FL-9 GOP meltdown over Foley ads

It's getting fun here in Florida's 9th District.  In case you haven't been following along, let me bring you up to speed.  Our Democratic candidate, Phyllis Busansky, is running for an open seat against Gus Bilirakis, lesser son of Congressman Daddy Mike, who has held the seat for 24 years.  Gus has mostly been MIA for a couple of reasons: first, he's afraid the voters will realize that HE is on the ballot and not his pop; second, he's not exactly Mensa material.  Phyllis is a dynamite candidate and has drawn national attention as an early DCCC "red to blue" candidate.  Gus has declined to appear with her (for fear of being shown for the lightweight that he is) and has only agreed to one debate, scheduled for the week before the election.  

This week's fun (and GOP meltdown) can be found below the fold...

Last week, Gussie Bilirakis - a poster boy for the "Foley Five" - came out with the dumbest quote to date on the Mark Foley scandal:

"`We have no stance on that right now. We'll worry about that after we win." - Gus Bilirakis, The Hill newspaper, 10/5/06

This idiotic quote began appearing on broadcast TV in the Tampa area on Tuesday, October 10th - compliments of an aggressive campaign being waged by Phyllis - and by close of business Wednesday, October 11th the "meltdown" was underway.

Here is the chronology (cribbed by me from some campaign info):

October 2nd - Phyllis Busansky calls for criminal investigation into actions of the "Foley Five" - http://www.phyllis2006.com/...

October 4th - Busansky demands Bilirakis speak for himself for once - Does he support Speaker Hastert? - http://www.phyllis2006.com/...

October 5th - The Hill newspaper reported on candidates' positions on whether Hastert should resign in the face of the Foley sex scandal. The Hill reported, "Other candidates like Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), who is running for his father's seat, avoided the issue. `We have no stance on that right now -- we'll worry about that after we win,' said Bilirakis." - http://www.hillnews.com/...

October 5th - Busansky press release: Why do we need to change Congress? Exhibit A - Gus Bilirakis on Speaker Hastert's cover-up of Mark Foley's sexual advances toward a 16-year old boy: "We have no stance on that right now - we'll worry about that after we win." - http://www.phyllis2006.com/...

October 9th - SHE SAID - Bilirakis campaign on The Hill quote: "Campaign spokeswoman Liz Hittos acknowledged that doesn't sound too good, but said the context explains it... Bilirakis `interpreted it to mean, will you vote for him for speaker, and his feeling was, I don't want to be presumptuous, I won't decide that until I'm in office,' Hittos said." - http://www.tboblogs.com/...

Ok... Gus was taken out of context... or has his position not changed one bit?

Now for the fun part...

October 10th - Busansky launches new TV ads - "Quote"
Version 1 - http://www.youtube.com/...
Version 2 - http://www.youtube.com/...

Now the meltdown - HE SAID, SHE SAID, ANOTHER HE SAID...

Wednesday, October 11th

HE SAID - 11:03 AM - The Bilirakis campaign issued a press release affirming that Bilirakis responded to questions from The Hill reporter about whether Hastert should resign over the Foley sex scandal. The Bilirakis release stated:

"In an article entitled `GOP Candidates Lukewarm in Hastert Support' from The Hill Representative Bilirakis was questioned about his support for Speaker Dennis Hastert's re-election to Republican leadership in the House of Representatives.  Representative Bilirakis responded by saying, `We have no stance on that right now -- we'll worry about that after we win.'" (Bilirakis Release, 10/11/06)

Oh... so Gus' campaign says he said it...

SHE SAID - 1:33 PM - Bilirakis campaign says quote was from a "low-level campaign aide." In a posting on the Tampa Tribune website, reporter William March stated, "According to Bilirakis spokeswoman Liz Hittos, a low-level campaign aide told a reporter from The Hill newsletter that Bilirakis wasn't ready to take a position, considering he hasn't won the seat yet. That led to a direct quote attributed by The Hill to Bilirakis himself: `We have no stance on that right now. We'll worry about that after we win.'" - http://www.tboblogs.com/...

Wait! - It was not Gus... it was the "low-level campaign aide" - he's the idiot!

ANOTHER HE SAID - 5:17 PM - "Lies" - Bilirakis campaign manager Rob Whitney sent an email to supporters: "Today the campaign for Congress just took a turn for the worse - Phyllis Busansky has acted out of desperation and began airing a false attack ad against Gus... Phyllis took a quote not relating at all to the Foley sex scandal and used it to give the appearance Gus has no position on the scandal..." Next Whitney provided links to the original Hill article (thank you!) and to the Busansky ad (thank you so much)...

Uh... so now we are back to Gus did say it...

So this all started with Gus Bilirakis saying something stupid... then he was taken out of context... next it was the "low-level" staffer... and the conclusion to all this - Phyllis Busansky is lying!

Now it is all cleared up.

Folks, Phyllis has this guy on the run, but she still needs your help. Bilirakis has raised a ton of money and hired the "swift-boat" ad crew (YES, I SAID THE SWIFT BOAT AD CREW) ...and she needs your help right now!

Please go to http://www.phyllis2006.com to donate or volunteer.  Or contact me if you live in the area and I can put you to work right away.

Thanks,
Susan