This one is just kind of weird. On the heels of the great credit card caper, a Shadegg campaign staffer's ham-handed and goofy attempt at political espionage, Shadegg has decided to tell the world that he's not an adulterer:
A couple of days ago, John Shadegg’s campaign committee sent out a press release announcing that he’d won a settlement against an author for libel. There were no details given. I thought it sounded weird, so I just kind of filed it away in the, "What Was That All About?" file.
Evidently, my puzzlement was shared by reporters that had gotten the e-mail. Why send something out like this a couple of weeks before the election?
As it turns out, the allegation in question was an old one: that Shadegg had a daliance with another congressman’s wife. I hadn’t heard the rumor before, but now that it has been debunked, I can rest easy not having to imagine John Shadegg having sex.
So, why bother putting this out there when it doesn’t seem like the allegation had much to do with Shadegg’s current electoral dysfunction? It may be because of questions that I and other political chaterers were asking about Shadegg’s legal bills. Specifically, why was Shadegg’s campaign committee was blowing so much on attorneys?
This really isn't the kind of story most politicians who are in any kind of jeopardy want floating around out there ten days before an election. Why remind people of the years old rumors that you got in a fist fight with a friend who caught you boinking his wife? But I suppose it would be worse to have people speculating that he had paid a high-powered white collar criminal attorney more than $20,000 out of campaign funds because he had done something, well, criminal.
Though it's still a little curious that he hired a high-powered trial lawyer, one who was involved in defending clients in both Watergate and Iran Contra. Particularly when the issue of the wiretaps of his conversations with the corrupt Rick Renzi is still hanging out there.
All of which is good news for Orange to Blue candidate Bob Lord. Shadegg has worn out his welcome with plenty of Arizonans, including some Republicans.
On the Web:
Bob Lord for Congress
Orange to Blue ActBlue page