Marcia Meoli: Upton's exit leaves vacuum for extreme right to fill

I was saddened to see that Congressman Fred Upton decided to retire, rather than run against Congressman Bill Huizenga in the primary this year. He served the southwest corner of Michigan in Congress since 1987. Redistricting put him and Huizenga, who has served in Congress since 2011, in the same district.

I have not seen that Upton said why he decided to retire. One news report stated that Huizenga had recently obtained the endorsement of former President Trump and that another candidate from the extreme right, who previously had Trump’s endorsement, dropped out of the race, meaning Huizenga would be the sole extremist in the primary to face Upton. That seems plausible.

One only wonders what kind of jockeying went on to get Trump to change his endorsement, and to pressure that other candidate to drop out. We know of the pressure Trump placed on Upton and others who voted for Trump’s impeachment, because that has been so public. The whole thing resembles a football fumble and pile-on, with scurrying and grabbing, until someone ends up with the ball at the end.

I have known Huizenga from a distance for many years. He acted as realtor for my purchase of land in the 1990s. Back then, he had an affable, friendly approach. Even when he started in politics working for Congressman Hoekstra, he was clearly conservative, but not mean-spirited. That ended at some point while he served in the state House. He was dismissive to Gov. Granholm, a Democrat, in just about everything.

Huizenga has approached his work in Congress much like his predecessor, Hoekstra. Both men made it abundantly clear that they listened to a select few people, and the vast majority of us are not included in that group. I remember spending a good deal of time working on a presentation to Hoekstra about bankruptcy legislation that ultimately became the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA). Hoekstra sat and listened to me and another attorney for quite some time. But he never indicated that what we said meant anything to him. And he bragged about voting for it at Chamber event.

Huizenga sent assistants to most local Chamber meetings I attended for years. Whenever I asked a question, I got a dodge, rarely a thoughtful answer. A friend of mine went to his office in Grandville to express her opinion as a constituent and she, with others, were told to leave, with some insinuation that they were trespassing.

Upton and his staff have not acted this way. Since he has not been my Congressman, I have not had a lot of contact with him, but I did see him at Chamber events and always found him to be focused on solving problems, rather than scoring political points and insults.

One can compare the websites of both Congressmen to see this. Upton’s focuses on things he is doing — bills proposed on issues like farm labor shortages, immigration reform, high-speed broadband and others. It is clear he often does not agree with the current Democratic administration, but it is also clear what Upton is for, rather than what he is against. Huizenga’s website is filled with criticism of Democrats and less focused on problem solving. Once in awhile, I see a bill or two that he sponsored or co-sponsored, but that is few and far among the criticisms. When Huizenga’s representatives made presentations to the Chamber events I attended, they addressed the news from Washington, not what the Congressman was doing in his job.

I noticed the same with Hoekstra.

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So, it is not just that Huizenga is conservative that's the problem for me. It is that he does not listen and his main goal is to score points against the “other side.” I have known a number of conservative Republicans from this area who were problem solvers. Jessie Dalman learned the intricacies of school funding. I had many difference on issues with Amanda Price, but she always listened, and never succumbed to petty criticisms. Joe Haveman was as conservative as anyone could get, but he recognized the substantial problems of people without healthcare coverage and prison sentencing.

I am sorry the Republican Party is choosing demagogues over problem-solvers at this point in history. Their sell-out to Trump is tearing down this country. We need more leaders like Fred Upton, but there seems to be no place in that party for leaders like him.

— Community Columnist Marcia Meoli is a Holland attorney and resident. Contact her at Meolimarcia@gmail.com. 

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Marcia Meoli: Upton's exit leaves vacuum for extreme right to fill