How Candidates Should Talk About Medical Marijuana In Red States And Win

Back in September we introduced a candidate into the mix, Kendra Fershee, running in one of the Trumpiest district in the country-- WV-01, where Trump beat Hillary 68-26% and where the PVI is R+19. The DCCC "strategy" for a district like that-- a losing strategy-- is to run a Republican-lite campaign-- to throw authenticity to the wind, deny you have anything to do with the Democratic Party and wave a gun-- or two-- around But that isn't who Kendra Fershee is. She isn't some careerists politician looking for a job; she's running to help West Virginians have better lives. The DCCC might want her to use Republican talking points and play down the Democrat thing but she's saying things like "this Democrat shares West Virginia’s values. West Virginians-- like all Americans-- believe in freedom. But you can’t be free if you don’t have health care. And you can’t be free if you don’t have a good job. And you can’t be free if you don’t have access to quality education for your family."

Kendra isn't shy about reminding WV-01 voters that "in the West Virginia 2016 Democratic presidential primary, Bernie Sanders outperformed Hillary Clinton by more than 15 percentage points, and beat her by even higher percentages in most counties in the West Virginia First District. Also, and perhaps more importantly, in some counties in the district, Bernie Sanders earned more votes than Donald Trump in the Republican primary. These numbers show that West Virginians are yearning for real change."

"West Virginians are, quite literally, struggling to survive," she told us a few months ago. "The drug addiction epidemic, a lack of healthcare, too many educational systems that do not have the resources to prepare people for a changing economy, and a near total lack of an economic base in countless communities all combine to make living in West Virginia incredibly difficult for families who have lived here for generations. This is heartbreaking for West Virginians because we love this wild and wonderful state fiercely and never want to leave. So, I’m ready to go to Washington to fight for our freedom to stay in West Virginia... I’m ready to go to Washington to fight for healthcare for everyone. I hear it from people all over the district; too many West Virginians are in a prison of ill health and drug addiction and we need a Representative who will treat our health crisis like the emergency that it is. At the same time, we know we need to support families and communities from the ground up. People who live in healthy, thriving communities are less likely to seek the escape of drugs because they have purpose and are fulfilled."

This morning Kendra released her first campaign ad (above)-- and it's a doozy... and not something the DCCC would suggest a candidate use even in a swing district. "Medical marijuana," Kendra told us, "is a safe alternative to opioids that will help people manage pain without risking becoming addicted to a deadly drug... It can also help addicts get off deadly drugs and begin to rebuild their lives. It helps stop addiction before it starts, and helps addicts recover."

Our friends at Green Wave in Kentucky helped Kendra produce the ad. Jasper Ward and his dad, former Congressman Mike Ward, are working with several Blue America candidates on presenting the medical marijuana issue in a way that is compelling and salient to voters across the country. "I'm thrilled," Jasper told us yesterday, "that two progressive candidates in red states are running on a positive message about jobs, opioids, and public safety.  And I'm so excited that Dan Canon and Kendra and other Green Wave Democrats have proposed a real way to fund progressive priorities that voters and Democrats need in 2018 and beyond agree with. The next generation of elected Democrats have a plan to govern, and legalizing marijuana nationwide is clearly going to be a part of it." If you agree-- and want to help Kendra get this ad up on TV in Parkersburg, Wheeling, Morgantown, Clarksburg and Parsons-- please click on the thermometer on the right and contribute what you can to her efforts.

Kendra is out campaigning by telling her neighbors throughout the district that "broadening West Virginia's struggling economy with a lucrative resource like medical marijuana would put people back to work and help us fix our schools... West Virginia has legalized medical marijuana, but implementing the law is difficult while the federal government looms with dated laws that could shut down legal operations. West Virginians fueled the build of the United States, so the U.S. government should get out of our way and let us rebuild our economy with this resource we can grow for other states as well."

And just as we were about to hit "publish" this morning, Dan Canon's Indiana campaign for Congress released their new ad on medical marijuana as well. Please take a look; he makes a lot of sense: