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2020-05-16 Home Front: Politix
John James, the Michigan GOP's Rising Star
[National Review] You can’t choose your crisis: As an Army chopper pilot in Iraq, John James
...West Point, Army Ranger-qualified aviator, CEO of the family global supply chain company, wants to be Michigans first African-American senator...
said on May 7, "I didn’t get to pick which call I would take, whether I would take a troops-in-contact call or whether I would take a point-of-origin rocket-attack call. I had to figure out how to do both." In an online interview with Rick Loughery of the Young Republicans National Federation, James called it good training for confronting the COVID-19 pandemic: "We have a dual obligation," he said, to "flatten the COVID curve without flatlining our economy."

As a GOP Senate candidate from Michigan, James refers to his military career at almost every opportunity. An op-ed he wrote in the Detroit News on May 5 carried this headline: "Leaders Should Learn These 3 Rules from West Point." His campaign’s logo features an Apache attack helicopter in its background. "I don’t want to go to Washington," he said on February 5, before the coronavirus forced him to suspend public appearances. "I want to go to the swamp about as much as I wanted to go to the desert."

He really does want to go to Washington, of course—he’s running for the Senate for the second time in two years—but his audience of Livingston County Republicans that evening seemed to appreciate the expression of modesty. Gathered at a lakeside country club about halfway between Detroit and Lansing, just a couple of hours after the Senate acquitted President Trump in his impeachment trial, they listened as James roamed around a podium and, with the fluency of someone delivering a TED Talk, made the case for his candidacy. James mentioned the importance of the Constitution, the value of free speech, and the deficiencies of his opponent, Democratic senator Gary Peters. His lines were polished but also included moments of improvisation, as when he likened "Medicare for All" to "outsourcing our health insurance to people who can’t get a caucus right." This was a jab at Iowa Democrats, whose bungled vote-counting had dominated the news just a day earlier. James didn’t mention Trump by name at all and brought him up only at the very end, with a veiled reference to the acquittal that turned out to be his biggest applause line of the evening: "I look forward to working with our president in his second term."

If Trump wins a second term, he’ll probably have to carry Michigan in 2020 much as he did in 2016, when he squeaked out a surprise victory by a little more than 10,000 votes, or about two-tenths of a percentage point. James knows that his contest also could result in a photo finish. More than 25 years have passed since Michiganders elected a Republican to the Senate. The last failed candidate was James himself, who took on Democratic incumbent Debbie Stabenow in 2018. His loss was entirely predictable during a strong year for Democrats. Yet he outperformed every other Michigan Republican who sought a statewide office, and his loss, by less than seven percentage points, was much more respectable than the blowouts suffered by Stabenow’s previous challengers. "His run was impressive," says John Engler, Michigan’s former Republican governor, "especially because he started from nowhere." In the aftermath, James found himself in an unusual position: The setback had strengthened rather than weakened him, or at least it had convinced a lot of Republicans both in and out of Michigan that he ought to try again.
Posted by Besoeker 2020-05-16 06:43|| || Front Page|| [11141 views ]  Top

#1 It's being run masterfully. I think Trump carries a couple typically blue states in the EST time zone and the election is called for Trump around 9 pm.
Posted by M. Murcek 2020-05-16 06:53||   2020-05-16 06:53|| Front Page Top

#2 I wish him luck, no doubt, but this gets old: "James refers to his military career at almost every opportunity."
Posted by Clem 2020-05-16 06:58||   2020-05-16 06:58|| Front Page Top

#3 Yes, that's really not a CV item to bank on. Look at the senator from A-10.
Posted by M. Murcek 2020-05-16 06:59||   2020-05-16 06:59|| Front Page Top

#4 Allen West was crushed. Clarence Thomas continues to draw liberal fire. Thomas Sowell has been relegated to the dustbins of history. Fox news has dismissed 'Diamond & Silk.' Christian conservative Alveda King and renowned neurosurgeon Ben Carson generally ignored by the media. They fail to fit the popular narrative. This aspiring young man may not survive the WOKE either.
Posted by Besoeker 2020-05-16 07:02||   2020-05-16 07:02|| Front Page Top

#5 Not on the plantation. Not of the body.
Posted by M. Murcek 2020-05-16 08:37||   2020-05-16 08:37|| Front Page Top

#6 A black man or woman in this country cannot win election running on an anti-government platform. Not tolerated. No matter how qualified or brilliant or accomplished he or she may be, the candidate will never get fair or neutral coverage from the media.
Posted by Lex 2020-05-16 08:44||   2020-05-16 08:44|| Front Page Top

#7 I was never an Alan West fan. When someone finds a way to put your teeth on edge saying things you generally agree with that's a red flag.
Posted by M. Murcek 2020-05-16 09:25||   2020-05-16 09:25|| Front Page Top

#8 I'm not a Sawah fan either. You do the math.
Posted by M. Murcek 2020-05-16 09:26||   2020-05-16 09:26|| Front Page Top

#9 After McCain, Graham, McSally and yes, even Crenshaw, I'm no longer willing to automatically support someone just because they were in the military.
Posted by charger 2020-05-16 14:43||   2020-05-16 14:43|| Front Page Top

#10 He's running on a solid pro-business platform, and has made a number of good statements both before and since this started. I voted for him in 2018.
But that is perhaps a big part of the problem. He was also beaten in 2018 by a worse candidate. Unless he rides Trump's coattails into office (or perhaps wins because of Whitmer's rising unpopularity), he won't win this time either. It's unfortunate, but true. I personally think he would be good in office, but you have to be more than "good" to drive turnout in a mostly blue "purple" state while trying to drive Democratic incumbents out of office.
Posted by Vernal Hatrick 2020-05-16 16:59||   2020-05-16 16:59|| Front Page Top

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