BREAKING: Carl Levin to Retire

[PaleoPaul]

He's against pretty much everything that the progressive agenda stands for. And Detroit is like Michigan's Philly...it tends to determine the election.

 

[erowe1]

He's against pretty much everything that the progressive agenda stands for. And Detroit is like Michigan's Philly...it tends to determine the election.

Detroit's less of a factor than Philly is. And in the last senatorial election in PA, Toomey won.

 

[EBounding]

One scenario where I wouldn't want Justin to run is if Levin decides to run for governor. I really hope that's not what Levin is planning here.

 

[Bastiat's The Law]

Bush lost Michigan by 5.1 and 3.4 points I think in 00 and 04. Any chance voter ID gets passed in Michigan? Anything to suppress Detroit turnout would be good. I hate to say that but Michigan, like Pennsylvania, is a 1-city Democratic state, with help from Flint-Saginaw and Ann Arbor-Lansing to lesser extents.

If Amash does run, think he could kick off his campaign in a democrat stronghold like Ann Arbor? You think he'd be popular with the college kids, which would cut into the usual democratic voting bloc.

Dearborn would be another potential place to kick off the campaign.

 

[Son of Detroit]

If Amash does run, think he could kick off his campaign in a democrat stronghold like Ann Arbor? You think he'd be popular with the college kids, which would cut into the usual democratic voting bloc.

Dearborn would be another potential place to kick off the campaign.

Ann Arbor makes sense. He has two degrees from here.

 

[supermario21]

If Amash does run, think he could kick off his campaign in a democrat stronghold like Ann Arbor? You think he'd be popular with the college kids, which would cut into the usual democratic voting bloc.

Dearborn would be another potential place to kick off the campaign.

I'd tend to agree. Maybe even campaign with Ron in Ann Arbor? I know I keep beating a useless drum but Amash has a chance to win like Spencer Abraham did in 94, a staunch Arab-American conservative but Amash can have further appeal across party lines to civil libertarians and anti-war folks than Abraham did. Would moderate Republicans vote for Amash though? How did Stabenow do so well? Did Hoekstra just run a garbage campaign?

 

[erowe1]

Stabenow was the incumbent, for one thing.

 

[PaleoPaul]

From what I hear, Arabs and Muslims used to be a solid GOP voting bloc until 9/11 and the unPatriot Act happened.

Could Amash be the first GOPer running for a national office since 2000 to get Arabs and Muslims to vote GOP?!

Now that I think about it...GO AMASH!

 

[erowe1]

From what I hear, Arabs and Muslims used to be a solid GOP voting bloc until 9/11 and the unPatriot Act happened.

Could Amash be the first GOPer running for a national office since 2000 to get Arabs and Muslims to vote GOP?!

Now that I think about it...GO AMASH!

I think it's a misconception to think Arab Americans make a large voting block in Michigan. There's one city where they have a very high concentration. But I don't think they make up more than 1% of the state. I do think Amash would get most of their votes though.

 

[PaleoPaul]

I think it's a misconception to think Arab Americans make a large voting block in Michigan. There's one city where they have a very high concentration. But I don't think they make up more than 1% of the state. I do think Amash would get most of their votes though.

I was talking about the Arab demographic itself, not how it would influence Michigan.

Just like if Herman Cain was the nominee last year, people would be saying "Could Cain be the first GOPer since the 60s to get a good chunk of the black vote?!" Same principle..

 

[PaleoPaul]

Detroit's less of a factor than Philly is. And in the last senatorial election in PA, Toomey won.

Toomey's more of a moderate compared to Amash.

 

[supermario21]

Dearborn Arabs would support a guy like Amash...Here's an old article talking about Abraham's defeat. unfortunately I can only read the first sentence or two.

When Spencer Abraham went through his political ups and downs last fall, he wasn't alone. From a crushing defeat in the Senate race to the surprise appointment as U.S. energy secretary, many Arab Americans in the Detroit area rode the political roller coaster with him. "It was really a surprise for him to lose a seat in the Senate," said Osama Siblani, editor of the weekly Arab American News, in Dearborn.

Seeing that he thought it was a suprise, I take it that the Arab community supported him.
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we...page=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM

And whoever said Arabs were GOP leaning, you're right.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/sep/13/september11.usa31

America's long-established but small Arab population has been swelled by refugees and displaced populations from the Middle East conflict. Los Angeles has the largest single Arab American population, but the most prominent Arab American community is that in the Detroit and Dearborn area of Michigan, where 300,000 Muslims live. The former Republican senator for Michigan, Spencer Abraham, now the Bush administration's energy secretary, is the country's most prominent elected Arab American.

Estimates during last year's presidential election suggest that Arab American voters backed George Bush rather than Al Gore by 40%-28%. Mr Bush became the first presidential candidate to address a specificially Arab American rally when he spoke in Dearborn in October 2000.

During his speech Mr Bush took up one of the most frequent complaints of Arab Americans, that they are discriminated against at airport security check-ins. "Such indiscriminate uses of passenger profiling are wrong and must be stopped," Mr Bush told the rally.

Here's another article talking about the huge swing in the Arab community. Amash can make significant inroads unlike any Republican.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-10-07-50states-michigan_N.htm

Obama has held two town-hall-style meetings with Arab Americans. The campaign has held four conference calls with leaders and has sponsored Arab-American voter registration drives.

Abdallah voted for George W. Bush in 2000, convinced that he wasn't going to be overly influenced by the Israel lobby. Dearborn and Dearborn Heights gave Bush a 49%-45% victory.

"But I guess I didn't realize what a neoconservative he was," Abdallah, 42, says. "I didn't vote for him again."

In 2004, the two communities gave John Kerry a lopsided 58%-40% win over Bush.

 

[supermario21]

http://www.freep.com/article/201303...mocrats-confront-a-post-Levin-identity-crisis

Here's an article talking about the weakness and age of the Democratic Party in Michigan.

 

[FSP-Rebel]

http://www.freep.com/article/201303...mocrats-confront-a-post-Levin-identity-crisis

Here's an article talking about the weakness and age of the Democratic Party in Michigan.

It's some of what that article mentions among others that I had in mind when driving my own forecast of whether or not it would be prudent for JAmash to run and inevitably win under these newer circumstances. However, if Silver is that bullish still on the dems I'm not gonna be spitting in the wind here. It's up to JAmash and I'll support whatever he plans on doing.

 

[Peace&Freedom]

As a state, Michigan trends Democratic, period. They may be weakening and aging, but they still outnumber the Republican vote there. The best way to get a liberty candidate to win there is to run him/her in the DEMOCRATIC primaries as a liberty Democrat, period. FSP-Rebel is right, don't waste Amash's resources as a Republican in a race he is hardwired to lose. This is a WINNABLE race for a liberty victory, but only if we put a candidate in there who is positioned to win.

 

[supermario21]

What's a liberty Democrat? Someone with terrible fiscal ideas? I'm sorry I just can't buy into that idea.

 

[Bastiat's The Law]

It's important to plant a flag in the republican party and build something. The democratic party is hopeless and welded to income redistribution.

 

[itshappening]

Muslims supported Bush like 80% then he started invading Muslim countries and now they support Obama 80%.

Bush was a freaking moron and ruined everything good about the GOP.

 

[supermario21]

Muslims supported Bush like 80% then he started invading Muslim countries and now they support Obama 80%.

Bush was a freaking moron and ruined everything good about the GOP.

Yeah, you're making the point for Amash to run. He's the one Republican that can flip the large Arab population back to the GOP, and with margins probably larger than Bush ever had. Couple that with declining Democratic turnout in an off-year and you have a recipe to win. Justin Amash is the anti-George Bush and the anti-George Bush Republicans are the ones that win in Michigan.

 

[itshappening]

Yeah, you're making the point for Amash to run. He's the one Republican that can flip the large Arab population back to the GOP, and with margins probably larger than Bush ever had. Couple that with declining Democratic turnout in an off-year and you have a recipe to win. Justin Amash is the anti-George Bush and the anti-George Bush Republicans are the ones that win in Michigan.

I dont think Amash should run. A no name Democrat will have a field day with all his no votes. They will bury him and they will even send Obama a few times to lap it up and enjoy the easy victory. They will be talking about it for years to come. it's not a good idea.