10th CD update

This is kind of funny. Dan Meuser's camp put out a press release announcing he signed a pledge to run a positive campaign and called on Chris Hackett to join him. You can read the release at Zen's Political Rants. In the same release they knocked Hackett for hiring illegal aliens, his contributions to local Democrats implying that resulted in a "$700,000 pay to play, no bid contract" and "being sued in federal court for questionable business practices." They also called him a liar for saying he helped recruit a company called C3i to the area. Ignorance is Bliss has the details on that.


So much for positive campaigning.


Today brings dueling press releases about campaign contributions to Democrats.


Chris Hackett Brings His Hypocrisy To TV Ads



After Breaking His Pledge To Run A Positive Campaign, Hackett Launches Negative Attacks On Dan Meuser’s Record of Supporting Republicans



One day after refusing to join Dan Meuser in signing a pledge proposed by the Republican County Chairs of the Northeast Caucus, Chris Hackett launched a negative TV attack ad designed to mislead the voters about Conservative Republican Dan Meuser.

Chris Hackett’s negative commercial attacking Dan Meuser’s record of supporting conservatives is an attempt to manipulate the truth for Hackett’s political gain. All anyone has to do is look at Dan Meuser’s record of supporting conservative Republicans to see that Chris Hackett is just running a negative and hypocritical campaign.

Take a look at Dan’s record:

- More than 90% of all of Dan’s political contributions have been to Republican candidates for office. Better than 9 out of every 10 dollars Dan has contributed has gone to Republicans.

- Dan has been honored by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania for his support.

- Dan was asked by PAGOP Chairman Rob Gleason to serve on the Pennsylvania Republican Party finance committee. It was a role that Dan gladly accepted and he currently is a member of the committee.

- Dan has worked at the grassroots level for conservative candidates helping with everything from putting up yard signs to Getting Out the Vote.

Compare this to Chris Hackett’s lack of record of supporting conservative candidates:

- By his own admission, Hackett has given more than $7500 to Democratic politicians in Luzerne County (http://gort42.blogspot.com/2007/09/chris-hackett-for-congress-interview.html)

- Hackett has only given $1,750 to Republican candidates over the past 7 years. (PA Department of State and OpenSecrets.org)

- That means that Hackett has given almost 80% of all his contributions to Democrats. 8 out of every 10 dollars he has given have gone into the pockets of Democrats.

- Worse yet, Hackett was rewarded for his thousands of dollars of contributions with a no bid contract for over $700,000 from the same current Democratic official he contributed to. (Times Leader 1/12/06)

“Dan Meuser wants to run a positive campaign, but Chris Hackett can rest assured that Dan Meuser will defend himself vigorously against his hypocritical attacks,” Campaign Manager Eric Wallace said. “The voters of the 10th District deserve to know the truth about Chris Hackett and his record of hypocrisy.”

WOULD A CONSERVATIVE SUPPORT HILLARY CLINTON, ED RENDELL, AND CHARLIE RANGEL?

As Dan Meuser attempts to get voters to believe he would be a conservative in Congress,
his long history of support for liberal Democrats suggests otherwise


Dallas, PA – On the campaign trail and in his advertisements, Dan Meuser consistently portrays himself as a conservative. But he doesn’t mention that he has a long track record of supporting many of the most liberal Democrats in America.

Since 2004 alone, Dan Meuser and his company have bankrolled over a dozen Democrats at the state and federal level. The recipients of Meuser’s financial support include such liberal Democratic U.S. Senators as Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota) and Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas), and current and former Democratic Congressmen Charlie Gonzalez (D-Texas), Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), Chris John (D-Louisiana), Joe Crowley (D-New York), Harold Ford, Jr. (D-Tennesee), Mike Ross (D-Arkansas), and Pete Stark (D-California).

Most curiously for a self-proclaimed conservative, Meuser has donated thousands of dollars to:

· Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. Meuser personally donated $5,000 to Rendell on October 26, 2006 – just one week before the election against Republican Lynn Swann.

· Liberal New York Congressman Charlie Rangel. Just last year (February 24, 2007), Meuser personally donated the federal maximum of $2,300 to Rangel. Among other things, Rangel is the author of the largest tax increase proposal in American history.

· Hillary Clinton. Meuser’s company, Pride Mobility PAC, even donated $1,000 to Hillary Clinton’s U.S. Senate reelection campaign on December 2, 2005.

Meuser’s generosity to liberal Democrats even prompted the Pennsylvania Democratic Party to thank Meuser for “supporting the Democratic agenda.” In a letter to Meuser, PA Democratic Chairman T.J. Rooney notes this about Meuser’s donations: “Your contributions have helped Democrats to take back the House and Senate in 2006 and potentially take the White House in 2008.” See attached letter.

Meuser’s claim of conservatism is made even more laughable when you consider that he brags about endorsements from Rick Santorum and Lou Barletta, when, yes, you guessed it: Meuser’s company even donated $2,000 to Democratic U.S. Senator Bob Casey’s campaign against Santorum in 2007, and it has made multiple donations to Barletta’s current opponent, Democratic Congressman Paul Kanjorski ($5,000 from 2004 through 2006).

These donations are highlighted in a new television ad from the Hackett campaign that begins airing today. The ad, entitled “Democrats” points to the donations to Rendell, Rangel, and Clinton and asks the reasonable question: “If Dan Meuser is willing to bankroll Hillary Clinton, what would he do in Congress?” The ad transcript is attached.

Hackett Deputy Campaign Manager Mark Harris remarked: “It’s about time for some truth in advertising from the Meuser camp. You can’t call yourself a conservative one day, and then funnel tens of thousands of dollars to liberals like Ed Rendell, Charlie Rangel, and Hillary Clinton the next day. Pennsylvania Republicans who are trying to defeat candidates like Rendell and Clinton deserve to hear from Meuser why he has strongly supported them.”

Chris Hackett has himself donated to two Democrats. One was Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom Leighton in 2003, then running against Democratic Mayor Tom McGroarty. McGroarty’s outrageous fiscal mismanagement nearly led the city to bankruptcy, and many conservative business leaders supported Leighton. The second was to the Vonderheid-Skrepenak Committee in 2003 and 2006-7. Dan Meuser also contributed to Vonderheid-Skrepenak in 2006, in what was a concerted effort by local business leaders to support what was believed to be reform-oriented Democrats over the usual old-guard liberal Democrats who have run Luzerne County government for far too long. That judgment proved mistaken and Hackett has stated that he would not make that mistake again. What’s Meuser’s explanation for supporting Clinton, Rendell, Rangel, and more than a dozen other liberal Democrats who were being seriously contested by Republicans?

The new TV ad is not on YouTube yet but I will post it as soon as it is.