In the campaign politics for the upcoming USA Congresssional election in November, Angie Paccione has delivered a blast of flamboyant, intellectually dishonest rhetorical inflation that seems inspired by the vehicle of her message, the extreme leftist blog Daily Kos. Paccione is running in Colorado's 4th District to take a seat in the House of Representatives, take away the seat held by incumbent Marilyn Musgrave, who happens to have sponsored legislation in the House toward amending the US Constitution to offer protection to traditional marriage as a unique institution.
Paccione calls Musgrave's effort in this regard an "attack on the Constitution" (headline) and "assault on the Constitution," and "write discrimination into the Constitution." Now, Paccione is a strident leftwinger herself, but one who describes herself as an evangelical Christian. Apparently, she's of the new breed called forth by the leftwing evangelical media, Soujourners magazine.
Since I received this communication unsolicited in my email, since most political bloggers want their message disseminated, but also because the entire piece deserves attention from evangelical and Refromed Christians who take seriously the connection between their faith and politics, I felt the need to digitally republish here. Further, because Paccione's leftwing evangelical politics offers a specific program with priorities different from what has come of President Bush's program of compassionate conservatism, itself alternative to other strands in the Republican Party, I felt comparison of the two efforts (both of them presumably towards a Gospel-rooted political practice) needed examination by refWrite readers. I certainly don't feel Paccione lives up to the standard set by Democratic Sen. Baruch Obama in a previous Special Feature on this page. -- Owlb
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Marilyn Musgrave's last attack on the Constitution
by Angie Paccione for Congress (Tue Jul 18, 2006)
Today, Marilyn Musgrave took to the floor of the House of Representatives in the latest installment of her assault on the U.S. Constitution. I'm Angie Paccione, candidate for Colorado's Fourth Congressional District, and I'm writing today to tell you that this will be Marilyn Musgrave's last opportunity to write discrimination into our Constitution.
Marilyn is in trouble in this district. People have had enough of this kind of representation. Colorado home foreclosures are the highest in the country, and Weld County's foreclosures are the highest in Colorado. Social Security is under threat by radical privatization. Health care costs are out of control. Student loan rates have just gone up. These aren't accidents. They are deliberate special interest policies that shift financial burdens to the American middle class in order to pay for tax cuts to the wealthiest.
Meanwhile, Marilyn's chief of staff claims that a majority of her constituents wanted her to reintroduce this amendment: "The primary reason the congresswoman introduced it is the overwhelming majority of her constituents believe in it and asked her to reintroduce it."
It seems the Musgrave campaign is admitting that the Fourth Congressional District is not her constituency anymore. When only 34% of the citizens in the Fourth District say they would vote to re-elect Marilyn Musgrave, and 51% say it's time for someone new, it's pretty clear Marilyn doesn't know how to represent a majority. She's out of touch on their values. She's out of touch on the daily struggles they are facing, and she's out of touch with the mainstream. She's showing once again that her priorities aren't with the farmers and ranchers, they aren't with the students, they aren't with the homeowners or the seniors.
These are people who are fighting for their lives. People in the Fourth District are hurting, and when they look for leadership, they see wedge issues and caving in to the special interests. They see special interests. They see cronyism and special favors. They know that with Marilyn it's only going to get worse. With her fundraising slowing to a crawl, she's going to bow down to the same divisive and extremist special interests that use anger to rally their members to fund Marilyn's negative ads.
As an evangelical Christian, I draw tremendous strength from being able to share my faith. However, I draw the line when it comes to imposing faith on other people. I live my faith, I don't legislate it. That's how the Framers intended it, and it's our duty to honor that. That's what it is to pursue happiness.
I consistently stand up for privacy rights, for the same reasons I've stood up for private property rights. I stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Michael Schiavo when he came to Colorado, because I believe the government went too far. When I say that government should stay out of our homes, out of our doctors' offices, and off our phone lines, what I'm telling them is that government should stay out of our hearts.
Make no mistake, Marilyn Musgrave is in trouble. She can't raise money in Colorado, while 90% of my contributors are in-state. Not only that, 87% of my contributors were small donors, while Marilyn Musgrave has relied on Tom DeLay's network of corruption!
We outraised her by $60,000 in the most recent quarter. Marilyn has never been outraised by an opponent before. She spent nearly every dime she raised, and flooded the district with every piece of taxpayer-funded mail she could print. It didn't work. In fact, her numbers went down!
That tells me there has been a sea-change in this district, a change that goes beyond petty party politics. People are looking for results, and now they are looking to me to provide that kind of positive change.
You can help me. Your contribution will make the difference. Whether you walk and knock for me will make the difference. Whether you talk to your neighbors and make calls will make a difference. Already, an army of volunteers is making a difference in this district. It will be because of them whether Congress will spend next year dividing families, or whether it will spend it solving problems, helping people, and making a real difference for America.
Angie Paccione
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