MI-07 — May 4, 2012 at 3:27 pm

Republican Joe Schwarz declines to run as a Dem against Walberg in MI-07, Haskell only announced candidate

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Seriously? There’s not a single legitimate Democrat in MI-07?

Contrary to what I was told by multiple sources last month, Republican Joe Schwarz has decided NOT to run as a Democrat against incumbent Republican Tim Walberg in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District. Schwarz was being recruited by Michigan Democrats to cross over despite his career as a Republican.

Hilariously, the Michigan Republicans blamed President Obama:

“Today’s news serves as a reminder that Obama’s failed policies of more debt, more spending and no jobs plan, have depressed the Democratic base so badly that they are not failing to attract candidates to the Democratic ticket,” said Matt Frendewey, spokesman for the Michigan Republican Party.

Derp.

This leaves Kurt Haskell as the only announced candidate and Kurt Haskell is … well, let’s just say I’m not sure what his deal is. Check this out:

Haskell was on Northwest Flight 253 when it was attacked by the so-called “underwear bomber,” Umar Farouk Abdulmutal- lab, on Christmas Day 2009 as it appro­ached Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Haskell has gained some attention with his claim that the bombing was set up by the U.S. government with an intentionally defective bomb.

His convictions about that event are “definitely part” of why he is running, Haskell said.

“I’ve been quite outspoken and critical of the government due to that case,” Haskell said. […]

He supports parts of the Affordable Care Act, such as the provision allowing children to stay on their parents’ insurance policies until age 26, but he has doubts about the mandate that everyone must have insurance, Haskell said.

Haskell said he thinks the terrorist threat is being exaggerated and he would like to reduce defense spending, avoid foreign wars and pay down the national debt.

He described the deficit as “out of control” and said taxes probably should be cut.

He is against federal government “overreach,” Haskell said. […]

Haskell appears in multiple videotaped interviews, accessible on the Internet, for the radio program InfoWars telling his story about Flight 253. In those interviews, Haskell says that at the airport in Amsterdam, he witnessed a man with Abdulmutallab tell an attendant Abdulmutallab did not have a passport, but helped Abdulmutallab be allowed to get on the plane.

Haskell also says that a second man was handcuffed and led away at Metro Airport after the bombing attempt. Some other witnesses also said another man was put in handcuffs while passengers waited to be interviewed, according to news reports.

In one of the interviews for InfoWars, posted Feb. 25 to YouTube, Haskell says that he and his wife intend to leave the United States by the end of 2013. Asked about that Wednesday, Haskell said he changed his mind because of the opportunity to run for Congress opened up by redistricting.

“That’s why I’m giving it a shot,” he said, describing the opportunity as “fate.”

Seriously? Infowars? Fereals?

So this is who we have as our only Democratic candidate in the 7th District: a conspiracy theorist who worries about “government overreach”, talks about cutting taxes in the middle of a recession and isn’t a proponent an essential part of the Affordable Care Act.

Yay.

[CC image credit: Alex Proimos | Flickr]

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