League of Women Voters Peters/Knollenberg Debate 10/16

Here is the video of the forum with Gary Peters and Joe Knollenberg, soon to be ex-Congressman.

Knollenberg on GOP "Goner List"

I can hardly believe my eyes. Joe Knollenberg is on a list by a GOP consultant of House seats that are done for.

GOP 'goner' list warns of House rout
By: Josh Kraushaar and Reid Wilson
October 23, 2008 07:42 PM EST

An internal document circulating among House Republicans warns of an impending congressional bloodbath, listing 58 Republican-held House seats being at risk, and 11 already considered as good as gone. As many as 34 GOP-held seats are in serious jeopardy of swinging to Democrats, the assessment shows.

The state-of-the-race update, first reported on by U.S. News’ Paul Bedard, shows the GOP already writing off the seats of Reps. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.), John R. Kuhl (R-N.Y.), Don Young (R-Alaska) and Tim Walberg (R-Mich.). It also expects losses in the seats of retiring GOP Reps. Rick Renzi of Arizona, Jerry Weller of Illinois, Jim Saxton of New Jersey, Mike Ferguson of New Jersey, Vito Fossella of New York, James Walsh of New York and Tom Davis of Virginia.

Drafted by a Republican consultant, the document ranks seats on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most likely for a Democratic takeover. Eleven members received a 5, meaning the seat is gone unless “a significant turn of events” changes things in the final two weeks. An additional seven seats are ranked as a 4, in the leaning Democratic category, and 16 seats are in the tossup category.

One well-connected Republican operative told Politico that the list, if anything, understated the number of members needing a political lifeline. The operative also said the GOP is all but writing off the seats of Reps. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.), Joseph Knollenberg (R-Mich.), Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), Phil English (R-Pa.), and the open New Mexico House seat of retiring Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.), who is running for the Senate. Click here for the rest of the story

Free Press Endorses Peters and Schauer

No matter what shape the state is in or how much Michigan voters gripe about Washington, they have a pattern of retaining their representatives in Congress. It's pretty tough to knock off an incumbent on these peninsulas. The result is challengers who are sometimes unqualified, usually underfinanced, and generally unable to offer assets equivalent to the experience and seniority that matter so much in the Washington power structure.

This year, however, two challengers have made the case.

In the 9th District, which spans Oakland County from Farmington Hills north through Pontiac, the Free Press endorses Democrat GARY PETERS of Bloomfield Hills over eight-term incumbent Republican Joe Knollenberg of Bloomfield Township. In the 7th District, which encompasses all or most of seven southern lower Michigan counties, state Sen. MARK SCHAUER, D-Battle Creek, would do a better job than incumbent Republican Tim Walberg of Tipton has managed in his first term.

Click here to read the rest of the story.

New Poll Puts Peters Up by 10

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released a Grove Insight poll of 400 likely voters conducted October 21 with a 4.9 percent margin of error showing that Gary Peters expanded his lead to ten over Congressman Joe Knollenberg 46-36 percent in an initial head-to-head matchup. Two percent selected Jack Kevorkian.

"Gary Peters continues to build momentum with his unprecedented ground game and message of creating jobs and getting Michigan's economy back on track," said Ryan Rudominer, Midwest Regional Press Secretary for the DCCC. "Despite his desperate campaign tactics, Michigan's middle class families are resoundingly rejecting Congressman Knollenberg for blindly following the failed Bush economic policies that led to the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression."

Previously, the DCCC released a Grove Insight poll of 400 likely voters conducted October 4-5 with a 4.9 percent margin of error showing that Gary Peters led Congressman Joe Knollenberg 46-37 percent in an initial head-to-head matchup. Click here.

Eccentric - It's time for change - pick Peters in 9th U.S. House District

This endorsement says it all. Go Gary!!!!!!

Breaking with long-standing tradition, the EccentricNewspapers endorse challenger Gary Peters over incumbent Joe Knollenberg in the 9th District U.S. House race.

Our endorsement has much to do with Peters' experience and temperament and more than a little with the district's changing demographics as well as the political realities it now faces.

Knollenberg is an eight-term Republican and a man we've endorsed many times in the past. Despite his long tenure, he's never become a "Washington phantom." He's spent countless hours in the district and worked hard and sincerely on national and regional issues.

But new times call for new solutions - and new people. The district Knollenberg once represented, and its challenges, are very different today than they were as recently as 2006.

Consider the auto industry. Knollenberg has been a big defender of Detroit's Big Three. But in our interview sessions, he continued to rail against CAFE standards, while Peters emphasized the development of hybrid vehicles. More than anything else, this shows the difference between a candidate whose feet are bound by the past and one stepping rapidly toward the future.

Knollenberg, too, had been one of the last defenders of the policies of President George W. Bush, yet we're hard-pressed to understand how Bush administration policies have benefited the district.

Nonetheless, the district and its antecedents have been in Republican hands since before the Great Depression and our endorsement might well have been different had Peters been a different kind of Democrat.

There is, however, one even more critical issue.

Even with the state economy on its knees, Michigan has remained a donor state by distributing far more in federal tax dollars than it receives. This is an indictment of our political leaders of both parties, but an opportunity for Peters.

Should he win, he would hold a seat Democrats have hotly coveted and should be anxious to keep. They would do so by paying close attention to our state, our region, the people who live here and the industries which employ them and Peters can help point the way. That's clout.

We understand the tax policies put forth by Barack Obama may be anathema to many 9th District residents and we urge Peters to be more than just a rubber stamp for any taxing and spending policies.

Gary Peters represents change, but also a challenge. Both, we believe, would serve the district well.

Evans-Novak Report Moves 9th to Leaning Democratic Takeover

Wow, this is good stuff. The NRCC is pulling its advertising support from the 9th and Evans-Novak Political Report is moving the Peters/Knollenberg race to leaning Democratic. What great news to wake up to.

Michigan-9: Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R) faces the toughest reelection of his life, polling even with former state Sen. Gary Peters (D). Peters has nearly kept pace with Knollenberg's fundraising, and the DCCC and the AFL-CIO are both piling on.

Knollenberg is trumpeting his success in pushing a $25 billion carmaker bailout through Congress. A slew of third-party candidates — including assisted-suicide practitioner Dr. Jack Kevorkian could mix things up here

Knollenberg has an incumbent advantage, but that could also be a disadvantage this year. Leaning Democratic Takeover.

And from the AP
Bachmann is one of four at-risk Republican incumbents left to fend for themselves by a cash-strapped House campaign arm in the crucial final days of the campaign amid a tough political environment for the GOP . The National Republican Campaign Committee has also canceled planned TV ads to help GOP Reps. Marilyn Musgrave in Colorado, Tom Feeney in Florida and Joe Knollenberg in Michigan, spokeswoman Karen Hanretty confirmed.

Musgrave, Feeney and Knollenberg are extremely vulnerable and Democrats — who are eyeing double-digit gains in their House majority — have been targeting them heavily. Bachmann, whose district is solidly conservative, has only recently emerged as a prime target after her controversial remarks on MSNBC's "Hardball," which sparked a flood of campaign contributions to her Democratic opponent and have reshaped the race.

Metro Times: Brawl in the Sprawl

The Metro Times has a great article today covering the races in Oakland County. There is a large section of the article covering the Peters v. Knollenberg race.

The Obama bump Click here for the rest of the article.

With polls showing Obama also leading among Oakland County voters 48 percent to 42 percent, according to a Mitchell Research & Communications survey released earlier this month, Democratic candidates in other races are hoping to get a bump from the Illinois senator's popularity. Pundit Bill Ballenger says that's most likely to happen in the 9th Congressional District, where Democrat Gary Peters, who formerly served as a state senator and then Michigan's lottery commissioner, is challenging longtime incumbent Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-Bloomfield Township).

The Mitchell poll found the two candidates tied with 43 percent of the vote.

Obama has appeared with Peters at a Troy rally and the would-be congressman introduced the would-be president at Detroit's Labor Day event.

Knollenberg was first elected to Congress in 1992. The district claims a wide slice of Oakland County, from Farmington Hills to Oakland Township and Waterford to Royal Oak Township.

Peters, 49, is helped not only by Oakland's willingness to consider voting for Democrats but also by other national factors, says Ballenger, who edits the political newsletter Inside Michigan Politics.

Knollenberg Spokesperson calls Animal Activist Campaign a "Distraction"

Nate Bailey, Joe Knollenberg's spokesperson seems to think Knollenberg's record on animal rights is just a distraction. What Nate and Joe apparently don't know is that the 9th District of Michigan has one of the highest concentrations of pet owners and members of the Humane Society in the country and Joe Knollenberg has one of the worst records on animal rights in the country. (Click here for Joe's Record.) Apparently Joe doesn't realize that there are even Republican voters that really care about their pets and animal rights. I doubt those people will be thinking this issue is a "distraction," Nate. So, let's review, Joe has a terrible record on veterans issues, animal rights issues and has voted with George W. Bush over 90% of the time.

I agree with the HSLF. We need a new Congressman.

Peters calls for investigation

Peters seeks probe into shredded documents at Detroit VA office

Paul Egan / The Detroit News

U.S. House candidate Gary Peters on Monday called for a congressional investigation into the mishandling and possible shredding of veterans claims documents at regional Department of Veterans Affairs offices in Detroit and elsewhere.

Peters, a Democrat who is challenging U.S. Rep Joe Knollenberg, R-Bloomfield Hills, also called for an unspecified amount of increased funding for the department and increased accountability.

Peters said he's concerned about breaking a "sacred commitment we have to veterans" and called for an immediate mechanism by which veterans can make sure their claim files are intact.

The Detroit News reported last week that the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs is investigating the mishandling of claims documents at three regional offices, including Detroit, after unprocessed documents were found in shredder bins during an audit.

Later in the article:

Nate Bailey, a spokesman for Knollenberg, said the congressman is a veteran of the U.S. Army and "a strong and ardent supporter of veterans."

Knollenberg, an eight-term congressman, voted for the largest increase in history for veterans funding, which took effect in 2008, Bailey said.

"Don't be fooled by those that manipulate Congressman Knollenberg's record," he said. "Taking votes out of context and misrepresenting his votes for veterans are not the true story." Click here for the rest of the story.

I'm not so sure Joe should be bragging about his veterans record. Here are how several veterans groups rank Joe on veterans issues.

2006 Representative Knollenberg supported the interests of the Disabled American Veterans 66 percent in 2006.

2006 In 2006 Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gave Representative Knollenberg a grade of C.

2006 Representative Knollenberg sponsored or co-sponsored 7 percent of the legislation favored by the The Retired Enlisted Association in 2006.

2005 Representative Knollenberg supported the interests of the Disabled American Veterans 0 percent in 2005.

2004 Representative Knollenberg supported the interests of the Disabled American Veterans 0 percent in 2004.

2004 Representative Knollenberg supported the interests of the The Retired Enlisted Association 33 percent in 2004.

2003-2004 Representative Knollenberg supported the interests of the Vietnam Veterans of America 38 percent in 2003-2004.

2003 Representative Knollenberg supported the interests of the American Veterans 50 percent in 2003.

2003 Representative Knollenberg supported the interests of the Disabled American Veterans 0 percent in 2003.

2003 Representative Knollenberg supported the interests of the The American Legion 40 percent in 2003.

2001 Representative Knollenberg supported the interests of the Disabled American Veterans 100 percent in 2001.

2001 Representative Knollenberg supported the interests of the Vietnam Veterans of America 77 percent in 2001.

1999 Representative Knollenberg supported the interests of the Disabled American Veterans 100 percent in 1999.

1997-1998 Representative Knollenberg supported the interests of the Vietnam Veterans of America 0 percent in 1997-199

Humane Society Legislative Fund Launches Anti-Knollenberg Ad

Here is the ad that the HSLF is launching against Knollenberg.

It's just a little over a year since Joe Knollenberg and Trent Wisecup Were Mocked on Countdown

I was reviewing my YouTube account and came across my favorite video.

Oakland Press Endorses Gary Peters

This is huge. The Oakland Press that has a penchant for endorsing Republicans, especially incumbent Republicans has endorsed Democrat Gary Peters in the race for the 9th Congressional district. Will wonders never cease. Way to go, Gary!