It’s no secret that I’m pretty outspoken about the mismanagement of our current administration. My belief is don’t come to me with problems, come to me with solutions. Here is a major opportunity, the Democrats need to pick up 17 seats in the House to achieve complete control of our federal government again. We need to defend our majority, and add to it. One of those seats being contested is Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District.
The Republican candidate is a friend and former student Stewart Mills. Recently I sat down on the phone with Stewart to conduct an informal Q&A session on his bid for Congressman. I wanted to share some of the high points from that interview.
First off, who is Stewart Mills? Well, that can be best answered by visiting his campaign website. Stroll around and get to know him, read some of the news articles and you will see an intelligent, articulate American. Someone who is fed up with the current mismanagement of our country.
One of the questions I had to ask was why get involved? Stewart first got involved when anti-gun groups were knee-jerking about increasing gun control. You might have seen a YouTube video of him explaining how a duck hunting shotgun like any firearm needs to be respected. It’s a great video that I suggest folks watch, the logic and assertions he makes are spot on, the real question is why can’t other folks recognize the logic? As we talked through the interview, one thing really struck me; his respect and admiration for the constitution, all of it. You got a glimpse of it with a genuine and heartfelt commented he made, “what a beautiful flag”. As an avid hunters, shooter and competitor he understood the problem and more importantly sees the gun control policies for what they are; control.
He is also a successful businessman. What many people may not know is he is the administrator of his company’s self-funded medical insurance plan covering over 6,000 participants. He had a first row seat to what I consider an utter debacle that is the Affordable Care Act, but that wasn’t his first exposure to a failed program. As part of the automotive industry his business participated in the “cash for clunkers” program. The first hand look at what a mismanaged “feel good” policy looks like and foreboding as well. Again, he sees it for what it is; the federal government muscling in on the private sector. Ultimately, the “sugar rush” of fiscal stimulus packages wears off and the people have to deal with the let down and still face the same problems.
Since that was a glimpse into a failed economic policy, I asked him to give me an example of a successful one and without skipping a beat he pointed to President Reagan and his tax reform that has yet to be duplicated. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, why not use that as a template to tackle today’s problems. That’s a damn good question, why aren’t we being more fiscally responsible as a government.
Since he is in full campaign swing I asked if he has seen the smear campaign the Democrats are famous for begin. The short answer is yes and the point he makes is they attack him personally, they don’t attack him on his issues. Why is that not surprising, he is intelligent and well informed.
So, what can you do? I want to help get the word out, to help get his message to as many people as possible. He is already out performing the incumbent on fund raising, but it’s a long way until November so every little bit helps. I encourage people to get involved. If you are a Minnesotan, consider volunteering. Aside from a solid set of campaign issues he is doing a great job on the mechanics behind campaigning. The grassroots effort of community and involvement really help him stay in touch and his goal is to not just get his message out, but get the voter who agrees with his message to the voting booth. If you are not a Minnesotan then please consider donating to his campaign, there is still a lot of work to be done.
I think summing up the interview with one of his comments says it best, “my campaign is winnable and it is one we need to win.” I couldn’t agree more and I’m excited as hell to see this new breed of statesmen.
