A GOP "Macaca" Runs in Virginia
Amit Singh is an Indian American running for Democratic incumbent Jim Moran's seat in the 8th District. The twist is not that he's an Indian American running in Virginia, home of the real Americans, to paraphrase former Senator George Allen. The twist is that he's a running as a Republican, but he doesn't identify himself as such on the website.
Moran has been controversial because of some of his anti-Israel stances and comments, but I still think that Amit has an uphill battle. Not a bad looking guy though. Plus he seems to be a libertarian, small government Repub, so theoretically better than your run of the mill GOPer. But I'm not endorsing and I doubt he'll win the primary anyway. But maybe he should consider seeking George Allen's nod.
An Arlington small-businessman, Amit Singh is committed to protecting his nation and serving the people of the 8th District.Which is probably smart for the Democratic leaning Northern Virginia district that he's running in. As Sepia Mutiny points out, he should know that real Americans, real GOPers know that you don't call those other brown people "undocumented workers" but rather "illegal aliens" or whatever Lou Dobbs is saying these days.
Like many of you, he is unhappy with the direction that the politicians have been taking us. Our freedoms, our rights, and our civil liberties are being eroded through compromises allowing the Real ID and the government taking power from the people. Our economy is sinking, the debt keeps growing, and the politicians keep spending our children’s future on pork barrel projects for their friends.
Moran has been controversial because of some of his anti-Israel stances and comments, but I still think that Amit has an uphill battle. Not a bad looking guy though. Plus he seems to be a libertarian, small government Repub, so theoretically better than your run of the mill GOPer. But I'm not endorsing and I doubt he'll win the primary anyway. But maybe he should consider seeking George Allen's nod.
posted by powerpolitics @ 8:29 PM
7 Comments:
At 9:15 AM,
Unknown said…
I think Amit Singh actually has a pretty good chance to win. Having spoken with him before it seems like his campaign is primed to surprise a lot of people. And I hear they are raising a lot of money.
At 11:46 AM,
Anonymous said…
This article seems to be more about the writer's disdain for republicans than it is about Amit Singh.
At 2:23 PM,
powerpolitics said…
Anon, this is my personal blog. In my profile it says that I am a Democrat and that I write with a leftwards slant. I never pretend to be wholly objective, especially when it comes to the GOP, and it's not my job to do Amit's PR for him.
If people want to find out more about Amit Singh, they can follow my links to his website. I do write frequently about APAs in politics, so I thought my readers might be interested that there is an APA Republican running in Virginia.
At 2:30 PM,
powerpolitics said…
John,
I don't know what Amit's chances are in the primary. But in the general election, if there is a Democrat at the top of the ticket who is very compelling, I think he will have a difficult time. Also Moran had a wide margin of victory in 06 and Northern Virginia keeps turning bluer and bluer. Not to mention the Mark Warner's coattails in the Senate race.
But if you have more insight, please share.
At 5:53 PM,
Anonymous said…
I understand this is your blog and it has left wing tilt. However, your article is less about Amit and more about your political views that really have nothing to do with him. It would have been nice for you to have actually articulated your position on some of his issues and why you might disagree with him rather than writing him off as a "GOP MACACA".
Nobody is asking you to be Amit's PR, but you do owe your readers a more thoughtful and insightful assessment of Amit.
At 1:38 PM,
powerpolitics said…
Since Anon has a fairly reasonable request, here's my take on the state of the race (keeping in mind that I typically don't handicap GOP primaries). Also keep in mind that I doubt anyone is going to topple Moran who won with 66% in 2006. Here is a handy article: http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/news/2008/feb/26/five-vie-8th-district-seat/
-His website is much much cleaner than that of his opponent, Mark Ellmore (seriously, Ellmore's site is very cluttered and hard to navigate.)
-On the endorsement front, Ellmore outweighs Singh with an endorsement from former State Senator Jay O'Brien, as well as the backing of Morton Blackwell, a prominent conservative activist. Singh has no major endorsements on his site, or any link to endorsers at all.
-Singh calls himself a "Ron Paul" style Republican whereas Ellmore is clearly more of an old-school Republican
-Fundraising: as of Feb 26, Singh hadn't started fundraising yet (primary is April 10th) whereas Ellmore raised over $30k this month. Singh does have a press release on his site stating that he raised $9k in one day, but both of them need far more money to compete with a sitting Congressman, especially in such an expensive media market as DC/Virginia.
SELECTED ISSUES:
Immigration: Both Ellmore and Singh seem to adopt a "compassionate conservative" approach. Northern Virginia is home to some of the most vitriolic anti-immigrant rhetoric to be found on the East Coast - see the debate around the Manassas/Herndon worker center documented at 9800 Liberty
-Iraq: Singh wants to "end the occupation" whereas Ellmore wants to "finish the job" and believes the surge is working.
-Real ID: Singh opposes it whereas Ellmore does not have anything on his site about it.
-Health care: Singh supports HSAs and Ellmore doesn't support SCHIP as is but would modify it to pay for the poorest families
Now my readers, most of whom don't live in the district, can decide for themselves and educate themselves if they are interested. Back to regularly scheduled programming (Democratic presidential primary and LOLcats.)
At 6:16 PM,
Anonymous said…
By the way, the primaries are June 10th (not April 10th).
Mark Ellmore's fundraising is in "pledges" on his website; whereas, Amit's are cash on hand (over 20K to date as listed on his website).
As far as the issues are concerned, Amit has laid out many issues and elaborated them in detail on his website, while the number of issues Ellmore addresses are far fewer and less detailed.
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