First dustup in the 11th CD race

Ace political reporter Borys caught this in Corey O'Brien's announcement that he is running for the Pennsylvania 11th Congressional seat against Paul Kanjorski that was included in his prepared text.

"The old-style politics of greed and personal profit have no place in our government, and we must fight to replace them with new-style leadership. In our region, we deserve to receive our fair share of federal tax dollars. And we deserve a congressman who will put that money in your pockets, not his own pockets."...To those who think all politicians are corrupt, I say let’s change that.


Kanjo campaign spokesman Ed Mitchell, accused Mr. O'Brien of making a "wild statement" that was "almost libelous."

So it looks like the Cornerstone controversy that was investigated up and down and in and out by the Navy and the Karl Rove Justice Department but no charges were ever filed will be front and center of the O'Brien campaign. When I interviewed Corey last April he declined to take a shot at Kanjo's ethics but times change.

You mentioned Congressman Kanjorski and what’s going on in Luzerne County in the same breath, do you think he has any ethical problems?


I’m not going to talk about other potential candidates in 2010. I can just tell you that my record on ethics reform, openness and transparency are very, very clear. I have a strong record with respect to that. Other people can judge his record of ethical considerations and that kind of stuff. I think that there is a clear distinction there between myself and him with respect to that. But that’s for somebody else to talk about. If I get into this race I’m going to be running a campaign based on what I’ve been able to get done and what I want to do going forward and other people can make those comparisons. Some people may say our records differ with respect to openness and transparency.