The St. Petersburg Times has this
piece on their blog. It seems that
Gus Bilirikas, who is
trying to inherit the seat his father held for 24 years, isn't all that adroit at making comments to the press.
Or was it really Gus?
Follow me as the Melts Go Down...
The
Foley scandal is the gift that just keeps on giving. In FL-09,
Phyllis Busansky was giving her opponent all he can handle in the race for this open seat in the Tampa Bay area. And
then her opponent, the erstwhile scion of the retiring 12 term Congressman
gave her all she could have hoped for.
The Hill was asking aspiring R congressional candidates what their support for Hastert retaining the speakership would be, Bilirakis is quoted as saying:
"We have no stance on that right now--we'll worry about that after we win,"
Wasting no time, Phyllis Busansky released two mini-ads featuring excepts from a recent story in The Hill:
"GOP Candidates Lukewarm in Support for Hastert."
Not to be outdone, the Bilirakis staff kicked their damage control up a notch as reported by the St. Petersburg Times:
Immediately, Bilirakis' staff shifted into damage control mode. They visited 3 local television stations to urge them not to air Busansky's ad, his deputy campaign manager Liz Hittos said. They issued a scathing statement - attacking Busansky for miscasting Bilirakis' quote as a reaction to Foley's indiscretions (rather than a response to a question about Hastert). The campaign also lashed out at The Hill; The DC-based newspaper had attibuted the quote to Bilirakis when it had really come from a "low level staffer." Hittos told the Tampa Tribune. Who was this "this low-level staffer"?
Now, this is where the real fun begins, or continues from the Times:
"That would be me," Bilirkas' campaign manager, Robert Whitney, told the Times on Friday. Whitney's account of the phone call with the Hill:
Whitney conveyed Bilirakis' statement:"I take nothing for granted and I'm worried about winning this election first."
The Hill asked: "So you have no stance at this time?"
Whitney responds: "We have no stance on that right now, we'll worry about that after we win."
Rejoice folks!! We are burning down the Republican House. Usually the Rs are smart enough to give an incompetent candidate a competent staff. This time, they've got a staff even more incompetent than their candidate. I didn't think that was possible.
Praise the Lord and pass those blue House seat covers right on over!!!