Stenholm's Ad With Bush Fans Flames of District 19 Race

One of the hottest congressional races in Texas became even hotter Thursday as lawyers from the Republican National Committee unleashed a furious letter to Rep. Charlie Stenholm, D-Abilene, for placing President Bush in one of his campaign advertisements.

Stenholm, a 25-year congressman, faces incumbent Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Lubbock, and Lubbock Libertarian Richard ‘‘Chip’’ Peterson for the 19th Congressional District seat. Stenholm, who currently represents District 17, and Neugebauer were pitted against each other under Texas’ new congressional map.

‘‘This campaign stands by our ad,’’ said Jodi Zweifler, Stenholm’s director of communications. ‘‘Charlie Stenholm has worked successfully with five presidents from both parties including President Bush and is not campaigning for anyone in the presidential race.’’

But Neugebauer’s camp and the RNC saw things differently, interpreting the ad as a clear association of Stenholm with Bush. Meanwhile, they said, Stenholm has stated his support for Bush’s Democratic opponent, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.

‘‘You can’t have it both ways,’’ said RNC spokeswoman Lindsay Taylor. ‘‘When a candidate uses photos of the president in their campaign advertisements, it implies support for the candidate.’’

The ad places Stenholm side by side with Bush as the two shake hands. Stenholm’s campaign retorted with a call for Neugebauer to pull his own campaign ad, which showed Neugebauer walking with Bush in an outside walkway of what appears to be the White House.

Riding coattails is not a new thing for any campaign. Neugebauer has done his share of it with a visit and endorsement from Vice President Dick Cheney this summer.

Other Democrats are in the mix as well. Sen. Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota, ran a one-minute ad with a two-second shot of video showing him embracing Bush on the floor of the U.S. House.

‘‘Senator Daschle helped forge a consensus to help rebuild our military,’’ a narrator says in the ad as a video shows the senator embracing Bush.

Daschle said, in defense of the ad, that it was a time to show unity in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terroristic attacks. The RNC drafted a letter to Daschle similar to that sent to Stenholm on Wednesday.

‘‘As you are no doubt aware, President Bush has not indicated any support for your campaign, and in fact has endorsed and strongly supports your opponent, Congressman Randy Neugebauer,’’ says Charles R. Spies, an RNC election law attorney, in the letter to Stenholm that was also faxed to local media Thursday.

With Stenholm’s ad running on local stations, Neugebauer campaigners repeatedly called the content ‘‘disingenuous.’’

‘‘President Bush has picked sides in this election’’ said Matt Schaefer, a spokesman for Neugebauer’s campaign. ‘‘Charlie Stenholm has clearly chosen to support John Kerry and yet he is trying to run a campaign that shows he supports the president and the president supports him.’’

Neugebauer’s camp refuses to acknowledge an association between Stenholm and the Bush agenda, calling his support of Kerry hypocritical. However, Stenholm’s vote on several key Republican-based social bills this year, such as the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004, aligned him with more conservative Democrats and Republicans.

However, in other legislation such as House Bill 4181 in April — which extended deductions for married couples filing joint tax returns, Stenholm voted against and went against Republicans. The voting trend shows Stenholm’s tendency in 2004 to traditionally align support on fiscal bills with Democrats while his social agenda depicts a more moderate tone.

‘‘Charlie takes his West Texas, Christian values with him when he goes to Washington and he votes for West Texas,’’ said Zweifler. ‘‘In the end, regardless of which party has proposed legislation, Charlie supports a pay-as-you-go system of budgeting so that the government must spend within its means, just like a West Texas family does.’’

In the end, Schaefer contends, Stenholm’s voting pattern would hurt the Bush agenda — not help it.

‘‘I think it is going to be difficult for President Bush to work with Congressman Stenholm when (Stenholm) supports his opponent (Kerry),’’ Schaefer said.

‘‘You can’t have it both ways,’’

Is this true? A candidate can have it "both ways" if the voters so permit him. It is odd that Stenholm won't show his association with Kerry: even the Louisiana Democrats are doing all they can for Kerry there.

Fine. This sounds like the makings of a great campaign ad. Stenholm pretends he supports the President but actually supports John Kerry.

When democrats, such as this one, and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle are running ads trying to associate themselves with President Bush you know Kerry is in big trouble.

Do you think the people can figure out the duplicity of Stenholm and Daschle in such instances?

With a good ad, it should be easy to show that Bushes choice is the Republican and that the Dem supports Kerry.

If I were a Pubbie running for reelection in a red state, I would run against Kerry similar to the way the Dems tried to run against Newt. Shackle your opponent to Kerry and then run against Kerry.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.