10/24/2006

Editorial

Stabenow's hard work earns her a second term

Since her election to the U.S. Senate in 2000 DEBBIE STABENOW has not become a regular on the Sunday morning talk shows opining on the war in Iraq or relations with Pakistan. She's not the go-to senator on nuclear power or Pentagon spending.

What she has done, however, is carve out a niche as a consistent and effective advocate on everyday issues that hit a lot closer to home than the hijinks of Kim Jong Il.

She's the Michigan senator who talks about prescription drug prices, Canadian trash, pension reform, cash and equipment for volunteer firefighters, veterans benefits and fruit farmers.

And she deserves re-election Nov. 7.

Perhaps her highest-profile accomplishment so far was a coup she and fellow Democratic Sen. Carl Levin pulled on the Canadian trash issue. After years of talk at the state and national level, and zero progress in stemming the flow of trash here, Stabenow and Levin struck what appears to be a lawsuit-proof deal directly with Ontario, Canada, officials to gradually stop residential trash shipments to Michigan.

The deal short-circuited Republican promises of federal action that likely would never have come and state legislation that hadn't stopped a single bag of garbage being sent our way.

Typically, Stabenow's victories are even less high-profile than the Canadian trash deal. But they all seem to have an impact on individuals and families trying to make ends meet.

She has helped Michigan get a greater return on its investment in federal road dollars, she has helped preserve auto industry pensions, she halted an effort to double veterans' co-pays on prescription drugs and led the fight to let states negotiate lower drug prices.

Her opponent, Oakland County sheriff Mike Bouchard, has emphasized Homeland Security and the economy.

Though Bouchard endorses plans to begin a withdrawal of U.S. troops once the Iraqi government can fend for itself, he has also played host to Vice President Dick Cheney and President Bush (twice). In return for giving them another forum for their "stay the course or cut and run" rhetoric, he got millions in campaign cash.

Playing the fear card isn't the kind of leadership Michigan voters want in Washington.

Bouchard toes the party line on tax cuts, flag burning, free trade, regulatory burdens on business and more. It's hard to imagine him doing anything else in the Senate.

Predictably, Green Party of Michigan candidate David Sole is further left than Bouchard and even Stabenow and talks a lot about so-called "green" issues — ecological sustainability, civil rights and the war in Iraq. He and the Greens are committed, but not yet a viable alternative.

Stabenow deserves a second term.