WASHINGTON -- Former state senator Barry Loudermilk and former congressman Bob Barr have fought over everything from military resumes to marijuana in the 11th District GOP runoff.
Now it's a Founding Father.
In the Marietta Daily Journal the other day, Loudermilk touted his ability to accomplish things in D.C. without Barr's promised seniority. To wit:
"Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, the document that changed the entire world. He was the youngest, newest freshman in the Second Continental Congress, and so I think it's a good idea to bring somebody new."
Jefferson was a replacement delegate to the Second Continental Congress, so he had less experience than other newcomers such as Benjamin Franklin. But Jefferson was not the youngest or newest delegate, a misstatement Barr will not abide. In a press release, Barr points out at least five members of the Second Continental Congress were younger than Jefferson (we found a sixth), who was 33 when the Declaration was signed, and some arrived after Jefferson did.
This raises serious questions about Loudermilk's candidacy, in Barr's mind:
"He uses this line about Thomas Jefferson "authoritatively" to rebut the notion that the 11th District should be wary of sending a freshman to Congress. Unfortunately for Barry Loudermilk, this claim is demonstrably false and only serves to provide additional support for the concern that he is not competent to represent Georgia's 11th District on the national stage.
"The tactic of spinning historical references to support one's argument regardless of the truth of the reference is a hallmark of Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals, and should have no place in someone representing us in the Congress."
The tea party set adores the Founders, and Loudermilk has made a video for Georgia schoolkids on the Constitution. But his campaign is laughing off Barr's attack.
Here's Loudermilk spokesman Dan McLagan, via email:
"The point was that Thomas Jefferson was a freshman and he changed the world. Bob Barr claims that being a career Washington insider who is running because being in Congress 'gets in your blood' is a good thing. We have plenty of Washington insiders with such blood poisoning currently in D.C. and their track record sounds like Zamfir and his pan flute accompanying Borat singing Muskrat Love. Bob remembers Borat."
From Jefferson to Borat, the story of America.
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