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.

Barnett files amended 3rd quarter report within weeks but waits to last day to fully disclose donors employers, occupations

Jim Barnett continues to thumb his nose at the FEC and the public's right to know.

A review of documents submitted by the Barnett campaign to the FEC reveals that they waited until the last day to respond to an FEC request for additional information that the campaign refused to include in a second quarter report. The campaign again refused to include the same type of information in their third quarter report, and again the FEC has requested additional clarification.

However when the campaign mistakenly began with a zero balance on their third quarter report, which essentially caused the Barnett campaign to appear as though they had much less cash on hand than was actually there, the mistake was corrected in just over two weeks. Why is the Barnett campaign able to respond so quickly when it might make the campaign look bad but drags its feet to the very last second when it involves complying with federal law?

Because of the third quarter goof, Barnett has shown that he and his staff are fully capable of recognizing a mistake and correcting it quickly. Apparently the only difference between these two problems is Barnett's desire to make himself look good versus doing what's lawful and in the public's best interests.

The inability to submit a full and complete report is baffling. Barnett's November 2nd amended report includes a $1,000 contribution from the mod squad's favorite Steve Cloud. Yet his employer is listed as "undisclosed." Are we to believe that the Barnett campaign was unable to find out the employer for former Republican National Committeeman Stephen Cloud?

Barnett's lack of respect for the law and the public should be questioned at length, especially in light of his continued disregard for the law as evidenced by this December 10, 2009 request for information from the FEC, and his now proven ability to respond in a timely manner to reporting mistakes.

The real Jim Barnett is beginning to emerge; one that cares about his public image but little about the public itself.

Huelskamp sets sights on Planned Parenthood once again

Sen. Tim Huelskamp is once again setting his sights on the well connected abortion industry with plans to reintroduce legislation to defund Planned Parenthood in Kansas.

The bill is a copy of an amendment Sen. Huelskamp successfully passed last legislative session that would have taken federal funding marked for Planned Parenthood and instead given it to community clinics and hospitals. Contrary to the views expressed by the pro-abortion left, the amendment would not have taken funding away for women's health services but rather redistribute the funds to clinics and organizations that the public as a whole can accept and support.

Sen. Huelskamp continues to show his strong leadership for life in Kansas. It's certainly no wonder why pro-life organizations like Concerned Women for America and Kansans for Life endorsed Huelskamp so early in this race.

You can also view a very detailed interview with Sen. Huelskamp at race42008.com.