by Doctor Science
We have already mailed in our votes for NJ's Special Primary Election this coming Tuesday, as we'll be out of state on vacation next week. I'm going to take a moment out of my frantic getting-ready-to-go schedule to say:
I endorse Rush Holt for the Democratic Senatorial nomination.
Rush has been my Representative since 1999. Even if he hadn't been our neighbor for much of that time, I would still say he's pretty much what I would ask for if you could cook up a Congressman in a vat to my exact specifications. He's incredibly smart, he's deeply progressive, he's not beholden to Wall Street, he both understands and cares about deeply important issues: economic inequality, climate change, and resisting the national security state.
There are two reasons I urge my NJ friends NOT to nominate Cory Booker, the front-runner:
- As Charles Pierce and digby have documented, Booker is on the side of Big Money. It's crucial that we have Senators who will at least attempt to hold the economically powerful accountable. Booker will not do this; Holt will.
- Holt has over a decade of experience in Washington, including serving on the House Intelligence Committee. He actually knows what's going on there. Booker does not, which means he will get his information and ideas from lobbyists and the powerful. Holt will push back against the kind of thing Ugh writes about in the previous post; Booker will not.
I put in many hours with Rush's campaign in 2000, and have helped him with time and money when we could over the years. If you're in NJ and have time this weekend, please consider helping him out with phone banking and door-to-door. Whether you're in NJ or not, please consider donating to his campaign.
And yes, we had this bumper sticker on our old car:
but that's not the only reason we support Rush Holt. He's a wonderful, thoughtful guy, a great neighbor, and one of the finest public servants I have ever had the privilege of voting for.
Very disappointing, though I can't say I'm surprised, that the NYT endorsed Booker the other day. Faced with a choice between a real liberal and a Wall Street centrist who criticized the Obama campaign for being too hard on Bain Capital, the NYT chose the centrist.
Posted by: Donald Johnson | August 08, 2013 at 06:50 PM
For anyone who wants to look, here's the unfortunate NYT endorsement--
link
Posted by: Donald Johnson | August 08, 2013 at 06:54 PM
I'm too far away to have any influence, but I wish your guy well. Booker is good on dog rescue issues, though. :)
Posted by: Laura Koerbeer | August 08, 2013 at 09:59 PM
As a good Democrat who believes to the center of his few remaining dessicated bones that the meanders justify the terminals, I will pledge here and now to vote for Rush Holt at least 20 times as per the direction I have received from our exalted mad dog feminazi, height challenged Senator Patty Murray, and the rich red blood of Tammany that runs through my collapsed arteries. For you lickspittle waterers of Liberty's trees-get a case of Evian and have at it.
They accept absentee ballots, right?
Posted by: bobbyp | August 08, 2013 at 11:07 PM
Can't vote for him; donated, and will talk to my Jersey friends.
Posted by: joel hanes | August 08, 2013 at 11:36 PM
I have a lot of NJ friends who I can assume would be less than sympathetic with the views of Rush Holt, judging from the crap they put on facebook and what they say at parties. But I wouldn't expect them to vote in a Dem primary.
I have some friends, though, who would be very likely to vote for Holt, assuming that they would vote at all or where even aware of the special election. Time and money being what they are for me, I will at least make those people aware of the election, if they aren't already, and urge them to vote.
I figure there will be very low turnout for this, so it's a great chance to vote with a proportionally greater effect than usual. At the very, very least, there are two Holt voters coming from my house.
Posted by: hairshirthedonist | August 09, 2013 at 11:18 AM
My personal GOTV e-mail campaign has officially commenced.
Posted by: hairshirthedonist | August 09, 2013 at 11:51 AM
His first name had to be Rush, did it?
On the other hand , I'll pay a guy to affix a "Rush for Holt" bumper sticker to Limbaugh's Bulgemobile leading up to the election.
And car bombs.
Posted by: CountMe-In | August 12, 2013 at 08:34 PM
Oh, well...
salt
Posted by: hairshirthedonist | August 14, 2013 at 10:44 AM
So sad.
Posted by: Ugh | August 15, 2013 at 03:01 PM