In a race chronicled on CNN's Anderson Cooper show last week as "David vs. Goliath", Republican Congressman Tom Price (GA-06) is being challenged in a grassroots campaign by upstart
Steve Sinton. Price has outspent and outraised Sinton 20 to 1, but the buzz in this affluent North Atlanta district is all about
Steve Sinton. The district starts in the upscale Sandy Springs neighborhood and also includes Roswell, Alpharetta and Kennesaw.
Tom Price was elected 2 years ago with 100% of the vote because he was unopposed. The Dems didn't even field a candidate. Now, thanks to Howard Dean's 50-state strategery, Steve Sinton is emerging as a viable candidate. The Republican brand has been tarnished by scandal after scandal in the past few months: Jack Abramoff, Tom Foley, Scooter Libby, Ted Haggard, Tom Delay, Bob Ney, Duke Cunningham...the list goes on and on...and that can only help underdogs like Steve.
More on the flip:
Steve Sinton isn't even on the radar of most national election watchers as even being competitive. But at a luncheon this past Thursday for
Steve Sinton attended by Congressman John Lewis (20 years / GA-05), Congressman Ed Towns (24 years / NY-10), and Cynthia McKinney's replacement-to-be Hank Johnson (GA-04) Sinton was buoyed by praise from his 3 future colleagues.
Specifically, respected Congressman Ed Towns predicted that in every election there is a surprise winner. Someone who comes out of nowhere and wins. Someone who wins against all odds. Congressman Towns predicted that Steve Sinton would be that candidate. Congressman Towns further expanded and predicted that voters would repudiate the Iraq War and vote for Stem Cell research, 2 of Steve Sinton's main campaign memes.
See the campaign press release here:
THE BIG GUNS FROM WASHINGTON SHOW UP TO SUPPORT SINTON'S CONGRESSIONAL BID
For immediate release
November 2, 2006
Atlanta, GA: The City Grill of Atlanta was the site of a fundraising luncheon today for Steve Sinton, 6th District Congressional Candidate. Congressman Ed Towns of New York's 10th district, Congressman John Lewis of Georgia's 5th district, Congressional Candidate Hank Johnson of Georgia's 4th district, along with 18 key leaders of Metro Atlanta attended the luncheon in support of Sinton.
"In every election, there is a surprise. Without fail, a candidate that the national level is not looking at prior to the election wins and joins us in Congress. I believe Steve Sinton is that Candidate this year," said Congressman Towns. His statement was met with a loud round of applause from the room of believers. Hank Johnson followed up by saying, "No one knows what is going on in your district better than you. Before the primary, most people had never heard of me either. But I always knew, and you know too."
The luncheon was indeed a powerhouse of Congressional leadership, and an indication that leadership in Washington believes that the 6th district of Georgia is ready for change. Sinton's district includes East Cobb, North Fulton, Cherokee County, Vinings and Sandy Springs. Sinton says he is running for change to get America back on track. He strongly believes in stem cell research, a topic recently in the news as a result of Michael J. Fox and Rush Limbaugh. Sinton points out his opponent, Rep. Tom Price who is a surgeon, has voted against stem cell research three times. Sinton believes that this position is out of touch with the majority of people in the 6th district.
Senator Max Cleland has also lent his support to getting Sinton elected. From the beginning, Cleland cited Steve's ability to be elected. He was on hand the day Sinton announced his candidacy. Senator Cleland is a Vietnam veteran, and a war hero. He supports Sinton's position on the war in Iraq, and is quick to point out that the Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan graded every sitting Congressman based on his or her voting record in support of veterans. Rep Price was one of the very few Congressmen to receive a grade of `F.'
For information, please contact:
Angela Cox
Media Relations
angela@stevesinton.com
770-977-4400
Also, in a bold move to expose his personal side, Steve Sinton plays guitar and has penned the following:
Dear Friends,
When people run for office, it's not only about issues, as important as they may be.
I'd like to share the people that shaped my life, my character and my principles. Please feel also feel free to share this with anyone who has an interest. You may post it on your web sites, blog it, and send to anyone who would like to know a little more about me personally.
Mom, Dad, my niece and nephew, Angela and Mick Jagger are featured. For those of you who don't understand the Mick part, I was privileged to travel with the Rolling Stones in Russia when the wall was still up. The experience changed the way I looked at life.
Mom, Dad - where ever you are -- this one's for you...
Please open the link below to see Steve Sinton, behind the man and behind the music
http://www.laupus.com/...
Thanks Betsy, Bob, George and Will for this creation.....
Steve Sinton is the kind of Congressperson that we need more of. His opponent, Tom Price MD, is a stuffed shirt Medical Doctor who has steadfastly refused to debate him. He has run from any kind of head-to-head comparison of the two. But, Steve Sinton has deliberately gone to "Republican-oriented" events and inserted himself into the debate. This has proven successful, as many Republicans when faced with Steve Sinton directly have declared their support.
Cong. Price was one of the 2 MDs in Congress (Frist being the other one) who "diagnosed" Terri Schiavo from the floor of Congress without the benefit of a personal medical exam. His "diagnosis" was based on biased political expediency meant to jump into the private life of one citizen. He should be ashamed. Also Medical Doctor Price is opposed to Stem Cell Research as he voted against it 3 times. Steve fully supports this kind of research that could find cures for cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Diabetes, and a host of other diseases.
Last week, Atlanta's Creative Loafing Newspaper did a feature on Steve HERE
Don Quixote rides through the northern suburbs
BY JOHN F. SUGG
Published 11.01.06
"Reality has caught up with Republicans." - Steve Sinton
Judy Hamilton is breathless and almost shaking with excitement as she dashes into the candidate's office. "One of our phone people," she proclaims, "just had a whole sheet voting for you."
The underdog Democrat aspirant for Congress, Steve Sinton, leaps from his seat. "That's... that's... I mean, that's, well, it's just great," the usually loquacious Sinton grapples with words. Sinton's smile, however, says it all -- it's so big that the corners of his mouth look like they might connect somewhere around the top of his head.
The sheet Hamilton clutches contains only 13 names, one of scores of similar pages listing senior citizens known to be at home during the daytime. There aren't many 100-percent-for-Sinton tallies, but the positive responses for the first-time candidate -- and the negative ones for incumbent Republican Tom Price -- are mounting.
And, voices from the people:
Susan Joseph, a clinical social worker who says she's voted for Republicans many times, is fed up with the GOP's obsession with values. Price, she says, "wants to intrude into people's private lives when he should be attending to public affairs. What's he done for this district? Nothing."
Such comments fire up Sinton's campaign. Make no mistake, however, it's a Don Quixote crusade.
And in a bold move, Steve retakes Newt Gingrich's old office.
When Sinton moved into his campaign office, he recalls, "We had to do an exorcism, bring in mirrors and garlic" to rid the place of the spirit of a former tenant, one-time U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The office is now decorated with gold and platinum albums from Eric Clapton, the Kinks and the Cars -- mementos of Sinton's broadcasting career.
Even without help from the DCCC, Steve is a formidible challenger.
Sinton did his own poll two months ago. Among 400 likely voters, it showed him 11 points behind Price, plus or minus 4 percent -- a close race.
Although polls by candidates are suspect, Sinton insists his is credible. "We did it for our own use," he says. "I'm not in the business of fooling myself."
The poll was conducted before the Tom Foley scandal tarnished the Republican leadership. And before the mounting anger at the party after its shills, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, savaged actor Michael J. Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, for support of candidates who back embryonic stem cell research. And before the latest battlefield casualty reports from Baghdad.
Steve is swimming upstream against the tide...but it's working.
Sinton's strategy is one-on-one campaigning focusing on the war, jobs and stem cells. "I love to go to hostile groups," he says. "I tell them, 'I'm the damnedest Democrat you'll ever meet.' They listen because they feel so bad that the man they empowered is doing 180 degrees of what he promised."
Click HERE to check out some of Steve's TV ads that are circulating around the internet tubes.
I agree with Creative Loafing and John Lewis that Steve could be a surprise here.
I hope on Wednesday, I'll be back blogging with a diary entitled: "I told you so!"