Tag: Campaign for Primary Accountability

Categories
political challengers

Quietly, Stunning

Wouldn’t it be nice to replace our entire current Congress with brand new people?

Tuesday’s Ohio Republican Primary was a start. Congresswoman Jean Schmidt lost to challenger Brad Wenstrup, a surgeon and Iraq war veteran. As Dennis Catanese at Politico intriguingly put it, Schmidt was “quietly upended in stunning fashion.”

“Stunning” — because incumbents virtually always win, especially in their own party primaries. According to the Alliance for Self-​Governance, “God recalls incumbents more frequently than voters do.” Between 2002 and 2008, only twelve congressional incumbents lost in their primary elections, while thirteen died in office.

“Quietly” — because some folks didn’t see it coming. Sadly, not everyone reads Common Sense. Back in February, I said there may be “no better Valentine for our Republic” than the effort by a new SuperPAC, the Campaign for Primary Accountability, which targets incumbents for defeat in primary elections.

The Campaign goes after both Republicans and Democrats. Further, “[w]e are not issue-​driven,” says Curtis Ellis, the group’s spokesman, who declares the goal is simply “holding incumbents accountable.”

Made possible through the new campaign finance rules won in the Citizens United court decision, the Super PAC has raised $1.8 million and spent $200,000 against Schmidt. Their Web advertisement squarely told voters:

Congresswoman Jean Schmidt was named “most corrupt” by a Washington watchdog group. Schmidt voted to increase your taxes by opposing a tax cut extension. Then, Schmidt increased the federal debt by $2.8 trillion. One bailout vote gave $50 billion to the parent company of her husband’s employer. Rock the boat. Vote in the March 6 Primary. It’s time to end Schmidt’s cruise.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Categories
incumbents political challengers

To America With Love

Congress’s approval rating just dipped to a mere ten percent — a new all-​time low even lower than the all-​time low set just months ago when their abysmal approval rating was even lower than the historic low hit a few months before that.

No, Congress, we don’t want to be your Valentine.

About now someone somewhere is saying that folks may not like Congress, but they do like their own member of Congress. Not so. A recent poll showed that voters don’t want their own so-​called representative re-​elected, either.

So, why do incumbents still get re-​elected? Well, in most congressional districts, there is a dominant political party — either the Democrats or the Republicans. The winner of that party’s primary is a virtual shoo-​in in the general election.

Most folks turn out to cast their votes in the general election, when in most districts it’s already been decided, but fail to show up in the all-​important primary election, when they could actually make a difference.

What to do? Well, several patriots hopped into a phone booth and changed into a SuperPAC, called the Campaign for Primary Accountability. The group says, “We have two parties. Both are irresponsible. Both are unaccountable.”

And already the SuperPAC has raised $1.8 million to target, in their primaries, a number of supposedly safe House incumbents: Representatives Spencer Bachus (R‑Ala), Bob Brady (D‑Pa.), Jesse Jackson Jr. (D‑Ill.), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D‑Texas), Tim Johnson (R‑Ill.), Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D‑Ohio), Don Manzullo (R‑Ill.), Tim Murphy (R‑Pa.), Silvestre Reyes (D‑Texas), Jean Schmidt (R‑Ohio).

There could be no better Valentine for our republic than seeing entrenched incumbents defeated. The primary is a smart place for that battle. You might even want to send your own heartfelt message.

This is Common sense. I’m Paul Jacob.