July 19, 2010
To the Editor, Grand Rapids Press,
Concerning your endorsement of Bill Huizenga, who by the way is a good man, I think you should have endorsed Jay Riemersma.
I served as Chief of Staff for Rep. Pete Hoekstra and then as Executive Director of the Republican Conference in the U.S. House of Representatives under Rep. J.C. Watts of Oklahoma. The House is like a committee of 435 people. The static and congestion are extreme. Having worked in the Capitol for 10 years, including 4 years for the Republican leadership, I can assure your readers that Jay Riemersma will be the more effective candidate to send to Congress.
Riemersma is a man on a mission. Like Pete Hoekstra in 1992, Riemersma is running for a cause, not a job. Washington DC is a glamorous town for a politician. If you are running for a job, Washington DC is a nice promotion. If you are running for a cause, you better have the intestinal fortitude to fight. The pressure to conform is intense. In this regard, Riemersma’s experience in the NFL, like Jack Kemp’s, is a huge edge, not a liability. When 435 people gather to make decisions, a congressman needs clarity of purpose and a competitive edge. In 1993, then-Minority Whip Newt Gingrich reached out to Pete Hoekstra (with no legislative experience) because he was the only Fortune 500 senior executive elected to Congress. I then worked for J.C. Watts, a football standout at the University of Oklahoma. Gingrich tapped Watts for leadership because J.C. knew how to build and lead teams, which is what getting something done in a committee of 435 requires.
West Michigan needs a fighter and a team builder with clear focus and the guts to resist conformity, yet without being abrasive and alienating. Jay Riemersma fits this mold and would serve West Michigan with distinction in Congress.
Jon Vandenheuvel
Severn, Maryland
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