Jim Slattery for Senate

Background:

I grew up in the farming community of Good Intent, in Atchison County, Kansas. Growing up on the farm, I learned the importance of faith, family, personal responsibility, and neighbor helping neighbor in times of need. I went to Washburn University in Topeka for both undergrad and law school. I served as a member of the 69th Infantry Brigade of the Kansas Army National Guard, and was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives at the age of 24. After six years in the state house, I co-founded a real estate business, where I stayed until 1982 when I was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. I served six terms, representing the 2nd district until 1994. Since then, I have been a partner at Wiley Rein LLP, a Washington D.C. law firm where I have frequently represented Kansas interests. I live in Topeka with my wife of 34 years, Linda, and still have a farm in Atchison County. I have two sons, Mike and Jason, who both also live in Kansas. Mike is currently running for a seat in the Kansas House of Representatives.

Goals:

I am running for the U.S. Senate because our country is heading in the wrong direction. I believe the political climate is starting to show that people are fed up with politicians who proclaim themselves the stewards of the public good while propping up special interests and ignoring the needs of average Americans.
Senator, Roberts must be held accountable for running defense for the Bush administration on the Iraq war and the intelligence failures under his leadership of the Intelligence Committee. Not only was there a massive intelligence failure leading up to the war, but Roberts made sure that the public wouldn’t learn about the negligence of the administration after the fact by stalling on oversight repeatedly. He has been a rubber stamp for President Bush’s policies, which have us mired in an unnecessary war, paying $4 for gasoline, a slumping economy, and no improvement in sight.
In office, I hope to restore the kind of independent leadership that Kansans expect. We must find a way to quickly and safely redeploy our troops from Iraq. Congress needs to take a long, hard look at fiscal policy and how to pull this country out of its enormous debt. Most of all, I want to be an honest and responsible representative for Kansas interests. Pat Roberts claims to work for Kansas, but his record shows that he is really working for the special interests that fund his campaign.

Issues:

The three issues that are of greatest importance in this election are the war in Iraq, our stagnating economy, and our need for energy independence and renewable energy technology.
It is essential to our security that we quickly move to responsibly redeploy our forces from Iraq. All indications are that we need to focus more resources on Afghanistan and Pakistan, and let the Iraqi government start to take the reins in Iraq. Our men and women in uniform have fought brilliantly and done their job, so it is time for them to return to their families.
The government – both Congress and this administration – has overseen a painful economic slowdown that is causing very real hardship for Kansas families. Irresponsible spending, reckless foreign policy, and a dangerous lack of oversight have given us skyrocketing debt, a plummeting stock market, rising gas prices, and bursting credit and housing bubbles. As Senator, I intend to reign in out of control spending and work to ensure that Congress addresses our current deteriorating economic situation with solutions, not gimmicks. Something must also be done about the health care situation in this country. The costs of health care were prohibitive before the current slowdown, which has only made it harder for Kansas families to afford coverage.
Finally, the quickly rising price of gas in this country and the environmental degradation being done by our overreliance on fossil fuels show why we must move toward renewable, independent energy sources. We cannot continue our dangerous addiction to foreign oil, especially not while pursuing such a reckless foreign policy.

Grassroots Support:

Grassroots organizing is going to play a very important role in my campaign. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, Rep. Nancy Boyda, and Rep. Dennis Moore have shown that Democrats can win in Kansas, but it takes a lot of work and enthusiasm on the grassroots level. Our margin for error is low, so we will be counting on the support of enthusiastic Democrats all over Kansas. We have recently started phonebanking for the August 5th primary, and are very excited with the grassroots help we are receiving both in the community and among the “netroots” community online
After the primary, we will be a part of the Kansas Democratic Coordinated Campaign which has shown an amazing capacity for grassroots organizing. High-performance Democratic precincts will be canvassed for voter registration and to encourage vote-by-mail which can be done with no excuse in Kansas. On a parallel track, persuasion phone banks and canvasses will occur in targeted areas. On Kansas campuses, we will organize “Students for Slattery” to spread our message and a “Veterans for Slattery” will spread the word among Kansas’ large military community.
Online, we will provide supporters with tools to engage electronically and to organize events organically in their communities. And of course, we will engage in the traditional grassroots techniques for visibility including letters-to-the-editor, yard signs, bumper stickers, and a postcard program.

DFA Values:

I consider my stances on poverty and health care to be the backbone of my progressive values. In Kansas, rural poverty particularly is an issue that is important to me. $4.00 gasoline is devastating to low-income Kansans in rural and urban areas. The steadily rising costs of health care have become prohibitive for so many families, especially on top of our currently stagnating economy and rising commodity prices. We must find a way to make health care affordable and available to all, especially with preexisting conditions that often preclude any coverage. I look forward to being a part of the effort in the next Congress to fix our burgeoning health care system.
I have a hard-earned reputation for fiscal responsibility that I am very proud of. My time in Congress was marked by considerable fights against wasteful pork-barrel spending, often at a political risk to myself. In 1993, I was ranked the 12th most frugal member in the House by the National Taxpayers Union. I firmly believe that a tough “pay as you go” policy must be enforced in the Congress, and federal discretionary spending must be kept under control. I intend to continue to fight for fiscal restraint as Senator.