Bart Stupak: Tea Party didn't force me to leave

Saturday, Apr 10, 2010 11:02 am

April 10, 2010
Bart Stupak: Tea Party didn't force me to leave
Decision long in works, he says; opponents joyous

MARQUETTE. -- U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, who was vilified, threatened and cursed after voting for landmark health care reform legislation, is leaving Congress at the end of his term -- ground down, he said, by the demands of his district and time away from his family.

But the timing couldn't have been better for his opponents.

The Tea Party Express -- a bus tour of speakers and performers campaigning against health care supporters in general and Stupak in particular -- was in the middle of a swing through the 1st Congressional District. Immediately upon word of Stupak's retirement, they declared their journey a victory tour.

The group had targeted Stupak in $250,000 worth of TV ads and said Friday that he "was no longer able to hide his betrayal of conservative principles."

Stupak, a Democrat from Menominee in the Upper Peninsula, said it wasn't the Tea Party that was sending him away. Political analysts were largely in agreement that beating the nine-term incumbent in such a huge district without a single large media market was nearly impossible.

Stupak had a history of independence and delivering projects for the district, and, as chairman of a subcommittee, he could affect policy and attract earmarks. He told the Free Press earlier this week he was more than ready to defend his health care vote as one that delivered on a promise he made in his first congressional campaign in 1992.

If anything, he said, the prospect of health care reform legislation kept him around longer than he might have otherwise stayed.

"We've been struggling with this six years," he said of the idea of retirement.

As for whether the threats, calls and curses -- the Stupaks took the phone off the hook at home -- played a role in his decision, Stupak said no.

"That's not my district," he said, convinced the calls are from elsewhere. "I know these folks. They wouldn't do that."


Stupak: It was just time

Three days ago, Stupak sounded ready to run for a 10th term, talking campaign strategies and how he'd explain his vote for health care reform to his constituents and all the goodwill he'd built up in his district.

Behind the scenes, his mind was practically made up not to run.

"We were 80%, 90% sure," Stupak said Friday, referring to the time of the Wednesday interview. Until he was certain, however, Stupak -- a 58-year-old former state trooper who showed he knows something about poker faces during the health care reform negotiations -- had no plans of letting it leak.

After 18 years representing Michigan's 1st Congressional District, Stupak is leaving at the end of his term, saying he is worn out by the physical demands of the job -- flying back and forth every weekend from Washington to Green Bay, Wis. (the nearest major airport to his home in Menominee); spending only a few hours a week with his wife, Laurie, and traversing a district that stretches across the U.P. all the way down to Saginaw Bay -- a drive of some 8 1/2 hours.

Representing the district, he said, was something he still loved. But it had "become a chore."

He suffers from chronic sinusitis, a condition that gives him ferocious headaches and makes it excruciating to fly in small, unpressurized aircraft; for several days last week, he was at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, with doctors trying to decide whether surgery was necessary.

And he works out every day, wanting to keep his weight down and his legs strong because of a knee injury decades ago that forced his medical retirement from the State Police. A metal staple holds the knee together.

"I wanted to leave a couple of times," he said. But each time, something brought him back.

In 2004, he said, it was the prospect of John Kerry winning the presidency. In 2006, it was Democrats taking control of the House.

"Two years ago, I saw an opportunity to finally enact health care with the election of a new president," he said.

Thinking it over

Stupak ran on the promise of enacting health care in his first race, in 1992. But he was poised to block the bill this year as he and six other Democrats opposed to abortion rights held out their votes until Stupak extracted an executive order from President Barack Obama saying no federal money would pay for abortions.

Stupak was criticized by abortion-rights and opposition groups alike. The Tea Party Express, with its demands of smaller government and less spending, targeted Stupak in ads and took credit Friday for running him out of office, a claim Stupak denied.

"If you know me, if I get a challenge, I'm going to be there," he said.

After visiting the Mayo Clinic, Stupak and his wife drove to Green Bay to pick up their grown son Ken last weekend, the three of them driving to Indianapolis to cheer on Michigan State University at the Final Four. They talked about whether Stupak would run again. They were leaning against it, his son telling his dad that he'd put in his time.

But still, Stupak wanted to think it over. He let Democratic leaders in Washington know early this week; the rumors started flying and the calls started coming -- from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, from House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and, on Wednesday afternoon, from Obama.

He wanted Stupak to stay. He'd understand if he didn't.

"He was great," Stupak said. "He knows these are tough decisions."
His mind made up

By Wednesday night, it was decided. On Thursday, he started calling leaders and friends -- and his toughest call was to his good friend and mentor, U.S. Rep. John Dingell of Dearborn, the longest-serving member of the House ever.

After several earlier talks in which he reminded Stupak it would take years to replace his experience -- Stupak had risen to the chairmanship of a subcommittee that investigated food safety, pharmaceuticals and the reports of sudden acceleration in Toyotas -- Dingell said he understood.

"He's important to the whole nation," Dingell said.

But by then, Stupak's mind was made up.
Future is uncertain

He's not sure what he'll do next, though he'll work to get a Democrat elected as his successor in the fall. (Political analyst Charlie Cook moved what had been a safely Democratic district into the tossup category, though Stupak said he's not impressed with the GOP field.)

Maybe, Stupak said, he'll sit on his porch and watch the world go by. But as a guy known for hustling all over his district, it might take getting used to.

"I think it will be an adjustment," Laurie Stupak said.

Contact TODD SPANGLER: 202-906-8203 or tspangler@freepress.com.