http://www.freep.com/article/20120610/NEWS15/206100523/Kerry-Bentivolio-is-now-a-name-to-reckon-with-in-Michigan-s-11th-Congressional-DistrictBentivolio is a veteran of the Vietnam and Iraq wars and a Ron Paul enthusiast. In a questionnaire for Campaign for Liberty, a nonprofit political advocacy group in Virginia, he said he'd close all U.S. military bases on foreign soil, would have opposed the federal bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler and would repeal the Patriot Act.
"I don't like crony capitalism, and I do like Ron Paul's message," Bentivolio said, adding he attended a Paul rally in February. "And I like Romney's business background. If he had invited me, I would have been on stage with him, too."
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Bentivolio's background is substantial. He spent two years as a soldier in the Army during the Vietnam War, 20 years with the Michigan National Guard, has built homes and worked as a car designer. He teaches American literature and history at Fowlerville High School and has turned his Milford home into a working farm, raising chickens and reindeer, and growing grapes, strawberries and blueberries.
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His tea party affiliation could help as advocates have been buoyed by last week's defeat of a recall campaign against Republican Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin.
"It's a movement, a change in the perception of what we want for our country," said Wendy Day of Common Sense in Government, a tea party group based in Howell. "There are some folks who will rally behind Mr. Bentivolio. He may just turn out to be our own 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' if he wins."
