Righty Bloggers Are the Best!
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060204/NEWS02/602040426/1025/rss02
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
Here in Indiana, the 8th Congressional District race have always been tight. Incumbent (R)John Hostetter has won the last three races with 53% or less of the vote. This year looks to be another tight one for Hostetter, as popular Vanderburgh County Sheriff (D)Brad Ellsworth recently announced he'd be running against Hostetter. Based on his popularity, and Hostetter's slim victories in the past, Ellsworth looks to be tough competition.
Enter conservative blogger Joshua Claybourn. A mere three days after Ellsworth announced his candidacy, Claybourn alerted the Louisville Courier-Journal to photos of Ellsworth's 19 year old daughter drinking alcohol at Indiana University. Claybourn apparently was hoping that his "tip" would be anonymous. However, that was not the case and he has since tried to defend his actions on his site by claiming it's relevant because Ellsworth is a law enforcement official.Link
Unfortunately the newspaper decided to run the story. Courier & Press Executive Editor J. Bruce Baumann defended the decision to run the story. "Brad Ellsworth is a sheriff and an officer of the court running for higher political office. His 19-year-old daughter clearly was involved in underage drinking as portrayed by the pictures that she put up on her personal Web site,".
More from the paper;
Even in a hotly contested race, it's unusual for issues like the photographs to surface so early -- nine months before the November general election -- one analyst said.
"A lot of people would expect the rhetoric to heat up after Labor Day and in the final stretch," said Robert Dion, an American politics professor at the University of Evansville. "But my goodness, the first week of February? This year may be tougher than ever."
"Brad Ellsworth is a sheriff and an officer of the court running for higher political office. His 19-year-old daughter clearly was involved in underage drinking as portrayed by the pictures that she put up on her personal Web site," Baumann said.
Ellsworth, 47, who was unopposed in 2002 for a second term as sheriff of the district's largest county, said the issues weren't related.
"This incident has nothing to with the credibility of a candidate. It cheapens the process, and the public deserves better," he told The Associated Press.
The 8th District has been identified by several Washington political reports as one to watch as Democrats attempt to gain control of the House this year.
Previous Democratic candidates have criticized Hostettler as an ineffective congressman who has done little for the district while concentrating on a conservative Christian agenda.
But the Republican has fended off well-funded Democratic challengers to win hard-fought contests by narrow margins in most of his re-election campaigns since upsetting Democratic Rep. Frank McCloskey in 1994.
He won a sixth term in 2004 by defeating Democrat Jon Jennings with 53 percent of the vote.
Karen Hammonds, Hostettler's sister and campaign spokeswoman, said that she had not seen the pictures but that breaking the law should be a concern for anyone.
"It does illustrate the serious consequences of violating the law -- in this case it was underage drinking -- and then flaunting that violation by personally posting them," she said.
Claybourn has a long history of being not much more than a mouthpiece for Hostetter.Link
It's pretty sad the Republican smear tactics have found their way all the way down to the 8th district. But then again, when your candidate is a man who has a record like Hostetter, you need every trick you can find. Hostetter has previously tried to bring a gun on an airplane, opposed any environmental regulation he's ever seen, accused breast cancer victims of having abortions, advocated personal rights to own nuclear weapons, and opposed funding for post-katrina reconstruction. Yes folks, he really is that crazy!
Enter conservative blogger Joshua Claybourn. A mere three days after Ellsworth announced his candidacy, Claybourn alerted the Louisville Courier-Journal to photos of Ellsworth's 19 year old daughter drinking alcohol at Indiana University. Claybourn apparently was hoping that his "tip" would be anonymous. However, that was not the case and he has since tried to defend his actions on his site by claiming it's relevant because Ellsworth is a law enforcement official.Link
Unfortunately the newspaper decided to run the story. Courier & Press Executive Editor J. Bruce Baumann defended the decision to run the story. "Brad Ellsworth is a sheriff and an officer of the court running for higher political office. His 19-year-old daughter clearly was involved in underage drinking as portrayed by the pictures that she put up on her personal Web site,".
More from the paper;
Even in a hotly contested race, it's unusual for issues like the photographs to surface so early -- nine months before the November general election -- one analyst said.
"A lot of people would expect the rhetoric to heat up after Labor Day and in the final stretch," said Robert Dion, an American politics professor at the University of Evansville. "But my goodness, the first week of February? This year may be tougher than ever."
"Brad Ellsworth is a sheriff and an officer of the court running for higher political office. His 19-year-old daughter clearly was involved in underage drinking as portrayed by the pictures that she put up on her personal Web site," Baumann said.
Ellsworth, 47, who was unopposed in 2002 for a second term as sheriff of the district's largest county, said the issues weren't related.
"This incident has nothing to with the credibility of a candidate. It cheapens the process, and the public deserves better," he told The Associated Press.
The 8th District has been identified by several Washington political reports as one to watch as Democrats attempt to gain control of the House this year.
Previous Democratic candidates have criticized Hostettler as an ineffective congressman who has done little for the district while concentrating on a conservative Christian agenda.
But the Republican has fended off well-funded Democratic challengers to win hard-fought contests by narrow margins in most of his re-election campaigns since upsetting Democratic Rep. Frank McCloskey in 1994.
He won a sixth term in 2004 by defeating Democrat Jon Jennings with 53 percent of the vote.
Karen Hammonds, Hostettler's sister and campaign spokeswoman, said that she had not seen the pictures but that breaking the law should be a concern for anyone.
"It does illustrate the serious consequences of violating the law -- in this case it was underage drinking -- and then flaunting that violation by personally posting them," she said.
Claybourn has a long history of being not much more than a mouthpiece for Hostetter.Link
It's pretty sad the Republican smear tactics have found their way all the way down to the 8th district. But then again, when your candidate is a man who has a record like Hostetter, you need every trick you can find. Hostetter has previously tried to bring a gun on an airplane, opposed any environmental regulation he's ever seen, accused breast cancer victims of having abortions, advocated personal rights to own nuclear weapons, and opposed funding for post-katrina reconstruction. Yes folks, he really is that crazy!
