by Julia Torres Barden, special correspondent

Democrat candidate Anita Hartke was interviewed on Sept. 29. She is the chairwoman for the Culpeper County Democratic Committee. She has been a delegate to the Virginia State Conventions for U.S. Presidential candidates Bill Clinton and John Kerry. Hartke has 20 years experience as a real estate broker and is a mother of three children. Hartke resides in Amissville, located in Culpeper County. Her father, Vance Hartke, was a U.S. Senator representing Indiana for 18 years as a Democrat.

Financial crisis

“I think we are on the verge of a complete financial breakdown. I do believe that our banks need to be strong and I believe our homeowners need to remain in their homes. The roots of the systems that brought us to this point are very deep. The financial holdings of these people and money does corrupt and it does play in Washington. We need to have an oversight board, like we had the Resolution Trust Corporation before, during the failed savings and loan bailout. We need to make sure that we have protective clauses for our homeowners, for our constituents, for the people who are struggling financially because of what’s happened.”

Energy Independence

Anita Hartke stated on the campaign Web site, “We need to bring our national energy policy into the 21st century. We need to invest in alternative energies to help reduce our dependence upon foreign oil and fossil fuels. By striving for energy independence and funding research and development for alternative energies we will create a new job market that will not be outsourced. Putting our efforts into becoming energy independent reduces our reliance on countries that would harm us and helps America to lead by example in the fight against climate change.”

Education

Anita Hartke stated on the campaign Web site “We need reform in the No Child Left Behind Act. We need to build up our school system and not tear it apart. We need to be able to fully fund special education and 21st century classrooms by transferring tax cuts from the rich and corporations to student aid. We need to address teacher shortages with increased pay and incentive pay for school wide performance. Additionally, we need to end predatory student college loan rates in excess of 20 percent.

Illegal Immigration

“Immigration needs to be handled better and the reason it’s not is because it comes down to funding. You have an immigration system that is being locked up. If you are going to ask people to go ahead and follow these channels you have to make sure you have a system in place to do it. It’s our own fault is what I’m saying, we have an immigration system that we don’t fund. Things don’t work without the money behind it. I am for treating these people [illegal immigrants]with respect. “

Iraq War

Anita Hartke stated on the campaign Web site, “We need a strategy to gradually withdraw all troops from Iraq. The withdrawal of our troops will give the Iraqi government an impetus to take charge and be responsible for their country. We need to remove a brigade from Iraq no matter what, leaving it up to the Iraqis to decide their own future. We cannot justify leaving 130,000 troops in Iraq, it would be irresponsible to not pursue withdrawal. The war is bankrupting the country. Anita Hartke is for peace and does not believe in reinstating the draft right now.”

Healthcare

“The people want to be represented, to have adequate, affordable healthcare and this is not something that should be reserved for the wealthy.”

Anita Hartke also noted on the campaign Web site, there needs to “be a change in our country’s broken health care system. It is deplorable that nearly 50 million Americans have no access to healthcare. We need a health care system that will cover everyone, something that cannot be achieved when we are paying twice as much as our competitors around the world for the same value. We need lower costs and improved quality with a health care plan that will cover everyone. Universal healthcare will not work if it is to be a voluntary program; we need to work towards mandated insurance that is affordable for all.”

Favorite place in Midlothian

“I’m from the northern part of this district, so I’m not familiar with all of Richmond down through here [to select one].”

Favorite movie

“It’s been a long time since I’ve watched a movie, but I watch a lot of CNN, and the Hallmark channel if I have the time!”

How do you spend time with your two sons and daughter?

“I’ve explained to my seven-year-old son that I’m doing this run for Congress and he’ll say, ‘When you’re done, can we go to the beach or something?’ I don’t get to spend a lot of time with my son. Likewise, when my father ran for office he didn’t spend a lot of time with us. I think that the calling of being a parent and the calling of doing something like this and, as a working mom, I think the kids learn from this and I’m hoping that this inspires them to make a difference.”