Paul Clements is giving Fred Upton in Michigan's 6th CD an unexpected contest.
At InsideClimate News, Katherine Bagley writes
Climate Hawk Gives Unbeatable Fred Upton a Run for His Oil Industry Money:
The race in Michigan's 6th congressional district between incumbent Republican Congressman Fred Upton and Democrat Paul Clements has become surprisingly close—with Clements trailing the chairman of the powerful House Committee on Energy and Commerce by just a few points. [...]
"It is now possible, if not likely, that this could be one of the biggest surprises coming out of the Midwestern congressional races," said Barry Rabe, an expert on the politics of climate change at the University of Michigan.
Upton was largely considered unbeatable thanks to his fourteen-term incumbency and ties to the fossil fuel industry, which has kept his campaign coffers full year after year. National environmental and political organizations like the League of Conservation Voters, the NRDC Action Fund and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee focused their efforts elsewhere. Even pollsters weren't tracking the race, at least not publicly.
Only two small super PACs got involved to help boost Clements, a political science professor at Western Michigan University. One was Climate Hawks Vote, which works to get climate-conscious candidates into office. The other was MaydayPAC, a crowdfunded group that strives to elect officials who support campaign finance reform.
"There should have been more groups involved, especially more environmental groups, considering this is the chair of the House energy committee," said [long-time Kossack] RL Miller, founder of Climate Hawks Vote. "But they all saw it as a long shot. I got involved partly to send a message, but also because I didn't think it was quite as long a shot."
Climate Hawks Vote runs on a shoestring budget, opting for phone banking and door-to-door campaigning instead of running more expensive print and broadcast ads. The super PAC has had someone on the ground in Michigan since the beginning of September. Its strategy has been to boast about Clements' pro-climate action position while drawing attention to Upton's ties to the oil industry.
Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2007—Giuliani's Corruption Problem:
Between 1990 and 2004, Rudy Giuliani raised Bernard Kerik from police detective to deputy correction commissioner, then correction commissioner, then police commissioner, to ultimately being, briefly, Bush's nominee for director of homeland security. In each of the roles he filled, as the New York Times details, Kerik was characterized by corruption and abuse, yet Giuliani continued to promote him. For doing that, Giuliani owns Kerik's corruption.
As corrections commissioner:
Behind the scenes Mr. Kerik ruled like a feudal lord, many former employees have said. He had taken up with a woman who was a correction officer; he was accused of directing officers to staff his wedding. He befriended the agency’s inspector general, whose watchdog responsibilities require keeping an arm’s-length relationship, and the investigator attended his wedding.
But far more serious were his ties to a mobbed-up construction company, which developed during his tenure as corrections commissioner, a role in which he repeatedly assisted the company in its dealings with the city, while it hired his brother and paid for the renovation of his own apartment.
Despite this, Giuliani had him made police commissioner, over a more qualified candidate.
Tweet of the Day
Cruz-controlled Senate: Cruz said the first order of business should be a series of hearings on President Obama. IOW: Impeachment
— @Smartypants60
On
today's Kagro in the Morning rerun, our 11/1/13 show:
Kos nailed it on Huntsman a year ago!
Greg Dworkin brought us a great Friday roundup: amazing Q&A from an AL Gop primary, a bonkers Hallmark move to take "gay" out of "Deck the Halls" & ACA "winners & losers." More crazy? How about a teen shot for TP-ing a house? Mysterious "Google barges." Fournier sees Rs 2x as unpopular as Obama, so they're both the same. Grassley makes his amendment look even dumber. Plus, Rs who voted in favor of allowing the debt ceiling hike, then voted to disapprove of their own votes. And out of a TN courtroom, the gov't (i.e., prosecutors) formally object to being called "the government."
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