Hutch News: Huelskamp leads the pack

An article published Monday in the Hutchinson News highlights Sen. Tim Huelskamp's success in fundraising this quarter.

When quarterly campaign finance reports appeared last week on the U.S. Federal Election Commission's Web site, state Sen. Tim Huelskamp, Fowler, led the pack in the six-candidate Republican race in the 1st District's August 2010 primary.

Also noted is the difficult environment candidates find themselves in trying to raise funds with several major congressional races occurring across the state.

Complicating fundraising for the six Republicans jockeying to succeed U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Hays, is Moran's own race for the U.S. Senate. He and U.S. Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, are locked in a contest and also seeking funds from Kansas Republicans. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., is running for governor in 2010, and he's competing for donations, too, as well as other Republicans running for statewide offices.

And of course the Barnett campaign notes that they just can't seem to get that finance report right.

By the weekend, representatives for state Sen. Jim Barnett, Emporia, were pointing out that a glitch in the electronic filing had created the wrong impression about Barnett's fundraising efforts.

You know, it's funny you would mention that and yet ignore the horde of "undisclosed" employers and occupations you listed after getting your hand slapped by the FEC for doing the exact same thing last quarter. Or was that an FEC "glitch" too?

Really, how hard is it to get that information? How much longer is Jim Barnett going to break the law?

I personally have no interest in a Congressman wanna be who thinks he's above the law.

Huelskamp takes aim at Wasinger camp with another endorsement

David Bossie and Citizens United endorsed Sen. Huelskamp today. After the Peterjohn endorsement yesterday, I'm pretty sure this one is a clear shot across the Wasinger bow. Bossie has written two books, Intelligence Failure: How Clinton's National Security Policy Set the Stage for 9/11 and The Many Faces of John Kerry. The challenge, so to speak, came with this description of Bossie:

In 2008, Bossie was a major fundraiser for Senator Fred Thompson's presidential campaign.

I don't know if that means that Rob was in contact with Bossie and he just refused to support him or if Rob just wasn't able to snow him into an early endorsement like Thompson. It is curious to note that the spring has dried up for Rob in regard to national support and the well of first district support seems to still be closed.

The Hutchinson News has an article up today detailing the western Kansas legislative endorsements of Dick Kelsey. I like Sen. Kelsey and I think he does a fine job as a legislator. I'm never worried he's going to vote the wrong way, but as I previously discussed, I just don't think he's right for this open seat.

The article notes Huelskamp hasn't pursued any legislator's endorsements just yet, which I think is the right thing to do. After all, he still has to work with everyone through one more session. I'm somewhat disappointed the article didn't mention Wasinger's inability to get a single dime from the first district, but I guess no one is perfect!

Friendship or principles?

The Hutchinson News has a feature article regarding Tracey Mann's friendship with State Rep. Mike Slattery.

Mary Clarkin wrote a fairly evenhanded story, with the exception of the first paragraph. Clarkin states:

If Salina Republican Tracey Mann wins the GOP primary next year in the 1st Congressional District, he very well could capture the vote of at least one Kansas Democratic politician in the general election.

Of course, this isn't possible even in the general election because Slattery lives in the third congressional district, not the first. However, if Slattery would like to resign his seat in the Legislature in order to vote for Mann, I'd be okay with that!

The article notes various political contributions Mann has made, supporting both Slattery's in the past election cycle but also making donations to Nick Jordan in the third and Jerry Moran in the first districts.

A couple of things I noted...

First, Mann continues to label himself "conservative" yet I don't know a thing about his stance on any issues. Perhaps he is...perhaps he isn't. Who knows?

Second, his treatment of Pat Roberts in the past election concerns me.

Mann did not say who he supported in the Roberts-Slattery contest, but noted the contribution was public record.

If he won't say who he supported but notes who he gave money to even after the election is over, that's very concerning. Don't get me wrong, I'm fine with him supporting Slattery or really any other Democrat he wants. Any voter has that right. My concern is electing another Republican official who won't support other Republicans once in office. It's that kind of public perception that hurts the party. Roberts has the highest approval rating of any statewide elected official and is well liked by both moderates and conservatives. He's a model of Republican leadership.

In essence, the article suggests that friendship trumped principles in his choice of who to support. I don't know what I'd do in the same situation. I think everyone will rest easier once they actually find out what Mann thinks rather than who his friends are.

A rather boring story

Well, this is going to be rather boring, but here goes...

My blog was graced with being the first place where Wasinger supporters linked to the first Huelskamp video they put out. It was just dumb luck that I happened to be online at the time and was the first one to view the video, as you can see by the screen shots with this post.

I've never been the first person to view a video on YouTube except when I was the one loading it. So, the only way that specific link could have been posted here was if the person posting it was the one who uploaded it.

The IP address of the comment links back to Steubenville, Ohio.

This is the same IP address as the first commenter to route people to the KSNBC-01 blog. Thus, our fair and balanced Ohio friends are apparently also the ones who produced both videos.

Both video's are from the first congressional district meeting at Kansas Days and, as everyone can tell, have been heavily edited. The angle of the camera is consistent with where the Rob Wasinger supporters were standing.

On Feb. 13, there were a barrage of comments on this post. It was surprising to me that this post triggered such an outrage from Wasinger's supporters because it didn't even have anything to do with the first district race. I just thought it was something that needed to be said.

In any case, all of those came from either the Steubenville, Ohio, Virginia, Washington D.C., or Boston areas. There were two different folks from Virginia while the other locals featured one commenter each.

Most comments concerned reimbursements to Sen. Huelskamp's wife. I discovered that only reports from 2006 are available online, so someone had to have gone to the Secretary of State's office and get campaign finance reports from 1996 to 2006. How that information got into the hands of bloggers from Ohio, Virginia and Massachusetts isn't clear to me.

One hour before the comment barrage started, there was a hit from an IP address in Hays for a few minutes.

There's of course more to this than what I've put up here, but I think it's best for everyone involved, even the out-of-state Wasinger supporters, that I stop here. There's of course nothing wrong with supporting your candidate; I do it.

And really I can't complain too much about the two videos. They're editing isn't that great so it's easy to see it was selective in nature. But of course, I'd hate to see a full audio file of the first district meeting show up on the internet.

I think the only problem I would address is the person from Massachusetts that decided to attack the adoptions of Sen. Huelskamp. I don't think you're doing your candidate a service by going there.

Instead of signing a clean campaign pledge and then attempting to attack anonymously from Ohio, Rob should have just been straight and honest about his attacks. At the very least, it'd be nice if you referenced your material.

KSNBC-01 today said they endorsed Rob Wasinger. Again, rather than attacking Huelskamp in a thin veil of fairness, I'd hoped that they would just be up front and honest about who they support. I had hoped today's endorsement would clear that up, but unfortunately, it didn't.

Here at Kansas01, we set out to follow the race in a non-partisan manner. We hope that we have been true to our intent, and we hope to continue reporting the race in such a manner.

...we will continue to chronicle the race, cutting through the spin, which means that we will continue to report on developments equally.

The Hutch News has a story up about Rob's new house in Cottonwood Falls. Why he told the Hutch News in December he'd bought a house in Hays I still don't understand.

Cottonwood Falls is a great town and the Flint Hills are just gorgeous. One of the best drives you can take is from Council Grove to Cassoday on K-177.

Also, the Kansas Jackass did a story about Huelskamp working to curb card check legislation in Kansas. I'd say more about unions and why they're good and bad sometimes, but I don't have the energy today.

Strategery

I think the best of Saturday Night Live comes around every four years. It's probably the only thing that keeps them from being canceled, if you ask me.

I think one of the best one liners came from the first Bush/Gore debate of 2000.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find the video of the second debate, but you may remember it. Bush had been criticized for not knowing much about foreign policy, so in an effort to remedy this, he names as many world leader names as possible. I'm so bummed I couldn't find the video, it was hilarious.

Anyway, it would seem our industrious candidate in the first has taken a lesson from the SNL playbook.

The strategery? Name as many towns in the first district as possible. And when he runs out of towns, say "Kansas" as much as possible. (pst St. Francis, Syracuse, Scott City)

Exhibit 1: Rob's most recent fund raising letter:

As the son of a truck driver who ran a dairy route stretching from Hays to Hillsboro and Hutchinson and back, I know the value of hard-earned dollar and a good day of work.

I know, they all start with 'H'. Very strange. What else starts with H that would trigger a subconscious list like that? Weird. (pst, Colby, Garden City, Medicine Lodge...)

Exhibit 2: Rob's updated website:

I am the son of two hard working parents from Hays, Kansas. We all drove back to Hays together.

Well, okay. I admit this may be more like a half an exhibit than a full one. But hey, he's kind of limited in towns he has a connection to, give him a break. What's he going to say, "Vote for me, I once had to stop for gas in Salina on the way back to Hays where I used to live with my aunt." (pst Goodland, Tribune/Greeley County, Elkhart)

Exhibit 3: Rob's updated campaign finance reports:

FEC FORM 2
STATEMENT OF CANDIDACY
FILING FEC-401797
1. Robert K Wasinger
NOTE: Address is different than previously reported
309 Oak Street
Cottonwood Falls, KS 66845-6845

This is interesting because it was filed two days after his finance report and more than a month after Wasinger told a Hutch News reporter he had already bought a house in Hays. It was also more than a month after listing his new Cottonwood Falls address for a reimbursement to himself for travel to an out of state fund raiser. (pst economic development) I guess maybe Rob was hoping no one would notice he changed his address to an empty house. (pst Emporia, McPherson, Council Grove)

Exhibit 4: Rob's new 'About' page - "Kansas" appears 25 times.

Hey, did I mention I'm from Kansas? You're from Kansas! Hey, I'm from Kansas! You know, we Kansans (who are from Kansas) should get together, Kansas, and talk about how great Kansas is, Kansas. We'll meet up, Kansas, sometime, Kansas, in Kansas, Kansas. (pst Great Bend, Hoisington, Lakin)

Exhibit 5: Very questionable judgment on this one, but here it is; attack liberals.

But I need your help to get elected to Congress. Right now, liberals are already attacking me.

Rob! Liberal is in the first district! (Kansas!) You need the votes man! Besides, I've been to Liberal. Every now and then they kind of flip out (once a year while running to be exact) but hey, a vote's a vote, right? (pst Hoxie, Bird City, Oberlin)

And of course, what strategery would be complete without turning the tables. Did you hear Huelskamp isn't from Kansas? Didn't want to come back when he was in high school? (pst Concordia, Clay Center, Glasgow)

I always say the best defense is a good offense. So I'm sure everyone will want to stay tuned this weekend when I tell you who's behind the videos you can find on KSNBC-01.

They're the unbiased, balanced ones.

(You know the only thing that would make this funnier is if I could find a widget that showed how many out of state people that check this blog are going to google maps right now to find these towns.)

Barker caught funneling campaign donations

Mary Clarkin from the Hutch News has another interesting article up about the funneling of funds by Tim Barker's parents.

The Barker for Kansas campaign report showing money raised and spent during 2008 revealed the campaign returned $1,840 apiece to the candidate's parents, Patrick and Ann Barker, Pratt, because their donations exceeded federal limits.

The problem appeared to be triggered by campaign donations given by three Barker family-related firms, Barker Brothers LLC, Greengroup Ethanol LLC and Greengroup LLC. The report showed those donations in turn were reattributed to family members, so the donations were not actually given by the companies but by the family.

A corporation cannot give a campaign donation from its treasury, but must have a separate segregated fund for such donations, according to Mary Brandenberger, spokeswoman for the Federal Election Commission.

Reassigning the companies' donations to family members put Barker's parents over the $2,300 individual limit in 2008 per election cycle, thus prompting the return of excess donations.

I'm unsure why a lawyer and businessman would not be aware of the restrictions on corporate donations to his campaign.

I've been pondering over the past few weeks if Democrats would actually get a candidate for the first. I really began to wonder if they wouldn't just be happy enough with Barker. I mean, he hasn't even been a "Republican" for a year. He has a 24 year old Democrat as his Treasurer. And I've noticed comments on liberal blogs that supported him (kind of.) One was even from Bordonaro, Moran's last "challenge" in the first.

I'd have to say now though, that they will either have to find a Steve Morris to run or an actual registered Democrat.

The article also covered the other guys in the race:

Most of Wasinger's donations came from outside Kansas, while Huelskamp drew on in-state contributors

Of course I've already pointed out that Wasinger was only able to raise 3.4% of all contributions from Kansas, with nothing from the first district. That's a very sad state of affairs, although not as juicy I guess as campaign donation fraud.

Is another move in Wasinger's future, or has it already happened?

Throughout the short campaign so far, Rob Wasinger has attempted to portray himself as a Kansan who was simply returning to his roots.

It's been a delicate balancing act because he still owns a nearly $1 million home in Virginia that he hasn't been able to unload. To further compound the situation, his wife had listed the home on her website, which was quickly noticed here in Kansas. As of today, the site has been taken down.

Further, just this past March, Wasinger signed off as a Catholic for McCain listing Virginia as his home state. All this combines to make it rather difficult for Wasinger to look like anything but a carpetbagger.

However, I discovered today that he may be even more "locationally challenged" than previously thought.

It began over a week ago when I got word that a house in Cottonwood Falls was to be renovated for, "a former Brownback staffer who has nine children." No question who they were talking about.

Campaign finance records filed January 30, 2009 indicated a travel expense reimbursement to Robert K. Wasinger. This was one of two expenditures in his report to addresses in Kansas even though earlier today he stated that all of his campaign funds would be spent in the first district.

The December 11 reimbursement lists 309 Oak Street in Cottonwood Falls for an address. I didn't quite understand why a Cottonwood Falls address would appear in his report. A voter registration search showed no voters registered at that address.

Today a repeat visit of his campaign filings showed an amended report from February 1, just two days after his quarter report. It was for a change of address to the same Cottonwood Falls address.

In a December 30 story in the Hutchinson News by Mary Clarkin, Wasinger claimed to be living in Hays with his Aunt. Why list your address on December 11 as Cottonwood Falls and then tell a reporter you live in Hays, only to change you address a month later back to Cottonwood Falls? Where exactly are you from Rob? Where exactly do you plan on living in a couple of months?

The Clarkin story also said that, "...he has bought a residence there and his wife and their nine children will relocate from Virginia." Why tell a reporter you live in Hays and bought a house in Hays and then change your address to Cottonwood Falls? Why all the lies?

I don't exactly understand all the deception, other than Secretary of State records show Rob has only voted in Kansas once this past November. He lists his aunt's Hays address on his voter registration record. Perhaps as the voter registration deadline neared for the November election the Wasinger family had been unable to buy a house in the district and thus he talked his aunt into loaning her address to avoid the embarrassment of being a candidate in a state where he'd never voted. This, of course, is just conjecture on my part because quite honestly I don't understand why you'd list multiple addresses or why you'd tell a reporter you're moving to Hays when you're not.

A friend in Cottonwood Falls took the above pictures. He has told me that the house at 309 Oak Street is currently vacant but has been gutted inside in what looks like preparation for a renovation.

A Register of Deeds records search will hopefully reveal more information, such as when the home was purchased.