Cookie-cutter candidates face personal integrity candidates Tuesday, August 3rd

Republicans are terrified of being labeled partisan and
mean-spirited, and most Republicans got to where they are
politically by being nice guys or girls. That “hail
fellow well met” that served you so well in the
Legislature, Chamber, or the Rotary will just get you screwed
in the executive branch. -

Art
Chance

This diary focusses on five House races on Tuesday, August 3rd
with Art's words echoing in my mind. These races will be a
choice between the candidate that is a nice guy or girl who is
popular at the Rotary Club, and was elected to the state
legislature, and the candidate who believes
principles and integrity matter more than being the nice
popular Rotarian. If you are dissatisfied with your congress
critter in the US House, then consider carefully how you go
about replacing him or her. Be careful that you are not
repeating the same mistakes that got you a rotten candidate in
the first place.

Photos of the Cookie-Cutter Template Candidates

  
 

The candidates' photos above from top left to bottom right
are:
Paul Welday MI-09
Kevin Yoder KS-03
Jason Allen MI-01
Tim Walberg MI-07
Vicky Hartzler MO-04

Here is some background information about these
candidates:

Paul F. Welday is President of Renaissance Strategies,
Inc., a leading public relations, marketing and corporate
communications consulting firm based in Oakland County,
Michigan. In January 1993, Mr. Welday began serving as Chief of
Staff for Republican U.S. Representative Joseph K. Knollenberg
from Michigan’s Eleventh Congressional District. He is a
member of the Farmington/Farmington Hills Chamber of
Commerce.

Kevin Yoder served as president of both the Phi Alpha
Delta pre-law society and the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.
Kevin is a Kansas State Representative, serving the people of
the 20th District, which includes Overland Park and Leawood.
Currently in his fourth term, Kevin serves as Chairman of the
House Appropriations Committee. Kevin is active in several
community organizations including the Overland Park Rotary
Club.

Jason Allen is a member of Rotary International. Jason
Allen is currently serving his second term in Michigan’s
37th State Senate District, representing Grand Traverse,
Antrim, Charlevoix, Emmet, Cheboygan, Presque Isle, Chippewa
and Mackinac counties. Allen is chairman of the Senate Commerce
and Tourism Committee and the Senior Citizens and Veterans
Affairs Committee. He also serves on the Economic Development
& Regulatory Reform, Health Policy; and Local, Urban and
State Affairs committees.

Tim Walberg served in the U.S. House of Representatives
from 2007 to 2009. He was elected to the Michigan House of
Representatives in 1983 and served until 1999.

Vicky Hartzler has been actively involved in Farm Bureau
for over 20 years having serving as President of the Cass
County Farm Bureau and Chairman along with her husband, Lowell,
of the Missouri Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers
Committee. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of
the Cass County Farm Bureau. In 1994 she ran for state
representative and was overwhelmingly elected to represent
parts of Cass and Johnson Counties. She served in the Missouri
House of Representatives for six years.

Photos of the Personal Integrity Template
Candidates

  
 

The candidates' photos above from top left to bottom right
are:
Anna Janek MI-09
Jerry Malone KS-03
Dan Benishek MI-01
Brian Rooney MI-07
Art Madden MO-04

Here is some background information about these
candidates:

Anna Janek grew up in the former Czechoslovakia and
experienced Cold War communism. At age 21 she decided it was
time to flee her homeland, in search of freedom in America. She
found jobs cleaning motel rooms, working in restaurants and
doing basic seamstress work in Dearborn and Detroit. She
decided to go to beauty school, even though she knew no
English. Eventually, she bought a beauty shop and worked for
herself, before starting a family. She and her husband have
four adult children and three grandchildren and have lived in
West Bloomfield, Michigan for 34 years.

Jerry M. Malone spent more than 30 years working in the
Pharmaceutical industry with Marion Labs and successor
companies. He learned a great deal about the Art of leading,
Motivating and Inspiring People to do their best from Ewing
Marion Kauffman, who was surely one of the most prominent
business leaders in Kansas City in the second half of the 20th
century. He has visited most of the developed countries in
Europe and spent a great deal of time in Japan.

Dan Beneshek was born in Iron River, Michigan. His
mother was of Polish descent and his father of Bohemian
descent. His dad worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps and
then in the iron mines of Iron County. He died in a mining
accident in 1957 and his mother, with the help of family,
raised him and his brother. He graduated from West Iron County
High School in 1970. He earned a B.S. in Biology from the
University of Michigan in 1974 and graduated from Wayne State
Medical School in 1978. He’s served as a general surgeon
in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula since 1983.

Brian Rooney was born into a famous football family. His
grandfather, Art Rooney, founded one of professional
football’s most storied franchises – the Pittsburgh
Steelers. However, Brian is more than a fan and Steelers’
Board Member, having played four years of NCAA football at
Williams College on a team that went undefeated his senior
year.

While still in law school, Brian joined the Marine Corps, went
to Officer Candidate School in 1998, and was commissioned as a
Second Lieutenant. Brian graduated Law School in 1999. Brian
was stationed initially at MCAS Yuma, AZ. Brian was soon
promoted to the rank of Captain. Brian transferred to MCAS
Miramar, CA, becoming a military criminal prosecutor. Instead
of sitting this war out, Brian led from the front by going to
the front between 2004 and 2005.

Brian deployed to Iraq as part of the Third Marine Aircraft
Wing. He also assisted the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit
‘win hearts and minds’ in Najaf. He was then
assigned to the 1st Marine Division for a similar role during
the Second Battle of Fallujah.

Brian was personally decorated three times for his service in
the Marine Corps with Navy Commendation Medals, one of which
was for his service in Iraq.

Art Madden worked his way through college earning a BS
in economics from Washington University. Although he was
accepted into law school, he was intrigued and challenged by
the commerce of life and went on to earn a masters in economics
from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, and later
passed the CPA exam.

He is a member of the U. S. Navy League, a life member of the
U. S. Naval Institute, the National Association of Business
Economists, and the American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants, the Missouri Society of CPAs, and the Institute of
Management Accountants.

Art’s life experiences while growing up and working
through college has prepared him to represent all of the people
of the 4th congressional district. He knows the hopes and
challenges of urban, suburban, and rural lifestyles. Arthur
Madden understands the value of hard work and commitment to the
American dream of life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness.

So there you have it, short and sweet. I know there is more that can be said in favor and in opposition about each candidate I have listed. I expect there will be more said between now and next Tuesday. I also expect that some cookie-cutter template candidates will win, but I am hopeful that some of the personal integrity candidates win, especially one *cough* Dan Benishek *cough*.

Cross-posted at RedState