Marty Lamb Vs. Jim McGovern in the Third Congressional District Race

Across the country Tea Party candidates have been getting a great deal of publicity. Marty Lamb had the endorsement of local Tea Party groups and I was curious to see how that would translate into votes in a Massachusetts Republican primary. McGovern had run in the previous election unopposed and in prior elections there had been limited selections for voters to decide on an alternative to the long serving Democrat. I was interested to see if the Tea Party would generate enough interest to bring Lamb through the primaries strong enough to face McGovern in a general election.

Lamb is the Republican nominee and he has impressed me with his willingness to challenge McGovern on the issues. For instance, he is currently questioning McGovern's continued support of ACORN despite continued evidence their issues with accounting, fraud, and questionable legal practices. As an unchallenged Congressman, McGovern did not have to answer for his votes in the previous elections. It is important that voters question his positions in this election. If people support those positions then they should send him back. If not they should make an alternate choice.

I was one of the voters who complained about McGovern's attitude towards voters that contacted him regarding the health care bill. I was not surprised, as McGovern has previously sent letters to constituents arrogantly explaining they did not understand the issues that he was voting on. However, l had family and friends who had never called or written their Congressman who were surprised to find that he such a low opinion of their ability to understand and comprehend. They were under the impression that he would listen and react when they were clearly upset about an issue. When he was rude and ignored them, they received an education about the electoral system they had not expected. While the Congressman wanted their vote, he did not need their opinions and expected them to let him vote as he saw fit. He did not see a need to represent their views in Congress. I was surprised to see many who were never active before awaken over the simple idea that their Congressman did not believe they were intelligent enough to understand an issue they felt strong enough about to contact him.

Scott Brown brought hope to Massachusetts residents that this state could perhaps have two parties with different ideas represented. Marty Lamb does have a strong platform of limited government ideals. He supports a balanced budget amendment that many taxpayers can relate to in their own personal lives. Another issue that speaks to taxpayers personal lives is paying off the national debt, an issue that many voters fear could destroy our country.

Lamb's election antics have drawn quite a bit of attention to this campaign. It remains to be seen if his pranks will continue to amuse voters or cause people to turn away from the campaign even when they support his platform. However, those who support him seem to feel without the antics Lamb would never have stood out from his opponents and drawn the attention of the voters. I think that with the backing of the Tea Party, in an anti-incumbent year, we would have gotten to know Marty Lamb without the Lamb barf bags. I hope the games do not distract from the strong message that we need a new Congressman in the Third District and Marty Lamb is our best chance at replacing Jim McGovern.

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