Novice Hartke hopes to play the spoiler

Big money controls politics.

First-time congressional candidate Anita Hartke, 48, a Democrat who lives in northern Culpeper County, must have said it a dozen times in as many different ways during an hour-long meeting last week at the Culpeper Star-Exponent.

She repeated the sentiment to highlight the enormous difference in her campaign contributions (about $58,000) and that of Eric Cantor ($3.5 million), the four-term Richmond Republican she’s challenging for the Seventh District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“I’m not naïve about all the connections he has,” she said.

Campaign finance
Hartke, admittedly, got in the race late — in April: after reading “The Purpose Driven Life,” being named chairman of the Culpeper Democratic Committee and a visit to Culpeper from DNC Chairman Howard Dean.

She has not received financial backing from the state or national Democratic parties.

That’s because she didn’t already have significant donations in place from Seventh District supporters, establishing her viability as a candidate, a party official said of the process.

According to Hartke, “I didn’t have, like, $100,000 in the bank.”

Money-wise, the race for Congress has been a struggle, Hartke said, admitting she had a lot to learn about fundraising and the campaign process in general. The divorced mother of three has an all-volunteer staff and has contributed $6,546 of her own money to her campaign.

Hartke, a broker with National Realty, said she could not afford to buy big newspaper ads. She had enough money to fund one television commercial that ran a few months ago in the Richmond area.

Money=name recognition
Little money in political campaigns translates to little name recognition, she said.

“I’m in such a difficult district,” Hartke said, “because this is so terribly strong Republican and Eric Cantor is so well-funded that you can’t really bring a (Democratic) candidate in there because no one is willing to take all their personal wealth and throw it against him.”

However, she is desperate for some name recognition.

“For crying out loud, I need to write my name in blood on a billboard so they know that I’m alive,” Hartke said of the sense she has in Richmond, the southernmost part of District Seven, that no one knows who she is.

What she lacks in campaign contributions or party support, Hartke makes up for in zeal.

As unlikely as it may seem, she said she would beat Cantor, whom she has never met, in the Nov. 4 election.

If not this time, Hartke added, then two years from now.

“I feel that this is my calling.”

Following are highlights of her position on the issues as presented at the recent editorial board meeting at the CSE:

The bailout
Hartke, like the incumbent, supported the recent government intervention in stabilizing Wall Street banks.

“It’s an instant fix, a shot in the arm to keep us stable.”

However, she felt more “protective covenants” for the American taxpayer should have been included in the bailout.

The housing crisis is the main cause of the nation’s current financial problems, she added, and it’s a crisis that had been building for a while.

If elected to Congress, Hartke said, she would support legislation aimed at educating consumers on the basics of buying a home. She also supported financial education for schoolchildren — how to manage credit cards, etc. — from an early age.

Beyond that, she said, her plan is, “To keep our banks strong and keep homeowners in their homes.”

Hartke said she did not think the government should criminalize banks for predatory lending, but advocated for a government “oversight board” to manage how banks spend the tax dollars.

She offered this proposal to help with foreclosures:

- Allow a six-month hiatus for homeowners to make their mortgage payments
- Extend the term of the loan and cap the interest rate
- Add the difference to the end of the loan
- Banks can then report the loans as current, injecting confidence back into the market

All in the family
Hartke repeatedly referenced her father, the late Sen. Vance Hartke, an Indiana Democrat, as an inspiration for continuing the work he started.

He was known for his early stand against the Vietnam War as well as environmental issues and legislation leading to the creation of a U.S. Institute of Peace, now under construction next to the Vietnam Wall in D.C.

When her father first ran for office 50 years ago, Hartke said, Indiana was very Republican, the country was in a recession and he didn’t have party backing.

“He won a landslide victory when the Democratic Party didn’t think it would happen.”

War and peace
Hartke, like her father, believes in peace, but she also believes in a strong military.

“I believe in diplomacy first,” she said. “It can save lives.”

Train diplomats like the military, Hartke added, to in the long term reduce mental and physical injuries to soldiers.

Hartke wants American troops out of Iraq and military energies refocused on finding Osama bin Laden “at his base.”

At the same time, the troops need and deserve the best in protective equipment, she added.

A strong military abroad starts with a strong economy at home, Hartke went on.

“In the history of time, there’s never been a country that has a strong military if their economy is crumbling.”

Healthcare
Hartke, if elected, said she would throw her support behind House Resolution 676 — the U.S. National Health Insurance Act.

She explained the legislation as “publicly funded, privately administered” health care. The program would save money, Hartke said, by cutting down on administrative costs, which she said account for 30 percent of the fee on a single doctor’s visit.

“It’s Medicare for all,” she said, but in which citizens chose or retain their own doctor.

Energy
Hartke, unlike Cantor, does not support drilling for oil off America’s coasts or in Alaska.

“I don’t want my children growing up with oil spills and looking at rigs like in Santa Barbara,” she said.

Hartke’s plan includes:

- Formation of an Emergency Energy Task Force
- The creation of “green collar jobs”
- Energy solutions funded at home and more funding for sustainable energy education
- Investment in wind, solar and biomass technologies

Abortion
Personally and from a religious standpoint, Hartke said she is pro-life. But she would not take the right to an abortion away from other women.

“As Gov. (Tim) Kaine said, no one wants to criminalize somebody who’s put in a position that needs to make a choice in cases of rape and incest or threat to the mother’s life.”

Death penalty
Hartke supports incarceration for violent criminals but not the death penalty.

“I don’t think you can put the hands of God on government. I know in your heart you would want to have retribution for horrid crimes and there’s a lot of evil in the world, but it’s not for me to judge on life and death.”

The Second Amendment
“I am not for taking people’s weapons away from them,” said Hartke. “I’m fine with guns.”

She learned to shoot a shotgun at camp when she was 12.

“At the same time, you need to do everything with reason and you don’t need assault weapons in the home.”

George W. Bush
Yes, America is in troubled times, Hartke said, and some people might be tempted to speak harshly against the president.

A constructive debate in that regard is fine with her, she said.

“But it really makes me uneasy when people insult George Bush with really nasty comments because he is our president. He deserves our respect.”

Politics is like family, Hartke added — don’t insult your relatives, help them instead.

A self-proclaimed idealist, Hartke considers her caring a strength that makes her human.

Culpeper
Hartke, born and raised in Georgetown, moved to Culpeper a few years ago to escape the hustle bustle of northern Virginia. She lives on 10 acres and has tried her hand at farming.

“Culpeper is pretty,” Hartke said. “Out where I live I have a pond and geese come in and land on it. I want my children to be able to see that kind of life.”

Hartke has a son at Virginia Tech, a daughter who recently graduated from VCU and works for her brother’s real estate office in Reston and a 7-year-old son in public school in Culpeper.

Her 88-year-old mother completes the family.

“It sure beats the suburbs and it sure beats the inner city,” she said of Culpeper, adding that she has no plans to move.

Allison Brophy Champion can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 101 or