Now, however, retiring incumbent Congressman Joel Hefley says he won't be voting for the Republican nominee to replace him in November. According to this morning's Denver Post, Hefley says the Republican nominee is just too sleazy to vote for.
"Rep. Joel Hefley refused Wednesday to endorse the Republican candidate for the 5th Congressional District seat he's vacating, calling primary winner Doug Lamborn's campaign "dishonest" and "sleazy."
"I spent eight years trying to get rid of the sleazy factor in Congress," said Hefley, a Republican who chaired the House ethics committee and three times reprimanded then-Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas. "It's not something I can do to help put more sleaze factor in Congress."
Interestingly enough, Hefley says one of the reasons for his concern is that he believes many in the Republican base in CD 5 will stay home because Lamborn's on the ballot and that will hurt the Republican's chances to win the Governor's race. I can't imagine that Hefley's comments are going to help anything.
I have two thoughts on this. One, I'm not convinced Lamborn's campaign was all that sleazy by normal political standards. (Then again, I did spend the last eight years in Texas.) Two, good for Hefley. Cleaning up politics is tough work and we ought to push for higher standards. I once voted for a Republican candidate for Congress because he was a good guy and the incumbent Democrat is a sleazeball.
The real question is, can this election cycle get any worse for Republicans?
I appreciate the balanced commentary. I agree that politics is getting sleezy on both sides of the aisles. The R's are in a panic to keep the lead, the D's are in a panic to regain it. Not pretty.
ReplyDeleteBut it's indicative of parties that are not changing with the times...much like older women who still act like they're in college -- the desperation shows through and gets painfully obvious as time goes by. Both sides need to redefine, refresh and present themselves in a new package that appeals to their base.
Anne, you are being way too kind -- "politics is GETTING sleezy on both sides"??? I think it's been getting progressively worse for a long time (on both sides)! :-)
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