OPINION & EDITORIAL
An open letter to Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin
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Also by Matt Modell:
- Taking responsibility for your decisions (April 24, 2003)
- An honorable and just battle (November 20, 2003)
- Ethical behavior should be encouraged at universities (December 10, 2003)
- Fixing the problems of ASM (November 25, 2003)
- The key word is 'illegal' (December 4, 2003)
Related Stories:
- Vote Baldwin (November 1, 2004)
- Baldwin defends retirees (September 26, 2006)
- 2nd U.S. Congressional District -- no endorsement (November 5, 2002)
- Magnum offers voters solutions (October 6, 2006)
- Vote Baldwin for Congress (November 2, 2006)
by Matt Modell
Thursday, November 14, 2002
Dear Congresswoman:
Congratulations on your easy re-election victory over Ron Greer. I believe Mr. Greer is the gentleman you had hoped to run against in 2000, and rightfully so — his views on social issues are not representative of the district.
I must ask that you please not take advantage of your easy win and believe it is any sort of mandate on how well you are doing — it is not.
Madison is historically liberal, and this liberalism is what got you elected in the first place. I do not ask you to abandon your views, but I do ask you remember the 2000 election against Professor John Sharpless.
You won, but barely. Mr. Sharpless almost defeated you because of his moderate views, and after seeing how well Republicans did across the country last week, had he run, he would have likely won.
You are a cordial person; I have met you on a couple of occasions. You seem to mean well, but you ignore 49 percent of your constituents when you vote on national-security issues.
If you took a random survey of residents from your district and asked them if they believed the homicide bombings being committed against Israeli’s are wrong, I believe the overwhelming majority of the people in your district would say yes.
Yet, in a resolution this past year to condemn these heinous attacks — a resolution passed with 352 “yes” votes — you voted “present.” Present are those in Israel whom the homicide bombers are killing. I’m glad you took a stand against terrorism.
Saddam Hussein has built or is trying to build weapons of mass destruction. You are in Congress — you have seen the evidence. He continues to evade weapons inspections. Yet on a resolution to authorize the use of force if he still continues to evade inspectors, you voted against this bipartisan bill — 296 members of Congress voted “yes.”
What do you suggest we do with this evil man? Allow him to continue his buildup of artillery? There is a reason Hussein has ordered nerve-gas antidote. Remember, the United Nations, United States and British do not use nerve gas in attacks.
Ask the average constituent if they would like to take this chance. Again, I believe the answer will be no.
The Homeland Security bill is another example where I believe you have ignored the people of your district; 295 members of Congress voted in favor of the establishment of a Homeland Security Department. Not surprising, you voted against this bipartisan bill that passed the House.
I can only assume your objections were a provision that allows the president to suspend collective bargaining in times of national crisis, a provision every president since Kennedy has had. I do not know for certain, because neither homeland security nor the war on terrorism are issues you even address on your campaign website, www.tammybaldwin.com.
Congresswoman, please do not get me wrong; many of your social views are well aligned with a large majority of your constituents. I am not suggesting you change these views, regardless if I agree with all of them. You were re-elected because of your views on social issues, and you should hold true to these views.
I ask you consider the views of the citizens of your district and this country when it comes to issues of national security and the war on terrorism. These issues do not appear to be priorities for you, but they are to your constituents.
The world has changed since the last time you were up for re-election in 2000. The dangers we are facing are very real, and the people of Wisconsin’s 2nd Congressional District understand this, and we need you, as our Representative, to make it clear that these issues are of the utmost importance and that we support our president in this difficult battle.
Compared to the competition, you probably rightfully won a third term in office, but you won this term mainly because of a lack of competition. Please do not continue to forget the people you represent.
Matt Modell
Matt Modell (mmodell@badgerherald.com) is a senior majoring in journalism and political science. He is in Washington, D.C., this semester for an internship.
