Bush Dog Democrat Goes Obscene

by: heartland dem, Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 09:47:21 AM EDT

The theme of all the mailers is that Boswell is "taking on" and "standing up to" George W. Bush. The first thing to note is that Boswell has a record of breaking with fellow House Democrats to support Bush and the Republican agenda. Two of the recent mailings showed a lot of chutzpah. In one, he talks about trying to get us out of the that "George Bush started." He leaves out that he was in the minority of House Democrats who voted to go to war in Iraq and that he didn't start voting for timetables for withdrawal until 2007. (Fallon, on the other hand, has spoken out publicly against the war since before the invasion). In the second, he brags that he stood up to Bush and the special interests to get seniors prescription drug benefits. He doesn't mention the fact that not only did he support Bush's version of the bill to give profits to private insurance (which House Democrats opposed 195-9), but he was the deciding vote. The bill passed 216-215 -- had Boswell voted with 96% of House Democrats, the bill would have failed.

The most recent mailer is by far the worst of the lot. It attacks Fallon for endorsing Nader in 2000, something which he began apologizing for repeatedly since 2001. Obscuring the fact that Al Gore carried Iowa, Boswell's latest says: "Fallon helped elect George Bush by endorsing and actively campaigning for Ralph Nader.... With nearly 4,000 of our soldiers killed in Iraq, rampant corruption throughout our government and an economy in shambles, Ed Fallon's support for Ralph Nader is unforgivable." Besides the obvious lie that Fallon helped elect Bush, Boswell's attempt to lay the blame for Iraq at Fallon's feet is outrageous. His earlier mailer should have referred to the war that "George Bush and Leonard Boswell started."

It is bad enough that Boswell is bought and paid for by special interests (74% of his contributions last year came from PACs, mostly corporate), but using the deaths of 4,000 American troops in a deceptive attempt to fool voters is nothing less than obscene.

Insiders say the race favors Fallon over Boswell, but Boswell is dumping a lot more money into the race than Fallon. (Fallon out-raised Boswell in individual supporters in the first quarter, but the huge amount of PAC money makes a big difference.) Fallon could use contributions from like-minded progressives who want to see a John Edwards Democrat replace a George Bush Democrat. You can go to the campaign website to donate using a secure server (fallonforcongress.com) or go to his page on ActBlue (http://actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/18727).