Posted on 08/17/2004 5:33:50 AM PDT by Tirian
Although Sherwood Boehlert's (R-NY 24th district) name doesn't appear on the mailing, a glossy color mailing obviously sent to damage his primary opponent David Walrath arrived in the mail yesterday, courtesy of the "Main Street Fund" in DC.
Leading off with "Some politicians need to review the definition of ethics in goverment", the mailing loudly proclaims Walrath's untrustworthiness, concluding with "call David Walrath today ... and tell him that as long as he is in public office he should tell the truth - for a change!"
the mailing cites the two admitted mistakes by Walrath staffers -- discussed in the article below posted earlier on Free Republic -- but proclaims them as "attempts to mislead the public" typical of the candidate. By all [other] accounts, Walrath is a man of solid accomplishments and integrity (see www.davidwalrath.com) who polled within 1,500 votes of Boehlert in the 2002 primary.
This mailing is itself misleading, unethical and foolish on the part of the "Main Street Fund" and the Boehlert supporters behind it. In view of Boehlert's reputation as a RINO on many fronts, many Republicans are looking for an alternative. Such "scorched earth" campaigning will only provide fodder for the opposition in the general election. And it will, I think, ultimately backfire. With many responsibiities and commitments, I was unable to envision doing much politically. But now I think I will help out --- the Walrath campaign, that is.
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Earlier posting with article in question: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1161071/posts
Boehlert, Walrath contest heats up (race for NY Congress) Finger Lakes Times Sunday, June 27, 2004 By NANCY WARD Posted on 06/27/2004 9:27:49 AM EDT by Behind Liberal Lines
The race between GOP primary candidates for the 24th Congressional District is heating up with charges of lying and fact twisting.
On June 17, the office of Republican challenger David Walrath sent out a news release accusing incumbent Congressman Sherwood Boehlert, R-24 of New Hartford, of falsely portraying himself as a fiscal conservative. The release stated that Walrath had gained the endorsement of the influential tax cut advocacy group Americans for Tax Reform.
In an interview with the Times last week, Walrath himself also said he had gained that endorsement.
However, the Washington-based group, as policy, does not endorse candidates.
On Friday, Walrath campaign spokesman Brett Mecum told a reporter in the Washington bureau of the Utica Observer-Dispatch there was no news release mentioning the endorsement and that Walrath had never used the words in an interview, calling it “shoddy reporting.”
When the Washington reporter later told him that he had a copy of the news release, which was sent to many media outlets including the Times, Mecum said the release was a “draft copy” that mistakenly stated Americans for Tax Reform had endorsed Walrath.
“I 100-percent screwed up,” Mecum said by phone Saturday night while on his way to an event with Walrath in Seneca Falls. “It was completely my fault. It was a typographical error on my part.”
Mecum said he was working on the press release late at night and had two letters in front of him — one from the American Conservative Union endorsing Walrath and one from Americans for Tax Reform thanking him for signing a pledge not to vote for tax increases.
Mecum said he knows that Americans for Tax Reform does not endorse candidates, but he inadvertently used the wrong group’s name in the release.
“It was completely my fault. I had two letters in front of me, and I screwed up and put Americans for Tax Reform,” Mecum said.
Mecum, 25, said the quote in the Observer-Dispatch about “shoddy reporting” also was taken out of context.
“I didn’t want it in the paper but was pushed. I told [reporter John Machacek] that it was one of two things — either bad reporting or we screwed up,” Mecum said.
The National Republican Congressional Campaign committee, the political arm of the House leadership, also has been critical of Walrath’s campaign practices, which have included campaign staff writing letters to the editorial department of two newspapers using fake signatures.
“If Dr. Walrath is going to continue in the campaign we hope he starts focusing more on the truth,” said Chris Paulitz, a spokesman for the Congressional committee.
“It’s been a campaign of lies and deceit and that’s no way to get elected to Congress,” he said, adding that it is very rare for candidates of the same party to accuse each other of lying. “It’s used for extremes. This stuff is ridiculous. It’s just slanderous.”
“I can’t figure if these guys are dumber than hell, have Alzheimer’s or what,” he said about changing their stories on the news release. “It’s bizarre. I haven’t witnessed anything this bizarre.”
Also at issue between the two candidates is a letter signed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and obtained by the Syracuse Post-Standard.
In the letter, Gingrich warned the Club for Growth, a Washington-based organization founded in 1999, that if it backs Walrath, he will personally become involved in the primary race. Gingrich said Walrath is not only wrong on fiscally conservative policy issues but is not a strong candidate.
“All of which makes your support of Walrath inexplicable and inconsistent with your stated claim of helping to elect candidates who support the Reagan vision of limited government and lower taxes,” Gingrich wrote, urging the group to reconsider its opposition to Boehlert.
In a statement issued last night, Walrath claims the letter was written by Boehlert’s people and only signed by Gingrich. He called it “the act of a desperate career politician who has an extremely liberal record he cannot defend.
“Although I am flattered by Mr. Gingrich’s interest in our race, he shamefully signed his name to a letter crafted by Boehlert’s office. Someone of his stature should have had the smarts to have researched the issues before signing his name to such lies and slander,” Walrath added.
“Factually, Mr. Boehlert is by far the most liberal Republican in Congress, who most recently received a ranking as the third worst Republican ‘tax and spender’ by the National Taxpayers Union. He clearly is scared to death and is pulling out all the stops,” he said.
The 24th Congressional District includes the town and city of Geneva in Ontario County, all of Seneca, Cortland, Chenango and Herkimer counties and parts of Broome, Cayuga, Oneida, Otsego, Tioga and Tompkins counties.
Walrath and Boehlert are slated to square off against each other in a Sept. 14 Republican primary.
PS - any Freepers in the 24th working on the race?
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