The Saginaw News Editorial endorsing Republican incumbent Dave Camp was baffling to me. While of the opinion that “change” is needed at the County Commission (where a Democratic majority sits), this paper somehow does not recognize the far more pressing need for such change in the Halls of Congress, where a GOP majority has succeeded in little except stripping away constitutional protections for common citizens and surrendering their own constitutional prerogatives and responsibilities to an Executive Branch that has run roughshod over virtually every constitutional check on its power.

I have seen The Saginaw News make the old claim that “All politics is local”. That popular “wisdom” only holds true when American citizens fail to recognize their common cause in defending our form of government, our civil rights, and the well being of our nation- as well as our local communities. In this Election, the stakes are far too high for such a provincial political perspective. In 2006, Politics are global- and principles and party do matter.

For all of these reasons, Democrat Mike Huckleberry is the only choice for 4th District U.S. House. The inexperience and lack of campaign funding offered as arguments against his endorsement seem to expose a newspaper either servile to entrenched interests or mired in political cynicism.

A Congressman is expected to be a representative of the people of his district, and I cannot think of anyone more representative of the people than Mike “Huck” Huckleberry. He is a regular guy seeking an opportunity to “Go to Washington” to be heard- to a City already full of slick attorneys, professional politicians, and self-serving lobbyists. If there was ever a man to send a message that “We, the people, have had enough!”-it is Mike Huckleberry.

There are legitimate concerns that voting out incumbent members of Congress weakens the relative position a constituency has in Washington (through loss of seniority and thus committee and leadership roles). However, in 2006 we must trust in our fellow Americans throughout the USA who have also had enough of the incompetence, corruption, and abuse of the GOP-controlled federal government. Rather than losing political power for our representatives (to others), we must think of it as gaining real power for the people of our communities- through an insistence on honest, open, and accountable government. Electing Mike Huckleberry over Dave Camp is the 4th District’s part in charting a new course in American public service.

The News claims Huckleberry has “tapped into the anxieties” of a Greenville plant closing to further his “populist” campaign, when in fact he has shared first hand in the fears and the anger of his own community towards the costly war in Iraq, unfair trade policies and transnational corporate treachery, while Dave Camp’s “accessibility” is most pronounced as the Congressman for the District of Dow.

The News claims Huckleberry hasn’t shown “he can get things done”, while Camp, in the News’ own words, “is firmly cemented within the Republican House leadership”. Leadership in a “do nothing Congress” is dubious praise indeed, and Mike Huckleberry can only “get things done” if he is first given a chance.