Sean Roberts responds to "politics of personal destruction", Fount Holland smears

Roberts Campaign Comments on Dirty Attacks by Liberal Leslie and Corrupt Campaign Consultant Fount Holland

(August 8th) Today, the Roberts for Labor team was notified about a press release asking for Roberts to resign his candidacy for Oklahoma Labor Commissioner. The press release was a political hit job pushed by Liberal Leslie, corrupt consultant Fount Holland, and Rep. Carol Bush, a Fount Holland client who endorsed Democrat Kendra Horn for US Congress.

This political hit, masquerading as a press release, was designed to go after Roberts for allegations relating to his first marriage 22 years ago. Roberts' ex-wife has released the attached statement detailing these erroneous lies and endorsing him for Oklahoma Labor Commissioner. Our campaign now calls on Representatives Bush, Townley, Roe, and Hasenbeck, as well as Senator Garvin, to stop harassing Roberts' ex-wife and immediately issue apologies.

Corrupt political consultant Fount Holland is best known to most Oklahomans for facing felony charges with then State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister and three others in 2016 for illegal contributions to Hofmeister's campaign.

Pruitt Campaign Calls Leonard Attack Ad "False"

Just a day after an AP article talked about how the race for Attorney General has remained positive, Republican candidate Ryan Leonard issued a television ad which attacked his primary opponent, Scott Pruitt.

The Leonard campaign has curiously not posted their attack ad anywhere online, nor have I found it from anyone else. As I rarely watch television, I have not seen the ad, but have heard about it from several people, including disappointed Leonard supporters.

The Pruitt campaign issued the following press release today.

Pruitt Campaign Calls on Ryan Leonard to Pull False Ad
Among other errors, research for Leonard’s commercial appears to have neglected to search for cases involving  “E. Scott Pruitt or Edward Scott Pruitt”

The Scott Pruitt for Attorney General campaign today called upon his opponent to pull a factually incorrect advertisement which is also the first negative advertisement of the campaign.  The campaign also indicated it expects to send a “cease and desist” letter to television stations airing the advertisement due to it containing factual inaccuracies.

“Scott has known his opponent for quite some time, and it saddens him that Ryan has proven himself to be just like any other politician that wants the job so badly that he will spread half-truths and commit lies of omission,” stated Tyler Laughlin, campaign manager for the Pruitt for Attorney General Campaign.

 “The truth is Scott has been a leading advocate when it comes to constitutional issues.  Scott has accepted invitations to speak to different entities of the Southern Baptist Convention about constitutional issues such as church-state relations in cities like Atlanta, Asheville and other places across the country.  Scott was the author of landmark legislation such as the Religious Freedom Act, been the lawyer on numerous cases protecting the constitutional rights of individuals, and has regularly been the lawyer handling constitutional cases referred by the respected Rutherford Institute” Laughlin continued.

“The Leonard campaign says in the ad, quote ‘Advertises himself as a constitutional lawyer. But official Oklahoma records show that he's never tried a case’ unquote,” said Laughlin.  One need look no further than Oklahoma’s Western District Federal Court records to find New Lima Independent School Dist.  v. Warrington, et. al, -- where Scott was co-counsel on a Constitutional case involving First Amendment rights which went to trial.  Going to trial in a constitutional case is rare, and Scott has litigated other constitutional cases in federal court where he has protected the rights of Oklahomans,” Laughlin continued.

“A quick search of state and federal court records for ‘Edward Scott Pruitt’ or ‘E. Scott Pruitt’ will reveal cases in the western, northern and eastern districts of the Oklahoma Federal Court system and the Oklahoma State Supreme Court as well as multiple District Court appearances across the state of Oklahoma.  In fact, Scott’s involvement in Sharp v. Tulsa County Election Board, which went before the Oklahoma State Supreme Court and was related to constitutional issues such as ballot access and suffrage, was published by West Law,” Laughlin stated.

“One of the more outrageous claims in the ad comes from the Leonard campaign essentially quoting itself and attributing it to the Tulsa World.  The quote from the Tulsa World does not make a judgment on the experience of Scott Pruitt.  The lie of omission is that the start of the quote is ‘Critics say.’  This alone should require the Leonard campaign to remove the ad,” stated Tyler Laughlin, campaign manager for the Pruitt for Attorney General Campaign.

Candidate Scott Pruitt, issued the following statement in response to the Leonard ad:  “The simple fact is, we need an Attorney General that knows how to fight the reach of the federal government.  I’ve been doing that since the first day I got out of law school and initially opened Christian Legal Services, Inc.  I have successfully defended the rights of individuals to practice their faith when government tries to tell them ‘no’.  I have advised teachers, public school students and homeschoolers when they have been under attack.  I’ve helped teens ‘rally around the flagpole’ and pray at school when others have said they can’t, and I want to fight that same fight for the people of Oklahoma.”

If I can find a copy of the Leonard ad, I will try to post it.

It's a shame that Ryan Leonard felt the need to go negative. If it, in fact, turns out that his ad was false, that could be devastating to his campaign.

As I have said about the gubernatorial race, I intensely dislike campaigns that go negative, especially if their attacks are inaccurate or deceptive. I'm very disappointed in Leonard.

Brogdon: Compromise Ad Hits Too Close to Home for Fallin

Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Brogdon continues to slam Mary Fallin for her vote on the bank bailout in another defense of his "Mary Fallin Compromise" ad.

Compromise Ad Hits Too Close to Home
Fallin stays hidden, sends out a spokesman, hopes Election Day gets here soon

(Oklahoma City) -- In an attempt to divert attention away from Rep. Mary Fallin’s Bailout Vote, The Fallin Campaign falsely characterizes the Compromise Ad as misleading and untrue.

“The ad speaks specifically to the key differences between my opponent and me” says Brogdon.  The premise of the ad is that Rep. Fallin too often compromises core values in the name of political expediency. We point out in our ad, three instances where those compromises were very bad.

• Rep. Fallin voted for the near trillion dollar bailout of banks, brokerages and mortgage lenders, I would not have. (http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll681.xml)
• Rep. Fallin had accepted well over $100,000 from the industries that she voted to bail out for nearly a trillion dollars. I would have neither bailed them out, nor would I accept money from the beneficiaries of such a controversial vote. http://www.ok.gov/ethics/public/search_reports_2.php
• She requested and received tens of millions in earmarked spending from a stimulus package she mocked and claimed to oppose. However, when it got time to bring home the bacon, she didn’t really care from where the money came. (here is the link to Mary’s earmark page on Open Secrets http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/earmarks.php?fy=FY10&cid=N00027781&cycle=2010 )

Rep. Fallin not only voted for the Bailout, but she has accepted over $120,000 dollars from individual bankers and their Political Action Committees. That doesn’t include contributions made by lobbyists employed by those banks and mortgage lenders. Nor does it include the final primary disclosure report.

The Banking Bailout was directed at the entire industry, since banks all loan one another money in a revolving fashion. Therefore, one or two banks unable to repay their overnight funds can cause a domino effect on other banks. So you need not have received money directly from the government to be a beneficiary of the bailout.

However, Rep Fallin has received a maximum contribution from the CEO of one Oklahoma bank, which received over $30 million directly from the Bailout fund. She received thousands more from other bank employees and the PAC run by the bank.

This is all perfectly legal; there is no proof of quid pro quo. However, Senator Brogdon questions the ethics of such contributions, and says he would not accept the money under similar circumstances. Circumstances that the Senator insists are extremely unlikely to occur.

The Fallin campaign attempts to cast doubt on our claims regarding Rep. Fallin’s earmark spending. However, that just can’t be done because recently adopted transparency legislation requires earmark requests to be accessible through the Congressional Districts website.

For Fiscal Year 2010, Rep. Fallin requested and received over $22 million in earmark spending. She ranked 161st out of 435 members of Congress in money spent. The documentation of this fact comes through the 5th Congressional District website.

The fact remains the Rep. Fallin voted for the Bailout, requested millions in earmark spending, and accepted contributions from Bailout beneficiaries.

Calling these failures in performance compromises, is generous, they are more accurately serious lapses in judgment. To deny they happened or to downplay their significance is profoundly dishonest. The impact of these lapses is limited as one of 435 in Congress. However, as Governor such errors will have far greater consequences.

If I read this correctly, the Brogdon campaign is interpreting campaign contributions from any bank employee as a contribution from a "bailout beneficiary". If so, he has received a few hundred dollars from bank employees.

As I have said before, I dislike this style of campaigning. Where is that Reagan sense of optimism and positivism we Republicans so love to remember? Randy Brogdon would be better served by focusing on his many positive points, and talking about Oklahoma issues, rather than congressional issues.

Is Brogdon Using a Deceptive Ad?

Randy Brogdon unveiled his latest TV commercial today, but is it all it purports to be?

The ad (which you can view here) says:

"In Oklahoma, we know our name is linked to our reputation.

Mary Fallin says she loves our Oklahoma values; however, she regularly COMPROMISES those values. Fallin voted for the trillion dollar Wall Street bailout [COMPROMISE]. She's accepted thousands in contributions from bailout beneficiaries [COMPROMISE]. She's requested millions in pork from the Obama stimulus [COMPROMISE].

Do you want Mary Fallin dealing away your values in liberal COMPROMISES? Then don't COMPROMISE your values when you vote for Governor. Vote for Randy Brogdon." [ed. note: all caps indicates red "compromise" stamp on screen]

With each line, a relevant background flashes on the screen. However, one of the shots is less than accurate.

 

The ad claims that Mary Fallin has "accepted thousands in contributions from bailout beneficiaries", followed by the word "COMPROMISE" flashing across the screen. The information is attributed in the ad to LegiStorm.com.

However, the screenshot from LegiStorm.com featured in the ad contains information about Fallin's earmark requests, not her campaign contributions. In fact, LegiStorm.com has no campaign finance records posted on their website.

While Fallin may well have received campaign donations from people connected to firms that received bailout money, it is deceptive of the Brogdon campaign to use the wrong source to validate their claim.

It's unfortunate that the Brogdon campaign used misleading information in this advertisement, because it not only wastes their money, but, as mentioned at the beginning of the spot, it affects Randy's name and reputation.

I doubt this was done intentionally, and hope that this was merely an oversight. However, the ends never justify the means. The impression given by the ad is false, and the ad should be pulled.

This is a hard pill for this Brogdon supporter to swallow, but fair is fair, and the truth is the truth. If this had come from any other campaign, I would have felt compelled to report it.

Brogdon Attacks Fallin in New Ad

Randy Brogdon released the following ad today, attacking Mary Fallin:

I'm going to be candid. I'm a Brogdon supporter, but I do not like this type of status-quo campaigning.

We need people who are willing to stand on principle, and stand above the fray of negative campaigning. A campaign should be focused on giving voters clear, positive reasons to vote for you, not why to vote against the other person. Randy Brogdon has plenty of positives that he could focus on, but it appears that his campaign staff is determined to focus on attacking Mary Fallin - what I consider to be a failed strategy.

Negative campaigning is easy, but it stinks. To run a positive campaign, one that does not stoop to throw mud, is hard, but oh so worth it. Few people really do it anymore, and that is a lamentable fact.

WaPo: Democrats digging harder than ever for dirt on Republicans

From the Washington Post:

The Democratic Party is moving faster and more aggressively than in previous election years to dig up unflattering details about Republican challengers. In House races from New Jersey to Ohio to California, Democratic operatives are seizing on evidence of GOP candidates' unpaid income taxes, property tax breaks and ties to financial firms that received taxpayer bailout money.

In recent weeks, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has circulated information to local reporters about Republican candidates in close races. Among the claims:

-- That Jim Renacci of Ohio once owed nearly $1.4 million in unpaid state taxes.

-- That David Harmer of California received $160,000 in bonus and severance pay from a firm that got a federal bailout.

-- That Jon Runyan of New Jersey got a legal break in property taxes for his 25-acre homestead by qualifying for a farmland assessment thanks to his four donkeys.

Renacci's campaign said the candidate did not believe he had tax liabilities for a trust fund and eventually paid all that he owed. A spokesman for Harmer said criticizing him for the money he lawfully earned is a "severe twist of the facts." Runyan's campaign said his actions were legal.

Jon Vogel, executive director of the DCCC, said Democrats are merely pointing out that some Republican recruits in competitive House races are "flawed candidates."

He added, "We have made this election a choice. . . . They're trying to run this national message in part about fiscal discipline, but they've recruited a number of candidates not credible to carry that message."

Opposition research has been a part of political campaigns for decades, but the 2010 cycle is different. In many states, Republicans have steered clear of candidates with long political track records -- eschewing state representatives and veteran city council members who have cast thousands of votes ripe for scrutiny -- in favor of political outsiders. The top GOP recruits include several former professional sports stars, as well as doctors and businessmen.
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Democratic leaders are trying to frame the November midterm elections not as a national referendum on the party in power but as local choices between two candidates.

"We can win the contrast, but not the referendum," Democratic strategist Steve Murphy said. "What is critical in this election cycle is for Democratic candidates to hold Republican candidates accountable for their views."

Republicans see the Democrats' strategy as a sign of weakness.

"When the issues are cutting against you, it is typical for a party in trouble to resort to other means," said Ken Spain, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. "With the unemployment rate unacceptably high and President Obama's approval rating falling, they have nothing left to run on other than character assassination."

Democratic officials are advising campaigns to hire trackers to follow their Republican opponents to public events with video cameras, ready to catch any gaffe or misstatement. And the Democratic National Committee last week issued a call to the public to submit any embarrassing audio or video of Republicans, as well as copies of their direct-mail advertisements.

Party officials would not say how many staffers are working on opposition research. Such work used to be farmed out to campaign consultants, but the DCCC brought research operations in-house in 2008 to be more nimble. "It may appear to be more aggressive this cycle because what we're finding on Republicans is so rich," Vogel said.

In Ohio, Democrats are trying to exploit Renacci's business record in his race against Rep. John Boccieri (D). Renacci, who owns a Chevrolet dealership, nursing homes, real estate investments and sports teams, among other interests, has faced a string of lawsuits related to his businesses.

Democratic operatives circulated a report in April that Renacci owed nearly $1.4 million in unpaid state taxes, interest and penalties. Renacci fought the assessment, believing the money he was holding in a trust was free of state tax liabilities. But after losing a dispute over his liability, Renacci paid everything he owed, said his campaign manager, James Slepian.

"This is a story that the DCCC was pushing pretty hard," Slepian said. "It's unfortunate that John Boccieri has chosen to conduct his campaign by slinging mud from behind Nancy Pelosi's desk rather than talking about the issues that really matter."

But Democrats say the strategy paid dividends in the May special election for the Pennsylvania House seat of the late Democrat John P. Murtha. Republican Tim Burns framed the race as a referendum on Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), both unpopular in a district that Obama lost to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in 2008. But Democrat Mark Critz won handily after tailoring his message to local concerns and attacking Burns for saying he would protect tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.

"Some years you ride the wave, and other years you paddle your canoe," Democratic strategist Paul Begala said. "Democrats, they've got to paddle like ****. So what you do when you're paddling is, as the Republicans seek to nationalize, you localize and personalize."

It has become a sad fact of life in today's world that mudslinging is a staple in politics. Candidates should give voters a reason to vote for them, rather than a reason to vote against the other guy. If you can't win on your own merits, there really is no reason for you to run.

That is one reason why so many Americans, including myself, detest negative campaigning. So, here's my advice to potential future candidates, although it applies to everyone: live your life in such a manner as to not have "skeletons in the closet", and (if a Christian) always in a manner that pleases God. If you do so, you will have nothing to fear.