Alan Grayson Endorses ... Marcy Kaptur?
Submitted by Anastasia Pantsios on Sun, 10/21/2012 - 9:42pm.
I'm on the mailing list of former — and hopefully future — Florida Congressman and outspoken progressive Alan Grayson because his emails are usually pithy, spot-on, and often very funny.
In addition to pitching for his own return to Congress, he has sent his list many emails in support of other candidates. He was pushing for Dennis Kucinich in the Democratic primary earlier this year.
Today he sent out an email promoting the woman who beat Dennis, Toledo Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur.
This is another one of Grayson's headscratchers. When they gerrymandered the state, John Boehner's Republican mapmakers stuffed as many Democrats as possible into this district, which is exhibit A for why everybody should be voting YES on Issue 2.
It's the so-called "Snake on the Lake," the district that wiggles from Toledo to Cleveland, at one point connected only by the Edison Bridge over the Sandusky Bay. Apparently seagulls will be flying votes from one side to the other.
What they won't be doing is carrying a lot of votes for Marcy's opponent, Sam Wurzelbacher, aka Not Joe the Not a Plumber.
Grayson incorrectly states in his letter,
"Do you remember "Joe the Plumber"? If not, you're better off. But let me remind you - because "Joe the Plumber" might be elected to Congress in two weeks."
No. He won't be. Not a chance. That's why the Ohio GOP is letting him play candidate this year. If they had a chance, a real candidate would have stepped out. Remember when Rob Frost, Cuyahoga County Republican chairman, was going to run? He even stepped off the county board of elections to do so. But when the maps came out and it was clear this district was designed to corral as many Democrats as possible, he ended his campaign.
Personally, I think Grayson just wrote this email because he wanted to rag on one of the most absurd fringe candidates running anywhere in the country.
He says,
Back the first time, in 2008, "Joe the Plumber" jumped, with both feet, into the ensuing distortion-fest. He said that the President's answer would put us "one step closer to socialism." He said that the answer showed that our first African-American President could "tap dance . . . almost as good as Sammy Davis, Jr." He said that he could never support Obama, because of "questions" about "Obama's loyalty to our country."
For Fox News and Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, a star was born. "Joe the Plumber" gave up his non-plumbing career, and became a "motivational speaker." His talk consists of witty observations like asking why Senator Chris Dodd hasn't been "strung up" yet.
Grayson asks for contributions for Marcy but let's get real. She doesn't need them.
Send them instead to Angela Zimmann (who Marcy has done a fundraiser for), running against Bob "Who?" Latta in Northwest Ohio's 5th district. She's kind of the beneficiary of the GOP's weird districting because to attach Cleveland to Toledo, they had to place a chunk of Toledo in the red 5th district, making it a tad more winnable for a Democrat. And she's worked hard to take advantage.
http://zimmannforcongress.com/
Or send it to Congresswoman Betty Sutton, pitted against fellow incumbent Teabaggin' Jim Renacci in the 16th district. Her win would be a double hit of goodness: keep a great champion for ordinary working people and kick out one teabagger.
http://www.bettysuttonforcongress.com/
Or you can look over at Canton, where Joyce Healy-Abrams is running against another right-wing extremist, Congressman Bob Gibbs. Joyce is running as a job creator, a protector of Medicare and Social Security, and an advocate for women's rights.
http://www.healyabramsforcongress.com/
And down in south-central Ohio, in the Dayton area, the bright, dynamic progressive Sharen Neuhardt is hoping to defeat a blob of uselessness known as Mike "Who?" Turner. Turner has never been a leader on anything; Sharen would be.
http://www.neuhardtforcongress.com/
And finally: Sherrod Brown!!! I was bummed out to get a call today looking for volunteers to work on a mailing this week — but they wanted people during work hours, from 3-6 p.m. If it had been evenings, I would have been there in a heartbeat. Twice this week, in Cleveland and Columbus, we got to see the snot-nosed arrogance of Josh "The Empty Suit" Mandel on display. If you are not appalled by him, then you have something wrong with you. Sherrod has continued to lead in all the polls, but Mandel must be defeated by as decisive a margin as possible — and we can't take any chances that this execrable candidate, this avatar of dishonesty, ends up representing us in the U.S. Senate. Well, nominally representing us. He'd really be representing his campaign donors – and that's no lie.
