Today, I had the pleasure of interviewing Peter Rosewicz, a candidate for Congress in Ohio's 9th congressional district. He is running in the Democratic primary, challenging longtime incumbent Marcy Kaptur, currently the sixth-most senior House member, and the second-most senior Democratic congressperson, having served since 1983. I spoke with Rosewicz about his run for Congress, why he believes he is a better choice than Kaptur, and how he plans to address the issues, especially money in politics.
What inspired you to run for Congress in the first place?
"Inspiration is tough to pinpoint. So many tiny things throughout my life up to Michael Brelo being acquitted in 2015. Being forced to sit on the sidelines while horrible atrocities were being committed, right in front of my eyes, daily. I have always been the skinny kid who will get his ass kicked for any of his friends. And strangers are only friends we haven't met yet. Getting my ass kicked doesn't just mean physically. If I see someone getting picked on anywhere, I stand up. I say something. Possibly why it equates to getting my ass kicked so well. I've also been in the private sector. I set a record at Quicken Loans, originating 101 loans in a single month, and that was my first job out of college. So I grew up in North Royalton, went to a private Catholic grade school from kindergarten to ninth grade, then to public school and punk rock bands, to a yuppie capitalist, to a broke sous chef. I have lived a lot of lives, in a lot of socioeconomic circles, and I would take broke and happy over rich and miserable every day. That being said, I am sick of watching regular people lose their nest eggs, my father included, these past few weeks. It is finally time for someone regular to get into Congress and listen to citizens, humans, regular people. Not corporations. Not PACs. Not billionaires. Americans that are purposefully and strategically treated like serfs instead of free people."
What is your winning strategy?
"Well, I have spent the last six months or so studying up on a variety of topics, from ancient history and philosophy to classics from the 1800's, all the way to current works by Davies and Giridharadas, and there really isn't a winning strategy. So my strategy had been to just show up to as many events as possible and listen to people. I still haven't campaigned in the classical sense. No fundraisers, yard signs, flyers, or other wastes. With the curve ball that we have all been thrown, my strategy now is to not care about the primary or the votes, just trying to listen to the people behind the filled-in bubble and assist any and every way I can. I grew up in the service industry and more than half of my friends are still in it. Or retail. These are the types of wealth inequality that get a light shown on them when things get bad for everyone. But things have, on average, been bad for this group of Americans for a long time. And from the sound of things, we are all starting to realize something we all, myself included, forgot in about nine years. Occupy Wall Street was a huge success. They put the 99% vs. the 1% onto the front page. Unfortunately, just like the beginning stages of capitalism in this country, the movement failed to get footing. And it drifted into the background. But I will never forget my first year at Quicken. A punk rocker in a brand new suit, walking past my brothers and sisters and riding the elevator to the top floor of the M.K. Ferguson building, wishing I would rip my tie off and join in, but I didn't. It was my first job, my first five-figure check for one month of work. Everything I got behind, all of the angst of being younger, apparently went to the wayside like so many of us. I was afraid. Plain and simple. I would never have admitted it then, but we go through a lot in nine years. Time to use my skills and knowledge, financial and otherwise, for good instead of evil. And being able to say that out loud, or over messenger, for the first time in my life is a powerful thing. Just need to point it in a different direction."
What distinction between you and Marcy Kaptur do you plan to make?
"She has been in her position since 1983, four years before I was born, so the first would be a new name plate on the door. I would imagine it will be hard to remove all of that rust and dust, so that will be my first priority. But in all seriousness, Marcy seems like a pleasant lady and she has done some great things for many people. But that is in the past. She has had her time in the light, and she did very well, but she hasn't done much recently. She voted against The D.R.E.A.M. Act, which allowed so many children to stay in this country, regardless of the parents legal status. She voted for the XXL pipeline that was built through Native American soil and leaks countless thousands of barrels of oil on their ancestors land and their ancestors. She has brought one, $10M dollar grant to our district, when she states her experience and tenure are the most important thing to focus on as a candidate. While I have never seen the WW2 Memorial in Toledo, I hear it is lovely. I had a chance to speak with an amazing WW2 veteran at an event, Rich. He actually served with Marcy's uncle and knew her as a child. He had... things to say about her. Regardless, Lake Erie is basically toxic from farm runoff. The algae blooms aren't normal. You shouldn't let your child swim in the best Great Lake and have to rush her to the hospital after. She watched the steel industry vanish from her home town yet I couldn't find records of her speaking against it. Maybe she did. But she voted to renew the P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act while we were distracted with an impeachment that was a sham and flawed from the outset. She talks badly about the president, yet she signs his bills. She posts strongly worded letters of rebuke on Democratic Clubs walls, assuredly in many cities across the vast territory that is District Nine. About the president, and how he is the enemy who we have to defeat! Politics isn't war. No one is my enemy who isn't threatening the well being of my friends and family. Even then, they aren't my enemy. They are a human being. We, as a species, make mistakes."
What issue(s) will you prioritize if/when you get to Congress?
"My old answer to questions regarding if/when I get elected was campaign finance reform. But we all got a peak at the man behind the curtain over the past few weeks. Until Congress actually passes some legislation to bail American citizens out of the mess that plutocratic and neo-liberalist policies have gotten us into such as free healthcare, free education, completely absolving everyone of any existing debts that they have incurred due to these industrial complexes growing until they are too big to fail. The President is simply a symptom of a problem that has been ignored for too long in this country. The problems haven't gone away, they have been growing in workplaces across the country for five, seven years now. Look at some of the largest, most in-demand, and most profitable companies in the country treating their contracted, non-benefit entitled employees, as third class citizens. Firing them in New York for organizing a strike due to unsafe and deadly working conditions. Making, hopefully, $15 an hour, handling millions of packages a day, all while being forced to go into a fulfillment center and work during the 3-5 days it takes for results to come in. Social distancing doesn't seem like too big of a factor when the largest corporation on the planet has sick workers touching your grandmother's hand sanitizer or your brother's disinfectant wipes. So, healthcare, campaign finance reform, and free education. One of my favorite old sayings is, 'In a room full of drunk people, it only takes one sober person to get everyone to see how drunk they are.' If we stop de-funding public schools and give every child, every student, a fair shake at life, maybe the person to lead us into a better, more fulfilled life, will be able to learn what she needs in order to get us all there."
Regarding campaign finance reform, what specifically would you do about it? Will you cosponsor the We the People Amendment (introduced in the House this session as H.J.Res.48) that would declare that corporations are not people, and that money is not speech?
"I would absolutely support that bill but I would go much further than that. Getting big money out of politics isn't as simple as writing legislation and trusting the people who are doing the acts that the legislation is written for is silly. You don't let your seven year old nephew, Mason, enforce the rules he is supposed to be following. Regardless of how adorable and sweet he is, regardless of how much he promises he will follow the rules. Better even than others because he is the one who broke the rules in the first place, so he knows what to look out for. Assuming most of us have a situation that is similar to my sister and brother-in-law's in their own lives. We all know you don't let that happen. No idea why we let it happen with the people running our country. We need substantial reform. There are many ideas out there and Lawrence Lessig lays a lot of them out with steps for people to come up with alternate ideas. Capitalism and democracy weren't born as perfect little angels. They went through many phases, especially in the beginning, as a new born. But, just like Mason, who happens to be the best nephew in the world, you grow up. You make mistakes when you are young, learn from the good and the bad, and make adjustments as you go."
At this point, with Joe Biden overwhelmingly likely to become the Democratic nominee, if he is elected, how do you this you can convince him to support your (and the progressive movement's) policies? Or at least some of them?
"I am not sure I would agree with you about him being the nominee but, regardless of who wins the Democratic nomination, I will support the candidate that I believe will do the best job. I have wasted many a few hours complaining about the two-party system in the US. But WE decide what kind of Presidential election WE want. That also means voting for the person who you truly agree with, honestly believe in. Not voting for someone because they seem 'electable' or because they have the best chance of beating the other side. Politics is not war. At the end of the day, I don't care who the President is or what capital letter or mascot or color he waves at us in public. I am not a fan of Donald Trump but it has nothing to do with him being a member of the Grand Old Party. It is due to what himself, many red Senators, and many blue Representatives have done to this country. And not only to this country or in this moment of time. Both parties have doomed all children's children to trillions of dollars of debt before they say their first words and a toxic planet to figure out how not to die in. There are good and bad people in every job, so there are some good politicians on both sides of the aisle, but that doesn't change the fact that a majority of Americans don't vote. We love our freedom. The freedom to choose bigger TV's, faster cell phones, larger lawns. Unfortunately, we hate having the freedom to choose our own and many coming generations futures. So, I will support whoever I think the best candidate will be. That is every single person's right in America. But I refuse to vote on or for anything or anyone because they wore the right color to lunch at the country club today. In turn, if Biden wants to support me, great! If not, I have a feeling he is in for a rude awakening. Maybe not 2020 but we have elections every two years."
Anything final you want to add?
"Please vote. If it isn't for me, fine. We all seem to have forgotten that no specific elected official is to blame for any of the many problems affecting our lives. And, unfortunately, we are not strong enough as a country to figure out who exactly is to blame, yet. Pointing fingers makes us angry, reactive, and spiteful. We need to move past the dire straights we are in now and, once we aren't staring impeding financial and viral dooms in the face, we can figure out how we screwed up and make sure it never happens again. Or, if we can't wait that long, which a lot of accredited, independent scientists seem to think we cannot, I will take the blame. For everything. I trust in science when everything is transparent and accessible to regular people. Not just people whom are lucky enough to speak the language of power. If we can focus on educating the next generation, on the good AND bad we all allowed to happen, then we can heal the environment and maybe even the relationship with our "wack-job" neighbor who, if we ever listened to, would realize he wants the same things as everyone does. Just has a different map for arriving at the same destination. He has a few short cuts he has learned over the years, just like we all have. But arguing over which road to turn on when both get you to the same place, is dangerous if we drop reason and logic, stop driving the car, and blindly argue over definitions of words. Or which left to turn on. As soon as we start listening to each other, I truly feel like we will take the first steps to making America great. For the first time. And please check out my YouTube channel. I have been working really quite hard to make content that sparks conversations and solutions instead of focusing on why my opinion is wrong."
Thank you to Peter Rosewicz for agreeing to this interview and for giving such insightful and thoughtful answers! If you like what you see, be sure to check him out on Facebook, and if you live in his district, be sure to vote for him! Due to the coronavirus pandemic, voting in Ohio is mail-in only, and your ballot must be received by 7:30 PM EDT on April 28, or be postmarked no later than April 27, to be counted.
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