This is the third in an occasional series of articles based on conversations with the Second Congressional District candidates. Articles on each candidate who agrees to an interview will run before the parties’ preprimary nominating conventions in March.
U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce labeled his only 2006 opponent, Democrat Al Kissling, as “bizarre,” and the label stuck.
In 2008, Kissling is a different and better candidate. He’s more polished. He’s learned how to make his proposals – regardless of whether they have widespread public support – sound reasonable. He is focused almost entirely on issues.
At public forums around the district, Democrats report that they have seen a difference. During a recent interview, I asked Kissling what has helped him become the more polished candidate Democrats are seeing this time around. He said he has a strong team helping him, whereas in 2006 he went through several campaign managers; he is focused on the issues; and he had the head start of building on the organization he developed in 2006.
Kissling said he wasn’t serious about winning in 2006. He ran primarily because no other Democrat would challenge Pearce. He ended up getting 40 percent of the vote.
“This time I’m in it because I want to win it,” Kissling said.
The other Democrats in the race are Doña Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley,
Kissling, a retired Presbyterian minister, is focusing his campaign on three issues: universal health care, education and energy.
Universal health care
On health care, Kissling proposes a system “that cares for a person from infancy to death, where everyone pays into it according to income but everyone benefits according to need.”
“To me, it’s an outrage that the cost of health care is going up and what we get as average citizens is going down,” Kissling said.
He said his plan would cost less – both for individuals and the government – that what is now being spent on health care. That’s in part because his plan would focus on preventative care, which Kissling said would save billions of dollars by reducing the need for emergency-room care.
Under Kissling’s plan, private insurance companies would offer catastrophic and end-of-life coverage, but everything else would fall under the government-run program. He said citizens and non-citizens living in
Education
On education, Kissling said he is advocating “a radical revision of the No Child Left Behind Act.” He wants a national, annual minimum teacher salary of $40,000. He proposes a national fellowship program that would pay the student loans of new teachers in exchange for their work in the toughest districts.
Kissling wants to create a stipend program that will allow teachers to continue their education in the summers, and he wants to dramatically increase funding for infrastructure and supplies.
Kissling admitted that his plan will cost “a lot,” but said the nation’s education budget would still pale in comparison to the military budget.
“Education needs to be a national priority,” Kissling said.
Kissling said testing is important, but it must be economical and based on common sense. He proposes testing in only grades four and eight, and would have testing take place in the fall, so teachers have time to help students in areas where they need more instruction. He advocates for the creation of national tests that all states must use.
Kissling said the system should recognize that all aren’t college-bound and educate people to “use their abilities to the best of their ability.” For some, he said, that will be learning a vocation or trade.
Energy
Kissling said solving the nation’s energy crisis is going to take sacrifice.
“Energy is the crisis no one wants to deal with,” he said. “We complain about it at the gas pump, but we don’t want to do what’s necessary to address the energy crisis.”
Kissling proposes a comprehensive plan he said would take 20 years to fully implement.
Kissling said he would push for increasing the amount of the nation’s energy generated through wind, solar and geothermal power to at least 20 percent. He would push for the development of biofuels such as sugar. And he proposes developing more “efficient, safe, non-polluting” nuclear plants. Such plants, he said, would be built by the government and leased to energy companies under his plan, to ensure efficiency and safety.
That would allow the phasing out of coal-burning plants and gas plants, Kissling said.
Dealing with the energy crisis will also require consumers to sacrifice, he said, by switching to energy-efficient light bulbs, installing better insulation in homes, moving toward solar-power for homes and turning off the lights and down thermostats.
“One of the causes of the energy crisis is our inability to control ourselves,” Kissling said. “We must solve this now so our children and grandchildren will have a greener and healthier world.”
‘I can accomplish something’
“I am running because I am convinced that I can accomplish something on these three issues in the next Congress,” Kissling said, adding that he believes he is “far better prepared” than the other candidates in the race because his 40 years as a minister helped him develop skills in working with people to accomplish goals.
Kissling admits he won’t have a lot of money. His fundraising has, thus far, been dwarfed by that of McCamley and Teague.
“If you want to see a Congress that functions, you want to get me elected,” Kissling said. “I’m not a politician, and I’m not able to campaign with a lot of money, but I am someone who has been able to be effective in my years of ministry and service.”
Kissling has an immediate challenge in securing 20 percent of the vote at the March 15 preprimary nominating convention – the only path to the ballot unless the state Legislature changes the law in the current session. He said McCamley and Teague are “more effective than me” at securing party-insider support, but he’s still confident he will get on the ballot.
As far as Kissling is concerned, the primary will be a race between him and McCamley. Teague’s candidacy, he said, “is a farce.” He called the
Teague gave $250 to Kissling in 2006, but he also gave $2,100 to Pearce.
“He has no knowledge of the issues. He’ll be a follower, not a leader,” Kissling said of Teague. “He’s really a nice guy, but he really doesn’t know anything about the issues.”
So Kissling said he sees this as a race between a candidate who has the support of millionaires – McCamley – and him, a grassroots candidate.
“Voters have to decide if they want a congressman who can raise a lot of money or one who understands the issues and can get things done,” Kissling said. “I’ve proven myself in the forums we’ve had, and my hope is that the average voter will not be bought off by the TV ads and the superficial appeals that will be made.”
Prior interviews with Second Congressional District candidates:
• Harry Teague, published Dec. 20, 2007
• Aubrey L. Dunn Jr., published Jan. 14, 2008