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Waterford man confident of primary win
Despite losing the money race to political veteran Judy Feder by a resounding 10-to-1 margin, Waterford’s Mike Turner has a bold prediction for the Democratic Party’s upcoming congressional primary:
“We will win,” he said. “My staff and I are already planning for the general election.”
The reason being?
“She had her chance,” he said. “The simple fact is she lost by 16 points in the last election [to Frank Wolf]. More telling, she lost in the same election with the same demographics that Jim Webb won [in]. He gave us the template of what we need to do to win in the 10th District: a moderate Democrat who is fiscally responsible.”
A former Air Force colonel and pilot, Turner, 56, has his sights now squarely set on a seat in the U.S. House. He faces McLean’s Feder in the June 10 primary, with the winner challenging either incumbent U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf, of Vienna, or Wolf's fellow Republican Vern McKinley, of Ashburn, in November.
This is Turner’s first run at public office, though he said a career in politics has been a goal of his since childhood. This father of three, who is a certified ski instructor and member of the high-IQ society Mensa, said he has been a lifelong Democrat, inspired by his father's support of John Kennedy.
Still, Turner, a backer of Barack Obama, said he shuns political labels, preferring to call himself a "solutionist."
One solution he is offering to what he calls the "No. 1 crisis" facing the country, the war in Iraq, is to pull all American troops out of Iraq by the end of 2009.
"There has never been a definition of what our mission is in Iraq," he said.
He instead envisions a multi-country United Nations force to keep peace in the beleaguered country and help rebuild its fractured infrastructure.
Regarding the economy, he opposes the tax rebates now making their way to residents' mailboxes and bank accounts because, he said, they may cause federal debt to balloon. However, he does support the government purchasing threatened home loans, then refinancing them to homeowners at reduced rates.
Turner also is a backer of a universal health-care plan that would make the federal government the country's sole insurance provider. To pay for such a plan, Turner said the government would have to raise taxes on the nation's top 5 percent of earners by 5 percent and on the top 1 percent of earners by 10 percent.
With respect to immigration reform, he opposes a plan to stretch a barrier between the United States and Mexico.
"A fence is the second dumbest idea by this administration," he said. Iraq being No. 1, he added.
He supports simplifying the process for employers to verify their workers' residency status and a "two-year transition period" so some immigrants could possibly acquire citizenship status.
"It's inhuman to send them home now," he said, "after turning an eye for so long to them being here."
Contact the reporter at jjacks@timespapers.com
This article was an interesting introduction to the Congressional Primary race so I decided to go to both candidates' websites and check them out.
In my opinion, Mike Turner has the most real world quals to replace Congressman Wolf. His military background is very impressive which is important if we are going to ever get out of Iraq and avoid new wars that were as poorly planned. Judy Feder does not have a military background or background working with the Pentagon and Joint Chiefs of Staff or Secretary of State like Turner does.
Turner's MBA degree and business experience after retiring from the military are useful quals for addressing housing, transportation and economic issues, which really need to be fixed sooner rather than later. Feder's experience looks like it is all in the university or policy consulting firms, but not in real world business solving problems.
My first impression was that Feder was the healthcare expert, but her website and other Googling seemed to only bring up her experience with Hillary-Care in Bill Clinton's first term, which is not a great reference. In fact, I could not find Feder accomplishments on the Internet, just job listings.
I am tired of trying to figure out when Frank Wolf is going to take a stand on anything important, and I think Judy Feder is too risky since she has not really acommplished very much in the real world, if anything, that affects the average voter.
This is an easy decision. I am voting for Mike Turner in June and November.
Posted by LoudounMaven
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I met Mike Turner last summer, and I agree that he would be the best candidate to face Frank Wolf. Wolf is a very popular Congressman but his biggest weakness is his position on the War. We need a candidate with national security experience who has the credibility to confront Wolf in this issue.
Posted by frankoanderson
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