Marcinkowski: courted, romanced, abandoned by his party (frontpage NYT)

[Bozita]

This really pisses me off. Marcinkowski is exactly the type of candidate capable of upending an entrenched Bushie like Mike Rogers.

This article appears above the fold on the frontpage of today's NYT. The photo is likewise above the fold.



http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/us/politics/07longsho...

October 7, 2006

Battling Power of Incumbency, and Feeling Left to Fight Alone
By MARK LEIBOVICH

BRIGHTON, Mich. — Implausible pursuits can be humbling. Jim Marcinkowski, a Democrat, discovers this every day in his bid to dislodge Representative Mike Rogers, a three-term Republican, from the United States Congress.

-snip-

Mr. Marcinkowski, a crisply groomed former C.I.A. operations officer, could represent a tougher-than-usual test for Mr. Rogers, who was re-elected by a margin of 37 percentage points in 2002 and 24 percentage points in 2004. A former Republican, Mr. Marcinkowski has a tough-guy résumé — Navy, C.I.A., teamster — and the silvery-haired presence of a Famous Guy you would swear you had seen before, maybe on television.

He drew national attention in 2003 and 2005 when he testified before Congress about his friend and former C.I.A. classmate Valerie Wilson. The story of Ms. Wilson, the agent whose identity was leaked by Bush administration officials, sealed Mr. Marcinkowski’s divorce from the Republicans. He had been active in the party from the time he organized the Michigan State University campus for Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign in 1980 but had gradually become disenchanted, particularly during the George W. Bush years.

His story — former C.I.A. officer, disaffected Republican — had great appeal to Democratic bigwigs seeking Congressional candidates. He talked to Representatives Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader; Steny Hoyer, the Democratic whip; and Rahm Emanuel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. All urged him to run, especially Mr. Emanuel, who called several times, and even shipped him a thank-you cheesecake after he had agreed to run.

-snip-

more...

[bfealk]

1. I don't think this was a smart move

I think this an unfortunate article. It makes Jim look bad and if he loses the party will not likely support him in the future. This is the kind of thing you keep to yourself and not on the front page of the New York Times. I wonder if this was the intended angle of the article or if the NYT chose to go down this road.

Jim is a great candidate, but airing our dirtly laundry in public like this isn't helpful to Jim or the party. Paul Hackett started down this road when the party asked him to step aside when Sherrod Brown entered the race in Ohio.

The article basically is an FU to the party and you F'd me over.

[tokenlib]

2. Jim has one more vote now that I'm in Lansing...

His sign is going up in my yard, any day now, as soon as they get more in. Now that I'm a Lansing resident--at least during the work week--I'll get to vote for him.
After losing my job up north, I was lucky to get a good job offer in Lansing.
The only bad thing is that I have no computer/internet access in Lansing yet. So I catch up on DU on the weekends when I go back north.

[Fresh_Start]

3. I raised same issue in Daily Kos.

Now he's at least on a Kos Act Blue page.
http://www.actblue.com/page/betterdonkeys