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DEL.ICIO.USThe GOP battle for the 10th District: Shots fired in a cemetery
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The 10th District congressional primary has gotten more than slightly ghoulish. And brutal.
Republican challenger Barry Fleming of Harlem, in his attempt to oust incumbent U.S. Rep. Paul Broun of Athens, has mailed a flyer to voters dominated by a young girl on her knees in a military cemetery.
Click here for a more detailed image.
Here’s the headline: “When he had the chance to support the families of those killed in Osama bin Laden’s first attack on American soil, Paul Broun said NO.”
The vote referenced has nothing to do with 9/11, but is about compensation for those killed in the attack on U.S. embassies in east Africa in 1998.
First, a briefing on the facts. Neutral data on the amendment to the Foreign Service Victims Act, otherwise known as HR 2828, can be found here.
According to Thomas:
— For local employees of the embassies, the measure would provide a “death gratuity” equal to a year’s salary.
— Relatives of U.S. citizens killed in the terrorist attacks would be eligible for $940,000 in compensation.
In his response, Broun said this:
— “ The term ‘on American soil’ stirs up images of New York City and the World Trade Center. But HR 2828 is about the 1998 bombings of our embassies in Tanzania and Kenya - ‘technically’ American soil, although in foreign countries.
— “ HR 2828 requires American taxpayers to pay a ‘death benefit’ of almost $1,000,000 to the survivors of each foreign employee killed in the attacks. Should U.S. citizens be forced to act as insurers for the families of foreigners? Should we establish the precedent of making American taxpayers responsible for the dastardly deeds of terrorists? My opponent obviously thinks so.”
— “Since HR 2828 has zero to do with America military deaths, you can see just how sneaky it was for my opponent to use the photo of a military cemetery!”
Broun also points out that the bill was sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), though he doesn’t explain why this is important.
In rebuttal, the Fleming campaign said this:
— “To claim that this bill does not benefit American families or that America should not help the families of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom is just plain wrong.”
— “Paul Broun claims this ‘has zero to do with America military deaths.’ He could not be more wrong. Three American military personnel — Sgt. Jesse Aliganga with the U.S. Marine Corp[s], Sgt. Kenneth Hobson II with the U.S. Army, and Senior Master Sgt. Sherry Lynn Olds with the U.S. Air Force — were killed in the attack in Kenya. Paul Broun should be ashamed of any comments he or his staff has made to claim that their sacrifice did not matter.”
While the bill was passed overwhelmingly by the U.S. House, it has not moved in the Senate, presumably because of questions over issuing nearly $1 million in compensation on behalf of some government employees killed by terrorists, while not offering the same death benefits to personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq, who are doing daily battle in a conflict officially called the the War on Terror.
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Comments
By RJ
June 18, 2008 12:07 PM | Link to this
Negative campaigns, both direct and subtle, have inflicted serious harm on our body politic and the nation’s state of well being. The divisive effects of negative election strategies and techniques endure well after an election is over. As such, they are effective at the expense of the public good. Users should be judged harshly.
By Dave H.
June 18, 2008 12:45 PM | Link to this
This latest example of twisted truth-bending is exactly what we need less of in Washington. If this Fleming guy is elected, how could anyone trust a word-play thing he says?
By tom ga hunter
June 18, 2008 1:51 PM | Link to this
Wish I was in the 10th so I could vote against Fleming.. He is Chambliss type slime.
By betty boop
June 18, 2008 5:59 PM | Link to this
Well, I wonder sometimes how low the Repugnicans can go. Now I know. Why am I not surprised? I don’t even think Saxby Shameless would stoop this low; but I could be wrong about that.
No one should be at risk abroad, at an embassy; but the truth is they are. Should their familes have insurance — most assuredly. Federal backed or subsidized or paid for outright - yes. But a bill granting huge sums to both foreign and domestic employees of an embassy and the military who guard the embassy is not appropriate. Remember all those other kids who have died in Afganistan and Iraq — their families were not considered in this bill — how are those soldiers lives worth less than the marines who guard an embassy — both go into harms way knowing the risk.
No,this is just another attempt at obfuscation of the real lissues by a Republican who is utterly without conscience, not to mention simple good taste. I hope this kind of negative ad get him what he deserves — ridden out of the county on a rail, tar and feathers or a good old fashioned thrashing come to mind.
Keep your chins up Dems — this is gonna be a rocky ride.
Betty Boop
By Disbelieving Wrecker
June 18, 2008 6:03 PM | Link to this
Y’know, I knew there was a reason that I really do not like Barry Fleming. In political campaign circles, a certain, shall we say, license with the truth is to be expected, but Barry’s latest attack on Rep. Broun defines the lower limits how a low a candidate is willing to go to get elected.
By SAC
June 18, 2008 6:22 PM | Link to this
Barry is happy to stretch the truth. My dad paddled me once for doing so and I learned a valuable lesson. The voters will take Barry to the wood shed over this mailer and his political career will be finished. Remember when the delegates were murmuring and speaking against Barry at the 10th district GOP convention.
To Barry’s folks and Jay Walker (who I have heard is engineering all these twisted mailers and TV commercials). Barry has nothing positive to run on and will be defeated in a land slide in July. Word is that Barry will lose his house district to Dr. Broun in the July 15 election.
P.S. Barry is the House Whip which means he is the thumb breaker for our great house speaker, Glenn Richardson. Birds of a feather ……
By crazy stuff
June 18, 2008 7:11 PM | Link to this
Barry needs to get a moral compass in his life that does not point to the w”in at all costs” direction. His ads are just sick bizarre. And to think I am (errrrr WAS) a supporter of his campaign.
By betty boop
June 18, 2008 8:06 PM | Link to this
Hey SAC, I did not know Ole Barry was kin to Chicken Hips’ Lips GR, but I am not surprised. Sure looks like he is flocking with the group he most resembles. Betty will call him Chicken Hips’ Lips’ Hatchling.
No wonder the overwhelming opinion in this blog has been that the man’s (and I use the term to describe sex only) a jerk.
Betty Boop
By 10th District Voter
June 18, 2008 8:41 PM | Link to this
If you were a Fleming supporter before this ad, you’re still a Fleming supporter. Nice try, but your comment is too over the top to have ever been in anyone’s camp but the Broun camp. This ad is not nearly as bad as the ad with Max Cleland morphing into Osama bin Laden that we witnessed a few years back - unless you’re a Broun supporter from the start.
That said, the Broun responses are all together bad. A quick Google search of “kenya bombing victims” leads you to CNN’s web site, where there’s a list of victims and their occupations - so it’s easy to tell there were military members. Why did Broun’s staff not do simple research before issuing his response? It didn’t help his credibility one bit.
By betty boop
June 18, 2008 10:36 PM | Link to this
10th District Voter, I remember that ad and yes I believe we will see the Repugnicans trot out the same old tactics of dirty politics they have always used - I think their Media Consultant must be Trickem and Scarem, Inc. This round in the 10th is just the first salvo — just a shot across the bow.
There will be more and more dirt thrown in every contested race, the higher the dirtier. Repugs are scared and they never had much conscience and what little they did have is the first casualty of the fight.
Betty Boop says put on your gardening gloves and get ready to shovel manure.
Betty Boop
By 10th District Voter
June 19, 2008 8:39 AM | Link to this
One more thing: who is Jay Walker? He’s not listed on the campaign staff.
By Katie
June 19, 2008 8:51 AM | Link to this
I live in Tom Price’s district and don’t know much about this race.
However, the mailer doesn’t make me mad at the person who sent it. It makes me mad at the stupidity of the person who voted against the bill, and 10th District Voter is right. Simple research should have guided Paul Broun’s decision, but he doesn’t seem to have done any, not even when responding to criticism for his vote. How shameful.
To talk about campaign contributions was tasteless. Why was it mentioned, unless this guy thought it was important? At least that’s what I take away from it.
Paul Broun’s Congressional website says he’s on the Homeland Security Committee. How can a Homeland Security committee member tell his constituents that attacks on embassies “technically” don’t count? Aren’t we fighting over there to keep the war from coming back here? From what I remember, the 1998 embassy attacks were engineered by Osama bin Laden. And then he masterminded the attacks of 9/11. There is a connection, and if the congressman doesn’t understand that, perhaps he should be reassigned to a committee that doesn’t deal with security issues.
The excuses are plentiful from this guy, and they’re all bad. Boy, am I glad I have Tom Price representing me instead of Paul Broun.
By Dr. Dave
June 19, 2008 8:54 AM | Link to this
To date Dr. Broun has not published nor released a negative video attack on Fleming. If he does I will understand, however Paul is above the fray and it seems he will remain that way.
I guess the GOP establishment in Atlanta doesn’t understand the concept of being a statesman. Barry will never achieve such high status given the antics of his present campaign.
I invite all reading here to visit www.paulbroun.com to see statesman like, positive campaign materials. Soon enough someone from the Fleming side will again demonstrate the campaigns unstatesman like status by publishing the website address showing another instance of Flemings ongoing negative campaign.
I am still waiting for the Fleming campaign to release their internal poll numbers as the Broun campaign has done on 2 occasions. The Fleming group discounted the numbers but I know they have done internal polling. Why not release the numbers?
By Concerned 10th
June 19, 2008 9:39 AM | Link to this
The site you are referring to is wwwtherealpaulbroun.com
Why not just mention it?
Both candidates are crap.
Neither will represent anybody in the 10th besides the ultra religious right.
Broun is an evangelical freak.
Flemming is a right wing puppet.
Too bad…so sad for the 10th.
By SAC
June 19, 2008 2:33 PM | Link to this
10th District Voter
Jay Walker will not show up on the campaign website. He is a political consultant. The company he works for shows up on the Fleming campaign spending reports. He worked for the state GOP before Sue Everhardt (my spelling is probably wrong) took over. He ran a campaign against a democrat statehouse member spending probably $400K of the state parties monies. The mailers looked the same as well as the TV advertisements in both campaigns. The democrat in the statehouse race got just under 70% of the vote. Jay Walkers finger prints are all over Barry’s work and will achieve the same report.
By 10th District Voter
June 19, 2008 7:28 PM | Link to this
Oh, so you know that much about the consultants? Sounds like a campaign insider to me… Can’t Paul Broun get someone not affiliated with his campaign not to post?
Also, I’m guessing you were in a coma last year? I remember a LOT of negative campaigning coming from Broun. Just because you haven’t recognized it doesn’t mean it’s not there. It’s more legitimate to tie Broun to his own voting record than to try to claim Fleming is Glenn Richardson incarnate. Both are negative campaigning, by the way, and his labeling Fleming “establishment” and whatever else is the same.
If Broun was thinking of going more negative (which he probably is), I either expect he’s waiting or is afraid to fire the first shot. I don’t know him personally, but I understand the Congressman carries a lot more baggage than Barry Fleming could ever hope to - so he probably doesn’t want to give Fleming the reason to deviate from his votes and into his personal life. Besides, it IS Broun’s voting record, and he should always have to answer for that.
By SAC
June 19, 2008 8:40 PM | Link to this
Campaign insider, no, just an informed conservative. Actually a friend from another county (who is not an insider as well) alerted me to Jay Walkers input. He made a mess of a GOP race in our area and is doing so again.
By what you don't know
June 22, 2008 9:34 PM | Link to this
This comment doesn’t really have anything to do with the election, but since it is the subject of one of the ads I feel the need to address it.
Our government was negligent in adequately securing the Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. The State Department ignored repeated requests for upgraded security and ignored warnings that there were specific threats being made. Personnel (military and civilian) in Iraq and Afghanistan know “up front” the dangers that they are facing - and are given “hazard pay” to compensate for it. The people in Nairobi, were told that they were in a “safe” post and which obviously isn’t compensated the same way as a “high risk” post. Our government was aware that there were terrorist cells in the area, but never bothered to upgrade the security or change the “risk” status of the Embassy. That is why the families of the Nairobi victims deserve to be compensated. Our government paid the Kenyans, but never took care of its own. That is really sad.
Also not that it matters but there is a section in Arlington Cemetery where several of the Nairobi victims are buried, so the photo used isn’t completely inappropriate. Also, though not many people may be aware of it, all US Embassies are on “American soil” - no matter what country they are located in.