It’s pretty sad that the only way Barack Obama can attack John McCain is by linking him to President Bush… my friend Scott Leffler seems to think that a similar strategy would work in the 26th District by linking Chris Lee to Tom Reynolds, who many liberal bloggers in WNY despise, for whatever ridiculous reason they can come up with.

… I just found this web page that lists congressmen based on how well they stick up for the middle class. It says he’s at 50 percent for the year. And he’s gotten F’s on the previous four years they graded.     

Yup, that’s the Tom Reynolds I remember … stickin’ it to the middle class.

And he’s endorsed Chris Lee. I wonder if Lee thought about declining that endorsement? Doubt it. From what I can tell, Lee aspires to be just like Reynolds. He’s got the same campaign staff. And he doesn’t return my calls. Just. Like. Reynolds.

If I were advising the Dems, I’d tell them to make sure to link Lee to Reynolds just like Obama is linking McCain to Bush. After all, no one really believes that Reynolds isn’t running so he can spend time with his family. It’s cause he was afraid of getting his ass kicked.

And no one really believes Barack Obama is qualified to be President of the United States, but that’s not stopping millions from for him… But I digress.

What I don’t understand is why Scott was so quick to accept the assessment of the website TheMiddleClass.org as legitimate and objective. It’s easy for a blogger or even a member of the media to give credence to a poll, or a study, or an organization that tells them what they want to hear, while dismissing those that don’t.

The other day, Buffalo Pundit criticized Chris Lee’s latest ad for citing data from a conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation. It’s fair argument to make, just as I have similarly questioned the sources Democrats use to support their claims, be it from liberal think tanks, research groups, etc. 

What Scott failed to do (or just chose not to do) was question the source. It would have taken all of 10 seconds to find out that TheMiddleClass.org is run by the Drum Major Institute, and that the Drum Major Institute is a liberal research group. Not bipartisan. Not nonpartisan. Liberal. 

Do I really need to say anything else?

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26th District Blog talks about why Jon Powers failed.

When asked about making a prediction last night I said continually “Logic would be on the side of Powers but… I don’t know.” He had money, he had biography but most importantly he had the support of the local Democratic Party establishment and the bloggers. In terms of building up manpower, he should have won, they should have turned out, the phone banking should have worked, the money should have been spent on important resources. None of it panned out.

There’s a lot more worth reading.

The Albany Project notes that the DCCC has made Alice Kryzan their sloppy seconds:

This didn’t take long.

The DCCC announced today that Alice Kryzan has been immediately named to the “Red to Blue” list. 

Buffalo 14228 criticizes left-wing blogs that were drawn to Powers for being an Iraq War veteran, while ignoring his thin resumé.

She was also routinely hammered by alleged progressive political blogs like Alan Bedenko’s “The Buffalo Pundit” and Robert Harding of “The Albany Project.” Each fell in love with the “Iraq War veteran label” discounting the resume.

Scott Leffler says if Powers doesn’t complete drop out of the race, it be for spite.

If he proceeds in any manner other than dropping out, it will simply be out of spite, because everyone knows you don’t win a congressional election from the Working Families Party line … and he would simply be siphoning off votes from Alice Kryzan - assuring a Chris Lee victory.

Cincinnatus at Monroe Rising writes a letter to the Democratic leadership in the 26th District.

I can only imagine how you folks feel. Jon Powers spent over a year running for office, raised over a million dollars, had the support of all of the “progressive” bloggers and lost to a lady none of you know.

He goes on to give them some free advice.

Buffalo Pundit says Kryzan’s game winning shot came with an assist from Powers and Davis.

Because Powers and Davis spent so much time bashing each other, 2/3 of Kryzan’s job was done for her without her having to spend a dime. She needed one thing to stand out, and the “boys, take it somewhere else” ad was just the ticket.

And I see Chris Lee winning in November.

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Jerry Zremski has a very thorough piece on the incredibly negative Democratic primary in the 26th district.. but the one thing that really caught my eye was this:

The recent flier calls Powers “a teacher challenging parents to turn off the TV and video games and read to their kids.” On another page, it shows Powers in a classroom with elementary school students above the headline: “Soldier. Teacher. Democrat for Change.”

But Powers let his teaching certification expire last week, state Education Department records show. That followed a personal financial disclosure form showing he earned $640 last year, meaning he worked less than three weeks.

Combined with the money he made for his War Kids efforts in 2007, he had a combined income of $17,774, according to financial disclosure forms. No wonder he was caught using campaign funds to pay his rent. Currently, he is unemployed, and according to his campaign expenditures, he is not receiving a salary from his campaign funds…

How can he afford to live when he clearly isn’t working a job or earning an income? How is he paying rent now that he can’t use campaign funds since he’s already been caught? 

Powers even admited on Scott Leffler’s show last month that he’s had a very challenging year financially:

CALLER: Good thanks. I know you already talked about War Kids this morning and I hope we find out more on Friday when you file your financial forms but I have a question about a different subject, I’m just wondering what you’ve been doing in the area for a paid occupation.

POWERS: What I’ve been doing in the area for a paid occupation?

CALLER: Yea

POWERS: Well first of all I have to say when I had to give up War Kids last May when I decided to run for Congress, so as of last May I was no longer associated with the organization and came home and decided to run, you know, I’ve had to do some teaching this fall and this spring I was using savings that I had as a soldier from serving in combat, where we took our combat pay and I was able to save some of the money I made over 15 months in Baghdad, this has been an incredibly challenging year for me, but I’m doing this because I believe in this country and I believe in getting this country back on track.

So, he’s dipping into his savings, has no current income, and despite the hefty salary he earned for his War Kids effort, he’s had a very challenging year?

Obviously, the very challenging year he’s had financially explains why he used campaign funds to pay his apartment rent for nearly a year, but that doesn’t explain how he’s getting by now.

Something just doesn’t add up.

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Scott Leffler recently noted that Powers was deliberately using Jack Davis’s words out of context…

He’s been in contact withe the Powers campaign since, and their response hasn’t changed his mind. He wrote back to their response:

I must admit, I’m quite disappointed in this campaign … which I had previously had faith in. I’m just being honest. I hope you will, too.

Ouch.

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Scott Leffler is not very happy with Jon Powers today.

While enjoying some family TV time tonight I saw a new ad for the Jon Powers campaign.

And I gotta tell ya, it pissed me off.

It was - in essense - a rehashed Tom Reynolds ad from two years ago. And that Tom Reynolds ad featured a sound bite from my show … as well as one from the Tom Bauerle show.

The two allegations of the ad: That Davis wants to decrease social security and increase the retirement age. At least one of those allegations were previously debunked by FactCheck.org … with my help.

The sound bite from Dialog from Oct. 26, 2o04 says: “I think we should increase the retirement age.” And it’s played as though it’s a Davis plan … although that’s not at all what Davis said.

And you can read his explanation there… but I would like to add this. 

The Powers campaign hits Davis for not doing a debate on WBEN … meanwhile the Powers campaign ignores my invite to do a debate on WLVL. And one of the reasons Davis doesn’t like to do radio is because he gets taken out of context by weaselly Republicans … and now by Powers.

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Scott Leffler interviewed Jon Powers on his radio show today. He’s posted a link to a podcast of the show.

I’ve listened to a good portion of it, and found Powers to be quite disappointing. He started off  the show sticking to his usual script about why he’s running for Congress, and his responses to the questions about War Kids Relief were very defensive and quite frankly, I think Powers has to stop making it the centerpiece of his campaign and repeating over and over that he was on the cover of Newsweek. The fact that he’s using War Kids Relief as a stepping stone for his congressional run leave it up to scrutiny, and as the interview progressed on that topic, he seemed to get more irritated. Powers has to accept the fact that if he’s going to tell people “Look at how great I am because of what I did with War Kids Relief,” then people are eventually going to look, and if somethings don’t add up, then questions are going to be asked. 

Sorry Jon, that’s just how it is.

Perhaps Powers’ focus on War Kids Relief and the situation in Iraq is a blind for his apparently lack of knowledge of local issues. It was very revealing that Powers didn’t know what Lockport’s Flight of Five restoration project was. When asked about it, he was clearly blindsided by the question and had to ask Scott to elaborate on what it was for him. But, he’s only running for Congress, why should he know about a multi-million dollar project in the district he wants to represent?

Obviously, you can listen to the interview and make up your own mind, but given the questions Powers received, his generally poor and redundant answers, and his defensive attitude, I think it was obvious that by the end that Powers was not happy with the results of the interview.. and I can’t blame him. He came across as a one-issue candidate who knows next to nothing about local issues.

I’m certainly no fan of Jon Powers, but I can’t imagine one of his shills being legitimately pleased with how Powers did either.

Of course, they might not be happy that Scott Leffler didn’t just throw softball questions at him… but it’s a good thing he didn’t. Powers can’t pretend that the questions about War Kids Relief are just going to go away by attacking the messenger (the Davis campaign) and playing the victim card.

UPDATE: Scott has some thoughts about his interview with Powers:

I would have liked more succinct answers from Jon. I thought he had a chance to put the “War Kids” issue to bed had he had the facts and figures that people were looking for. Instead he talked in generalities.

Personally, I think the “War Kids” issue is being overblown by his opponents, primarily the Davis campaign. I mean, what has Jack Davis done for the kids in Iraq? I don’t know how much “War Kids” raised … and I don’t know what percentage of the money went to Powers, but I do know that he helped kids in Iraq more than his detractors did.

That said, if Powers doesn’t put this issue down now, it will haunt him on Primary day and could cost him the Democratic line. And if he wins the primary, I’m sure the Chris Lee campaign will keep the issue hot. 

Something tells me this issue will continue to haunt him. If he can’t adequately answer the questions surrounding War Kids he’ll need to come up with other things to talk about. Considering his lack of knowledge of local issues, I don’t see him offering much. Worse yet for Powers, local GOP leaders are holding a press conference tomorrow to “address recent questions surrounding” War Kids Relief. 

UPDATE: Perhaps the biggest indication that Powers did a horrible job on the interview is the deafening silence from his blogger supporters about the interview in its aftermath. 

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SCOTT LEFFLER: The fall of the mainstream media?

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