Question And Answer Time With Rep. Joe Cunningham (Blue Dog-SC)

Joe

I got an e-mail yesterday from Joe Cunningham, a freshman from the most progressive area of South Carolina. The subject line was "Howard -- Could we talk about the GOP's strategy to beat me?" Here's the letter and my response. Was I too harsh?

-----Original Message-----

From: Joe Cunningham
To: Howard Klein
Sent: Wed, Feb 20, 2019 9:06 am
Subject: Howard -- Could we talk about the GOP's strategy to beat me?

Hi Howard,

The National Republican Congressional Committee's top political operatives say SC-01 is one of the five seats the GOP should not have lost during the midterms, so they're making my re-election campaign a number one target early on. The NRCC already has more than two dozen potential candidates in their pipeline to unseat incumbents like me. And earlier this month, the DCCC added me to its Frontline Program and Cook and Sabato rate my race as a “toss-up.”

I'm reaching out to set up a phone call with you this week to ask for your support personally. Do you have five minutes on your calendar to talk? If you don't, will you pitch in $1,000, $500, or whatever you can to support my campaign's efforts? Here's the link to give: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/joeforsc

Thank you and talk soon,
Joe

Here's a copy of what I sent Joe in response:

You vote the least progressively of any Democrat in the House (tied with Jeff Van Drew) so it's going to be very difficult to ask progressives in the Low Country to hold their noses and vote for you as the lesser of two evils. If you want to beat a Republican DON'T BEHAVE LIKE ONE. If the GOP comes up with a strong candidate with broad appeal, you're cooked. You didn't even sign on to the Green New Deal after all that yelling and screaming about the environment. Joe, I hate to say it, but, so far, you don't even deserve to be reelected. I suggest you start representing your voters by taking a quick turn in a more moderate direction and stop voting so conservatively. At this point I don't think a call would be productive but, I'll tell you what-- we can re-examine this in April and if you're voting like a Democrat by then, let's hop on the phone and see if we can rescue you from yourself. Also-- do you really think you have to identify as a Blue Dog? That's a bad idea. The whole caucus is going to disappear in 2022 again. Get out while you can.

Your pal,
Howie

PS- It's my birthday today but I'm asking people to contribute $20.20 to Bernie's campaign instead of sending me anything. You can do it here: https://bit.ly/2SJPG3o