Mumpower risks victory for principles
Posted on Wednesday, October 29 @ 08:34:09 EDT
Topic: Campaigns Candidates Elections
|
 ALIPAC NOTE: We have endorsed Dr. Mumpower and our hopes and prayers are with him.
---
October 29, 2008
John Boyle
If you don't believe Carl Mumpower is an equal opportunity offender, just ask him.
“I promise you, I make as many Republicans angry with me with some of
my statements and positions as I do Democrats, independents and
others,” Mumpower, the Republican candidate for Congress, said at a
recent campaign stop.
An Asheville city councilman and local psychologist, Mumpower faces
U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, D-Waynesville, and Libertarian candidate Keith
Smith in Tuesday's election.
After winning the May primary, Mumpower guaranteed a “maverick”
campaign based almost exclusively on adhering to his conservative
principles. And he has delivered.
Subjects: Congress, Carl Mumpower, Heath Schuler, Illegal Immigration, NC, North Carolina, David and Goliath, campaigns, elections, Republicans, Democrats
In June, he said he would support the impeachment of President
Bush over his failure to stem illegal immigration. In July he
“suspended” his campaign for nearly a week (though he continued to send
out press releases) until the majority of the 15 counties in the 11th
Congressional District recommitted themselves to the Republican Party's
core principles.
“Principles come before power, politics, party, popularity, any other
word you can think of — and that's not easy,” Mumpower told students
gathered last week at Montreat College for a discussion of religion and
politics.
He got the majority of WNC counties to come on board, but he
irritated the Republican Party leadership of at least one major GOP
stronghold, Henderson County, which has 34,000 registered Republicans.
Party Chairman Robert Danos said in a letter to other party officials
that Mumpower crossed the line with the impeachment call, by suspending
his campaign and referring to Republican Sens. Richard Burr and
Elizabeth Dole as “closet socialists.”
Danos noted that the party annually recommits to its core
conservative values, as well as county, state and national platforms.
It recommitted after Mumpower's campaign suspension in the hopes that
the candidate would then concentrate on winning the election, but
Mumpower's intentions to take his campaign statewide and nationwide
left Danos miffed.
“I cannot speak for anyone else, but the HCRP is not signing on
for Carl's version of a statewide political movement,” Danos wrote.
Mumpower's iconoclastic stance does strike a chord with some voters, though.
Montreat student Crystal Smith, 22, said she would vote for Mumpower.
“He does seem to have strong convictions, and I like that,” Smith
said. “And I like that he doesn't take money from interest groups, and
he's not chained to those guys.”
A low-budget affair
As a challenger, Mumpower has an uphill battle. Incumbents have a
90 percent re-election rate, and Shuler, a former college and pro
football quarterback, has major name recognition in the district and
has essentially run as a moderate if not conservative Democrat.
The 11th Congressional District leans conservative, even though
registered Democrats (195,661) outnumber Republicans (166,546). Another
121,582 are unaffiliated, according to the N.C. Board of Elections.
Part of Mumpower's maverick approach has been to eschew all
contributions from political action committees, special-interest
groups, corporations or even his own national party. As of his Sept. 30
filing with the Federal Election Commission, Mumpower had just $2,225
in cash on hand and $48,638 in debt, compared with $1,046,289 in cash
on hand for Shuler.
In 2006, Shuler spent $1.75 million, while incumbent Republican
Charles Taylor dropped $4.4 million. Mumpower asserts that Shuler is
simply “buying a seat” in Congress, while Shuler maintains he is simply
playing by the rules.
On Oct. 16, Mumpower vowed not to advertise anymore. He has also
repeatedly said he will not seek earmark spending for Western North
Carolina but wants to reduce mountain residents' tax burden and make
sure the federal government “honors its promises,” whether that means
building roads or providing veterans services. Cutting wasteful
spending is a top priority.
He also adamantly opposed the $700 billion federal bailout package
Congress recently passed and praised Shuler's “no” vote on it. Mumpower
also praised Shuler earlier this year for co-sponsoring the Secure
America through Verification and Enforcement Act, which calls for
strict rules on employers to verify immigrants' legal status.
Mumpower, who has made illegal immigration a centerpiece of his
campaign, outlined a three-point immigration plan that includes
enforcing current immigration laws more vigorously and “going after the
people who provide the jobs and the money that create the attraction
that lead people to leave their own country — and that's the people who
illegally employ illegal aliens.”
An Air Force veteran who served in Vietnam, Mumpower acknowledges
that praising his opponent might not make great strategic sense.
“I think it's evident that strategy is not guiding my campaign,”
Mumpower said. “I'm not interested in pandering to or manipulating the
voters. I am interested in being sincere in my dedication to my
principles and doing the right thing. If that happens to match my
opponent's behavior on occasion, I'm delighted.”
The Pelosi card
Mumpower also is attempting to tie Shuler to House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi, of California. Last week, Mumpower put out a press release
citing Project Vote Smart, a nonpartisan voter information service and
noting that “Shuler sided with the speaker 86 percent of the time.”
That record, Mumpower said, should “comfort liberals discouraged with Shuler's manufactured image as a conservative.”
Shuler maintains that most of the votes cited are procedural votes
and that he has struck out on his own on key issues, including voting
against the bailout and against his party's stance on embryonic stem
cell research.
The Pelosi strategy and Mumpower's unorthodox campaign could well
backfire on him, said Gibbs Knotts, a political scientist at Western
Carolina University.
Knotts respects Mumpower's principled stands and says being
“anti-Washington” in a year like this could help the candidate, but he
also maintains that Shuler has played his cards skillfully in his first
two years in office.
“I think Shuler has been real smart, and he's taken a lot of the
social issues off the table because he's pretty conservative on key
social issues, with immigration certainly being one,” Knotts said.
“That's how a Democrat can be successful in this district.”
Mumpower, who's been on Asheville City Council since 2001, usually
as the only conservative, says he's used to uphill struggles and relies
on three filters to carry him through: the Bible, which he uses as a
guide; the Constitution; and his stance as a real Republican. That
means he's devoted to protecting the country (including the borders),
“keeping government small and people big,” and being careful with other
people's money.
The grandson of a Baptist preacher, Mumpower rededicated himself
to Christ about 10 years ago. He makes no bones about his spirituality
driving him as a man, although it doesn't drive his politics.
At Montreat, he told a story about taking his wife, Lisa, to
Gatlinburg, Tenn., for a vacation after his first City Council
election. He came across a jar of “What Would Jesus Do” bracelets in a
store and bought them all.
“I took them home, and I stuck one in every suit I have,” Mumpower
said. “I can't tell you how many times I've reached into that pocket
and held on to that bracelet and said, ‘God, give me the strength to
get through this.'”
DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE WITH OUR ONLINE ACTIVISTS AT...
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-136528.html
|
|
| |
| Article Rating | Average Score: 5
Votes: 1
| |
|
Contribute/Join
