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| Dan Bolling: To fix a dysfunctional Congress, look to Nebraska | Dan Bolling: To fix a dysfunctional Congress, look to Nebraska |
| (12 days later) | |
| Seventh in a series of profiles of candidates for the Democratic nomination in Maryland’s 8th Congressional District. The primary is April 26. | Seventh in a series of profiles of candidates for the Democratic nomination in Maryland’s 8th Congressional District. The primary is April 26. |
| Candidates usually deliver a prepared speech laying out an idealistic vision and lofty principles when asked why they’re seeking office. | Candidates usually deliver a prepared speech laying out an idealistic vision and lofty principles when asked why they’re seeking office. |
| Not Dan Bolling, a Bethesda resident who wants to succeed Montgomery County’s Chris Van Hollen in the House of Representatives after a failed congressional bid in his Indiana home town. | Not Dan Bolling, a Bethesda resident who wants to succeed Montgomery County’s Chris Van Hollen in the House of Representatives after a failed congressional bid in his Indiana home town. |
| “I don’t know,” said the 65-year-old former biotech executive. “Why do people want to play the flute? I don’t know. I just always wanted to run for office and always wanted to run for Congress.” | “I don’t know,” said the 65-year-old former biotech executive. “Why do people want to play the flute? I don’t know. I just always wanted to run for office and always wanted to run for Congress.” |
| [Maryland candidates debate whether Congress is an entry level job] | [Maryland candidates debate whether Congress is an entry level job] |
| For a man who wants to represent Maryland, Bolling sure talks a lot about Nebraska. He sees the Midwestern state’s nonpartisan legislature as a model to cure a dysfunctional Congress. | For a man who wants to represent Maryland, Bolling sure talks a lot about Nebraska. He sees the Midwestern state’s nonpartisan legislature as a model to cure a dysfunctional Congress. |
| Doing away with party affiliation in the Nebraska statehouse, Bolling says, enabled overwhelmingly conservative lawmakers to repeal the death penalty, grant driver’s licenses to people who had been brought to this country illegally as children and increase the minimum wage (though that was done by voters, after lawmakers rejected the measure). | Doing away with party affiliation in the Nebraska statehouse, Bolling says, enabled overwhelmingly conservative lawmakers to repeal the death penalty, grant driver’s licenses to people who had been brought to this country illegally as children and increase the minimum wage (though that was done by voters, after lawmakers rejected the measure). |
| Congress, he argues, should follow suit: Make races nonpartisan and get rid of the whip and majority and minority leader posts designed to keep lawmakers from straying beyond the party line. | Congress, he argues, should follow suit: Make races nonpartisan and get rid of the whip and majority and minority leader posts designed to keep lawmakers from straying beyond the party line. |
| “I don’t think people in Nebraska are better than us here on the East Coast,” said Bolling. “But they have a better system.” | “I don’t think people in Nebraska are better than us here on the East Coast,” said Bolling. “But they have a better system.” |
| [Five things to know about Dan Bolling] | |
| Bolling has never actually stepped foot in Nebraska and doesn’t have personal connections there. The state’s model attracted him when he read about it in magazines after his first run for Congress in 2012 — back in Indiana, where he grew up. | Bolling has never actually stepped foot in Nebraska and doesn’t have personal connections there. The state’s model attracted him when he read about it in magazines after his first run for Congress in 2012 — back in Indiana, where he grew up. |
| Bolling jumped at that chance to run for an open seat, although he admits he was carpetbagging after having been away for decades. He finished fourth in the five-person Democratic field and considers that campaign more of a learning experience. | Bolling jumped at that chance to run for an open seat, although he admits he was carpetbagging after having been away for decades. He finished fourth in the five-person Democratic field and considers that campaign more of a learning experience. |
| Local Democratic officials in Indiana told him that they don’t always vote the party line in the privacy of the voting booth, he says. That experience created the foundation for the anti-partisan politics platform that he believes can overcome his lack of experience and campaign cash in Maryland’s 8th District race. | Local Democratic officials in Indiana told him that they don’t always vote the party line in the privacy of the voting booth, he says. That experience created the foundation for the anti-partisan politics platform that he believes can overcome his lack of experience and campaign cash in Maryland’s 8th District race. |
| In recent years, Bolling has advocated for teaching transcendental meditation to returning veterans and has served on the Montgomery County Veterans Service. | In recent years, Bolling has advocated for teaching transcendental meditation to returning veterans and has served on the Montgomery County Veterans Service. |
| A Quaker, Bolling never served in the military. He spent most of his career working for a biotech company later acquired by General Electric, and he briefly struck out on his own with a start-up developing cancer immunotherapy treatment in the early 2000s. | A Quaker, Bolling never served in the military. He spent most of his career working for a biotech company later acquired by General Electric, and he briefly struck out on his own with a start-up developing cancer immunotherapy treatment in the early 2000s. |
| “I worked in science my whole life, and I believe in the scientific method and evidence,” he said. “Democratic policy is more evidence-driven than Republican policy. Not always, but on balance.” | “I worked in science my whole life, and I believe in the scientific method and evidence,” he said. “Democratic policy is more evidence-driven than Republican policy. Not always, but on balance.” |
| He concedes that it may seem contradictory to run on an anti-partisanship platform in a partisan primary. But he notes that Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) has been one of the few independents elected to Congress in the past 50 years. | He concedes that it may seem contradictory to run on an anti-partisanship platform in a partisan primary. But he notes that Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) has been one of the few independents elected to Congress in the past 50 years. |
| “Those are terrible odds,” said Bolling, who identifies as an independent Democrat and is backing Sanders’s presidential bid. “If you really want to get to Congress, you need to pick a party.” | “Those are terrible odds,” said Bolling, who identifies as an independent Democrat and is backing Sanders’s presidential bid. “If you really want to get to Congress, you need to pick a party.” |
| When asked how he would defy the House’s Democratic leadership, the candidate could cite only one issue: his opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, which he believes is unfair to workers. | When asked how he would defy the House’s Democratic leadership, the candidate could cite only one issue: his opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, which he believes is unfair to workers. |
| Bolling is virulently opposed to Republicans on economic policy, saying the best way to grow the economy is to increase workers’ wages and their buying power. And although he is a Quaker, he says he’s not a pacifist: He believes that the United States should deploy air forces to defeat the Islamic State. | Bolling is virulently opposed to Republicans on economic policy, saying the best way to grow the economy is to increase workers’ wages and their buying power. And although he is a Quaker, he says he’s not a pacifist: He believes that the United States should deploy air forces to defeat the Islamic State. |
| If he overcomes long odds to win the April 26 primary, Bolling says his first order of business would be to contact every congressional candidate in the country to start plotting a rule change to turn the House of Representatives nonpartisan. | If he overcomes long odds to win the April 26 primary, Bolling says his first order of business would be to contact every congressional candidate in the country to start plotting a rule change to turn the House of Representatives nonpartisan. |
| Next: Del. Kumar Barve | Next: Del. Kumar Barve |
| Read earlier profiles in this series: | Read earlier profiles in this series: |
| Ana Sol Gutierrez: Longtime Latino advocate says her perspective is needed | Ana Sol Gutierrez: Longtime Latino advocate says her perspective is needed |
| Will Jawando: Former Obama aide has his own version of hope and change | Will Jawando: Former Obama aide has his own version of hope and change |
| Kathleen Matthews: Former anchor, executive looking for 3rd act | Kathleen Matthews: Former anchor, executive looking for 3rd act |
| Jamie Raskin: The most liberal congressional candidate in a crowded field | Jamie Raskin: The most liberal congressional candidate in a crowded field |
| Joel Rubin: Activist wants to take fight to Republicans in Congress | Joel Rubin: Activist wants to take fight to Republicans in Congress |
| David Trone: Run for office is unfinished childhood business | David Trone: Run for office is unfinished childhood business |