Title:
Lewis campaign calls Republican ad ‘act of desperation’
Author:
Webmaster_LPM
Date:
10/1/2012
Year:
2012
Article:
Livingston County Republicans confuse voters over the weekend, Lewis campaign calls Republican ad ‘act of desperation’
October 1, 2012 By Campaign Staff
For Immediate Release
State Rep Candidate James Lewis helps voters clear the confusion created by county Republican Party over the weekend
Brighton, Mich. – The Marketeer, a free shopping directory owned by the George Moses Company in Brighton, included a “Livingston County Republican 2012 Voter’s Guide” in their recent mailing to more than 48,000 households in the county. The spread, paid for by the Livingston County Republican Committee, instructs local voters to vote “straight ticket” in November.
“Desperate times call for desperate measures, and they are desperate to cling-on to the old and failed ways that voters are now rejecting,” says Steve Mace, manager of the Campaign to Elect James Lewis. Lewis is running against Republican incumbent Bill Rogers for State Representative in the 42nd district.
“We have had feedback from voters that their ‘Keep Livingston County Republican’ tag line evokes the party-line of the Deep South in ‘60s, when the powers-that-be tried to stem the tide of changing public opinion through an attitude of ‘we know best.’
This type of campaign material tells the voters of Livingston County that they don’t need to think for themselves, or learn about the real issues,” says Mace. “They are telling the voters ‘Just do as we tell you and everything will be fine.’ And things are most definitely not fine in Michigan thanks to Republican’s and Democrat’s cyclical mismanagement of our economy.”
“What this straight-ticket vote would assure is that Michigan will continue to go to the highest bidder, and lobbyists and corporate interests will continue to make the rules; and Rogers’ record and contributor’s list certainly shows that,” says Mace. Describing the current GOP incumbents as “typical,” Mace also points out that Bill Rogers touts himself as a fiscal conservative, while voting to raise taxes on people across the state.
“If voters stopped to look beyond the rhetoric and the ‘we know best’ platitudes, they would see what’s really going on is a not-too-veiled attempt to retain political, and therefore economic, control — for the party and the party’s favorites. This is NOT about what’s best for the voters of Michigan,” Mace said.
Mace says the state Republicans’ rush to re-district the state has hurt them in the new 42nd District; they added strong Libertarian leaning areas such as South Lyon to the district.
“This latest act of desperation on the part of the state GOP doesn’t come as a surprise. They’ve done it to themselves. They have to get in tune with the 21st century, because voters certainly are. They are doing their party faithful a disservice by acting like what they do and have done goes unnoticed in today’s society. They believe voters will continue to allow their state to be governed by the highest bidder. This is why voters of the new district are flocking to James and running as fast as they can away from those who tell them how they must vote,” Mace says.
Lewis sees the straight-party ticket as an abdication of personal responsibility.
“As citizens in this great state, we all have a responsibility to understand the issues and know who we are voting for,” says Lewis. “Any time we allow someone else make our decisions for us, we give away a little more of our freedoms. Straight-ticket voting is akin to giving away your voice; it’s the worst way to exercise your right to vote.”
Lewis wants voters to understand that the ballot in Michigan includes three parts:
? The partisan candidate section
? The non-partisan candidate section for positions like probate judge, etc.
? The ballot proposals on specific issues regarding constitutional amendments and other public policy.
Lewis urges voters to look beyond the obvious and listen to what each candidate has to say about the real issues. “Despite what the ads insinuate, voters are not obligated to vote straight party,” Lewis says.
