Clear Choice: Activist Over Politician Agenda Endorses Baker For Congress

Candidate hits his stride.

  It was 90 degrees in the shade on July 17. Yet Dean Baker and a handful of supporters insisted on making their point. Their 17 mile "Great Debate Trek" on foot and bicycle to Plymouth, incumbent Congressman Carl Pursell's home base, characterizes what Dean Baker's grassroots campaign is all about: a lot of guts, hard work, and determination.

  Agenda heartily endorses Dean Baker's bid for the U. S. Congress as a representative for the Second Congressional District. For the 2 years that we have known him, we've seen Dean work day in and day out for the issues he believes in, not as a candidate seeking office but as a concerned citizen willing to swim against the current for unpopular causes.

  Dean is an activist. And an effective one too. Like other people who work every spare moment to make a difference for what they believe in, Dean's strength of conviction translates into leadership and hard work. It was surprising to read that the Detroit Free Press endorsed Baker's Democratic primary opponent Donald Grimes based on the issues of Central America and Apartheid. We think they got the wrong man on that one.

  Baker's work here in Ann Arbor with the Latin American Solidarity Committee and the Free South Africa Coordinating Committee puts him head and shoulders above both Grimes and Pursell. And Baker's strong positions on these issues, positions based not on political expediency but genuine hard work, will translate well when other important issues are voted on in Congress.

  If there is a choice between war and peace, we know that Dean will vote for peace. If there is a choice between an increase for the military budget or an increase for programs of social value like Medicare and student loans, we know how Dean will vote. Dean's grassroots background, his leadership abilities and tenacity, will make him exactly what Pursell is not - a responsible and accountable congressman, a true representative of the people.

  As the threat of all out war in Central America becomes more intense with every day that passes, the need for a strong uncompromising voice in opposition to that course becomes that much clearer. A vote for Dean Baker on Tuesday August 5 is a vote for progressive, grassroots, common sense leadership.