Hutchins to challenge John Lewis
February 18, 2008 at 2:31 pm by Andisheh Nouraee in News
Deciding between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama won’t be Rep. John Lewis’ only challenge this spring.
The Rev. Markel Hutchins, the 30-year-old minister and activist best known for being the public spokesman for the family of 92-year-old police shooting victim Kathryn Johnston, on Wednesday will announce his bid to unseat the 11-term congressman.
In a letter to friends and supporters, Hutchins calls Lewis a mentor, but pointedly refers to him as an icon of “yesteryears.” Hutchins faults Lewis in his letter for failing to bring federal dollars to the 5th Congressional District, as well as for formally endorsing Sen. Clinton’s run for president.
Hutchins will announce his candidacy at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday from the run-down bridge portion of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, adjacent to the Russell Federal Building. The location’s bridge/crumbling infrastructure/MLK symbolism is intentional.
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February 18th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Ha! Good luck, but you are wasting your time.
February 18th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
I beg to differ. Lewis’ recent performance and waffling on his endorsement (not officially moving to Obama, but stating he will move with the wind) show that it’s time for him to go. He’s been in the House for all of my life and Atlanta has not necessarily improved because of him, and is now a piece of our past. It’s time for a new generation of leadership to pave a course for what Atlanta and America needs.
February 19th, 2008 at 7:50 am
I agree with Brandon……if Lewis does not endorse Obama - the overwhelming winner in Georgia, including the 5th district - I will be in full support of ANY candidate that runs against him. Who knows….maybe Hilary has promised him some sort of appointment………..
February 19th, 2008 at 11:34 am
This is silly talk on two fronts:
1. Of course, someone could beat John Lewis. But it ain’t Markel Hutchins. No money, no name ID and certainly at a disadvantage in much of the 5th District…look at a map. You can admire Hutchins for keeping the spotlight on the Johnston tragedy. But a savvy political opponent could easily portray him as a grandstander who doesn’t bring the temperment or experience to be an effective legislator. Generally speaking, people aren’t going to vote for someone whose bio refers to them as a prophet. This is not an endrosement of Lewis, just a supposition of how Hutchins could be portrayed.
2. This whole superdelegates have to vote the way their districts do argument is bunk. First of all, many of the superdelegates are not even elected…how are they supposed to vote? Also, this ends up working against Obama as much as for him. Hillary won Massachusetts…will Gov. Patrick or Sen. Kennedy be voting for her at the convention? Probably not. All superdelegates, Lewis included, should be loyal to the party first, voting for the candidate they think gives the party the best chance of winning in November. That’s why he should vote for Obama.
February 19th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
I agree with your first point Mr. T. I had no idea who he was until yesterday. I will disagree with you on the second point. The fact is, with the way the math is going, I think that the democratic party wouldn’t want to make fools of themselves by splitting hairs at the convention, while the GOP machine (with their presumptive nominee in McCain) plans to take out whoever the nominee is. I think it’s fine for superdelegate that aren’t tired to an elected office to do whatever, but if you were elected to Congress, you have to remember, the people put you there, you have to answer to them at the end of the day.
February 19th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
I hear you Brandon. My thought on elected officials is that we elect their judgement, not the right to tell them what to do on every vote. In this situation, Lewis has a tough decision. Maybe he won’t have to choose.
February 20th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Mr. T: I agree with you somewhat, however, the PEOPLE of this country, more specifically this state are tired of the “political resume’s” which usually means that a CANDIDATE is educated enough to “wheel & deal” in politics, to the point of further compromising the VOICE of the every day person by accepting money & endorsing political officials who RUN WASHINGTON whose values have destroyed America for the past 20 years!
They said the same thing with OBAMA, though Mr. Hutchins is not an OBAMA in terms of experience, education, etc, however, Obama was not known until 2004, so who is to say what the people want.
I say, let us GET BEHIND this young brotha, who stood up against INJUSTICE against APD, and put our EDUCATED MINDS & SPARE DOLLARS behind him so that we can bring about CHANGE together under an effective leader who listens to all the people, not just the “wealthy & elite”!
February 20th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
i disagree with rep. lewis nearly 100 per cent of the time. he is, however, a true american hero and while i wrote someone in in the last election because i couldn’t vote for someone who stands so opposed to my philosophy i am proud to be represented by a man of his character.
if he faces a serious primary challenge from the good rev, i may just pretend to be a democrat
soulflower, i would like you to look at this - http://www.crmvet.org/crmpics/selma2.jpg - and maybe you will see rep. lewis and how he ’stood up for injustice.’
February 20th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
er stood up against injustice…