Meet The Candidates Event - Roscommon Co., MI

This was held last night in our Roscommon Twp Hall, in spite of a power outage that made the basement meeting room dark and, eventually, hot and stuffy. But the people that came out for it - candidates and voters alike - managed just fine and it was an informative and enjoyable evening.

Originally I was going to comment on my impressions and thoughts about each of the people who spoke. But today I decided not to, but rather to mention the highlights.

First, our 4th District US Rep race: Dem. Jerry Campbell is running against incumbent Representative Dave Camp. Both were represented by others. Mr. Campbell's rep, his son-in-law, went first. (He didn't mention why Mr. Campbell didn't attend.) He gave a short introductory statement in which his main point seemed to be that he "respectfully" didn't believe that Rep. Camp has been working for his constituents, generally speaking - each of his "respectful" statements were intended to show that he would do all of the things that Rep. Camp has supposedly failed to do, but he didn't really say how, or his own plans - whatever those may be. His rep answered the 3 questions posed, which Mr. Campbell had been sent via email at an earlier date, very briefly and in general terms, no specifics as to how he expected to do what he said he wanted to do. (BTW, after he and Rep. Camp's rep spoke, he was out the door and didn't offer the respect to the other candidates of hearing what anyone else had to say. Maybe he needed to get back to the golf course or something?)

In a huge contrast, Rep. Camp's rep (Rep. Camp was called to Washington) gave a detailed introduction, listing his many accomplishments, bills he had sponsored, and the specific ways he has helped northern Michigan. For each of the 3 questions she gave answers which included his past successes and current work on each, complete with statistics and data to back up each fact. His answers were informative, informed, and complete. I was impressed.

For our 35th district Senate people, the only "highlight" I have is that Roger Dunigan struck me as a warm-fuzzy wannabe who wants compromise and hugs amid choruses of Kumbaya around the campfire. Given the extremely tough problems Michigan is facing, I don't find this at all reassuring. I was impressed by what both Gary Finstrom and Darwin L. Booher had to say, as well as their comfortable and confident respective manners.

(Speaking of manners, this is as good a time as any to mention that one of the county commissioners thought it was perfectly fine to talk throughout the presentations of others, and provide the distraction of going outside for smoke breaks several times. Just sayin'...that's not how my mother raised me to show respect, maybe they do things differently over in Denton Twp.)

For the 103rd district state reps, there were a plethora of potential candidates. (It cannot be stressed enough to get out there and vote the primary! It is up to us to decide who will be on the ticket come November!) I've never made any secret of my choice for our rep, but there were several who I would be happy to vote for in November, should "my guy" not make the cut for some reason.

I could discuss my impressions of each of them, but since many of their answers and ideas were similar, and in an effort to economize on bytes I will just say this:
- Anybody who stops to help someone using a walker on an uneven sidewalk and who would rather live in a ditch than see a baby slaughtered is honorable and respectable.
- A dark horse who doesn't have much of import to say until the last minute, then drops a ridiculously simple yet brilliant bomb that won the applause of the crowd at the end surprisingly gets my attention (but not enough to get my vote).
- Anybody who talks to the crowd but then looks downward when making his most important statements, fiddling with his notes, I find hard to trust.
- A tried-and-true successful entrepreneur, proud to be a nationalized United States citizen and disdainful of those who enjoy its benefits without the cost of citizenship and without sacrifice is a man who knows more about being an American - and a success - than many who were born here.
- Any farmer and/or construction company owner who has been able to survive and even succeed in these times is doing something right and has something to offer our area.
- If you go on and on, saying the same things over and over again, you are wasting time and trying to make us think that your little bit to offer is a whole lot more than it is.
- And finally, someone who can answer 3 tough questions in as many minutes and effectively get his point across is someone who can get things done and not waste our time or our resources in doing so.

If I must offer a disclaimer in this age of paranoia and defensiveness it would simply be this: These are my impressions. I am a United States citizen. If yours differ, that's great. We are both guaranteed the constitutional right to have and express our own thoughts on our own blogs (or elsewhere). And finally, I'm proud to have the opportunity to hear what the fine men and women who seek to serve our area of northern Michigan have to say, and proud to have the right to give my opinions of what they said.