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This is a tough fight
……It is a good thing that Andy Kimhttps://andykimforcongress.com/ is accustomed to tough fights. Here is an example of the tough people he fought with. He worked on security with Generals David Petraeus and John Allen in Afghanistan.
……Taking on Tom MacArthur for New Jersey’s third district may resemble fighting the Taliban. MacArthur went from being an insurance adjuster to being chairman and CEO of a multinational insurance group. He knows how to make it in business. He is the wealthiest New Jersey Member of Congress.
……He has demonstrated how he defends his Congressional seat. Attack. Kim is accused; well, not accused. The question is asked — Did Kim lie to get a real estate tax advantage? Another question is asked. In diplomatic meetings, was Kim merely a note taker? A third question is asked. Did Kim chicken out on his commitment to debate MacArthur?
……Give MacArthur credit for courage. He showed up for town meetings about health care — after he voted to replace the Affordable Care Act with the Republican sham. Give him credit for courage. He was the only New Jersey Congressman who voted for the Republican tax law, a law designed to reduce taxes for the wealthy and to punish high tax states like New York, California, and New Jersey. Elected as a liberal Republican in 2014, he has become a Trumpite.
……Do not give MacArthur credit for good judgement or wisdom. He has created an angry constituency for himself. Kim has recovered from the early attacks. The most recent poll shows MacArthur and Kim tied at 42%. Pundits now consider the district as Lean Republican rather than Likely Republican.
……Andy Kim has a story, a family story and a personal one. He has had to demonstrate toughness in achieving success and in the very nature of the work he did.
……An orphan and a polio victim in Korea, Kim’s father lived on the streets. Kim’s mother was almost as poor –– from a failed farm community devastated by famine. They got to the US. Dad earned a PhD and became a scientist. Mom became a nurse. A story of what the United States means to immigrants and what immigrants mean to the US.
……Students of education know about the diligence and discipline with which most South Koreans approach education. The Kims expected the same kind of diligence and discipline in New Jersey. Andy Kim responded with very high achievement. He responded with choices that were unusual and rigorous.
……Andy Kim‘s first two years of post-secondary education were at tuition-free Deep Springs College in California. Isolated between two mountain ranges, the 30 students at Deep Springs are all male. Demanding academically, students also work 20 hours per week on the cattle and alfalfa farm. The students are self-governing. The college goal is self-sufficiency.
……A few students at Deep Springs get an Associates Degree. Most go on to competitive four year schools. Andy Kim went to the University of Chicago. Based on his two years there, he was awarded a Truman scholarship. He went to Oxford, earned a MPhil, a Rhodes scholarship, and a PhD.
……Andy Kim‘s training could evoke the experiences of Confucian scholars training to serve an emperor or the preparation of a British civil servant — with a touch of American rugged individualism thrown in. Nevertheless, Andy Kim seeks to portray himself as a regular guy. On his website, he recalls his first home run. Home run or not, he is no more of a regular guy, than Deep Springs is a party school. Andy Kim is rigorous scholar who has succeeded in tough environments.……
Andy Kim went from Oxford to Washington and Kabul, spending about eight years on Obama’s Afghanistan policy. After his work with Generals Patraeus and Allen, he served as the Iraq Country Director for the State Department and the Director for Iraq at the National Security Council.
MacArthur may describe Andy Kim as a note taker. I would not. If MacArthur were bolder or more knowledgeable or more courageous or, maybe, had better judgment, he would attack Andy Kimfor Obama’s Iraq policy. Instead, his campaign finds its focus on bullying, on falsely denigrating thirty-four year old Andy Kim as a member of the junior varsity.
……Andy Kim saw himself as a behind the scenes person, someone who could work on foreign policy for a President of any political party. Then Donald Trump was elected. Andy Kim was shocked into political action. He tried national organizing, then decided to run for Congress.
……Picture Andy Kim elected to Congress. Though he wasn’t in the military, he would fit right in with the many Democratic candidates with a military background. Though he is not a lawyer, he resembles former military prosecutor Conor Lamb more than he resembles Democratic Socialist Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez.
……But wait…. The national figures visiting his district, supporting his candidacy are Elizabeth Warren and Joe Kennedy III. Moderate and not.
……Andy Kim looks to Lincoln for inspiration. He describes a nation “of, by, and for the people.” He promises to be “accessible, transparent, and accountable.”
……Andy Kim‘s website issue section begins, Elizabeth Warren-like, to commit to serving people, not corporations. He will, he says, work for campaign finance reform, to end gerrymandering and voter suppression, to fight Washington corruption, and change the kind of people who are elected.……He promises to support unions, education, and retraining for the future. He promises a commitment to small businesses. He aims to end gender discrimination, fix the tax system, and rebuild America’s infrastructure.
……He concludes promising to support fixing health care so that everyone is covered by insurance prescription drug prices are lower. He commits to expanding services to veterans and to people in rural areas.
……Andy Kim https://andykimforcongress.com/ is apparently a moderate from the Warren wing of the Democratic Party. Give him some support. This really is a tough fight. He comes to this fight with discipline and high level national experience. To compete successfully, he will need resources.
A special election is coming up on August 7. Pay attention to it. Franklin County (Columbus, Ohio) Recorder Danny O’Connor https://dannyoconnorforcongress.com/…is running in a special election for the open 12th Congressional seat. The most recent poll shows him behind by just a few points. He has come up with a distinctive appeal as he asks for the resources he needs to close out the race and get to a majority. He suggests that a Democratic victory would make Democratic defections in the battle over the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court less likely. Whether that reasoning is persuasive or not, O’Connor’s race is close. Money sent directly to his campaign can make a difference in getting out the vote and other late efforts. Consider some support.………
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