Warlord
Member
- Joined
- May 2, 2013
- Messages
- 11,694
IONIA — When Congressman Justin Amash declared himself an Independent this summer, officially parting ways with the Republican Party, he knew he was taking a risk.
Elected to serve Michigan’s 3rd Congressional district five times in a row, Amash of Cascade Township knows he faces a challenging road to re-election in 2020 if he is to secure the trust of an electorate that appears more and more divisive by the day.
On Wednesday, as part of a two-day district tour, Amash stopped at Sozo Coffee Roasting in Ionia to engage with constituents.
Amash declared himself as an independent on the Fourth of July, stating he believes the country’s two-party system has become too partisan, He echoed those concerns Wednesday while remaining upbeat amongst about 30 constituents during the hour-long stop.
“I’ve really been enjoying my time as an Independent, I can tell you that,” he said. “The two-party system is broken … there’s what I call a partisan death spiral and I think that the only way we are going to fix it is for people to get educated on what is going on and for citizens to understand the process better and for people to speak out and start to vote for people who care about process, who care about independence and are not going to just be beholden to the two-party system.”
The audience included Democrats and Republicans, and Amash advocated for not only their vote, but their trust in him.
“Did you say you had Democrats go shaking your hand, that they are happy with what you do?” a member of the audience asked.
“Yes, what’s wrong with that?” Amash returned. “The best thing, in my opinion, was to break from these parties. I’m going to try to set an example.”
Amash said he’s unsure of how the current state of affairs in politics became so divisive, but believes he understands why there appears to be no end in sight.
“One of the main reasons it continues is because of all the animosity we have for each other. All of this tension, anger and animosity helps create this system,” he said. “If you believe that one party is evil and one party is good, you are contributing to the problem. We need to learn to listen to each other and respect each other.”
Amash said if candidates such as himself, who disband from partisan politics, can be elected, then constituents themselves can create change in Washington D.C.
“If we can do that, we can set an example that trickles up to Congress. This is the only way I know to really fix it, is that the people have to speak out, the people have to start respecting each other so we set an example for the people in Washington D.C.,” he said.
Several candidates on both sides of the political aisle have come forward to challenge Amash in the 2020 election, some criticizing him for his actions and comments against President Donald Trump. But Amash said he remains unfazed.
“I haven’t really paid attention to what they are doing, honestly. I don’t worry about it one way or the other. I really believe in the people, I really do,” he said. “I believe that if you go out and talk to people, like I am doing, people can see what’s true and what’s not true, what’s real and what’s not real. Whatever you feel about any of my policies, I think everyone in this district recognizes that I believe what I’m saying — I’m real — I’m being honest with you on what I’m seeing in Congress and what I’m seeing in government, and I will stand by my principals — I’m always willing to do that.”
Amash said he’s disappointed so much focus from constituents and candidates alike has been placed on one focal point —Trump.
“The other candidates can go fight about whether they love Trump or hate Trump — on both sides of the aisle,” he said. “The government is not supposed to be about one person … that’s too simplistic, that’s not how it’s supposed to work and that’s extremely dangerous.”
While Trump was mentioned numerous times by constituents Wednesday, Amash said he has both positive and negative takeaways from the president.
“I agree with some of the president’s policies. I was in support of the tax cut. I support how he has reduced regulations in some areas — although a lot of that was just reversing regulations that were put in place by President Obama,” he said. “I think on some foreign policy issues, it’s been nice that he’s taken a different approach than predecessors and I think it’s good to try to engage with certain countries that he’s engaged with, but on the other hand, with some of our allies, he’s sort of disengaged and hurt relationships.
“It’s a mixed bag … but in a lot of other ways, he’s had bad results,” he continued. “The deficit, which is primarily caused by overspending, is due to the president signing massive spending bills .. under President Obama, the deficit came down a little bit over time, but under President Trump, it’s going the other way. Each year we’ve had a higher deficit.”
Amash said he has faith his constituents will re-elect him once again — this time as an Independent.
“Most voters I think are pretty moderate people, they have their different philosophical view, but they respect each other and are kind to each other, and that’s who I’m trying to reach,” he said. “I’m trying to reach most Americans, most people, and I think that will be successful, ultimately.
“One of the reasons that it was so easy for me to make the decision ultimately (to be Independent) was because of the respect that I have from people in the district,” he continued. “Sometimes Democrats, sometimes Republicans, sometimes Independents, saying ‘thank you.’ It wasn’t because they agreed with me on every policy, it was because of the approach I was taking to things. So I feel really good, I feel inspired and I don’t worry about losing the seat or anything like that. I feel very confident and very comfortable in this district running as an Independent.”
https://thedailynews.cc/articles/confident-and-comfortable/
