: Apparently you feel Bush should be impeached, convicted and removed from office, or am I jumping to conclusions? Do you think he should also be liable to criminal proceedings? And Cheney? How will be people get used to President Hastert?

CARL: I feel most of the establishment Democrat electeds dropped the ball on expressing consistent and steady opposition to the war and to Bush's exceeding his executive authority. Our US Supreme Court has found on at least two occassions he did so. If our Constitution is not defended we have no checks and balances and the Founders recognized the exigencies of war, so this is not an excuse.

What then happens is it raises the bar and establishes a bad precedent of abuses by subsequent presidents and executive staff regardless of party. There's a reason why he has only one veto. He has submitted an executive letter with every other bill that expresses his unilateral right to ignore the law as he and AG Gonzalez interpret the Constitution.

DWT: Aside from the big national issues, are there any issues peculiar to Rhode Island. Or is all about affordable health care, job security, Iraq, values, etc, like everywhere else?

CARL: What makes Rhode Island somewhat unusual is that the largest employer is state and local government, which translates into our very, very high taxes. The second largest is hospitality which tends to have fairly low wages and so taxes come from property owners and the middle class in a disproprtionate level.

There's a love/hate relationship here. We have 50% of our voters Independents and 3:1 Democrats versus GOP; however, we give very low approval ratings to our General Assembly-- especially its leadership because many perceive they're beholden to the unions instead of the other 92% who are trying to get a fair shake.

We're relying on a casino and financial slight of hand to defer the growing debt of underfunded pensions and retirees with some very good health and retirement benefits that would be the envy of most white collar retirees.

What's required is economic stimulus of small and medium sized enterprises in bio-tech, energy alternatives and light manufacturing to create good paying jobs and provide more tax revenues to the state. This needs to go in tandem with addressing a relatively low percentage of college grads with many who do graduate opting to work in more competitive environments in other states.

This requires funds for building a better infrastructure in the state and creating coalitions among the academic, civic, business and political leaders from the community level to the federal one.

DWT: What is it you liked about Ronald Reagan's policies when he was president?

CARL: Tomahawk missile sent into Qadafi's palace in retaliation for the TWA Lockerbie downing. This gave us insight to a policy of peace through strength and set into motion the tearing down of the Berlin War and glasnost. He made good on his threat to fire the air traffic controllers if they went on strike, which would shut down commerce in the US if it was allowed to proceed.

He surrounded himself with fairly competent advisors and worked to reduce big government and stiumlate the economy, which was reasonably successful in allowing for prosperity. California Democrats loved his "regular" guy touch as governor.

DWT: What music do you listen to?

CARL: I like Enya, Depeche Mode, Yanni, Sting, and Moby, but I like Latin music, strings and some classical, jazz and blues as well.

DWT: Ask youself a question and answer it please.

CARL: What do you bring to the table that would make you a good US Senator?

Having travelled, testified and lectured all over the states and most of the continents, I understand how relevant building bridges between people and ideologies will be in the 21st century. I think passion, vision and wisdom, coupled by the cool objectivity of ten years as a Marine combat officer and almost 15 years as a court appointed and IRS qualified financial expert provide the tools needed to determine a fair collection and allocation of resources in our country and our state.

Having lived on both sides of the tracks gives me an appreciation of the importance of rewarding hard work. One gains an understanding how fairness on the playing field of life is something all good elected officials ought to be striving to achieve for their constituents; the greater good if you will. This means public interest must prevail over special interests. It means our Democracy comes before capitalism, not the other way around. Witness corporate loyalty towards its executives and shareholders before its employees and national interests. This has to be curbed.

Having a bold vision and candor is exactly what our nation needs to transition from fear and hate to hope and kept promises: America's future is a shared responsibility and leadership and accountability is what is going to allow us to have the health care, education, national security and energy/ foreign policies that will make us stronger as a nation and global neighbor.

If you want a deeper look at Carl's candidacy, a good place to start is his website. If you're already convinced and want to give him a hand winning the primary-- or just putting up more Impeach Bush billboards, you can do it with PayPal here.