Welcome to the Hell to Pay nomination thread for this week. For those who haven't participated before, here's the drill: nominate one of the Orange to Blue candidates for a special Saturday night fund-raising bonanza, based on what lies, deceptions, ill fortune and evil forces have been used against them--or Democrats or liberals in general--in the past week.
Some nominees to get us started:
- Judy Baker, MO-09. Vice President Dick Cheney is swooping into town this coming Monday to help out Republican Blaine Luetkemeyer, who's vying with Baker for this open seat.
In addition to coming under fundraising fire from Darth Cheney, the Luetkemeyer campaign should be hammered for this statement, which manages to blame Democrats for the financial crisis and energy prices while trying to tie Baker to the latest bogeyman:
The Vice President is supporting Blaine’s campaign to fix a broken Democrat Congress that for two years did nothing as the majority party to combat rising energy prices and ignored warnings about the financial crisis now facing hard-working folks. And it’s disturbing to that these very same failed Democrats, along with their fraudulent friends at ACORN, are bankrolling Judy Baker’s ongoing campaign of lies and deceit.
- Jim Martin, GA-Sen. Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss has started to realize he's on the verge of losing his reelection bid: Georgia's very senior Senator has quite literally taken a page out of his old playbook. Not only is he running two new negative ads against Martin, but the ads--especially the sound tracks--bear a striking similarity to one of his infamous 2002 smear spots against Max Cleland in which attacked the patriotism of triple-amputee Max Cleland. Compare the anti-Martin ad with the anti-Cleland ad.
- Dennis Shulman, NJ-05. Horrible self-evident press release issued by Republican opponent Scott Garrett. Speaks for itself:
Shulman Exposed as ACORN Puppet
Shulman campaign manager Jeff Hauser, an illegal immigration activist, served as a leading lobbyist for the Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CCIR), an organization with ties to ACORN.
Top aide Hauser's work as a lobbyist for ACORN interests has manifested in Shulman's campaign as Hauser actively pulls the strings. It hasn't gone unnoticed that Shulman rarely speaks directly to the press; his campaign message is communicated by Hauser, who cut his teeth as the mouthpiece for ACORN interests..... [A lot of blah blah blah bullshit ...]
As Shulman flings mud at Garrett over desperately concocted charges, he feigns innocence over the fraudulent influences of his campaign. Shulman has surrounded himself with consiglieres of corruption in Jeff Hauser, Paul Sarlo, Joe Ferriero, and Charlie Rangel. Under their guidance and financial influence, Shulman has adopted extremist positions that run contrary to the interests of 5th District residents. Hauser's sway has shaped Shulman's policies toward illegal immigrants, and such policies pose a massive security risk to Americans as Shulman advocates rewarding illegal immigrants and throwing open our borders. This adds to the financial risks Shulman's left-wing tax policies would promote during this time of economic crisis, emphasizing the danger Shulman poses to the people of the 5th District. [More blah blah blah bullshit ... you get the drift.]
- Joe Garcia, FL-25. Flyers circulating in the Miami area are attacking Joe Garcia with the "shotgun approach" to political smears, linking Garcia to such bogeymen (and women) as Cindy Sheehan, Hugo Chavez, Louis Farrakhan, Fidel Castro...and yes, Osama bin Laden himself. His crime? Garcia once gave an interview on Al-Jazeera.
- Equality for All (No on California's Prop. 8). The gay marriage ban proponents have had a surge in recent weeks due to ads and stories about how same-sex marriage will be promoted in public schools. The bad guys who are promoting the ban may actually be benefitting from Obama's popularity in national polls, according to the San Jose Mercury News:
The national dynamics of the presidential race, with Republican nominee John McCain apparently trailing Democrat Barack Obama, could be providing a fundraising boost for the Yes on 8 side, said Larry Gerston, a political scientist at San Jose State University.
"For those folks on the evangelical side, who have no place to put their money because they have pretty much given up on the McCain campaign, which they didn't like in the first place, this becomes a great place to put their resources," Gerston said.
Let's not let the increasing likelihood of an Obama victory come at the expense of marriage equality in the country's most populous state.
Note: Hell to Pay is for Orange to Blue candidates, so guys, please make your nominations from that list. Also, previous recipients -- Andrew Rice, Al Franken, Darcy Burner, Charlie Brown and Dan Seals -- for now will be ineligible until our other candidates are taken care of as well (although feel free to donate to any and all worthies over on the list).
Nominate away. Remember the criteria: The opponent of an Orange to Blue candidate has smeared, lied or underhandedly attacked in an inappropriate way liberals, Democrats or their challenger. Please provide links and a summary argument about why he or she should be considered this week. These will be used in the voting thread later today.
You can also donate now to help us reach our $1.25 million goal for all our candidates.