The corporate-funded DC establishment has thrown its collective might behind Lanon Baccam in the Democratic primary. I’ve got nothing against Baccam. Never met him, and I’ve only recently met his opponent, Melissa Vine. But I’ll give you four quick reasons why you should support Vine:

(1) It’s insulting, undemocratic, and morally wrong for DC insiders to try to handpick winners in local elections. Not surprisingly, the candidates chosen by DC Dems tend to be cozy with big business. A vote for Vine is a vote against this increasingly pervasive corruption of the democratic process.

(2) DNC-backed Democrats usually lose in the fall. See Patty Judge and Theresa Greenfield for details. Vine is hands down the best candidate to beat Republican Zach Nunn.

(3) Baccam’s light on key issues. Vine’s solid on the things I care most about and has a compelling personal story. Ten years ago, she bailed out of an abusive marriage, lost everything, and took a job checking groceries for $8.50 an hour. After earning her master’s degree in mental health counseling, Melissa became the Executive Director at The Beacon, a nonprofit for women coming out of trauma.

(4) Finally, a vote for Vine pushes back against the absurd attack against her, orchestrated by the DCCC, a local activist, and the mainstream media (MSM). Spurious ethics complaints and outright lies were thrown at me when I ran for Congress, and I can assure you the ethics complaint against Vine is so much BS. Yet that hasn’t stopped the MSM from giving it all kinds of coverage, basically parroting Melissa’s detractors’ talking points. I challenged two MSM outlets to give equal coverage to the real scandal of DC election meddling. They declined. Continue Reading →