|  Last week I had an opportunity to chat with Benjamin Lodmell, Democratic candidate for the AL-01 Congressional seat now held by Jo Bonner. This is the second time I've spoken with him and he passes my first candidate electability test: Likeability. He is easy to talk to, gives thoughful responses and nothing he said to me sounded canned or packaged.
Lodmell told me that he plans to work full time between now and the 2008 election meeting people in his district, listening to their concerns and building a strong campaign. Even this early in the campaign season he is having a lot of conversations with voters, the traditional Democratic constituency of course, but also meeting a cross section of voters through shaking hands at the grocery store, knocking on doors, talking to people at shopping malls and so forth. In those informal conversations, Lodmell says health care is a recurring concern he hears, especially from those who are self employed, work for a small business or are in another situation with no health insurance. Lodmell said that people seem to be concerned with their own insecurities, with how expensive life is. Concerns about the price of gasoline, health care and the rising price of food are mentioned frequently. I asked if he heard many concerns about Iraq and he said that does come up, but not as often as health care worries. Lodmell said he is a "strong supporter of a timely withdrawal from Iraq" but from the general public he hears not so much anger about the situation there as frustration. People are also expressing concern about the cost of staying in Iraq and how much money has been spent on the war already. He said folks in the 1st District (map below) tend to be fiscally conservative and are concerned about government spending. He reiterated that he is a "moderate Democrat" and elaborated, saying "by moderate I mean willing to listen," try to build bridges between ideological extremes and "represent everyone, even the people who didn't vote for me." He also said he is a lifelong Democrat, who believes in the principles the Democratic party stands for.  I asked him how he felt about supporting the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and what I regard as a weakening of those documents by legislation in recent years. He said he is concerned about "changes in all these hard won rights" and we need to "be careful about what civil liberties we allow to be torn down." He said he appreciated the push and pull between Homeland Security and Civil Liberties, particularly in an environment of fear, but cautioned against giving up too many freedoms. He said "liberty is not conservative or liberal, it's an American issue and one that should be taken very seriously." I particularly asked if he had an opinion on the so-called Protect America Act extending the Bush administration's wiretapping authority. Lodmell declined to comment until he had read the bill. While it didn't answer my question, that is a refreshing attitude since lawmakers in recent years have admitted they often vote on bills before they read them.
Running against an incumbent is never a picnic and Lodmell realizes that to win he must make serious inroads with independent minded voters and conservative voters who are disgruntled with Bonner's performance. He plans to run a campaign that will "challenge Jo Bonner" and "not just roll over and take it" when Republicans strike back at him. He talks about getting out and listening to people and getting back to the true spirit of representative government. His website, benjaminlodmellforcongress.com is up, though still under construction, and he has already started raising money online through ActBlue. The more contact I have with Lodmell the more I think he is a very good Democratic challenger for Jo Bonner in Alabama's First Congressional District. |
