Why Are So Many Republican Incumbents Afraid To Debate This Year? Just Look At Their Voting Records

Ric Keller lost some weight-- and his sense of dignity and honor

Republican incumbents don't seem to want to debate. They want to wave air tire gauges over their heads and yell "Drill here now." When it comes to health care, ending the war in Iraq, getting relief for overburdened working families, real solutions to energy problems... they have nothing they want to say-- at least nothing they feel comfortable with the public hearing.

Last night I spoke with Alan Grayson, the Democrat running for Congress in Orlando. He was telling me how he went to a southern regional hotel workers union meeting a couple of days ago and that he strongly advocated for universal health care and paid vacations like they have in so many other industrialized nations. I remember that the ultra reactionary editorial board of the Orlando Sentinel had opposed him in the Democratic primary-- which he won so handily-- and that they opposed him basically because they oppose paid vacations (for others, not themselves). I asked Alan if his Republican opponent, Ric Keller, a slimy hypocrite better known for sleazy personal attacks than for ever debating issues, would challenge him on that. He only hopes he will so lucky, since how does someone asking for voters to support them explain why they oppose paid vacations and health care?

Fact of the matter, Keller's record on health care, if it gets out to low-info voters, will destroy his already slim chances to be re-elected. Already vulnerable on many issues, his consistent opposition to health care for needy children and for military veterans puts him on very shaky grounds. Keller, though, will in all likelihood agree to at least two somewhat low key debates with Alan. Many other Republicans have been ducking or minimizing getting up before the voters and going at it mano a mano.

Take Oregon's desperate Bush rubber stamp Gordon Smith for example. With his re-elect numbers sinking into oblivion and his chances of re-election nearly nonexistent he has taken to running millions of dollars of the worst negative ads anywhere in the country against Jeff Merkley, all the time refusing to commit to debates. Smith is so busy turning his corporate bribes into ads that attempt to tie Jeff to rapists that he is doing everything he can to avoid appearing with Jeff in front of audiences to discuss the issues. Jeff has agreed to a series of eight debates across the state, most of them from non-partisan civic organizations and media outfits.

It's even worse in House races which aren't as high profile as Senate races like Jeff's. Along New York's Southern Tier Eric Massa has been attempting to get another rubber stamp Bush Republican, Randy Kuhl, to participate in a series of debates they have both been invited to. Eric has agreed to all. Kuhl would rather run around doing cheap stunts for his friends at Big Oil-- who, so far, have paid him $37,600 for his services-- than accept invitations from to speak in front of his constituents at any of these forums:

1. WXXI Forum
Proposed date: Monday September 22, 2008
 
2. Alfred University Political Science Club
Proposed dates: Wednesday October 1, 2008 or Wednesday October 8, 2008
 
3. League of Women Voters
Proposed date: Thursday October 2, 2008
 
4. St. John's Meadows Political Forum
Proposed date: Monday October 6, 2008
 
5. WETM Debate at Elmira College
Proposed date: Tuesday October 21, 2008
 
6. League of Women Voters Elmira, NY
Proposed date: Sunday October 26, 2008
 
7. GRAPE Candidates' Forum
Proposed date: Friday October 3, 2008
 
8. 13 WHAM Candidates' Forum
Date open
 
9. R News at St Bonaventure University in Olean
Date open
 
10. R News in Rochester
Date Open

Kuhl, like so many other bought-off Big Oil shills in the Republican House caucus, claims he has no time to debate his opponent because he has to spend all his time trying to pass "Drill, Baby, Drill." But his career record on energy is one of the very worst of any member of Congress. "I think it's more important to debate this energy bill on the floor of the house and solve the problem than it is to worry about a political debate with somebody in some remote section of the district," is what he's telling the media. But what he's not telling that media is about the sickening voting record that has led directly to massive profits for Big Oil and massive debt for consumers who are being ripped off at the pump-- and will soon have to face winter hearing bills. Do you think Kuhl tells anyone he voted to oppose legislation that would have provided stricter penalties for gasoline price gouging, while outlawing market manipulation and empowering state attorneys general to enforce the law? Do you think he wants to explain his votes against expanding tax breaks for renewable energy, hybrid cars, energy efficient buildings and appliances and paying for it by reducing current tax benefits for oil and gas companies? How about his votes against extending and creating tax incentives for energy conservation and renewable energy production and paying for it by eliminating or reducing the manufacturing tax deduction for oil and gas companies? That's the real Randy Kuhl energy record-- that plus taking "contributions" from Big Oil. And that's the real reason Randy Kuhl is reusing to debate Eric Massa.

You have to feel sorry for some of these self important incumbent dullards who are petrified to face up to Democrats who will publicly cite their voting records. And when you get one as pathetic as Randy Forbes in southern Virginia, you find another factor-- a brilliant and articulate opponent running against him. How is an uninformed rubber stamp like Forbes ever going to be able to face up to someone like Andrea Miller? He's scared to death and he's doing everything he can to avoid her. In fact, when her campaign manager showed up at a public picnic yesterday to hand deliver an invitation to him to a TV debate, Forbes called the security guards to have him escorted off the property!

Forbes has taken in $531,519 so far this year, much of it from defense contractors, commercial banks, lobbyists, and other special interests while Andrea has been given $31,583, almost entirely from small grassroots donations. As long as Forbes refuses to debate her on TV he can just keep running his negative ads and distortions and never have to face up to a truly disgraceful voting record. With that in mind, DWT has just started an ActBlue page for Andrea. Anyone who donates today will be entered in a drawing to win one of six Georgie Is Out Of Here Party-in-a-Box kits. Just donate here through ActBlue.

GOP CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUS BREAKS THRU THE TWO DOZEN MARK AS FLORIDA'S REACTIONARY DAVE WELDON ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT

Florida wingnut, Dave Weldon, plays bass on "Another one Bites the Dust"

A few days ago as the GOP hit the 2 dozen mark with congressional retirements and resignations after an announcement from New York's James Walsh, we were speculating who the next Republican would be to cut and run. This morning we got the answer: Florida rubber stamp kook, Dave Weldon is blasting off into the sunset. Weldon, from Amityville moved to Florida after college. Like myself he went to SUNY, Stony Brook. He was elected from the 15th CD (Cape Canaveral south through Melbourne and Cocoa Beach) in 1994 and has been a dependable rubber stamp back bencher ever since. He has a typically repulsive reactionary voting record, supporting, for example, every single Bush-Cheney initiative in Iraq. He voted on Iraq legislation 62 times and all 62 votes were the Cheney position. He announced his retirement immediately after his daughter was arrested in a local bar brawl. He said he needs to spend more time with his family. Republicans usually say that when they get caught stealing or in public toilets making that special kind of GOP-love, but in Weldon's case, it appears to be true.

No 8th term for Weldon in this Republican-leaning district that has had a solid influx of non-Republican voters from Puerto Rico of late. His departure will open up another seat on the Appropriations Committee for Republican crooks to fight over. There is a terrific and progressive Democrat in the race already, Steve Blythe and, with Weldon's announcement, the more conservative, corporate-friendly Insider Democrats are sure to rush some shill into the race and get their media allies to call him or her the front-runner.

Rumors are circulating in upstate New York that Randy Kuhl has about had it, senses defeat at the hands of Eric Massa, and is probably going to retire as well. He nearly did in 2006 and came very close to being beaten. After voting against the extremely popular S-CHIP legislation again, he was put into a corner and agreed to debate Massa on that topic. He doesn't want to and may well announce his retirement before the debate takes place. When questioned by the press, he refused to say whether he would run or not. This is certainly shaping up to be a good year for Democrats. Here's the full list of the Republicans who will no longer be troubling the House of Representatives with their reactionary politics and obstructionist tactics (the ones in bold are facing, or are likely to be facing, criminal charges in the future):

(CA-52) Duncan Hunter      
(IL-18) Ray LaHood            
(MS-03) Chip Pickering                 
(OH-15) Deborah Pryce                 
(IL-14) Dennis Hastert                   
(AZ-01) Rick Renzi                         
(MN-03) Jim Ramstad                   
(IL-11) Jerry Weller                         
(AL-02) Terry Everett                     
(NM-01) Heather Wilson                  
(OH-16) Ralph Regula                   
(OH-07) David Hobson                   
(NM-02) Steve Pearce                   
(LA-01) Bobby Jindal                   
(CO-06) Tom Tancredo                  
(NJ-03) Jim Saxton                        
(WY-AL) Barbara Cubin                 
(NJ-07) Michael Ferguson              
(LA-04) Jim McCrery                     
(MS-01) Roger Wicker                 
(PA-05) John Peterson                  
(CA-04) John Doolittle                     
(LA-06) Richard Baker
(NY-25) Jim Walsh                       
(FL-15) Dave Weldon                    

Steve Blythe, the progressive candidate running for Congress in what was Weldon's district, talking about his common sense and inspiring vision for America:

CLEAR SAILING FOR ERIC MASSA (NY-29)-- NEXT STOP, BYE-BYE KUHL

Two Fightin' Dems: Eric Massa and Wes Clark

Everyone has been telling me what a great job Eric Massa did at YKos last week and how improved he was over last year. I think that came out in our Blue America chat with him in May. Well, great news today-- the establishment rich guy who thought he could just buy his way into the race and beat Eric in the primary, David Nachbar, dropped out. Why is this great? First of all, even though there was almost no chance Nachbar could have gotten anywhere, he would have spent a lot of money and Eric would have had to waste his own on a primary instead of just going after the odious Shotgun Randy Kuhl. There are too many craven opportunists who think the hard work of grassroots Democrats can be automatically transferred to them if they beat progressive Democrats who came close in '06. There are similar situations facing superstar progressives like Victoria Wulsin, John Laesch, Angie Paccione, and Darcy Burner. Let's hope they all end as happily as Nachbar's threatened primary. If you want to offer Eric a little mazel tov... be our guest.


UPDATE: ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST-- GOOD NEWS FOR JOHN LAESCH

When John Laesch and his grassroots army showed how vulnerable IL-14 is to a concerted Democratic campaign, opportunistic Democratic Machine candidates started eyeing the race. The first, encouraged by Emanuel and Durbin, was State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia of Aurora. According to today's Chicago Tribune she's finally declared she's staying out of the race to replace Planet Denny Hastert. She was probably John Laesch's most serious obstacle to taking over the seat. Now he has to face a reactionary Blue Dog, Bill Foster, who promises to vote pretty much the same way on important issues as Hastert has. He's also promised to put a million dollars of his own money into buying the seat for himself. John needs our help. Foster is as bad as they come, someone who will call himself a Democrat and support the right-wing agenda.

ERIC MASSA: BLUE AMERICA WELCOMES BACK AN AMERICAN HERO FROM NEW YORK STATE

New York's Southern Tier, the 29th congressional district, is the most conservative in the state. Our Blue America candidate last year was Eric Massa and he came within 6,000 votes (out of nearly 200,000 cast) of beating right-wing extremist and Bush rubber stamp Randy Kuhl. NY-29 shares a long border with one of the reddest of Pennsylvania's congressional districts, the 10th. PA-10 is currently represented by Chris Carney, the Democratic congressman who promised to support hate crimes legislation and then voted against it (one of only 14 super reactionary Democrats who did) and promised to help extricate us from Iraq and then voted to stay the course. I was one of the 722 Blue America contributors who fell for Carney's lies and donated to his campaign last year.

Carney's perfidy has had a demoralizing effect on many of us. He has refused to give back the donations or to even offer a reasonable explanation for his actions. (Instead he regurgitated some tired GOP talking points.) I've decided to talk to perspective endorsees about our bad experience with Carney. Like Carney, Eric Massa was a military man running as a Fighting Dem. I could see his jaw drop through the phone line when I told him how Carney had voted on these two bills.

Eric was very impressive when he joined us at Firedoglake last July. Look it over so I don't have to repeat his illustrious history or explain why so many of us were so powerfully attracted to his character and his candidacy. We asked him to come on again to tell us why he's decided to run again and to explain how he plans to beat Kuhl next year. And to ask him how we can help.

"The war of occupation and attrition in Iraq-- and 18th century war that we're fighting-- is the issue of my generation. It is unethical, immoral, financially bankrupting and the largest strategic military blunder in the history of this country. It is based on a lie, twisted into propaganda and sustained by falsehood. We have turned so many corners in Iraq that we are, literally, running in circles. And so any candidate," he continued, referring to my question about fellow former Fighting Dem Chris Carney, "must be clear and put down an unequivocal marker about where they stand on Iraq. Right now the president won't even talk about leaving; he won't use that word. We need to stand up as a nation, tell the world we are leaving, and start immediately." Carney may not have voted for the McGovern bill to end the war. Eric certainly would have.

As for the Hate Crimes legislation Carney voted against, not only would Eric have voted for it, even his reactionary Republican opponent, Shotgun Randy Kuhl, voted against it! "He's been super-glued to George Bush and he became a minority whip. For two years I campaigned on very consistent statements of policy and fact and I ran in the most Republican district in New York and lost by just a couple of percent. Whether it's people in rural areas or in metropolitan areas, there is a widespread realization that discrimination and violence based on that discrimination can no longer be tolerated. My position is very simple: I support the legislation as it was passed. I don't intend to change any of my beliefs, my statements, or my policies. And the way we know we're going to win is that the people of this district-- like people all over the United States-- have changed. They now know they cannot trust anything Dick Cheney says. Underline 'anything.'"

Eric is getting started very early. That's a lesson he learned from 2006. He's already up on the air with 2 minute radio spots talking substantively about serious issues facing voters. "You have to hold these people accountable early." Last time he had to spend a huge amount of money to create name recognition. He raised over a million and a half dollars-- without taking one cent from a corporate PAC, something he will never do. He's as serious about real campaign finance as any candidate I've ever spoken to. He doesn't wait for me to bring it up, either. "I believe if you're going to talk about campaign finance reform, you have to be willing to do it to prove your point. And I did and I would not be able to look myself in the mirror if I took money from ExxonMobil. My opponent gets over 70% of his money from PACs... Of all the issues we face, the core issue has to be campaign finance reform because nothing will change til we get the Board Room out of the voting booth."

The Southern Tier is an economically depressed area and Eric has no doubt in his mind that what the voters there want their representative to do more than anything is to work on economic expansion that brings jobs-- the kind with living wages attached-- to the area. Like many people in the district who aren't asleep at the wheel, he's watched Bush's and Kuhl's policies sending jobs and opportunities to China. "I'm a violent FAIR trader," he explains, "not a free trader." That might have something to do with why 180 local unions endorsed him. "To join the European Union, your whole country gets inspected to insure that there exists the rule of law, standards of human rights, enforcable environmental policies, and adequate labor protections. We have failed to do any of that with respect to WTO and China." And it isn't just Republicans like Kuhl pushing these disastrous trade policies. There are more Democrats than there should be going right along for the ride. Eric won't be on that bandwagon.

Take a look at the video Eric's friend, neighbor and colleague, Major General John Batiste, cut for the district. They served together in Kosovo and the general is hosting a fuindraiser for him in a few weeks. Take it to heart; it's our future at stake. Then please join me in helping arm Eric for the coming battle with Shotgun Randy.



Live discussion at FDL now (2pm, EST).

SUPPORTING ERIC MASSA'S CAMPAIGN IS A VOTE FOR CHANGE

People get attracted to candidates for different reasons. Eric Massa is running for Congress in one of the country's most forgotten and remote districts, NY-29-- New York has 29 districts-- what we learned in school to call the "Southern Tier." People asking me to write about Eric have mentioned many things about him, that range from his integrity to his True Blue progressive values, but what got me interested in Eric's campaign originally was something else entirely. Like me, Eric was diagnosed with cancer. And, like me, Eric stood up and fought back-- hard. And won. I know from personal experience what that battle means and how it tests the soul as well as the body.

So it was no surprise to me when this Fighting Dem, who spent such a large part of his adult life in the military, speaks out most forcefully and most passionately about... affordable healthcare. Eric doesn't believe in taking any money from Big Business PACs pushing their bottom-line-oriented agendas at legislators. He'd rather lose the election than sell his soul and become a prostitute for the Big Business interests that harm the people he proposes to represent in Congress. The incumbent, Randy Kuhl is a one-stop shopping market for special interest groups looking for a whore to take their money and vote for their interests. Kuhl voted for the disastrous Bush Medicare bill and was rewarded by Big Pharma.

"I don't know where my opponent learned about healthcare," Eric told me a few days ago. "I learned about healthcare at the sharp end of a chemotherapy needle. To deny access to healthcare to Americans is... unAmerican." Eric's run in with cancer changed his life and his worldview.

Today I was talking to my hiking partner about how powerfully his sense of personal integrity comes through when you speak to him. "How can someone go so far with such strict rules for himself?" she asked me. That's where Eric's military career comes in. You really can go far in the U.S. military without selling your soul to the highest bidder. It's harder in the private sector, especially the corporate end of the private sector. "I've found two sets of values out there," Eric explained. "There are the values of the breakroom and the values of the Boardroom. I'm much more concerned about what's happening on the factory floor than what's happening on the stock trading floor. We really do need to return to true American values where a family can raise children and have a future... in American, not in Beijing."

"The biggest employer in America is WalMart and they don't provide adequate health insurance for their employees. WalMart is unAmerican. They're stealing taxpayer money by forcing their employees to go on Medicaid."

When the conversation turned to Iraq, Eric was equally clear and concise. "Out is better than in. And sooner is better than later. George W. Bush disagrees. He says staying is better than leaving and he says staying forever is best of all. How telling is it that he says that the decision about when to leave will be up left for future presidents... Kuhl tells voters we have to bring the troops home and then he says he stands with George Bush who says we're not bringing the troops home... It comes down to staying the course versus changing the course."

Eric served as Wes Clark's Special Assistant when Clark was Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. He extolls the Bosnian model for how to deal with the Iraqi occupation. "Separate the warring factions; create 3 semiautonomous viable states; let them choose a government of their own making. We will never, ever, be successful in creating a democracy at the end of a bayonet."

The day I spoke with Eric on the phone the big news around his campaign was that Kuhl has finally, albeit reluctantly, agreed to Eric's challenge to debate-- sort of. Eric asked Kuhl to meet him for 8 one-hour debates, one in each county of the district so that voters could get a chance to see each man up close and in action. Kuhl said he's prefer one debate.... for thirty-minutes.

Thirty minutes?? What's he hiding? Well, Randy Kuhl has a nearly perfect voting record-- if your goal is to be an utter rubber stamp for Bush and for Big Business interests. Of the 14 major ProgressivePunch categories on which to rate incumbents' voting records, Kuhl has 10 zeroes. I've never seen that before. Whether it's Fair Taxation, Corporate Subsidies, Family Planning, Government Checks on Corporate Power, Health Care, Housing, Iraq, Labor, Justice... Randy Kuhl is a perfect zero. DMI also rates his entire voting record a zero (grade: F) when analyzing how his votes have impacted the middle class. With a record like that to debate, you can kind of see why he wants to keep as far away from a quick-witted fighter like Eric Massa.

But can Eric win in this district? It was, after all, the biggest percentage district in NY for George Bush in 2000 and in 2004. And although Kuhl has just been serving for 2 years and isn't well-known or entrenched, he's loaded with corporate bribes cash and Kuhl was the very first incumbent in the whole country Bush and Rove rushed to campaign for. The only publicly available polling of the district was done by Coopers and Seacrest. Things seem to have turned around a bit since NY-29 gave Bush 56% of its vote in 2004. His approval ratings are in the low 30s and 71% of voters in the district say the country has been headed in the wrong direction since Bush took over. I asked Eric if people in the sprawling 29th are connecting that disapproval of Bush with their congressman.

"People might not be associating Bush with Kuhl. Kuhl is associating himself with Bush! He's voted with Bush 93% of the time; he's the ultimate rubber stamp. This week he took the gavel and gaveled in the President's only veto in five and a half years. And later he voted to sustain that veto [which will deprive Americans of the benefits of stem cell research]... Kuhl went to Washington and married Tom DeLay. In fact he has still refused to give back the $20,000 DeLay gave him."

In 2004 the AFL-CIO endorsed Kuhl, calling him a "strong advocate for working men and women and their families." They have been kicking themselves ever since as Kuhl voted against every single labor issue that has come before Congress. This year labor unions are stepping all over themselves to endorse Eric-- and endorse him early and strongly. The day I was on the phone with Eric, the Sheet Metal Workers of New York voted unanimously to endorse him. Last week the United Auto Workers endorsed him and the week before the United Plumbers did the same.

"This Administration," says Eric, "believes in something called 'Yo-Yo'-- you're on your own. Whether we're talking about privatizing Social Security, the donuthole in Medicare part D, sending troops to Baghdad without adequate body armor... you're on your own... Americans know the Mission has not been accomplished-- not in Iraq, not in our schools, not in our hospitals, not in New Orleans, not in our military, not in our economy... If we don't stop the neo-Con minority in 2006, they will have 24 months of unfettered unaccountability to complete their destructive agenda."

If you can, join us today over at Firedoglake for a live chat with Eric (2PM East Coast/11AM West Coast).

Above Eric referred to WalMart behaving in an unAmerican fashion. I remembered that one of the Firedoglake community members is film maker Eric Greenwald and one of the movies he made that I like most is WALMART-- THE HIGH COST OF LOW PRICE. Eric just rushed over 30 DVDs of the film, each one autographed by himself. Be one of the first 30 people to donate to Eric's campaign through the Blue America ACT BLUE Page and we'll rush you one of the DVDs. (If you don't want a DVD, add a .01 to your donation.)