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Via Squawkbox, FactCheck.org reviewed Spike Maynard's ad against Nick Rahall and called it's claims false:
But what is the Arab American Leadership Council's connection to the Muslim Brotherhood? The article doesn't say, so we called the author, Steven Allen Adams. We told him we were having a hard time following the logic, because his article did not support the claim that the Arab American Leadership Council "has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood."
After re-reading his item, Adams said: "I'm not even following my own logic on it, which is a terrible thing to say.
snip
Even if this innuendo is true - and there is no evidence it is - it's clear to us that the Maynard campaign is employing tortured logic to falsely link Rahall to terrorism. Instead of calling this ad "Five," the Maynard campaign could have called it "Six" - as in "Six Degrees of Separation."
Spike Maynard and his campaign are liars.
I've got an idea: Instead of raising false questions about Nick Rahall's associations, why doesn't Spike answer questions about his association with the married president of West Virginia for Life?
Here, around midnight at a Charleston bar, are Spike Maynard and Karen Cross, whose organization endorsed Spike after years of endorsements of Nick Rahall. What was her group's motivation to switch endorsements? Were the motivations political? Were they based off false claims Spike made like in this debunked commercial?
Here is another shot:
And another
Here's another photo of Spike Maynard with Karen Cross
Here's another of Spike Maynard with Karen Cross
As FactCheck.org points out there's six degrees of separation between Rahall's association with the people the Spike ad links him to, but as you can see from the photos, there's very little separating Spike from Karen Cross, the president of West Virginia for Life.
Why did West Virginia for Life associate with the corrupt Spike Maynard?
I think that's something the press and FactCheck.org should fact check.
Ken Ward Jr. at Coal Tattoo fact checks some local coverage from the Associated Press on stories involving coal and the election and finds them severely wanting:
Of course, Tim didn't explain what mine permit Maynard might have been talking about ... if it was the Spruce Mine, it might have been nice to clarify that it hasn't been vetoed yet, that the limited operations there haven't yet been shut down, or that there are no 300 coal miners who have been put out of work there at this point.
In a separate story, the AP profiled Maynard's campaign, and described EPA's actions on strip mining this way:
Under President Obama, the agency has adopted policies designed to curb surface mining in the region. The changes have slowed the flow of water-quality permits for surface mines to a trickle.
OK ... am I the only one who wonders if AP asked Maynard to respond to the growing body of science that shows that mountaintop removal's impacts on Appalachian communities and the environment is "pervasive and irreversible" or about the projections that show a major decline in Central Appalachian coal production regardless of any restrictions on mountaintop removal or greenhouse gas emissions? How about asking Spike exactly what problem he has with EPA permits that have reduced environmental impacts, while allowing coal mining to continue?
I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again: Ward is a credit to his profession.
LOGAN, W.Va. -- During a $1.5 million water extension project check presentation today to the Logan County Public Service District in Logan, W.Va., U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV03) defended the Appalachian Region Commission's (ARC) programs, which have survived a slew of budget and program cuts in the past decades, as he welcomed the agency's Federal Co-Chairman, Earl Gohl, back to West Virginia.
"The ARC has often been the lifeline that saved critical projects for West Virginia, and I've fought Presidents, and bureaucratic pipsqueaks, and puffed up politicians many times to keep ARC fighting for us," said Rahall, Vice Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that oversees the ARC and its programs. "Through it all, we have lifted families' fortunes, brought numerous counties out of economically distressed status and built foundations for job growth. I'm not about to let up fighting for the ARC as long as we have families who need water, health clinics, highways, or help with jobs and economic development."
We can see why Spike Maynard (R-Don Blankenship's Pocket) is getting so desperate in WV-03 because U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D) is up in the latest poll by 19 points.
Rahall leads in every demographic, men, women, union, nonunion. With 56 percent support to Spike's 37 percent, Spike could take all 7 percent of the undecideds and still trail in the double digits.
The funniest thing, though, is for all of Spike's bashing of President Obama, Obama is viewed more favorably (40 percent) than Spike (31 percent).
Manchin leads Raese 54 to 39 in WV-03, according to the poll Anzalone Listz Research taken Oct. 10-12 with interviews apportioned by past voter turnout. It has a 4.9 percent margin of error.
Rahall is a great representative for the state so this is good news.
(Bumped again. Spike's campaign is running a new ad repeating this line of attack.
Bumped. I still have not heard back from the Spike campaign if they're returning the "terrorist" -funded money from the RNCC or Americans for Tax Reform. - promoted by Clem Guttata)
In a desperate smear attack, Spike Maynard claims Nick Rahall has a terrorist tie because in 1996 Rahall received a $300 campaign contribution from Abdul Rahman al-Amoudi.
That's Spike Maynard's claim. Doubt me? Here's from Spike Maynard's press release sent to me by his campaign spokesman Matt Dabrowski:
There's two ways to look at the traditional Republican supporting National Rifle Association endorsing Nick Rahall in WV-03 and Joe Manchin for Senate and that's recognition they are conservative Democrats.
But the NRA has supported Republicans over conservative Democrats before. I think the real reason is because the NRA -- and the Chamber of Commerce too for that matter -- recognizes the West Virginia GOP is running batshit crazy candidates this year in Spike Maynard and John Raese.
NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION ENDORSES RAHALL
in West Virginia's Third Congressional District
Beckley, WV - The National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF)
is endorsing Nick Rahall for election to the U.S. House of Representatives.
"Nick Rahall has been a strong and consistent defender of our Second Amendment freedoms and hunting heritage," said Chris W. Cox, chairman of the
NRA-PVF. "He has earned his 'A' rating and endorsement from the NRA-PVF. We ask all law-abiding gun owners and sportsmen in West Virginia's 3rd District to vote
Nick Rahall for Congress."
KEEP NICK RAHALL IN
CONGRESS COMMITTEE
PO Box 64 Beckley,
West Virginia 25801
This election cycle is making some strange bedfellows for me.
Whenever Spike Maynard opens his mouth he ends up shooting himself in the foot. He really should get that condition checked on.
In his latest ad playing on bigotry, WV-03 Republican candidate Spike Maynard goes after longtime U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall for a campaign contribution that Abdul Rahman al-Amoudi made to a past campaign.
Except Abdul_Rahman_al-Amoudi -- you can read about him here -- also gave money to then President George W. Bush and the National Republican Congressional Committee].
Then al-Amoudi got in serious legal trouble:
In 2004 he pled guilty to three charges of illegal financial transactions with the Libyan government, unlawful procurement of citizenship and impeding administration of the Internal Revenue Service, as well as a role in a Libyan conspiracy to assassinate then-Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah. He agreed to cooperate in ongoing investigations in return for prosecutors dropping 31 other counts and possible reduction in a pending 23-year sentence and $750,000 in fines.[2][3] He was sentenced to 23 years in October 2004.[1]
After the accusations arose in 2003, Bush returned the contribution from Abdul_Rahman_al-Amoudi. Rahall one-upped Bush and passed the contribution on to the Memorial Baptist Church in Beckley as a donation to help a missionary program in Palestine.
But guess who kept what Spike Maynard calls a contribution from a man who financed terrorism? The National Republican Congressional Committee. You can look it up here. That's the same NRCC that is helping fund Maynard's political campaign against Rahall. For all we know the very same dollars that al-Amoudi gave the NRCC is funding the smear job commercial against Rahall for money that he donated to a church.
But, as they say in the commercials, that's not all. al-Amoudi also supported rightwinger Grover Norquist and his so-called "Americans for Tax Reform." Norquist and ATR are supporting Maynard.
If Spike wants to cast stones at anyone, he should look in the mirror and begin there.
Amanda Terkel of Huffington Post examines the West Virginia Conservative Foundation and finds some interesting stuff:
WVCF, the group behind the ad, is a classified as a 501(c)(4) by the Internal Revenue Service, meaning it's a non-profit that can raise unlimited amounts of money without ever disclosing its donors. It's also allowed to run ads in the run-up to an election as long as they're not explicitly devoted to politics. These types of groups are proliferating this election season -- especially on the right -- and in the wake of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, are even more powerful with restrictions eased on corporate contributions.
WVCF's latest ad buy amounts to $227,800. The group was founded by West Virginia attorney Mike Stuart, who is now chairman of the state's Republican Party and received the backing of Massey CEO Don Blankenship in his earlier run for the state legislature. Until Oct. 3, Stuart's official bio on the West Virginia GOP website listed him as "President and founder" of WVCF:
However, when The Huffington Post reached out to Stuart and asked him about his involvement, he said he stepped down from WVCF as soon as he took over as GOP chairman. "I was elected on July 24 and resigned at that time," he wrote in an e-mail. "Since July 24, I have been totally focused on winning elections on November 2." Later in the day, his bio on the WV GOP website also removed any mention to WVCF. He repeatedly stressed that he is no involved with the group.
Looks like Stuart knows his little group screwed up and is trying to hide from the story.
And look who else surfaces in this one:
Little is known about WVCF. It appears to be tied to the state's powerful coal industry, sponsoring a "pro-coal rally" in October 2009. But its website lists no staff names. The site's blog hasn't been updated since January, and its Facebook page had been dormant since Stuart stepped down in July but began updating again in the past few weeks. The site lists no phone number and no physical address (just a post office box). The Huffington Post sent an e-mail through the form on the site, but it went to the inbox of Roman Stauffer, who said that he no longer works there.
In what may be a new low for WV political campaign advertisements, the West Virginia Conservative Foundation, whose founder is WV GOP Chairman Mike Stuart, has released a tremendously bigoted ad attacking Rep. Nick Rahall, essentially for being Arab American.
It's so bad, even the commenters at WVaRed agree that it crosses the line.
The ad shows how the WV GOP is completely devoid of positive ideas and policy positions that would move our country forward. Their only strategy is to fan the flames of discontent and misplaced fear of people who are "different" from "us". The only good news is it will be even more satisfying when Rahall is reelected to represent West Virginia's 3rd Congressional District on Nov. 2nd.
I went to see our First Lady Gayle Manchin speak last night at the Mercer County, WV Democratic Club in Princeton. First off she is an excellent speaker and held the attention of the crowd for the full time she spoke. She was interrupted twice with applause.
The meat of her speech concerned the frustration that her husband is facing with regard to the problems they are facing running against what most of us would normally have perceived as a non-candidate in John Raese. Mrs Manchin was very blunt as she explained the conundrum of having West Virginia's extremely popular Governor (70% or higher favorable going into the last 2 years of his term) locked into an extremely close Senate race that could go either way depending upon which poll you are looking at right now.
The Manchins firmly believe that they are running against their own party in Washington as opposed to the favorables of how Governor Manchin job performance is perceived in the state house. Manchin really wants to run on his ability to get things done for the people of West Virginia and how astute he has been in working across party lines. I believe that this frustration has affected the message he is sending out to voters that are likely voting against the party rather than the candidate they vote for.
Mrs Manchin mentioned that the Governor did not enter the race to lose and that he has always had a "fire in his belly" when he is campaigning. She was clear in stating that his candidacy needs our support to get out the vote and insure that we have someone in our great Senator Robert Byrd's Senate seat in Washington that cares about and will fight for the needs of the people of West Virginia.
I have been to several events with fellow Democrats in the last month, and am extremely pleased with the enthusiasm I have seen from party stalwarts in this part of the state. The real question is getting people out in the field making the calls and canvassing to drum up support for candidates like Joe Manchin and Nick Rahall that have proven that they do care for the people and not just big coal and big business. I do not agree with their positions with regard to mountain top removal and on some other issues, but am really afraid of the damage that will be done to our state if either Raese or Maynard are elected in November.
I would like to see Manchin campaigning with "fire in his belly" and supporting positions that motivate the base of the West Virginia Democratic Party. I don't think he has being doing enough of that. A good example of this to me was the position he took with regard to the Bush tax cuts. Every day that goes by without action by Democrats brings us a little closer to another 2 years of a congress that will get even less done than our current Senate
Check out what John Cole has to say on West Virginia Democrats below the fold...
The debate last night in Bluefield showed the difference between an experienced and confident sitting Congressman and a challenger whose entire presentation was full of the usual buzz words of Teatardism. Spike's audience included members of the WV Metro Valley Tea Party who were there handing out leaflets and who cheered him on as he disdainfully shouted out the Tea Party Call to Arms... "Obama, Pelosi, ObamaCare", and even a reference to Congressman Rahall's use of the words "Stength Through Unity" as being a slogan of the Communist Party. Spike is going to need a lot more meat in his arguments than meaningless buzz words. By the way his reference to communism drew boos from most of the audience who were shocked at such a reference being aimed at Mr Rahall. The Congressman had a lot of supporters in the audience as well, and they were far better behaved than Maynard's crowd.
The sponsors would not allow any video recording so I don't have any pertinent moments to play to you. Needless to say Congressman Rahall did well in staying above the fray, and cogently presented his case.
Both of them tried to point put that they are strong supporters of coal, and both agreed that money needs to be spent on restoring infrastructure in our state and on highways.
Both candidates support mountaintop removal and both feel that the EPA is waging a war on Coal. The difference is that Congressman Rahall blames the EPA, and Maynard blames the Democratic party and President Obama as well as the EPA.
I hope that the transcript of this debate is made available, and that pertinant video becomes available as well. I also hope that Congressman Rahall starts getting aggressive and maybe a little pissed off at Maynard's Teatardism.
Congressman Rahall's team is letting folks know that tickets are available starting today for the debate between himself and the disgraced Spike Maynard. This is the first of two debates mentioned in an earlier post by Heath Harrison that can be read here.
The debate will take place at Bluefield High School's auditorium at 7:00pm on September 7th. Tickets can be picked up in advance at WVVA's offices on Hwy 460 in Bluefield or at The Bluefield Daily Telegraph's office on Bluefield Avenue in downtown Bluefield. Individuals are limited to 4 advance tickets.
We need a strong crowd at this debate to support the Congressman. Get your tickets today for this event. (Of course we can't be sure that Maynard will even show up)
A Republican pollster showed a few incumbent Democrats in trouble from Republican challengers, but U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-VV03) is in strong shape against Don Blankenship's bought-and-paid for candidate, Spike Maynard.
Nick Rahall (D-inc): 53
"Spike" Maynard (R): 37
Rahall supporters shouldn't get caught napping. Donate, signup to volunteer, etc.,here.
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