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John Flesher / AP
Former U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra won the GOP nomination for Senate on Tuesday.
DETROIT -- Former Michigan Congressman Pete Hoekstra has won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, overcoming a challenge from two Republicans who questioned his record as a conservative.
The Holland former lawmaker defeated Clark Durant of Grosse Pointe and former Kent County Judge Randy Hekman of Grand Rapids Tuesday in the GOP primary. He'll advance to a November matchup with Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow.
Durant had mounted a furious challenge in the final weeks of the campaign, launching ads attacking Hoekstra's record during his 18 years in the House and labeling him and Stabenow "Washington insiders."
An independent group called Prosperity for Michigan spent up to $500,000 on an anti-Hoekstra ad campaign to help Durant.
Stabenow, of Lansing, is running for a third Senate term.
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OMG-Hope this means money can be beaten by substance! Really!
All I recall about this candidate was that dimwitted 'China' commercial he was using against the Dem opponent: talk about bad taste...
Hoekstra needed to use an ad that the rightie voters can relate to; how could it be anything but "dimwitted?"
Need to keep pounding the RINOs until they either leave the political scene or join the Democrat party.
That's the last thing we need. We need politicians who can work together, not idiots who stake out as extreme a position as possible (on *either* side) and hang on for dear life. This country is tearing itself apart, and only moderates on both sides can possibly save it.
Then join the Dems. The GOP played nice for too long. Can't continue to play nice when you're dealing with children.
How do you define "playing nice"? RINOs are only slightly less mean spirited, divisive, and ignorant than non-RINOs. The last "nice" Republican was Gerald Ford.
The Republicans haven't "played nice" since Newt Gingrich became the minority whip, forcing congressmen to toe the line "or else". Not that the Democrats have acted all that much better, mind you. But we might actually work toward the common good if we stopped this ridiculous partisanship. What... a guy can dream, can't he?
@Svenolafson, it's called the Democratic Party, not the Democrat Party. Leave that mistake to the ignorant conservatives who can't distinguish between an adjective and a noun.
Well I can see that this thread is moving in a positive direction :)
i am so tired of hearing politicians say [as if they actually knew] 'the american people want...." "the american people dont want...""the american people think""the american people will.." truth is, the american people are exhausted and broke. they are surrounded by vultures and liars vying desperately for their permission to make them even more miserable. is it any wonder that the margins are beginning to crack? and everyone has a gun. even the most law-abiding society [america is not] has a breaking point. has america reached that point. stay tuned
Thank-you GOP now we can run a weed next to him and win! Really you want to run him with all the adds made for us!LOL! THANKS!!!!!!!!
An abridged version of the following post originally appeared as comment #998.3 in the forum attached to the article titled "Romney Keeps Wrestling with Tax Returns Claim," published on 8/6/2012. It has since appeared in additional forums, in one variation or another, also here on MSNBC.com. It is now included below, in this particular forum, in furtherance of an ongoing, reasoned, and principled discussion regarding the independence of the Office of the President of the United States.
_______________________________________________________
Reviewing the comments posted across multiple forums over recent months here on MSNBC.com, it's good to see other posts emerging with regard to the Mormon faith of Mitt Romney. I, myself, have a number of questions about Mormon doctrine, with specific regard to how LDS precepts might influence public policy should Mr. Romney or any other devoted Mormon ascend to the office of the presidency.
In particular, I join with other concerned citizens from across this land in calling to task the aggressive nature of the Mormon Church, emanating out of Utah, in bankrolling across state lines expressly political initiatives which seek to deny fellow citizens equal protection under the law and full access to the broadest possible range of civil liberties guaranteed to them under multiple amendments to the Constitution of the United States.
Further, as the Office of the President wields incredible political powers, both expressed and implied, I believe that it is incumbent upon us to understand, as best we might, what the Mormon church hierarchy would likely expect and/or require of a practicing LDS chief executive, including the degree to which Mormon religious
precepts might influence the following:
Nominations to fill vacancies on the Supreme Court and in Federal District Courts, including Courts of Appeal.
Staffing considerations at the Department of Justice, EEOC, and other entities established to preserve and protect individual liberties.
Appointments to Cabinet-level positions and any number of ambassadorships and consular generalships worldwide, including the United Nations.
Appointments to head each of the various administrative agencies throughout the federal government.
Issuance of Executive Orders which either directly or indirectly restrict or inhibit the exercise of personal freedoms on the part of specific and essentially targeted populations.
Formulation of budget and/or program priorities which fund or facilitate those same freedoms.
As there is so much which an incoming President can do to transform the breadth and scope of executive power, my concern is insuring that my President remains faithful to his or her obligation to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States without regard to the preferential treatment of any faith, and in particular, without regard to a specific set of religious precepts long-associated with exclusionary social practices while simultaneously cloaking itself in an unnecessary and uncompromising secrecy.
If you believe that the Mormon church hierarchy would never seek to influence the actions, choices, and decisions of a duly-elected supplicant, or to refrain from establishing an unspoken though clearly understood LDS litmus test for nominations and appointments to critically important federal positions, if not the single-most important policy positions within the administration itself or of what has always been intended to remain a fully independent judiciary, or to demand, expect, or otherwise require abeyance to a faith-based series of exclusionary policy imperatives, then scroll on and find your own issue to espouse or debate.
As for me, and as I would hope for a growing number of other contributors to this forum as well as for citizens of an informed electorate across this nation, no other issue is paramount.
I have no illusions as to the righteousness of my argument, nor do I seek or wish to engage in mindless tit-for-tat over whether Mr. Romney's opponent, President Obama, has himself at one time been unwittingly co-opted by prior long-term membership in the independent ministry of an angry, bitter, and largely marginalized former pastor from Chicago, a one-time mentor of Mr. Obama who has long since been publicly and irrefutably disavowed. To me, there simply is no comparison.
The Mormon Church has an effective reach of global proportion, an unlimited and essentially self-perpetuating source of funding, and a far more comprehensive social, political, and theological agenda than anything Jeremiah Wright could have or would have ever dreamed.
It is precisely the nature and extent of that agenda, and its impact on the independence of the Office of the President of the United States should Mr. Romney emerge victorious in November, which should warrant the attention of us all.
MSNBCMFE,
I realize you don't like Mormons, but that is not germane to this article.
Also, as a non-religious person, I think the hard-line agendas of all of the major faiths are a bit scary. The key is whether or not the candidate will attempt to force their beliefs on the rest of the country. To date, no president has ever attempted this, and based on his record in MA, I see no reason to believe Romney would break this trend. Even if he did, I don't think he'd get far considering the checks and balances we have in this country and the extreme public outcry I think we'd see from voters.
considering the checks and balances we have in this country. Checks and Balances? Let's assume Romney wins, Republicans take over the Senate. Do you remember 2000- 2008? Republican House, Republican Senate, Republican President, Republican Supreme Court. Even before George W. Bush became the President, he was APPOINTED by the Republican Supreme Court. Back then we didn't have two wars, no child left behind, four tax cuts for the wealthy, Citizens United. Net result? We were in a recession 2007-2008 losing jobs every month. Jobs that were being sent overseas. Cuts in Capital Gains Taxes. I believe Mitt Romney wants Capital Gains taxes at ZERO. In other words, he doesn't want ANY OF HIS MONEY TAXED. Not that he pays any, with all his carried forwards and off-shore money. No. If Romney is elected because the silent majority sat on the duffs AGAIN, there will be NO CHECKS and BALANCES in the United States Government.
Chuck
Why do you have to tell stories that are lies?
You are sooo wrong. We had Republican control until January 2007. Most things were going pretty well until 2008. Don't you remember the Democrats telling us in the lead up to the 2006 elections, "elect us to fix everything"? We did and it has been 6 years of hell.
Romney changes his mind according to who's writing the checks. His views change by the week, sometimes by the day. If anyone is weak-willed enough to be used as a president-in-name-only, it's Romney. Why wouldn't he cave in to the Mormon church? And it's true that the Mormon church sponsors legislation up for vote in other states in an effort to influence policy consistent with their conservative agenda -- behind the scenes, of course. It's supposed to be separation of church and state.
JH - For the last 20+ years, Republican presidents have caused recessions and the Democrats get elected afterwards and have to clean up the messes.
Hahahahhaha! Ah yes, all of the things that resulted in the massive economic fallout we've been reeling from occurred in the waning months of the Bush Administration! WOW, it's amazing how fast government seems to work in your mind.
Last I remember, government seems to take forever to get anything done. Since you're making the argument to the former rather than the latter, please explain all of those lovely bits of legislation that allowed for the great recession in those final months so that I can understand where you're coming from and why the Republicans were helpless to stop it all of those years they were in office.
Ah yes, again, because the government is able to move incredibly swiftly and the Democrats were able to pass every bit of legislation they wanted in a partisan manner since they were able to take numerous offices right?
Democrats cooperated in large-part with Republicans between 1998 and 2006 and Bush never vetoed ANYTHING. So let's begin.
Aside from you railing against Obamacare for the next half-hour (particularly since 90% of its implementation isn't until 2014), let's discuss all of those key bits of legislation that have stifled our recovery that the Democrats rammed home, shall we?
Hey MI pols are not putting their heads so far up their butts they can't pull them out or talk to Ted Nugent while they are both stuck up there, they are taking them out slowly but surely and must be heeding the warning of Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson in WWII album:
at least when he loses we won't have this A$$ in the house or senate
Just came back from my old home state and there were slimy Pete signs everywhere. Sure hope the Dems win this one. This is a Romney clone that thinks we should have just the auto industry go belly up. Bane would probably have found a way to screw the workers and send the auto industry over seas. This election will be an IQ test for Michigan, lets hope they pass.
You are absolutely correct in calling this an IQ test for the people of Michigan. As it is now it would take years to undue the mess created by the Snyder regime.
If the state keeps the GOP in power we can declare it dead and turn off the machine.
Holiday Cheer; i agree. if you want a small example of what MI is up against i recommend you google the kalamazoo cop who was put out with canadian gun laws when two kids handing out stampede flyers tried to give him one. i would send you there directly but i am limited by "a few temporary content restrictions". it happened in calgary ab, my home. i love american visitors to my city, but with all the horrific gun violence in the US this summer, that american cop really hit a nerve with me.
Simple fact: Conservative CHRISTIAN Republicans are a cancer to politics.
I always felt that they were more like the foot-soldiers for the Neocons who lack the votes to push their agendas by themselves, so they lure/bribe/prop-up the simpletons and extremists who either cannot do math in their heads, or are seriously delusional religious-zealots (or both) to vote against their own economic self-interest in exchange for teasing out some bizarre implementation of the Christian-equivalent of Sharia Law.
It would be nice if the GOP would go back to being pragmatists (pre-Nixon), but the Neocons enjoy the grip they have and aren't about to cede that after they spent countless years and billions in PR trying to sell supply-side economics and that outsourcing is good for the nation
Hoekstra will be weaker than Durant would have been vs DebbieDebbieDebbie. He's as dumb as a rock, he has some ethical and national security issues, and basically will have the votes of almost nobody outside Holland and a few others up north. You read it here first: Stabenow by a 10 point spread, 55-45.
Dumb as a rock with ethical and national security issues? Sounds like the prototypical pubbie rep!
That campaign add with the oriental lady finished Pete Hoekstra off and fact I think his
political career is over . I think the same can be said about George Allen in Virginia when
he said the word macaca . The Republicans are going to have to learn one thing that we live in
a Multi Culture Society and the days of Laurence Welk are all but done .
In hindsight, that $500,000 could have been put to lots better uses, eh?: "Conservatives forgo negative ad campaign to donate $500,000 to Jerry's Kids." Doesn't that have a nice ring?
I agree with Topkitty Simple fact: "Conservative CHRISTIAN Republicans are a cancer to politics." although I kind of see them as christian taliban myself. Take the whore Bachman, can say things about moslems (90% of Americans don't know the difference between a Sikh, Moslem, whatever) then some nut case shoots 6 Sikh in my hometown and she will act horrified but she is the filthy pond scum that creates an environment for this crap. The Republican party is the party of Lincoln, Eisenhower, Goldwater, and to a degree Reagan and look what they are now. Ryan and Newt are the intellectual thinkers what a joke from Kristol, Buckley and I would even include Adam Smith they have sunk to One Book Read Ryan and Newt. In my day the Klan had the guts to say who they were now they hide behind this tea party crap and unfortunately the party of Lincoln has been co-opted by bigots and christian taliban. I hope the independent middle wakes up one day and throws out the Pelosis and the Cantors and puts Americans in office
I would like to know why the GOP feels candidates like this are a good face for the party? Are there really no reasonable republicans around to field?
Also: "Former Michigan Congressman Pete Hoekstra has won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, overcoming a challenge from two Republicans who questioned his record as a conservative."
Did the ad not seem to show he may be.....
I would like to know why the GOP feels candidates like this are a good face for the party? Are there really no reasonable republicans around to field? They don't have to be reasonable. They make the assumption, which turned out to be correct in 2010, that people, who would be most effected by the rantings of the Tea Publicans, would not go to the voting booth. Now the 99% are getting the shaft. They are getting poorer. The people who support the Tea Publicans are making money hand over fist. That part of the Constitution that says FREEDOM of RELIGION. To Tea Publicans that only means if you are a bible thumping right wing bigot.
This is the most scumbagist man in the GOP. What are they doing? Collecting bouquet of scumbags??
All those mentally deficient, drooling GOP BAGGERFASCISTS had a communal WET DREAM when this MORONIC FORMER CONGRESSMAN won the primary....
You can't get any more DUMB, UNCOUTH, OR BELLIGERENT than this man.....
An outside group spent $500,000 against Hoekstra and he still won. I hope this is a sign that the radical right is losing influance. If we all automatically voted against anyone supported by big "outside groups" they would realize that they are throwing their money away and it would put a damper on the Citizens United decision. I still hope Debbie wins re-election.
Really disappointed. I was hoping that when Hoekstra left the house that we would finally be rid of him forever.
I live in Michigan and the last thing we need is Hoestra going to D.C. He is a pompus, vulgur, far right wing numpty. I will definitely be voting for Senator Stabenow. She has been a great advocate for Michigan farmers, is totally focues on keeping Asian Carp out of the Great lakes, and responds to her contituents in a fair and unbiased manner.
I am a Republican, and I agree. Surely there is some one better.
pete crookstra, another dud just like former pres gerald ford who played too much football without a helmet. ford had a chance to be a good president but didn't have the wherewithal. he became the most famous janitor the white house ever had.
I voted for Obama in 2008 in the hopes for change. He failed to deliver. I am now a tea party conservative. I can not, and will not, vote for Hoestra until he comes clean on what he knew about operation Sarindar, and why he did do anything about it.
When you mix religion and politics you get fanatics.
When you mix greed and stupidity you get the Republican party.
Ain't too hard to figure who's on the dole by reading some of the post.