Black Republican challenges MI Senator
Here in Michigan the Democrats have the vote of the African American community, well thats about all they have left. White blue-collar males left for the Republican party in the Reagan era. Take away the Democratic votes in the large urban areas and the State goes handily to the Republicans. The majority of those urban votes are black votes. So how do you encourage African Americans to vote against the Democrats and win the State for the Republicans, with Black Republicans. Now improve your chances of winning by selecting a man who can't be attacked with a campaign against him, a minister, and you have great possibilities for victory. This minister has just lost his religous integrity by entering the crooked world of politics.
By Kathy Barks Hoffman / Associated Press
LANSING -- Keith Butler said that he prayed hard before deciding he'd enter the Republican race to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow.
"With all that I have seen, heard and felt in my soul, running for the United States Senate at this time and place in Michigan's history is not a mere opportunity. It is something much more important: a responsibility," he said during an announcement tour that included stops Tuesday in Southfield and Lansing.
The founding pastor and bishop of the 21,000-member nondenominational Word of Faith International Christian Center Church in Southfield hopes to build on his roots in the state GOP and in Detroit politics to pull together a winning coalition against the first-term senator.
He notes that he won more than 100,000 votes during his 1989 election to the Detroit City Council. The former councilman said he doesn't expect to get that many Detroit votes in the 2006 Senate race, but said he could do far better than other Republicans have done in attracting voters in the largely black, Democratic city.
Butler, 49, first unveiled his candidacy Tuesday before hundreds of supporters in Southfield, where he was introduced by state Attorney General Mike Cox. During his afternoon appearance at the Lansing Center, he was introduced by state Sen. Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt. Cropsey, who has known Butler since the late 1980s, praised him as a moral and civic leader. "The man is true-blue," Cropsey said. "He's a man of tremendous integrity."
REALITY CHECK: Religious figures lose their integrity when they enter the ugly world of politics
Cropsey criticized Stabenow for blocking President Bush's Michigan nominees to the U.S. Sixth District Court of Appeals and for not doing enough to help Michigan's economy or to get more federal transportation dollars.
"She's hurting our roads, she's hurting our justice system," Cropsey said, adding that Butler "will work with the White House instead of being an obstructionist."
Some of Cropsey's criticism was blunted by an announcement Tuesday by Stabenow and U.S. Sen. Carl Levin of Detroit. They say they are continuing their efforts to get more highway dollars for Michigan by introducing a bipartisan bill that would guarantee all states a return of at least 95 cents of every dollar in federal gasoline taxes sent to Washington.
The change would have brought at least $55 million more in federal highway dollars to Michigan this year if in place now, according to a statement by Stabenow and Levin. The state now gets back only about 90 cents of every dollar.
Stabenow, of Lansing, also has said in the past that she objects to the judicial nominations because Republicans blocked two of President Clinton's Michigan nominees to the federal appeals court.
Butler, who planned to continue his campaign swing Wednesday in Flint, Traverse City and Marquette, is the second Republican to formally enter the 2006 race. Troy industrial engineer Bart Baron already has said he will seek the GOP nomination.
Another possible candidate is Jane Abraham, a former Michigan GOP political director who's married to former U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. Jane Abraham said Monday from her home in McLean, Va., that she hasn't made a decision yet.
Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land has been approached about running. But she hasn't made up her mind whether to run for re-election in 2006 or enter the Senate race, spokeswoman Kelly Chesney said.
By Kathy Barks Hoffman / Associated Press
LANSING -- Keith Butler said that he prayed hard before deciding he'd enter the Republican race to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow.
"With all that I have seen, heard and felt in my soul, running for the United States Senate at this time and place in Michigan's history is not a mere opportunity. It is something much more important: a responsibility," he said during an announcement tour that included stops Tuesday in Southfield and Lansing.
The founding pastor and bishop of the 21,000-member nondenominational Word of Faith International Christian Center Church in Southfield hopes to build on his roots in the state GOP and in Detroit politics to pull together a winning coalition against the first-term senator.
He notes that he won more than 100,000 votes during his 1989 election to the Detroit City Council. The former councilman said he doesn't expect to get that many Detroit votes in the 2006 Senate race, but said he could do far better than other Republicans have done in attracting voters in the largely black, Democratic city.
Butler, 49, first unveiled his candidacy Tuesday before hundreds of supporters in Southfield, where he was introduced by state Attorney General Mike Cox. During his afternoon appearance at the Lansing Center, he was introduced by state Sen. Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt. Cropsey, who has known Butler since the late 1980s, praised him as a moral and civic leader. "The man is true-blue," Cropsey said. "He's a man of tremendous integrity."
REALITY CHECK: Religious figures lose their integrity when they enter the ugly world of politics
Cropsey criticized Stabenow for blocking President Bush's Michigan nominees to the U.S. Sixth District Court of Appeals and for not doing enough to help Michigan's economy or to get more federal transportation dollars.
"She's hurting our roads, she's hurting our justice system," Cropsey said, adding that Butler "will work with the White House instead of being an obstructionist."
Some of Cropsey's criticism was blunted by an announcement Tuesday by Stabenow and U.S. Sen. Carl Levin of Detroit. They say they are continuing their efforts to get more highway dollars for Michigan by introducing a bipartisan bill that would guarantee all states a return of at least 95 cents of every dollar in federal gasoline taxes sent to Washington.
The change would have brought at least $55 million more in federal highway dollars to Michigan this year if in place now, according to a statement by Stabenow and Levin. The state now gets back only about 90 cents of every dollar.
Stabenow, of Lansing, also has said in the past that she objects to the judicial nominations because Republicans blocked two of President Clinton's Michigan nominees to the federal appeals court.
Butler, who planned to continue his campaign swing Wednesday in Flint, Traverse City and Marquette, is the second Republican to formally enter the 2006 race. Troy industrial engineer Bart Baron already has said he will seek the GOP nomination.
Another possible candidate is Jane Abraham, a former Michigan GOP political director who's married to former U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. Jane Abraham said Monday from her home in McLean, Va., that she hasn't made a decision yet.
Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land has been approached about running. But she hasn't made up her mind whether to run for re-election in 2006 or enter the Senate race, spokeswoman Kelly Chesney said.
posted by R Lathrop at 12:43 PM
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