Help us keep Boehner in front of his constituents. No one makes the case better than he does about how ill-suited he is for any kind of political leadership. Yesterday Blue America and the Americans For America PAC launched the follow up to our Beat Boehner billboard campaign. Thanks to the generosity of so many Kos contributors-- and matching funds from the AFL-CIO and People For the American Way-- we collected quite a bit more than the cost of a billboard. So we bought more billboards. And then Boehner attacked-- a rookie mistake from a staggering drunk-- and asserted he hadn't golfed 119 times at all. He could even be right; he might have golfed 130 times, as some people assert, or maybe just 117 times. The point is, though, he engaged; and the debate-- especially in his western Ohio district-- was joined.
A highly positive profile in Boehner's favorite magazine, Golf Digest, which he never challenged, is clear:
"He still putts left-handed and plays 100-plus rounds a year; more of them at his Ohio club than at Burning Tree in Bethesda, Md. His annual "Boehner Birdie Hunt" raises money for his campaign. "If you're going to ask people to give you money, why not let them enjoy themselves?" Boehner doesn't play favorites and insists he won't discriminate against a lobbyist who's a nongolfer. "But if someone I've gotten to know on the golf course comes into my office with a good argument, I tend to want to listen," he says.
He may not discriminate between a check-writing lobbyist who doesn't golf and one who joins him at Burning Tree, the last golf club in the DC area that not only refuses to admit women but doesn't even allow them on the premises-- which seems odd for someone who claims to represent the average American family-- but what about his constituents back in the suburbs north of Cincinatti? He's known for doing lots of favors for lobbyists. His own constituents? Not so much.
So we decided to run a cable TV ad in his district answering his claims that we're a bunch of "ultra liberals" lying about his golfing record. He claimed, through a spokesperson that he only golfed 9 times, which is laughable for someone who's FEC records shows nearly $85,000 spent on golf resorts and who admits he pays $75,000 annual dues at the anti-woman golf club he refuses to end his relationship with. Whether he golfed 119 ties, 130 times or just 117 times, no one thinks John Boehner and his shady PAC spent over $160,000 to golf 9 times. The ad debuted on TV in Butler County yesterday. Please take a look:
Boehner has never had a real opponent before and the media in Ohio has been pretty excited by all the commotion. Once Boehner had engaged, virtually all the newspapers and TV stations in the district started running pictures of the billboard. Yesterday they were all abuzz over the ad. This morning Digby recounts the enthusiasm Ed Schultz and Howard Dean had for the campaign. Ed showed the video, invited Boehner's opponent, progressive Democrat Justin Coussoule, on to both his radio show and his MSNBC TV show, played the video in full and asked Inside-the-Beltway Democrats to take a cue from it.
Inside the Beltway Democrats, alas, are not Ed Schultz. They're Debbie Wasserman Schultz and they plan to spend almost all of the millions and millions of dollars they've sucked in on expensive, mostly clueless consultants in a vain attempt to save the seats of reactionary Blue Dogs whose positions and voting records are as unfriendly towards working families as Boehner's! That's right; the DCCC is spending the bulk of their money on anti-Choice, anti-gay, anti-healthcare Blue Dogs this cycle. Challengers like Justin Coussoule? Zero... not a dime... not a nickel. Bobby Bright (Blue Dog-AL) and Travis Childers (Blue Dog-MS), part of the mangy crew I call the Boehner Boys, is where your DCCC donations are going this cycle. Thanks, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and thanks, Chris Van Hollen. So... see that thermometer? And this ActBlue page? Every cent donated will go to keeping the Beat Boehner ads running. We'd like to move them onto broadcast TV if we can raise enough money. Rest assured, not one cent goes to Blue Dogs and not one cent goes to consultants. It all goes on the air.