National Republicans Mischaracterize My Story

My story became a story this week. And I don't think it was an accurate one. The National Republican Congressional Committee used my story that included Iowa 3rd District Democratic Congressman Leonard Boswell. It claimed Boswell didn't know the Massachusetts senate race was close. That is not true at all. All Boswell told me was that he wasn't involved in the race personally. And he said he DID realize it was competitive.

Here's the misleading release from the NRCC:

All –

According to WHO-TV’s Dave Price, Leonard Boswell seems to be unaware of the surprisingly competitive nature of the special election occurring today in Massachusetts:

Some Iowa leaders are closely watching the Massachusetts' U.S. Senate seat formerly held for decades by Ted Kennedy. If Democrats hold onto the seat, that could allow them to keep their 60 seat filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. That would allow them to dictate terms of debate on the national health care reform bill.

But a Republican win could leave Democrats one seat short. Congressman Leonard Boswell, a Democrat in Iowa's Third District, said, "They tell me it's a race. I don't know. I've not been involved in any way. I hear it's a race and we'll just have to wait and see."

(Dave Price, “ELECTION IMPACT: Iowa leaders watching Massachusetts Senate race,” WHO-TV, Jan. 19, 2010)

Given the amount of media attention the Massachusetts Senate election has been receiving, it’s shocking that a political animal like Boswell has not heard about what’s going on in the Bay State.

So where has Leonard Boswell been?

Well, we know from this Craigslist ad that he wasn’t out looking for signatures for his nominating petition.

As Hotline On Call reports, Boswell is willing to pay $2 “for each of the 1,740 signatures he needs to get on the ballot as a Dem.” According to the ad, Boswell is looking for signatures in Polk County, home to the state capitol of Des Moines, suggesting that Boswell’s support has taken a hit in the heart of his own district.

The Iowa Republican blog notes the last incumbent who had petition problems didn’t fare well in the general election:

In 2006, Republican Congressman Jim Leach struggled to collect the necessary signatures in Iowa’s 2nd District. Leach, a 30 year incumbent, was defeated that fall by Dave Loebsack, who, ironically, had to be nominated at his district convention because he failed to collect enough signatures.

(Craig Robinson, “Boswell Struggles to Collect Polk County Signatures,” The Iowa Republican, Jan. 19, 2010)

Will Boswell’s petition problems foreshadow an electoral defeat? Only time will tell.