March 11, 2008
Friends,
On February 19, I went to
Most of the votes have now been counted in the
The totals are not final, but at this point, the votes in the
Democratic Primary have been tallied as follows: Van
Hollen: 104,108 votes (87.8%), Vollmer: 11,052 votes (9.3 %), and
Young: 3391 (2.9%).
I want to thank the over 11,000 people who voted for me in this
Democratic Primary Election. And I congratulate Chris Van Hollen
for his victory in the Democratic Primary. But I want to also
caution Mr. Van Hollen that we are not done with this particular
campaign yet. The issues are too important for me to walk away
now, and stop talking about our differences on the issues—especially
with regard to the war in
As
a write-in candidate for the 8th Congressional District
seat, I hope that I will be invited to candidate forums and debates,
and to fill out candidate questionnaires, and to speak to
organizations, and I hope that the media will pay some attention to the
candidacy of a former challenger in the Democratic Primary who
obtained over 11,000 votes in a campaign involving no fundraising, and
no paid advertising, and which pushed the message that the voters in
the 8th Congressional District of Maryland want a
representative who will take an active role in taking the leadership in
Congress to end Congressional funding for the Iraq War, and bring the
troops home NOW!
I
am aware that write-in candidates rarely win elections, but that there
is always that possibility. As a write-in candidate, I am running
as the ultimate outsider—not as a Democrat; Chris Van Hollen won the
Democratic nomination, but as an individual person, with my own
independent voice. In the admittedly unlikely event that I might
win the 8th Congressional District seat in the General
Election, I would caucus with the Progressive Caucus in Congress.
To win any votes at all, I must do whatever I can to let people know
that if they wish to vote for me, they must write my name onto the
ballot. This will be no easy task, so I am looking to people
reading this to help me spread the word about this write-in
campaign. Help me let people know that they have a choice in this
election, but that if they want to vote for me, they will need to write
in my name!
Why
do this at all, one might ask? I am aware that as a write-in
candidate, I have a real opportunity to keep pushing the debate on the
issue of the
There
is also in this race a Green Party candidate—Gordon Clark—who has a
powerful message of opposing the war and working to stop global climate
change. Nearly eight months for a Green Party candidate to
develop a campaign and present his message. I don’t know how
strong a candidate Gordon will be; I consider him to be a friend, and
we agree on many of the issues. I am not prepared to endorse him
at this time, but we shall see.
Meanwhile,
I invite voters who are disappointed in Chris Van Hollen for his
failure to take a leadership position in cutting Congressional funding
for the Iraq war, to look at all of their options. Another
option, for those of you who are reluctant to abandon support for a
popular Democratic incumbent, but are unhappy with Van Hollen’s
positions, would be to contact Mr. Van Hollen, and let him know that
you are disappointed, and that you are considering other options in
this Election, if he does not reverse course and take leadership in
ending this war! A pledge from Van Hollen to vote for no more
funding for the war and to join the Out of
For
those of you looking at this website for the first time, here are some
of the issues that were central to my campaign, in this just-finished
Democratic Primary Election.
ON
ON
ON ISRAEL/PALESTINE—While Chris Van Hollen does have a better record on
this issue than some, I would like to see him come out more strongly in
support of the rights of Palestinians living under conditions of
occupation. In the long run, I believe that
ON CIVIL LIBERTIES—I am for protecting our precious civil
liberties. I oppose the
ON IMPEACHMENT—I support Dennis Kucinich’s resolution for
impeachment. Impeach Cheney first, and then Bush. What
message do we send to future generations and future Presidents if we do
not impeach these two, for what they have done to our nation? Van
Hollen is on the record as opposing efforts to impeach Bush and Cheney.
ON HEALTH CARE—In fairness to Chris Van Hollen, he does agree with me
that all Americans should have health care coverage. But we
disagree on the means. Van Hollen would reform the current
system, but keep the health insurance companies in the system. I
favor universal, single-payer health care, which eliminates the health
insurance companies from the system and provides individuals with high
quality health care, with a choice of health care providers, that is
publicly financed: Medicare for All. I support legislation
sponsored by John Conyers and Dennis Kucinich for universal,
single-payer health care. Van Hollen has refused to sign on to
this legislation.
THE
In a democracy, the voters have a choice. You have the option of voting for the incumbent. But you do not have to vote for the incumbent, if you do not feel that he is representing you. You do have a choice. And I hope that you will consider writing in my name for the 8th Congressional District seat this November!
Deborah A. Vollmer
February 20,
2008
Friends,
Yesterday, I went to
Most of the votes have now been counted in the
The totals are not final, and do not include the provisional
ballots. But at this point, the votes in the Democratic Primary
have been tallied as follows: Van Hollen: 100,417 votes
(88.0 %), Vollmer: 10,490 votes (9.2 %), and Young: 3200 (2.8%).
I want to thank the over 10,000 people who voted for me in this
Democratic Primary Election. And I congratulate Chris Van Hollen
for his victory in the Democratic Primary. But I want to also
caution Mr. Van Hollen that we are not done with this particular
campaign yet. The issues are too important for me to walk away
now, and stop talking about our differences on the issues—especially
with regard to the war in
As
a write-in candidate for the 8th Congressional District
seat, I hope that I will be invited to candidate forums and debates,
and that the media will pay some attention to the candidacy of a
former challenger in the Democratic Primary who obtained over 10,000
votes in a campaign involving no fundraising, and no paid advertising,
and which pushed the message that the voters in the 8th
Congressional District of Maryland want a representative who will take
an active role in taking the leadership in Congress to end
Congressional funding for the Iraq War, and bring the troops home
NOW!
I
am aware that write-in candidates rarely win elections, but that there
is always that possibility. I am also aware that as a write-in
candidate, I may not win, but that I have a real opportunity to keep
pushing the debate on the issue of the
Meanwhile,
I invite voters who are disappointed in Chris Van Hollen for his
failure to take a leadership position in cutting Congressional funding
for the Iraq war, to look at all of their options. Another
option, for those of you who are reluctant to abandon support for a
popular Democratic incumbent, but are unhappy with Van Hollen’s
positions, would be to contact Mr. Van Hollen, and let him know that
you are disappointed, and that you are considering other options in
this Election, if he does not reverse course and take leadership in
ending this war! A pledge from Van Hollen to vote for no more
funding for the war and to join the Out of
For
those of you looking at this website for the first time, here are some
of the issues that were central to my campaign, in this just-finished
Democratic Primary Election.
ON
ON
ON ISRAEL/PALESTINE—While Chris Van Hollen does have a better record on
this issue than some, I would like to see him come out more strongly in
support of the rights of Palestinians living under conditions of
occupation. In the long run, I believe that
ON CIVIL LIBERTIES—I am for protecting our precious civil
liberties. I oppose the
ON IMPEACHMENT—I support Dennis Kucinich’s resolution for
impeachment. Impeach Cheney first, and then Bush. What
message do we send to future generations and future Presidents if we do
not impeach these two, for what they have done to our nation? Van
Hollen is on the record as opposing efforts to impeach Bush and Cheney.
ON HEALTH CARE—In fairness to Chris Van Hollen, he does agree with me
that all Americans should have health care coverage. But we
disagree on the means. Van Hollen would reform the current
system, but keep the health insurance companies in the system. I
favor universal, single-payer health care, which eliminates the health
insurance companies from the system and provides individuals with high
quality health care, with a choice of health care providers, that is
publicly financed: Medicare for All. I support legislation
sponsored by John Conyers and Dennis Kucinich for universal,
single-payer health care. Van Hollen has refused to sign on to
this legislation.
THE
In a democracy, the voters have a choice. You have the option of voting for the incumbent. But you do not have to vote for the incumbent, if you do not feel that he is representing you. You do have a choice. And I hope that you will consider writing in my name for the 8th Congressional District seat this November!
Deborah A. Vollmer
February 15,
2008
Friends,
Most of the votes have now been counted in the
The totals are not final, and do not include the absentee ballots and
provisional ballots. But at this point, the votes in the
Democratic Primary have been tallied as follows: Van
Hollen: 93,932 votes (87.8 %), Vollmer: 9,991 votes (9.3 %), and
Young: 3059 (2.9%).
I want to thank what will surely amount to over 10,000 people who voted
for me in this Democratic Primary Election. And I congratulate
Chris Van Hollen for his victory in the Democratic Primary. But I
want to also caution Mr. Van Hollen that we may not be done with this
particular campaign yet. The issues are too important for me to
walk away now, and stop talking about our differences on the
issues—especially with regard to the war in
For
those of you looking at this website for the first time, here are some
of the issues that were central to my campaign, in this just-finished
Democratic Primary Election.
ON
ON
ON ISRAEL/PALESTINE—While Chris Van Hollen does have a better record on
this issue than some, I would like to see him come out more strongly in
support of the rights of Palestinians living under conditions of
occupation. In the long run, I believe that
ON CIVIL LIBERTIES—I am for protecting our precious civil
liberties. I oppose the
ON IMPEACHMENT—I support Dennis Kucinich’s resolution for
impeachment. Impeach Cheney first, and then Bush. What
message do we send to future generations and future Presidents if we do
not impeach these two, for what they have done to our nation? Van
Hollen is on the record as opposing efforts to impeach Bush and Cheney.
ON HEALTH CARE—In fairness to Chris Van Hollen, he does agree with me
that all Americans should have health care coverage. But we
disagree on the means. Van Hollen would reform the current
system, but keep the health insurance companies in the system. I
favor universal, single-payer health care, which eliminates the health
insurance companies from the system and provides individuals with high
quality health care, with a choice of health care providers, that is
publicly financed: Medicare for All. I support legislation
sponsored by John Conyers and Dennis Kucinich for universal,
single-payer health care. Van Hollen has refused to sign on to
this legislation.
THE
I
am doing some serious thinking about how we might consider keeping
these and other issues, front and center in the debate in the General
Election. I will consider your input, as I weigh my options.
Please refer to the page Status of Campaign:
Next Steps.
Whatever
decision I reach regarding next steps, I do want to take this
opportunity to thank the over 10,000 voters in the Democratic Primary,
who voted on February 12 for Vollmer for Congress! THANK YOU!!!
Deborah A. Vollmer
January 31,
2008
Friends,
It is not always easy to track the various votes in Congress on
Just a few days ago on Sunday afternoon (January 27),
Over the last couple of weeks, and especially over the last
couple of days, this campaign for Congress has picked up new energy!
My videotape on
Also on the campaign publicity front, the Montgomery County Sentinel
published a feature article about the Vollmer for Congress campaign,
and also in the same newspaper, printed my letter to the editor on the
subject of my campaign! The article appears in the hardcopy
edition of the Sentinel which came out of Thursday January
24. (The Sentinel comes out once a week, on Thursday,
and is available at some news stands and libraries.) The article
also appears on the Sentinel’s website, and we have linked to
it here on this website.
In other campaign news, I have received the endorsement of the
Here are some of my positions on some of the issues of concern to
voters for peace, social justice, and the environment. On some of
these issues, the differences that I have with incumbent Chris Van
Hollen are slight; on some of the issues, our differences are major.
ON
ON
ON ISRAEL/PALESTINE—While Chris Van Hollen does have a better record on
this issue than some, I would like to see him come out more strongly in
support of the rights of Palestinians living under conditions of
occupation. In the long run, I believe that
ON CIVIL LIBERTIES—I am for protecting our precious civil
liberties. I oppose the
ON IMPEACHMENT—I support Dennis Kucinich’s resolution for
impeachment. Impeach Cheney first, and then Bush. What
message do we send to future generations and future Presidents if we do
not impeach these two, for what they have done to our nation? Van
Hollen is on the record as opposing efforts to impeach Bush and Cheney.
ON HEALTH CARE—In fairness to Chris Van Hollen, he does agree with me
that all Americans should have health care coverage. But we
disagree on the means. Van Hollen would reform the current
system, but keep the health insurance companies in the system. I
favor universal, single-payer health care, which eliminates the health
insurance companies from the system and provides individuals with high
quality health care, with a choice of health care providers, that is
publicly financed: Medicare for All. I support legislation
sponsored by John Conyers and Dennis Kucinich for universal,
single-payer health care. Van Hollen has refused to sign on to
this legislation.
THE
PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS MESSAGE BY E-MAIL TO PROGRESSIVE VOTERS IN
For
further information, please see my website at http://www.deborahvollmer.com.
See especially these pages on my website: Status of the
Campaign, and What You Can Do to Help, and Upcoming Forums and
Events.
Again, please circulate this message, far and wide. We are not
doing fundraising in this campaign, and e-mail is one of those means
that we do have to reach the voters! Thanks!
Deborah A. Vollmer
Friends,
Over the last couple of weeks, and especially over the last
couple of days, this campaign for Congress has picked up new energy!
Last Thursday, I did my videotaped four-minute spot at the studio of
On Saturday, January 12, I joined John Nirenberg, in his march to
On Sunday, I attended a memorial service in Garrett Park for a great
lady—Ethel Lubarsky, a long-time activist with the Gray Panthers, and a
friend. Family members and friends shared memories of Ethel and
her social activism, and we sang “There Once Was a Union Maid,” and
other songs. Ethel Lubarsky was a wonderful person, and a
persistent activist for peace, universal health care, and social
justice. She will be missed.
On Sunday, January 27,
Here are some of my positions on some of the issues of concern to
voters for peace, social justice, and the environment. On some of
these issues, the differences that I have with incumbent Chris Van
Hollen are slight; on some of the issues, our differences are major.
ON
ON
ON ISRAEL/PALESTINE—While Chris Van Hollen does have a better record on
this issue than some, I would like to see him come out more strongly in
support of the rights of Palestinians living under conditions of
occupation. In the long run, I believe that
ON CIVIL LIBERTIES—I am for protecting our precious civil
liberties. I oppose the
ON IMPEACHMENT—I support Dennis Kucinich’s resolution for
impeachment. Impeach Cheney first, and then Bush. What
message do we send to future generations and future Presidents if we do
not impeach these two, for what they have done to our nation? Van
Hollen is on the record as opposing efforts to impeach Bush and Cheney.
ON HEALTH CARE—In fairness to Chris Van Hollen, he does agree with me
that all Americans should have health care coverage. But we
disagree on the means. Van Hollen would reform the current
system, but keep the health insurance companies in the system. I
favor universal, single-payer health care, which eliminates the health
insurance companies from the system and provides individuals with high
quality health care, with a choice of health care providers, that is
publicly financed: Medicare for All. I support legislation
sponsored by John Conyers and Dennis Kucinich for universal,
single-payer health care. Van Hollen has refused to sign on to
this legislation.
THE
PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS MESSAGE BY E-MAIL TO PROGRESSIVE VOTERS IN
For
further information, please see my website at http://www.deborahvollmer.com.
See especially these pages on my website: Status of the
Campaign, and What You Can Do to Help, and Upcoming Forums and
Events.
Again, please circulate this message, far and wide. We are not
doing fundraising in this campaign, and e-mail is one of those means
that we do have to reach the voters! Thanks!
Deborah A. Vollmer
January 10,
2008
Positions on
Issues of Concern
Friends,
Here are some of my positions on some of the issues of concern to
voters for peace, social justice, and the environment. On some of
these issues, the differences that I have with incumbent Chris Van
Hollen are slight; on some of the issues, our differences are major.
Here
are my positions on some of the issues:
ON
IRAQ—Bring all U.S. troops home NOW. No more funding for the U.S.
war and occupation of Iraq. As I have discussed in previous
e-mail messages, and on my website, Van Hollen’s voting record on Iraq
War funding is a mixed one, and Van Hollen has not even joined the Out
of Iraq Caucus in Congress! We need a leader in Congress on this
issue. Van Hollen has been a timid follower, when he could have
exerted his leadership position to end this war!
ON IRAN—I oppose the drumbeats for war with Iran, and other nations.
ON ISRAEL/PALESTINE—While Chris Van Hollen does have a better record on
this issue than some, I would like to see him come out more strongly in
support of the rights of Palestinians living under conditions of
occupation. In the long run, I believe that Israel, too, will
benefit if justice is brought to Palestinians, because it will be
possible for the two nations and their peoples to achieve a genuine
peace.
ON CIVIL LIBERTIES—I am for protecting our precious civil
liberties. I oppose the U.S.A. PATRIOT ACT. I oppose practices
and policies of the Bush Administration, whether or not actually
written into law, that infringe on civil liberties. Recently, Van
Hollen voted for H.R, 1955, the so-called “Violent Radicalization and
Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007”—a bill which had little
publicity when it was being debated and voted upon, and which had
little opposition, when it passed the House of Representatives.
Civil liberties organizations have sounded the alarm that this bill
threatens to chill the rights of people engaged in peaceful
protest. Van Hollen voted for this bill. I would have voted
against it.
ON IMPEACHMENT—I support Dennis Kucinich’s resolution for
impeachment. Impeach Cheney first, and then Bush. What
message do we send to future generations and future Presidents if we do
not impeach these two, for what they have done to our nation? Van
Hollen is on the record as opposing efforts to impeach Bush and Cheney.
ON HEALTH CARE—In fairness to Chris Van Hollen, he does agree with me
that all Americans should have health care coverage. But we
disagree on the means. Van Hollen would reform the current
system, but keep the health insurance companies in the system. I
favor universal, single-payer health care, which eliminates the health
insurance companies from the system and provides individuals with high
quality health care, with a choice of health care providers, that is
publicly financed: Medicare for All. I support legislation
sponsored by John Conyers and Dennis Kucinich for universal,
single-payer health care. Van Hollen has refused to sign on to
this legislation.
THE INTERCOUNTY CONNECTOR—I oppose this road project, which I view as
detrimental to the environment, and communities.
PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS MESSAGE BY E-MAIL TO PROGRESSIVE VOTERS IN
MARYLAND’S 8TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. The voters deserve to know
how the candidates stand on the issues. AND DON’T FORGET TO LET
PEOPLE KNOW THAT THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY IS ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12,
2008.
For
further information, please see my website at
http://www.deborahvollmer.com.
See especially these
pages on my website: Status of the
Campaign, and What You Can Do to Help, and Upcoming Forums and
Events.
Again, please circulate this message, far and wide. We are not
doing fundraising in this campaign, and e-mail is one of those means
that we do have to reach the voters! Thanks!
Peace,
Deborah A. Vollmer
January 2,
2008
A Message for
the New Year!
Friends,
I do hope that all of you getting this have been
having an enjoyable holiday season! It can be hard with all the sad
news: the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, drumbeats for
war with
The campaign season is upon us, like it or not, and
I am preparing for a short but vigorous campaign for the 8th
Congressional District seat in
It is customary for folks early in the New Year to make New Year’s
Resolutions! I have a few of my own, the usual ones that relate
to staying fit and cleaning up clutter, but let me suggest a resolution
that I hope those of you getting this will join me in making.
Let’s send the Congress, the President, and the people of this Country
a powerful message by turning out the Peace vote in the 2008 election
cycle! Of course one way to do this is to build a grassroots
“surge” in the campaign for Vollmer for Congress!
Please take a look at this website at http://www.deborahvollmer.com,
and if you like what you see, please forward the link to this website
to anyone and everyone who you know who might be voting in the
Democratic Primary for the
For a more detailed discussion of my reasons for challenging Chris Van
Hollen for the 8th Congressional District seat, please see Status of the
Campaign, and What You Can Do to Help, on this website.
For scheduled events see Upcoming Forums and
Events.
For those of you who want to do even a little more to help, here is
something you can do, especially if you happen to have a functioning
computer printer, and easy access to photocopying. Take a look at
the Out of
Deborah A. Vollmer
December 29, 2007
[Revised
December 30, 2007]
Holiday
Message
Friends,
I do hope that everyone getting this is having an
enjoyable holidays! It can be hard with all the sad news: the
assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, drumbeats for war with
The campaign season is upon us, like it or not, and
I am preparing for a short but vigorous campaign for the 8th
Congressional District seat in
Please take a look at this website at http://www.deborahvollmer.com,
and if you like what you see, please forward the link to this website
to anyone and everyone who you know who might be voting in the
Democratic Primary for the
For a more detailed discussion of my reasons for challenging Chris Van
Hollen for the 8th Congressional District seat, please see
Status of the Campaign, and What You Can Do to
Help, on this website.
For scheduled events see Upcoming Forums and
Events.
Deborah A. Vollmer
December 21,
2007
The Vollmer
for Congress Campaign: What it is all about, the current status of the
campaign, and what you can do to help
Friends,
For those of you who have been following these messages from me on this
website, let me first summarize the status of this campaign. I am
running against a powerful member of the House of Representatives,
Chris Van Hollen, who is Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign
Committee. Mr. Van Hollen represents the 8th Congressional
District in the State of
On November 1, 2007, I wrote an Open Letter to Chris Van Hollen, which
I sent to his campaign office, challenging him to debate his voting
record, in one or more public settings, with dates and times to be
mutually arranged. To date, I have received no response from Mr.
Van Hollen. I know that the letter was received by way of a
signed return receipt, which I assume to have been signed by a Van
Hollen campaign staffer. Mr. Van Hollen will, no doubt, be busy
during this short campaign cycle. But he owes it to his
constituents to set aside the time to debate the issues, and clarify
his reasons for voting the way he has voted on
In previous messages on this website, which you can see if you click on
the link at the very bottom of this message, I have discussed in detail
Mr. Van Hollen’s mixed voting record, with regard to the funding of the
The
second piece of recent legislation regarding
A
third vote merits some discussion on this page. On December 19,
the House of Representatives considered the spending bill sent back to
it by the Senate, H.R. 2764. When the House voted on this
legislation initially, it contained no funding for the war in
The three votes that I have discussed above are only a part of the
picture; Van Hollen’s voting record over the long haul on the issue of
There are other issues where I differ from Mr. Van Hollen, although the
issue of the funding for the
I am disappointed that Chris Van Hollen has not been in support of
efforts to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney. What
message does it send to future Presidents if we do not take steps to
impeach these two, for what they have done to our nation?
On the issue of Israel/Palestine, I recognize the power of the Israeli
lobby, and I understand that Van Hollen does have a better record than
some on this issue. But I would like to see him come out more
strongly in support of rights for Palestinians living under conditions
of occupation. In the long run, I believe
On the domestic front, Mr. Van Hollen and I have some differences of
opinion regarding Health Care. We agree that Americans should all
have coverage. I favor a version of single payer health care
which guarantees Americans quality health care with a choice of health
care providers. In particular, I favor legislation along these
lines proposed by U.S. Representative John Conyers. Chris Van
Hollen has not signed on to support this legislation.
People often ask me what they can do to help. First let me say
that (and some find this absolutely shocking!) we are not doing
fundraising. Political campaigns do fundraising in order to have
the resources to get the message out. The media then focuses on
the fundraising itself. This is wrong. The media should be
focusing instead on the positions that the candidates have on the
issues, their qualifications to hold office, and their honesty and
integrity. I hope that folks will find this No Fundraising
approach to be refreshing. And there are definitely other things
that folks can do to help.
Here are some things people who want to help this campaign can
do. Help to get the message out by sending your own message to
individuals and listservs, with a link to this website; remind people
in your message that the date for the Democratic Primary is February
12. Help me to meet potential supporters by inviting me to
gatherings of folks, large or small. I will be happy to listen to
the concerns that people have, and to answer questions about my
campaign, and my positions on the issues. Contact Chris Van
Hollen—and help generate the pressure on him to accept my challenge to
debate. If you belong to an organization that sponsors candidate
debates, arrange for your organization to invite both myself and Mr.
Van Hollen (and Lih Young, who I understand is also running in the
Primary) to participate in one or more candidate debates.
Finally,
I want to emphasize that although election calendars and ballot access
rules do inject a certain level of competition into the process among
activists with different party affiliations, ultimately we need to be
thinking about working together—all of us voters for peace—be we
Democrats, Republicans, Greens, Libertarians, or independents. We
need to develop some new strategies to use the electoral process to
support peace candidates—regardless of party affiliation.
Peace and Happy Holidays!
Deborah A. Vollmer
December 4,
2007
[revised Dec. 7, 2007]
Friends,
For those of you who have been following these messages from me on this
website, let me first summarize the status of this campaign. I am
running against a powerful member of the House of Representatives,
Chris Van Hollen, who is Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign
Committee. Mr. Van Hollen represents the 8th Congressional
District in the State of Maryland. I am running as a challenger in the
Democratic Primary
to be held on February 12, because I have serious differences of
opinion with Mr. Van Hollen, with regard to his voting record,
especially with regard to continued funding for the War and Occupation
of
On November 1, 2007, I wrote an Open Letter to Chris Van Hollen, which
I sent to his campaign office, challenging him to debate his voting
record, in one or more public settings, with dates and times to be
mutually arranged. To date, I have received no response from Mr.
Van Hollen. I know that the letter was received by way of a
signed return receipt, which I assume to have been signed by a Van
Hollen campaign staffer. Mr. Van Hollen will, no doubt, be busy
during this short campaign cycle. But he owes it to his
constituents to set aside the time to debate the issues, and clarify
his reasons for voting the way he has voted on
In previous messages on this website, which you can see if you click on
the link at the very bottom of this message, I have discussed in detail
Mr. Van Hollen’s mixed voting record, with regard to the funding of the
The
second piece of recent legislation regarding
The last two votes that I have discussed are only a part of the
picture; Van Hollen’s voting record over the long haul on the issue of
There are other issues where I differ from Mr. Van Hollen, although the
issue of the funding for the
I am disappointed that Chris Van Hollen has not been in support of
efforts to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney. What
message does it send to future Presidents if we do not take steps to
impeach these two, for what they have done to our nation?
On the issue of Israel/Palestine, I recognize the power of the Israeli
lobby, and I understand that Van Hollen does have a better record than
some on this issue. But I would like to see him come out more
strongly in support of rights for Palestinians living under conditions
of occupation. In the long run, I believe
On the domestic front, Mr. Van Hollen and I have some differences of
opinion regarding Health Care. We agree that Americans should all
have coverage. I favor a version of single payer health care
which guarantees Americans quality health care with a choice of health
care providers. In particular, I favor legislation along these
lines proposed by U.S. Representative John Conyers. Chris Van
Hollen has not signed on to support this legislation.
People often ask me what they can do to help. First let me say
that (and some find this absolutely shocking!) we are not doing
fundraising. Political campaigns do fundraising in order to have
the resources to get the message out. The media then focuses on
the fundraising itself. This is wrong. The media should be
focusing instead on the positions that the candidates have on the
issues, their qualifications to hold office, and their honesty and
integrity. I hope that folks will find this No Fundraising
approach to be refreshing. And there are definitely other things
that folks can do to help.
Here are some things people who want to help this campaign can
do. Help to get the message out by sending your own message to
individuals and listservs, with a link to this website; remind people
in your message that the date for the Democratic Primary is February
12. Help me to meet potential supporters by inviting me to
gatherings of folks, large or small. I will be happy to listen to
the concerns that people have, and to answer questions about my
campaign, and my positions on the issues. Contact Chris Van
Hollen—and help generate the pressure on him to accept my challenge to
debate. If you belong to an organization that sponsors candidate
debates, arrange for your organization to invite both myself and Mr.
Van Hollen (and Lih Young, who I understand is also running in the
Primary) to participate in one or more candidate debates.
Finally,
I want to emphasize that although election calendars and ballot access
rules do inject a certain level of competition into the process among
activists with different party affiliations, ultimately we need to be
thinking about working together—all of us voters for peace—be we
Democrats, Republicans, Greens, Libertarians, or independents. We
need to develop some new strategies to use the electoral process to
support peace candidates—regardless of party affiliation.
Peace,
Deborah A. Vollmer