Early Life and Political Career
Schlussel was born in 1969 to a family of Polish Jewish descent. Her father, H.L. Schlussel, was the son of immigrants. An ophthalmologist who also served in the United States Army, he has been a major influence in his daughter's life. She became active in politics at an early age, joining the National Teenage Republicans. At 16 she worked for Republican Congressman Mark D. Siljander, was a Jack Kemp delegate at the 1988 Republican National Convention and has worked on numerous political campaigns.
Schlussel received a BA from the University of Michigan and later earned a JD and MBA from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. In 1990, Schlussel ran for the Republican nomination for the 4th District (Oakland County) of the Michigan House of Representatives. She was defeated by Barbara Dobb by a single vote from around 8500 cast. Schlussel has since claimed that voter fraud led to her defeat, making allegations of impropriety against the family of her opponent and the judge who ruled on the issue.
In 1998, she stood for nomination to the same district (now renamed the 39th) against Marc Shulman. Schlussel has continued to attack Shulman, in particular when he received the Republican nomination for the Michigan Supreme Court and was defeated.
Read more about this topic: Debbie Schlussel
Famous quotes containing the words political career, early, life, political and/or career:
“No wonder that, when a political career is so precarious, men of worth and capacity hesitate to embrace it. They cannot afford to be thrown out of their life’s course by a mere accident.”
—James Bryce (1838–1922)
“Even today . . . experts, usually male, tell women how to be mothers and warn them that they should not have children if they have any intention of leaving their side in their early years. . . . Children don’t need parents’ full-time attendance or attention at any stage of their development. Many people will help take care of their needs, depending on who their parents are and how they chose to fulfill their roles.”
—Stella Chess (20th century)
“Pessimism ... is, in brief, playing the sure game. You cannot lose at it; you may gain. It is the only view of life in which you can never be disappointed. Having reckoned what to do in the worst possible circumstances, when better arise, as they may, life becomes child’s play.”
—Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)
“The horror of Gandhi’s murder lies not in the political motives behind it or in its consequences for Indian policy or for the future of non-violence; the horror lies simply in the fact that any man could look into the face of this extraordinary person and deliberately pull a trigger.”
—Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)
“What exacerbates the strain in the working class is the absence of money to pay for services they need, economic insecurity, poor daycare, and lack of dignity and boredom in each partner’s job. What exacerbates it in upper-middle class is the instability of paid help and the enormous demands of the career system in which both partners become willing believers. But the tug between traditional and egalitarian models of marriage runs from top to bottom of the class ladder.”
—Arlie Hochschild (20th century)