I don’t live in Michigan’s 10th U. S. House district. But because Paul Mitchell wants ads on TV to reach Macomb County voters, and viewers in that county are served by TV stations based in Wayne or Oakland County, it is inevitable that viewers in other districts will see these ads.
Mitchell most likely doesn’t consider this a bad thing, as it might build him name recognition if he wins the seat and later tries to go for the Senate. But it also brings him to the attention of those who can only criticize him now but might later have a chance to vote for one of his opponents.
I will be criticizing him today, and hopefully his name will never be on a ballot that I vote on. For those of you who have a chance to vote for him, I will be advocating that you vote for his opposing Democrat (more on him in a little bit).
The first Mitchell ad that I saw is kind of cute. A little boy is in a toy store, looking at a wall full of Career Politician action figures. “He flip-flops!” is one of the selling points for the Career Politician action figure. Mitchell presents himself as an “outsider” and a “businessman,” labels that are of course designed to appeal to Tea Party crazies.
You have already figured out that Mitchell is running as a Republican. But it’s not clear from the ad, which states his party affiliation only at the end. Mitchell seems to have ditched the action figure ad, since it kind of muddles his message. A newer ad shows Mitchell in the woods with a rifle; he hopes this will endear him to the Second Amendment second clause zealot Republicans.
Because of gerrymandering in this state, as it so often happens, there are five Republicans running for the seat and only one Democrat. The 10th district is not as badly gerrymandered as some other districts (but do note that a big chunk of Sterling Heights is in a different district).
Congresswoman Candice Miller (R), who will complete seven terms in January, is not running for re-election, and Mitchell specifically moved to the district to run for her seat, the Detroit Free Press reported last year.
Two of the Republican contenders for the seat are currently in the state legislature, one (Alan Sanborn) was in the state legislature but was out due to term limits (a terrible policy, but that’s a rant for another day). Come to think of it, the Career Politician action figure in Mitchell’s first ad kind of looks like a young Alan Sanborn. The other Republican contender, David VanAssche, is a retired U. S. Air Force officer.
On the Democrat side, Frank Accavitti Jr. is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination on August 2, but pretty much everyone seems to think that he has no chance in November. And if this was 2012, I would think that he's not serious about winning, and that he is just paying his dues and taking one for the team.
But this is 2016, the year in which the Drummpfkopf being the presumptive Republican nominee for president has some Democrats feeling Schadenfreude for their Republican colleagues, and other Democrats seeing opportunity.
Mitchell’s TV ads try to align him with the better side of Donald Trump while ignoring the bad side. Mitchell is a successful businessman, not a career politician.
But with investigative reporters showing us that Trump is not as rich or successful as he wants us to think he is, Mitchell will need to work harder to demonstrate that he really is a successful businessman and not a fraud like Trump. I'm not sure how willing Mitchell is to remind us that he spent $3.5 million of his own money on his failed 2014 bid for Michigan's 4th U. S. House district.
As far as I know, Mitchell is not a racist demagogue. But then again, no one thought that about Michigan businessman turned politician Rick Snyder, who last year opposed Syrian refugees coming to Michigan and whose handling of the Flint water crisis has been negligent at best.
If you would rather oppose a candidate based on his track record rather than on what he promises or what you think he might become, there is some material to work with regarding Mitchell. For one thing, and this shows he's not a complete political novice, he spearheaded the opposition to a ballot proposal to raise the Michigan sales tax in order to help pay for road repairs.
Anyone who thinks Michigan doesn't have a problem with roads needs to spend some time driving up and down Charest Street in Hamtramck. I know, I know, that's in another district. Consider also that in 2014, frustrated by the state legislature’s failure to come up with a solution the Sterling Heights City Council decided the city would buy its own road repair equipment, the Macomb Daily reported that year.
An argument could be made that a sales tax increase to fix the roads affects people who don't actually drive on roads. But unless you're a self-sufficient hermit or you drive a flying DeLorean, you need roads.
A much better argument against the sales tax increase, in my opinion, is that it hits the poor harder. But if Mitchell ever deployed that argument in the battle to stop the sales tax increase, he probably would have done so insincerely. The myopic businessman seems to believe that taxes are inherently bad no matter what they're used for.
"Lower taxes" and “less government" are two mantras on Mitchell's campaign website. He also boasts "30 years [of] experience," but that's in the private sector.
One thing Accavitti does have in common with Mitchell: the Democrat has run for office before and not won either. If Accavitti is not cynical about his run, the party leadership certainly is.
I don't expect the 10th district voters to be swayed much by anything they read in Daily Kos. It is doubtful they will take my advice to vote for Accavitti in November. But at least I hope they realize they can do better than Paul Mitchell, and deny him the stepping stone to the Senate.