One For The Ages - Pun Intended

Last Wednesday, Yes Weekly conservative columnist Jim Longworth took one of the many attacks I received from the Right -wing attack machine that has apparently put its target on my back. Misinformation and quoting to fit their propaganda was the order of the day.

First let me back up a little. I received a call from N&R reporter Mark Binker about a story he was doing on my opponent's age and tenure in the US House of Representatives. I answered his questions via phone and he wrote this article. On January 2nd a well formulated right wing attack is launched in several areas, all regarding my quotes from the article.

It seems the right wing pundits want to see my primary opponent and not me in the general election. They assure themselves another 70-30 blowout facing him, they fear the unknown and my "not the usual politico" self in a battle facing me. I am in this to win and that is what I plan to do.

Here is Longworth's original attack column. Click through and read it. It's a hoot!

I was offered the opportunity to write a rebuttal to Longworth's piece by Yes Weekly and I did.

Yes Weekly said they will cut for space a little bit. I haven't seen the new Yes Weekly as of my posting this.

Here is the entire rebuttal as it was written and submitted:

Blurry Lines On Planet Longworth by Jay Ovittore

 

I am well aware that Mr. Longworth is entitled to an opinion. How you formulate that opinion is a different story all together. When you base your opinion on misinformation and facts you make up, well that seems to shoot old credibility in the foot.

 

Mr. Longworth wrote a piece last week stating that I had made a cruel age joke about my opponent and that I was not going to be able to debate on his TV show because of this joke. What he took exception to is (when asked about my opponents age in a News and Record interview for a story) that I had brought up the fact that my opponent had missed votes at the August recess, and he might have been up past his bedtime or had a hot date. Longworth states that I had said 2 votes, the News and Record printed spate of votes and I had said 22 votes. The truth is that it was 22 votes. It was a spate of votes on the Dept of Defense Budget through Sept of '08 and the Protect America Act (which covered the FISA/ Wiretapping issue) among others. Yes, Mr. Longworth, I know it was a misprint right? There should have been two 2's in the article and not just one.

 

Longworth also states that “I'd rather have someone representing me who is 76 and has the energy of a 25-year old, then someone who is 25 and has the demeanor of a 10-year old.” I am actually 34, not 25.

 

What makes a journalist a good journalist is the ability to report true factual depictions of a story to tell that story. When I blog about someone, I always contact that person and ask questions to get their side of the story. I did it with a piece on Sheriff BJ Barnes, and I did this with Vernon Robinson (even though he told me never to call again). I always double check my information and verify statements made by individuals. Never once has Mr. Longworth attempted to contact me. He pilfered from a story in the News and Record which included sound bytes of what I had said.

 

What wasn't in the N&R article was me saying that my opponent's age didn't matter, “Fred Astaire danced until he died.” Also absent was, “I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. There weren't any utensils for that matter. I have worked for everything I have and I feel like average voters can relate to me and I can relate to them. I have had the problems that they face, I know what they need.”

 

I spoke with Congressman Brad Miller(NC-13) about Longworth because I remember that he too had had a problem with him. Longworth wanted a debate between Congressman Miller and Vernon Robinson. Miller never agreed to it, and Longworth insisted that his campaign manager did. Longworth was rude to Millers camp and hung up (like a 10-year old) on Miller's campaign manager.

 

Longworth wanted this debate after Vernon Robinson had started with his “Mexican Gay Love Festival” campaign ads, insinuating that Miller supported Illegal Immigration and was somehow (even though he's married) having a homosexual love affair with Markos from Daily Kos. Not to mention the Vernon Robinson/ Virgina Foxx primary that got as ugly as it gets was also a Longworth covered story. What was this vile joke I am being banned for again?- “Maybe he was up past his bedtime or he had a hot date.” It would seem to anyone looking at this, that Mr. Longworth has blurry lines when it comes to issues of morality, when it fits his needs those lines clear. Obviously, Vernon's antics were out of line, where my quote was hit late and tackled out of bounds.

 

Longworth points out in the article that my opponent was the first Republican to stand up to George Bush on the Iraq war. Well he did, in the papers. His votes in Congress suggest otherwise. He has consistently voted with his party against funding with timelines and consistently voted for funding without timelines. Of course, this is just one of many examples of my opponent's ability to pull the wool over the sheep's eyes and then tell the wolf where to find him. He has also voted against S-CHIP for 10 million children to get healthcare and against cutting student loan rates from 7% to 3.5%.

 

So after we argue those facts, I will hear how great his constituent services are. They should be, it is part of your job as a Congressman. The other part is being on the floor to vote for the voice of your district and to introduce bills to help your constituents. Go look at the bills that my opponent has introduced this session and last session and see what he has been doing for you. Also note that he has missed more and more votes since the 107^th Congress where he was at 0.4 % missed. Presently, halfway through the 110^th Congress he has missed 5% so far.

 

I have publicly said that I would offer his constituent service staff the ability to keep their jobs when I am elected. I stand by that. What you will also get is a Congressman that is effective for his constituents and will work with both sides of the aisle.

 

From where I sit, the way this all looks is that the Red Dog Barking machine has greased its wheels and has decided I am a threat to their beloved Congressman. So changing factual information and trying to sling the mud my way is only justification that I should be in this race and gives me the confidence to say I can win.

 

Jim Longworth you should know better. You should know I am going to take you to task when you change the facts to fit your story so that your partisan views can try to hold what little power it has left. If you want to partake in the Democratic process that has worked for the last 200 years, then you should hold this debate and stick to the issues so that voters can be as informed as they can before electing their Congressman. If you want to play favorites and persecute me for stating the facts as they are, then so be it. That would be the demeanor of a 10-year old.

 

I don't want an apology, I don't want to be having this fight. What I want is to fight for is the people of the 6^th Congressional District and what is important to them. The rest of it is just semantics. Call me when you're ready to talk about the issues.

I do want to stress the last paragraph. The only fight I need partake in is the fight for the people of the 6th District. I will however defend myself and have a backbone in this race. It's not in my nature to just roll over or bite my tongue.

I don't care what your party affiliation is or if you have one. What I do care about is what the current representation is failing to deliver you- hard working Americans and their families. When the elitist and the rich get richer, the inevitable result is you, the middle class and the poor, get screwed. That needs to change and fast. It needs to change for the countless who go unemployed and not by choice. It needs to change for the farmers that can't make ends meet no matter how hard they try. It needs to change for our older generation that counted on pensions that dried up and retirement funds that had to be sucked dry to survive. It needs to change for college students that study hard for years to find an empty jobs market and large loans to pay off. It needs to change and I don't care what party you are loyal to. Your problems are real problems that need real, long term solutions and not political band aids applied to ease the pain in the short term.

I don't have to tell you any more, you know better then anybody. You're living with these problems every day. While the fat cats get even fatter, you continue to struggle to get by. Help is here with me. If you decide to elect me, and I think you will, that help will be coming!