Archive for the “Congressional Races” Category

Once again, Kevin Knuth, the mealy mouthed wonder-boy of the Allen County Democratic Party has lost.

Mitch Daniels is smoking Jill Long-Thompson right now at 60% over her paltry 38%.

Mark Souder is kicking “Mr. Ed” Mike Montagano’s ass 59% - 41%

Mike Pence has it in the bag.

Greg Zoeller is leading Linda Pence 53% - 47%

AND… drum roll please…

Winner Candidate Incumbent Votes Vote %
Roy Buskirk X 35,953 23%
Robert Armstrong 33,918 21%
Paul Moss X 33,591 21%
Susan Hoot 30,462 19%
Kevin Knuth 25,376 16%

Knuth loses by a landslide AGAIN.

More on the Obama-McCain race later.

So, let’s ask him about that.

From a local rag:

Congress shouldn’t have passed the rescue plan to take troubled assets off bank balance sheets, Democratic congressional candidate Michael Montagano said Friday.

Rep. Mark Souder, R-3rd, defended his support of the bill – which passed with 172 Democrats and 91 Republicans – because “we had a rock coming down the hill that was going to take the city.”

They were questioned during a debate about their views on the economic rescue plan, earmarks, energy, health care, the attacks each has used in his TV commercials and their experience for the job.

What? Montagano actually showed up for a debate? He’s missed the prior debates or shown up too late. Keep in mind, only six days ago Montagano had this to say:

But Montagano has done nothing to capitalize on the unpopularity of Souder’s decision, and he didn’t weigh in during the week Congress was tussling with the issue.

“I’m not sure that’s for me to say,” he said in an interview with The Journal Gazette.

“I didn’t think that we needed to inject any more politics in it,” Montagano said, castigating the two presidential candidates for involving themselves in the negotiations between the White House and Congress.

“We watched John McCain and Barack Obama try to get involved in this bailout and, I believe, screwed it up in the middle. It’s possibly why the first (bill) failed,” he said. “Politics, I believe, didn’t have a place in it.

“You’re talking about probably the biggest piece of legislation in my lifetime, solving one of the biggest crises of my lifetime and perhaps of the last several decades. And you have people trying to play politics.”

So, now he’s proving he’s a liar and playing politics. Nice.

Also:

Third District Congressional Candidate Mark Souder picked up support from a surprising place. The journal Gazette is endorsing Souder over the weekend saying his opponent Mike Montagano lacks “experience” and a “willingness to communicate on key issues.”

Give it up Mr. Ed.

AWB

On the heels of one local campaign finance mess comes this. A local news rag is reporting that “Democratic congressional candidate Michael Montagano’s father has bankrolled his son’s living expenses – a violation of campaign laws..”

The National Republican Congressional Committee filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission stating Montagano has had zero in the way of income since the middle of 2007, but managed to buy a $326,000 Elkhart County home with his father and also drives a big-ass gas guzzling Hummer. Montagano’s Hummer was seen downtown yesterday near Toscani’s with a parking ticket on the windshield. I wish the person that had seen that would have snapped a photo.

According to the National Republican Congressional Committee’s complaint, Montagano “accepted payment for routine living expenses from his father after he became a candidate for federal office. There appears to be no history of his father paying his living expenses prior to his becoming a candidate. As such, these payments constitute excessive contributions to Montagano for Congress.”

Nice job Mikey!

AWB

(Orleans, IN) - 9th District Chairman Larry Shickles released the following statement today after receiving an email from Dean Alan Johnson of Vincennes University Jasper in regard to using voice analysis equipment for tonight’s debate:

“Baron’s friends have come to his rescue again. I received an email today from Dean Johnson that said “recording devices (audio and video) are prohibited in the Jasper Arts Center auditorium. Only credentialed, pre-registered news media representatives will be permitted to record any portion of the event.” This is the same person that was quoted in an AP story saying “we are not inviting negotiations from the candidates” regarding the use of lie detector equipment at tonight’s debate. Dr. Johnson’s effort to relieve Baron of having to tell the truth tells me that an analysis of the debate tape from tonight may reveal some things Baron will be uncomfortable with. What does Baron have to hide that he has to rely on his friends to come to his aid?”

Another letter will be hand delivered to Hill’s campaign office this afternoon that states that unless Chairman Shickles receives a response from Hill or his office by 6:30 pm, we will assume that Hill has no objections to the tape being reviewed using voice stress analyzing equipment with the results to be posted publicly.

What a putz

(Orleans, IN) - 9th District Republican Party Chairman Larry Shickles made the following statement regarding tonight’s debate and the use of voice analysis equipment:

“Yesterday I hand delivered a letter to Congressman Hill’s office asking for a direct response from him on two issues: 1) Organizing a debate in which polygraph equipment is used and/or 2) agreeing to the use of layered voice analysis equipment at tomorrow’s debate in Jasper.

As of 5:00 p.m. today, I have not received a response from Congressman Hill or his staff. Unless I hear from him or his office tomorrow, (today) I will assume that they have no objection and will make arrangements for a taped copy of the debate to be analyzed with this equipment by a team of professionals. I am excited that we may be moving forward with this project for the citizens of Southern Indiana.”

Yep, it appears that Mike “Mr. Ed” Montagano is really a just a democrat in name only, (DINO).

In one of Montagano’s TV commercials he asks viewers: “Can you believe some folks are calling me a typical Democrat? I’m pro-life, pro-gun, pro-farm and pro-prayer. So I wouldn’t say I’m a typical Democrat.”

From a local newspaper..

“The problem,” said (Andy) Downs, who informally advises Democratic candidates, “is that the base might be disappointed and not show the sort of support they might otherwise show. This can mean a reduction in contributions and volunteers.”

Leonard Helfrich, a Fort Wayne attorney who’s an active supporter of Democratic candidates and who has donated $1,500 to Montagano’s campaign, said he was offended by the ad and received many calls from other Democrats who were also upset.

In an hour-long conversation with Montagano after the commercial started airing, Helfrich said: “I said I was insulted, that you’re running against the Democrats instead of with us. … That ‘typical Democrat’ remark irritated me the most.”

Smooth move, Mikey. Better start saying your prayers.

AWB

(Orleans, IN) –9th District Republican Party Chairman Larry Shickles sent a letter today to Mike Jones, 9th District Democrat Party Chairman proposing a lie detector debate between Congressman Baron Hill and Mike Sodrel. An excerpt of that letter follows:

“As you know this is the fourth matchup between Baron Hill and Mike Sodrel. Voters that I have talked to are tired of the same negative ads, the annoying phone calls, and having their mailboxes stuffed with mail pieces saying the candidates want to actually raise the price of gas or cut veterans’ benefits. Voters deserve the truth in order to make an informed decision on election day.

Therefore, I propose that we as 9th District Chairmen organize one debate in which Hill, Sodrel and Libertarian Candidate Eric Schansberg are allowed to ask a pre-determined number of questions of the other two candidates while connected to a polygraph lie detector. I will contact Sodrel’s and Schansberg’s campaign and I ask that you contact Hill’s campaign. If the candidates agree to this format, the 9th District Republican Party will pay all the costs associated with securing and running the lie detectors.

While this format may be unusual, I feel strongly that voters need to be able to make a clear decision without all the usual spin. If the candidates agree to this we can look forward to a fun and informative debate. In the event that scheduling another debate is an issue, I propose we use the lie detector equipment during the Jasper debate on October 21 and release the results afterwards.”