Monday, January 11, 2010

Wasinger uses not-so-anonymous surrogates for attacks

The Wasinger campaign once again is using their not-so-anonymous KSNBC-01 blog to attack Sen. Tim Huelskamp.

Entitled Huelskamp visits KS-01, touts experience in New Mexico, the Wasinger Ohio team selectively quotes a Great Bend Tribune article to meet the needs of their twisted view that Rob Wasinger is somehow not an DC insider and Tim Huelskamp is just a liberal in conservative clothing.

Unfortunately the Ohio team misunderstands that, by definition, it's impossible for Huelskamp to "visit" the first district; he lives there. Wasinger on the other hand, having moved to the first district with the explicit purpose of running for office, truly is "just visiting." It's sad the only line of attack the Wasinger camp has is to distract from the glaring truth that their candidate has moved back to Kansas for the sole purpose of regaining a paid trip back to DC. In the end all this really does is once again, highlight that Rob Wasinger is more a Virginian than he is a Kansan.

After all, when the election is over and Rob has lost, he'll return to Virginia or somewhere on the east coast. If that wasn't the plan, why still own a nearly three quarter of a million dollar home in Virginia?

The Wasinger campaign continues to point to county tours since Rob arrived in Kansas before the last election. This is a line we've all heard before. Remember that according to team Wasinger, he was the first to sign a no tax pledge. This of course, ignored the fact that Huelskamp took the same pledge when first elected in 1996.

When Rob constantly asserts that he's the first to visit with voters and the first to complete a tour of the district, he ignores two key facts. First, Huelskamp has been visiting with voters since, oh, 1996. So you might want to rethink using that "first" claim when, in fact, you were a distant second by more than a decade.

Further, while it's admirable the Rob made no bones about his desire to return to DC as soon as possible, constantly espousing that he is "visiting with voters" simply highlights the fact that he doesn't know any voters. After all, how else do you explain six months of absolutely no contributions from the district he wants to represent?

The fact of the matter is Rob Wasinger is a DC insider who can not win election in the first district. As many have said on other blogs, given any other year and no other qualified candidates, Rob would be someone that would warrant being considered. But with proven leadership like that of Tim Huelskamp in the race, there's little point entertaining a longtime DC insider with no voting record.

With all of that in mind, what really concerns me is the apparent apathy the Wasinger campaign is displaying towards Jim Barnett's candidacy. Everything coming out of the KSNBC-01 blog is critical of Huelskamp and raves of Wasinger but completely ignores the candidacy of liberal Jim Barnett. This combined with Wasinger's new push for "moderate" voters and his endorsement by John McCain makes me wonder just what is going on.

The fact is Wasinger can't win, but he can possibly split the vote enough to allow Barnett to win. And so far his campaign and Ohio surrogates seem either oblivious to this reality or in fact, are well aware of it, and would rather have Barnett in Congress than Huelskamp. Knowing Barnett's record, that is truly disturbing.

Wasinger needs to put aside his ego and recognize who the real threat is.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Haha someone is mad - the fact is wasinger is from ks and intends to raise his family here. You fail to recognize that wasinger left a good job in dc to run for the betterment of ks. It is not a easy decision especially with 9 children and I am glad he did it.

Anonymous said...

Good for Wasinger to make the decision to enter public service for Kansans. I remember him from his time working with Jerry Moran. He would do us all well out in Western Kansas. Good luck Rob!

And also, whoever writes this blog should stop being so negative - it's a turn-off to real conservatives who are tired of big rhetoric and no action.

Anonymous said...

It's really typical of Huelskamp to attack 2 opponents in one single post. Isn't it?

It makes you wonder if there is even 1 Republican in the US House that Huelskamp could work with on legislation that would benefit Kansas. We are all used to Huelskamp's ugly attacks though.

I thought for a moment that maybe he had moved on from them, but instead he is pushing his negativity into high gear for his own political benefit. No shock there.

Anonymous said...

why so angry?

Anonymous said...

Rob left a good job in DC to try and get a better one in Kansas. You fail to recognize his "good DC job" was going bye bye no matter what.

Anonymous said...

So your saying after you have been a chief of staff you can't easily get another job in perhaps the private sector that is just as good, or perphaps many other offers working for a different senator or representative? Give me a break your Washington insider accusation of him just wanting a better job is just plain stupid. You my friend should have nine loss and then talk about how easy it is to take a gamble to do what's right.

Anonymous said...

*children

Anonymous said...

Yes, children indeed. Who's worse, the blogger or those who continue to belittle with anonymous comments? In my opinion neither.

Anonymous said...

This is pathetic. Wasinger attacks Huelskamp. Huelskamp attacks Wasinger. All the while Jim Barnett gets elected. Just wonderful.