Sen. Sam Switchback: Desperate, nasty, and running out of time
Everyone’s buzzing about the Democrat food fight between Hillary and Obama. But the GOP political cafeteria’s getting splattered as well. Squirting ketchup at the heads of his first-tier rivals: Sam “Switchback” Brownback, who is still clinging to his doomed 2008 GOP presidential campaign. It’s painful to watch. In an attempt to create buzz and drum up money/votes before the Iowa straw poll, Switchback has shelled out for robocalls attacking GOP competitors Mitt Romney and Tom Tancredo. The Trail reports:
Using a pair of “robocalls” targeting Republicans in Iowa, Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback is attacking his rivals on abortion in the hopes of scoring an upset victory in the state’s straw poll a week from Saturday.
The automated phone calls have drawn condemnation from their targets — former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo — and underscore the stakes for the handful of candidates who are competing in the contest. Sen. John McCain and former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani are not participating.
Conservative doyenne Phyllis Schlafly is siding with Tancredo:
Tancredo has demanded an apology, saying he has a clear anti-abortion record dating back 30 years, to his days in Colorado’s state legislature. Now, he’s also being defended by Schlafly of the Eagle Forum, who gained national prominence in the 1970s by opposing the proposed Equal Rights Amendment for women.
She called an Iowa radio program on Monday to call Brownback’s charges “ugly.” She has recorded messages for Iowa voters.
“I want to go on record as saying I’ve known Tom Tancredo for 30 years and I know for sure he has always been a champion of the right to life of the unborn,” Schlafly says in the calls.
I’ll take the stalwart Mrs. Schlafly over Sen. Switchback any day.
CBS calls the push calls a “bold move,” but…:
But the use of automated calling, and Brownback’s defense of the practice, also implies that Brownback knows Ames is his last stand — unless he does very well. Even an annoying tactic makes people remember who you are, and talking about it in the state’s largest newspaper even more so. But while Brownback is getting attention today, that could change as other Republican candidates make their own last-ditch efforts to score a straw poll victory. This contest, which once seemed like a lock for Romney, is now just a little harder to predict — and it has the GOP hopefuls ready to pounce on an opportunity.
One grass-roots, pro-life conservative calls Switchback’s tactics “not only despicable, but futile.”
Let’s hope the misery ends sooner rather than later. As I said, watching the slow-mo death of a rock-bottom presidential campaign is painful.
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The process of weeding out the second tier could take longer than most people have patience for.
I have a feeling this is going to be an ugly campaign.
Is going to be?
Oh I’m sure it can get a lot uglier before it’s all said and done.
Completely OT:
New York Attorney Andrew Nitzberg has asked Anti-CAIR for assistance in locating witnesses. Please read the following and help out if you can.
Thank you,
Andrew Whitehead
Director, Anti-Council on American-Islamic Relations (Anti-CAIR)
=====================================================
My name is Andrew Nitzberg and I am a trial attorney practicing largely in the state of New York. I am the lawyer responsible for the trial victory of Lee Kaplan against Mohammed Salahi earlier this year. (The action was for private speech by Salahi that cost Lee Kaplan several jobs. The ‘free speech’ defense fell flat because this was for private, not public, speech. The court records and decision are posted online by the California court administration.)
I am filing for an injunction against George Mason University for their upcoming conference of the ‘International Solidarity movement’, the US wing of Hamas.
I need assistance in the form of evidence. Of course there is lots of evidence to show that the ISM is a violent, Jew-hating group which directly assists terrorists in coming to their targets and similar activities. But i need evidence admissible in a court of law.
No one will be required to appear in court or to travel (except me — the pro bono (unpaid) lawyer).
1. I need statements from persons who have directly observed ISM personnel stating things like, “Kill the Jews”, “We support the resistance of the Palestinian people even when they engage in Terrorism” , “We work with Hamas in the West Bank and Gaza”, “We work with Hizballah”.
Persons attending the Michigan ISM conference in (I think) 2002 would be very helpful here.)
2. I need statements indicating that persons have observed ISM persons beating up persons who do not support the agenda of the ISM (this should be very easy- they beat people up every year at these things.)
3. I need statements that persons have personally observed ISM personnel with weapons or transporting weapons. Statements from ISM personnel that admit to such contact with weapons are excellent.
4. There are people looking for the ‘perfect plaintiff’ for the action. (We have general students (2) eager to sign on, but we would like the ‘perfect plaintiff’ — who is a student (BA or grad)/administrator/faculty member who has a family member in Israel. (The Virginia criminal code makes this a very attractive plaintiff). Any Jewish person is eligible because we can shake the family tree and find some relative who is living in Israel.
Thank you for this help. Every terrorist is my enemy because I am a friend to freedom. I am hopeful that I will find many friends in this effort.
Andrew Nitzberg
Please respond to: ajnn@msn.com
Where’s Reagan and his 11th commandment when we need him?
No dispute, vote for Newt.
“As I said, watching the slow-mo death of a rock-bottom presidential campaign is painful.”
Unless it’s Ron Paul.
Like McCain, the open border sellouts live in a State called Denial.
The gloves are coming off and desperation is setting in.
Stay on topic, folks.
What’s the point in attacking Tancredo? If you’re going to pay money to smear a candidate, at least smear the top-tier candidates. I like Tancredo enough, but to think that Brownback would choose to pick on him instead of Rudy, Fred, or even McCain is just silly.
Sam is my Senator. I got really perturbed with him last week for not being in Washington and missing some votes. There was one vote where he could have made a difference, it failed 49-48. I called his Washington office and told them I thought he should have been there. I figure if McCain can be there to vote, he can, too.
Taylork is correct. Brownback attacking Tancredo is like Screech on Saved by the Bell attacking Potsy on Happy Days–who cares?
For once I’m agreeing with Mike….
Who Cares?
Of course, I’m sure part of my apathy is the fact that I’m an independant so I can’t vote in the primarys anyway.
I will however take this moment to say something I’m sure you will hear alot in the next 16 months, at least from me… I dispise negative campaigning. If your platform is so weak that your only chance of staying in the race is to trash your opponent. Then you do not deserve the job.
Jeez… Brownback doesn’t have a snowballs chance in heck, if his brain was half as big as his ego he call it quits and go home.
All he’s doing by attacking Romney and Trancredo is building more ill will with grassroots conservatives.
Exit question: Am I the only who’s already bored senseless by this campaign?
For once I agree with 3 Steps: I hate negative campaigning. Unfortunately, candidates do it for one reason: It usually works. Americans like to say that they believe in someone who stands for something even if unpopular. Not true. Case in point: McCain’s stand on Iraq and immigration have really hurt him.
“Conservative doyenne Phyllis Schlafly ” I need to look that word up. With Brownbacks’ position on right to life, I think it was politically dumb of him to alienate himself from Schafly. It just shows, he doesn’t even know who his friends are on this issue.
MikeB
*sigh* yes it does…
I live in Iowa and was “blessed” by one of Switchback’s robocalls. I was so entranced by his bilious accusations, that I called the Romney office and signed up for a bus to Ames to vote for Mitt in the straw poll. Hmmmm…can you say counterproductive???
ROFL Lux…
ok.. I know this is kinda off topic but I can’t help it.
When congress was putting together the budget with the Iraq troop deadline I was getting robocalls left and right. I kept hanging up. So one day for some reason I decide to listen and they are going on and on about how Susan Collins (my senator) was against it and how I should contact her office right away and let her know how I felt and that if I pushed ‘1′ now that they would connect me.
So I did. I pushed ‘1′ and told the staffer on the other end about the robocall and told them that I thought they were doing a fabulous job and not to let the turkeys get them down.
Switchback; dead in the water. Lets hope he doesn’t stink the place up to bad.