May 04 2008
Citizen-Times Sums Up Shuler Challengers
• John Armor, 65, an attorney and author who lives in Highlands in Macon County. Armor cites the Constitution as a guiding force and wants to reform Medicare and Medicaid. He opposes universal health care and congressional earmarks, and he favors a continued presence in Iraq but not “actively fighting for a long period of time.”
• Spence Campbell, 64, a retired 30-year Army veteran who lives in Hendersonville. Campbell ran an insurance agency after retiring and is a former chairman of the Henderson County Republican Party. He believes in stronger enforcement of immigration laws, reforming federal programs such as Social Security and making earmarks transparent. On Iraq, he says American soldiers will have to keep a presence there for many years.
• Carl Mumpower, 55, an Asheville City Council member since 2001 and a practicing private psychologist. Mumpower wants to fight wasteful government spending, including earmarks, and come down hard on illegal immigration. Iraq may have been a mistake, he says, but now we must honor our commitment there, if the Iraqi people want us to stay.
Taking back the 11 Congressional District is going to be a tough challenge for the Republicans this year. I think the results of the last two Congressional special elections in heavily Republican districts in Illinois and Louisiana in which the Democrats were victorious only prove my point. While the 11th is a conservative district there are about 30,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans and Shuler fits a good portion of the bill when it comes to social conservatism.
I don’t like to really pick candidates because I try to keep my opinions unbiased so that I can be more honest in what I write, but I am going to give my opinion here. I think the best candidate for Republicans to nominate to run against Shuler is John Armor. The reason I say that is because of Armor’s unbridled allegiance to the Constitution, something we just don’t see anymore in Congress. It was dedication to the principles of small government and personal freedom that catapulted the GOP to a Congressional sweep in 1994 and Armor represents that type of candidate. The American people have lost faith in the Republican Party and conservatism thanks to the way George W Bush has bastardized the word.
Having said that, while it is my opinion that Armor is the best candidate to take on Shuler, it is not my belief that he will be victorious on Tuesday. I think Carl Mumpower is going to win the nomination. My prediction is based on his name recognition in the greater Asheville area and his lead in fund raising.
Update: Hat tip to Chad for sending me this great article on Armor from BlueRidgeNow.com
You’re absolutely right about Armor being the best candidate in terms of what he stands for. I would add that he’s also the best qualified to serve in Congress, so far as prior experience goes, and he has the best presentation.
Regarding fund raising, I’ve seen a lot of conflicting statements. Mumpower has raised a good bit, but I understand that Campbell has actually brought in around $90,000. Also, there were reports that Armor wasn’t filing with the FEC because he hadn’t raised more than $5,000, but I saw a statement from him that that was inaccurate.
One more note, these primaries are under run-off rules. If the highest vote-getter doesn’t reach 40%, the top two will face off in June.
[...] have already given my opinion on how I think the 11th Congressional Republican Primary will turn [...]