An election-eve message from Colorado 7th Congressional District candidate, Dave Chandler:
Colorado citizens of the 7th district can vote their conscience and convictions and make the United States a better place tomorrow.First and foremost, I am the one candidate for the U.S. House in this district who has pledged to advocate in the Congress for a quick withdrawal of our troops from Iraq. If the profound issue of war and peace is a matter of conscience for you, then my candidacy offers you a place to be true to your beliefs.
On the range of other issues confronting our nation and the residents of the 7th district, I have been able to express my principles and my sense of what people are concerned about in an honest, straightforward manner because I have been free from the corrupting influence of big money 'politics as ususal'.
You can explore this web site and read for yourself about my perception and response to the issues of the day. I believe you will find my positions thoughtful, well reasoned, and genuine ... even if you happen to disagree with them. If anything else, this campaign has been about showing how rejecting the current scandalous system of campaign financing can bring honor and integrity to our politics.
This is not just about 'fighting the system' ... it is about personal responsibility. The big party candidates lament the 'system', but then eagerly participate. The link below to a report in today's Denver Post demonstrates this hypocrisy. Ninety percent of the dollars raised from special interests goes to negatives ads that proclaim "I'm (name of candidate) and I approved this message" -- but the Colorado Democrat chairwoman bemoans "What do we do about this?"
Well, candidates can do what I did -- just say no to any contributions from special interests.
If we want to make our politics and government more representative and accountable we can also start demanding that all candidates be allowed to participate in the election process -- especially when they have the courage to stand on their principles. One of the low points in this 7th Congressional District campaign was when the Jeffco League of Women Voters, which subscribes to the position that big money is corrupting our politics, set a criteria for participation in their forum that a candidate "must show evidence of a significant level of financial support." Shame on them.
The results of this kind of double standard that the big parties and their candidates (and groups like the Jeffco League) practice is exemplified by the link below to a Rocky Mountain News column authored by Tina Greigo. More and more Americans don't believe that it matters to vote and sadly they come to this notion based upon the behavior I am describing here. Special interest campaign contributions and excessive lobbyist influence has led to skepticism that our government even remotely works for the people anymore.
Voting for me is a bold action to renew our Republic, to have faith in the principles and beliefs about liberty and democracy as articulated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. We can reject the corrupt 'politics as usual' and courageously pick instead 'Principle Before Politics'!
I will appreciate your vote ... and so will America.
Dave
Link: Bashing Abounds: Colorado Campaign Ads Clobber Foes | Denver Post
If you think this campaign season is the dirtiest ever, you might be right. In Colorado, roughly $9 out of every $10 spent on congressional campaign advertising by the national political parties has been for negative ads against opposing candidates, about the same as the nationwide ratio, according to a Denver Post review of Federal Election Commission data. Nationwide, the Democratic and Republican parties have spent $160 million on ads attacking congressional candidates, as opposed to $17 million on positive ads about each party's own candidates, the FEC reported last week. ...
... "This is one of the worst years I've ever seen, with all the mean-spirited, nasty distortion of people's records," said Colorado Democratic Party chairwoman Pat Waak. "Every time I turn around, we have candidates coming to me asking, 'What do we do about this?"'
Eddie's not voting again this year. This is not Longtime Eddie of Border Street. It's my neighbor Eddie. Contrarian Eddie. Or as he prefers, Crabby and Cranky Eddie of northwest Denver. The man who is such a pessimist that, at 71, he relishes the idea that he doesn't have much time left.
Eddie hasn't voted since . . . well, he's not sure. "When was Wellington (Webb) mayor?" ...
... Eddie looks at politics through the prism of economic class, and, to a lesser degree, age. His is a discontent wrapped up in fat CEO benefits packages and white-collar criminals who get off easy. It is fueled by the belief that he has been betrayed by elected leaders from Nixon to Clinton, by the sight of veterans reduced to begging on street corners and President Bush rolling up his shirt sleeves on the stump - a mockery, Eddie says, of every working person struggling to make ends meet.
"My philosophy is that the government makes laws and they should abide by them. Everybody. I don't care what your race or gender or religion or whatever. I don't care if you are poor or wealthy. The laws should be for everybody, not just a certain few. And that's not the way it is.
Comments