* This post from Progress Illinois is not entirely correct…
Last Friday, we learned that State Sen. and Democratic congressional candidate Debbie Halvorson’s stepson, Jay Bush, was seriously injured while serving in Afghanistan. According to an account in the State-Journal Register today, Bush “had been riding in a truck that came under fire at night … Ordered to evacuate, Bush jumped out of the side of the truck. He did not realize the vehicle was parked on a bridge, so he fell 25 feet, landing on rocks.” The Register also reported that Halvorson and her husband were visiting Bush at Walter Reed Hospital in D.C., where he was flown over the weekend. Before heading East, Halvorson said that Bush had “broke his back, and they think his neck.”
If you’re the GOP candidate in the 11th District race, common sense should instruct you to lay off your opponent until she’s gotten through this ordeal.
Well, think again. At least if you’re Marty Ozinga.
That’s right. While Halvorson is in Washington dealing with a family emergency, the Ozinga campaign has apparently put out a robocall attacking her. We have it on good authority from a contact in the field that the call hit district residents’ phones earlier today.
Pretty despicable when you think about it. Especially from a guy who claims he “not a politician.” To the contrary, it looks like politics are foremost in his mind.
But we already had an inkling that Ozinga lacks a certain … decency.
* The Ozinga robocall was a disproportionate response, but it was a response. The DCCC spent over $40K on recent mailers, at least one of them whacking Ozinga for supporting more tax breaks for Big Oil. Here’s the Ozinga campaign’s e-mail sent out in response…
The DCCC made a scurrilous charge that Marty “supports more tax breaks for Big Oil.” As proof, they cite Ozinga’s support of tax credits to encourage refinery expansion and construction – a long-overdue development that would increase supply and lower gas prices.
The rub for the DCCC is: Halvorson also supports “increasing oil refinery capacity,” in addition to supporting “tax incentives for companies who devote resources to the research and development of renewable sources of energy” – incentives for which Big Oil companies would qualify[1]. So Halvorson also supports “more tax breaks for Big Oil.”
The DCCC mailer also claimed that Majority Leader Halvorson “led the fight” for electric rate relief, when it was Senate President Jones who fought that relief for months.
I talked with some Republicans the other day who said Ozinga couldn’t just let the attacks stand (there was also another somewhat negative mailer from Halvorson in the boxes at the time), so they responded.
It may backfire, however, because the response could be seen as disproportionate, particularly when her military stepson is in the hospital.
*** UPDATE *** I’m told that the Ozinga campaign sent a letter to the Halvorson campaign last week offering a mutual truce on negative attacks. No reply.
The DCCC and Halvorson have sent out 4 mailers with some negativity in them in the past few days, plus a Halvorson robocall responding to Ozinga’s robocall, plus a WHOI TV interview on Friday during which Halvorson is quoted as saying this about Ozinga’s lack of political experience…
Halvorson says her experience makes her the better candidate.
“Theres so many things we need to talk about, what we are there for, and you know, if you are a patient, who would you want to do your surgery? Someone whose done it before or someone whose not?” said Halvorson
That’s not exactly hugely negative. Again, Ozinga has been mostly responding, so some of the criticism is unfair. But this is a very difficult high-wire act and Ozinga needs to be extremely careful or this meme could move into the MSM.
* I mentioned the other day that Rep. Aaron Schock’s speech was a bit flat. He tried his best to throw some red meat at the crowd, but the GOP congressional candidate showed once again that he’s not always the most prepared candidate…
“The last time we had this level of socialism being proposed and inexperience at the helm was Jimmy Carter,” said Schock (who was born four months after Democrat Carter left office in 1981).
I later asked Schock what he meant by the “level of socialism” Obama represents.
“Well, he’s promoting what I would term a government takeover of the health system,” Schock said. “He has said he wants to mandate free college tuition for every student in America.
“Unlike TED KENNEDY (he meant JACK KENNEDY, of course) who said, don’t ask what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country … he (Obama) says, we’re the wealthiest country in the world; you should get this, you should get that. You’re entitled to this, you’re entitled to that. To me, that’s a move toward socialism.”
Schock was not specific, at that point, on Obama’s programs.
“I’m familiar with what his work was here at the state Capitol, and to me, the best indicator of future behavior is past behavior,” Schock said. “And he has supported what I would consider to be socialistic moves on health care as a state senator.”
“I don’t remember the exact bills,” he said.
* Related…
* Fake Ozinga ad crosses political line
* Schock, Callahan pander to train enthusiasts
* Marin: Time out for update on political scene
* 2008 Election Forecast: Illinois is Sweet Home for Obama