GOP Challengers Hope To Capture Dem Strongholds
Michigan’s 15th U.S. House District
Steele vs. Dingell
Michigan’s 15th Congressional District (Dearborn-Ann Arbor) offers possibly the best example on U.S. soil of the dynastic succession by which North Korean strongman Kim Jong-il came to power and hopes to pass it on to his son. Democrat John Dingell was elected to the House from the district in 1932, became an ardent New Dealer and one of the most spirited champions of national health insurance before his death in 1954.
He was succeeded by his son, John, Jr., who had met Franklin Roosevelt while working as a page in the U.S. House, and went on to serve in World War II and then as a prosecutor in Detroit. Although redistricting has changed the boundaries of the district over the years, the man who became known as “Big Bad John” for his temper has hung on for 56 years—the longest tenure of any U.S. representative in history and two years shy of the record set by the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D.-W.Va.) for length of service by any member of Congress.
It is taken for granted that if Dingell (lifetime American Conservative Union rating: 11.41%) ever retires, he will attempt to pass his House seat on to his wife, Michigan Democratic National Committeewoman Deborah Dingell.
But at least this year, even after fellow House Democrats removed him from the chairmanship of the Energy Committee, Dingell is running again at age 84.
“And that’s the problem right there,” says his Republican opponent, Dr. Rob Steele. “With the exception of a few years, John Dingell has spent his entire career in Washington and it shows. He votes for things like ‘cap and trade’ climate legislation which, if it ever becomes law, will kill Michigan. And we all saw that scene on television at his town hall meeting when it was obvious he had not even read the healthcare legislation. I say it is legislative malpractice for lawmakers to vote on a law that they have not read.”
When it comes to healthcare, Steele knows what he’s talking about. Born and raised in Grand Rapids (“Gerald Ford announced for Congress in 1948 in my grandparents’ living room”), Steele earned his medical degree from the University of Michigan. Now head of a cardiology practice with 36 doctors and 300 employees in southeast Michigan. Dr. Steele, a father of four, is making his first run for office.
“About the most political activity I’ve had is supporting and reading the publications of the [conservative] Heritage Foundation,” he said with a laugh, “That should tell you where I’m coming from.”
As conservatives are accused of wanting to repeal “Obamacare” without any alternative, Dr. Steele calls for greater use of health savings accounts, higher deductibles, and tort reform. In his words, “health reform without tort reform is no reform and health reform without portability and options is no reform, either. Mandated programs make things more expensive—it’s that simple!”
And for conservatives, the race in Michigan’s 15th District, it’s that simple: replacing John Dingell and the politics of the past with Dr. Rob Steele, who has the right prescription for the future.
John Gizzi is Political Editor of HUMAN EVENTS.
