I live in Maryland’s 8th Congressional District. Although I’m in Carroll County, an incredibly red county, Jamie Raskin represents about half of the county (including me) after the latest redistricting. I supported him enthusiastically, met him and talked to him quite a bit at a fundraiser, and gave him $500. He won and is one of the leaders of the charge to impeach Trump. Look him up. He’s an incredibly impressive man and legal scholar.
Several months ago I got a personal appeal by telephone from Dan Helmer, a solid and impressive Democrat who is running against awful Republican Barbara Comstock in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District, which represents some of the D.C. suburbs. I asked him why he was calling me and he said he got my name “from Raskin.” Okay, so I gave him $250. He isn’t even in my own state.
After that he kept calling my law firm for me and sending countless emails. I finally had the assistant who is my chief gatekeeper to tell him I supported his candidacy but wouldn’t contribute more. At my instruction, he was specifically told that.
The emails kept coming.
Today he personally called me at my home at about 11:30 a.m. at a time when my wife and I are both sick from medical problems. I cut him off very fast: “Dan, I support your campaign against Barbara Comstock, but I’m not going to be able to contribute any more.” And I hung up.
So all day long I’ve been feeling super-guilty, since I have the great combination of Catholic guilt and American liberal guilt.
My wife and I are going through some major financial uncertainties related to medical problems and a change to semi-retirement. I just don’t want to throw any money at out-of-state candidates.
I certainly support Helmer in VA-10. Was I wrong to hang up on him?