Posted on 10/18/2006 3:39:17 AM PDT by Born Conservative
Over the weekend, voters in Don Sherwood’s congressional district began receiving “A personal note from Carol Sherwood” in which the congressman’s wife decries the political commercials that refer to her husband’s affair.
The six-paragraph typed note signed by Carol Sherwood – her first public comment on her husband’s affair – accuses Democratic challenger Chris Carney of using “negative campaigning” and “a personal attack” in political ads centered on her husband’s affair with a younger woman who claimed the congressman abused her.
“The negative ads approved by Chris Carney seem to be needlessly cruel. Private humiliation is one thing to endure, but to be repeatedly, publicly humiliated is quite another,” the letter reads. “When somebody hurts one of us, he hurts everyone in the family. Perhaps Carney gets some pleasure out of hurting our family, or maybe that’s what he thinks will make him a winner.”
Sherwood, 65, a four-term Republican from Tunkhannock, has admitted to a five-year affair with 30-year-old Cynthia Ore, but denied Ore’s allegations that he repeatedly assaulted her. Sherwood and Ore agreed to a confidential, out-of-court lawsuit settlement last November.
Carney’s commercials referring to Sherwood’s affair and the lawsuit began airing in late September. The Sherwood campaign fired back with its own 32-second apology ad featuring Sherwood.
G. Terry Madonna, professor of Public Affairs and director of the Keystone Poll at Franklin & Marshall College, said Carol Sherwood’s letter is a bold move for the incumbent’s campaign.
“This is a pretty big deal to get the wife to come out like this,” Madonna said. “This is a tough thing to have happen to her and the family. This is an effort by Sherwood to say, ‘Look, my wife forgives me. Why shouldn’t you?’ ”
Madonna likened the letter to a statement Hillary Clinton made in a 1992 “60 Minutes” interview in response to allegations that then-presidential hopeful Bill Clinton had an affair with lounge singer Gennifer Flowers. “I’m not sitting here like some little woman standing by my man, like Tammy Wynette,” the would-be first lady said.
Carol Sherwood has remained out of the public eye since the allegations involving her husband surfaced in April 2005. Don Sherwood didn’t ask his family, including his wife and three daughters, to campaign for him this year because he had suspicions the fight would get nasty, Sherwood campaign spokesman Jake O’Donnell said.
Sherwood asked his wife to attend an Oct. 4 debate at Bucknell University, in which the issue of the affair arose. O’Donnell said the congressman’s wife left the debate convinced she needed to address some issues involving her family and personal life. The mailed letters were paid for by her husband’s campaign, but O’Donnell said the letter was completely crafted by Carol Sherwood and sent primarily to registered Republicans within the 10th District.
“There was no campaign strategy involved or that we felt this was a good tactic,” O’Donnell said. “This was a personal thing for Carol Sherwood.”
Since the debate, O’Donnell said Carol Sherwood has accompanied her husband to a handful of low-key public events.
Throughout his campaign, Carney has continually focused on the issue of family values. He defended his approach Monday, saying the ads dealing with Sherwood’s affair were merely next in a line of “issues ads” that were scheduled to run in response to ads from the Sherwood camp that questioned Carney’s middle-class tax-cut plan.
“I understand this is a very tough time for Ms. Sherwood. It’s regretful that her husband’s embarrassing indiscretions have become news,” Carney said Monday. “As a husband of 19 years and a father, I am very glad Ms. Sherwood has found peace in her marriage.”
O’Donnell called Carney a “single issue candidate,” saying the campaign’s “family values” approach was done with a nod and a wink toward Sherwood’s infidelity.
“They’re trying to call it values, but we know it’s all about the affair,” O’Donnell said.
Nathan Gonzales, a political analyst with the non-partisan Rothenberg Political Report newsletter, said Carol Sherwood’s letter to voters seems a desperation move from the Sherwood camp. Carney has a slight edge in the race, according to recent Rothenberg estimates.
Two independent polls, taken at the end of August and September, put Carney ahead by 7 and 8.5 percent respectively.
“The (apology) ad Sherwood ran, and that sort of letter, is probably something he should have done six weeks ago, not three weeks before the election,” Gonzales said.
Previous threads:
Sherwood denies choking woman (US Rep from PA)
Republicans rallying to help Sherwood get past report (Congressman,back rub,911)
Sherwood 'sorry' for pain to family
Sherwood flap heats up (pic of mistress included)
Sherwood a charmer, Ore recounts (Congressman, mistress)
Woman alleges congressman abused her in $5.5 million lawsuit
Heck, Chuck Robb survived a " nude back rub " incident. He was dallying about with Tai Collins.
I will say that Chuck has a better eye for chicks than Sherwood.
***“This is a pretty big deal to get the wife to come out like this,***
Well: Its not all that tough. This woman has the normal perks of a Congressmans wife, a nice home, his salary coming in, and now she has her husband by the nuts.
If this 30 yr. old chick felt so 'abused', why did she hang around with the guy for 5 years?
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