Karl Rove better pray that U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D. MI) decides not to retire because he'll have another teabagger to try and stop from screwing up the GOP's chances of taking the Senate:
http://www.freep.com/...
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, the west Michigan Republican who has had difficulties with leaders in his own party, is reportedly interested in running for the U.S. Senate.
The website for the conservative National Review reported Thursday that Amash is "privately considering a Senate bid, should incumbent Democrat Carl Levin retire."
Amash's office did not immediately return an e-mail for comment to the Free Press.
The National Review said that Amash, a 32-year-old former state legislator from Cascade Township, who is in his second term in Congress, has met with allies to talk about running for the Senate but that no decision is expected until Levin -- a Michigan Democrat who joined the Senate in 1978 -- makes up his mind whether to run for a seventh six-year term next year.
Levin, 78, told the Free Press on Thursday that he isn't ready to announce one way or the other.
"We're still thinking it through," he said. - Detroit Free Press, 2/15/13
Here's a little background info on the Tea Party congressman from Michigan's 3rd district:
http://ivn.us/...
First elected in 2010, Amash’s voting record has mostly lined up with the conservative-to-libertarian wing of the Republican Party. He has voted against Hurricane Sandy relief, against unbalanced budgets, and against congressional pay raises. He also votes against his party nearly 25 percent of the time, one of the higher percentages in Congress. He is often mentioned as Ron Paul’s ideological successor in the House.
Amash became the face of an intra-party feud. After the November elections, Republican US Reps. Amash, Tim Huelskamp, Walter Jones, and David Schweikert were all allegedly “purged” from their committee assignments for insufficient party loyalty. Amash and Jones both later voted against John Boehner’s retention as speaker of the House.
At only 32, Amash is one of the younger members in the House and is one of the top utilizers of social media. In addition to Twitter, Amash posts every vote on Facebook. In each post, Amash lists the legislation, its title, its number, an explanation of what the bill seeks to accomplish, and why he voted yes, no, or present.
Amash’s presence in the Senate might also animate the libertarian wing of the GOP. He would potentially join Kentucky’s Rand Paul, Texas’ Ted Cruz, and Utah’s Mike Lee as the members of the Senate with a libertarian bent. However, a prospective Amash candidacy also faces a few challenges. - IVN, 2/17/13
Amash made The Nation's top 13 Republicans who are too extreme for their own constituents because of his vote for the Paul Ryan Budget. Amash has become known as Mr. Contrarian and has angered both Tea Party and establishment Republicans:
http://www.nytimes.com/...
Representative Justin Amash does not believe the government should subsidize public broadcasting, vehemently opposes abortion rights and thinks Democrats are wrong about spending. Yet he has voted against every Republican measure that conforms to those views.
Through Tuesday, Mr. Amash (pronounced uh-MOSH), a Republican who represents a portion of southwestern Michigan, has not voted with the majority 25 percent of the time, the most of any House Republican.
Mr. Amash, 30, a lawyer and the youngest member of the freshman class, stands out even in the patchwork quilt of the 86 often-colorful Republican freshmen. He has voted against his party on important symbolic measures, like one that would strip financing from Planned Parenthood, and those most minor, like a measure to amend the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission Act to extend its termination date.
He has even voted against the routine matter of approving the journal of the previous day’s proceedings, because, he says, there is not enough time to read it. (This is a bit like not clicking “I Agree” on a hotel Wi-Fi agreement because you don’t have time to read the fine print.) - New York Times, 4/15/11
Here's Amash crying about his fellow Republicans inability to balance the budget on that Ron Paul cheer leading garbage of website, Reason.com:
http://reason.com/...
reason: Any surprises about your experience in Congress after your first term, pleasant or unpleasant?
Amash: I’ve been surprised by the level of unwillingness to work on issues like our debt in a serious way. I would have hoped that when Republicans were swept into office in 2010 we’d make some real gains in reducing the size of government or at least explaining to the American people why we need to have much smaller government. I look back on two years and see essentially no big accomplishment; it’s been two years of treading water and deals made that only serve to grow our government.
I’ve been surprised how many new members are aligned with the principles of limited government and economic liberty and individual freedom, but we don’t have the position in leadership yet to make an impact on the Party’s direction, at least directly. We are impacting people back home that will eventually translate into a new direction for the Party. - Reason.com, March 2013 issue
That's because Republicans don't give a shit about balancing the budget. Amash is a true believer in the Ron Paul nonsense of balancing the budget and limited government but he's made himself such a polarizing figure that Republican leadership had to strip him of any sort of leadership position. Truly pathetic. Who knows if Amash would actually be a strong candidate and Levin has yet to make his decision about running for re-election but if he does decide to retire, we would at least be getting rid of another one of Ron Paul's protege's, making libertarian nut job Republicans cry. Those tears do taste pretty sweet.