Dan Maffei and Jim Walsh to debate tonight (with stipulations)
CONFLICT #1: The moderator for the debate is from WSYR … a Clear Channel Station which has given money to Walsh’s reelection campaign… pretty crazy ehh? You don’t think the moderator’s bosses are going to be watching and judging him tonight?
CONFLICT #2: Walsh has forced a gentleman’s agreement that nothing from the debate will be used against either candidate… IE: Walsh is concerned about getting caught lying again:
Citing my conversation with Congressman Walsh back in August and the subsequent Majority Action Ad:
“The only reason you would use that would be to distort what was said for campaign commercials,” said Dan Gage, Walsh’s campaign spokesman. He said that has already happened twice.
In both cases, a sound bite from a Walsh interview with WXXI’s radio station in Rochester was pulled by Majority Action, an interest group allied with the Democratic Party. It was distorted and used out of context in radio and Internet attack ads, Gage said.
Mike Whyland, Maffei’s campaign manager, said Maffei won’t misuse images or sound from the debate, but has no power to keep outside groups from doing so.
Does the Maffei Campaign control Majority Action? Clearly not… Majority Action never contacted the Maffei Campaign, WXXI, or myself before lifting the call to run ads (though I most certainly would have said yes to them). The Maffei Campaign has NO OVERSIGHT regarding what Majority Action chooses to publish.
Was this conversation used out of Context? Clearly not… Congressman Walsh told me that he has “Never voted against the Minimum Wage†and that his pay raise is not voted on, it’s “automatic.â€
Fortunately Dan Maffei is a fantastic debater, and Walsh has nothing going for him. I sincerely doubt any of these hindrances will in anyway prevent Maffei from thoroughly stomping Jimbo tonight…
Happy listening (unless you’re in Syracuse watching)
-J
Well said.
I’m new to the area. Does anyone know how I can find out for certain what congressional district I’m in? If I use the US house of representatives “zip+4″ search engine, it’s walsh. If I look at my voter registration form, it’s Slaughter. Nearby neighbors with signs have Slaughter, Walsh, or Maffei.
Hi irondequoitidian– if you look at the right hand column, before you get to “Search” and “Polls”, you’ll see a section called “Tools”. The “Monroe County Voter Tool” is a pretty reliable way of finding out what district you’re in, polling place, etc. It should match up with the voter reg form. Don’t know what’s up with the HofR search engine. Let us know what you find!
thanks for the tip, bythepeople. As you might expect, it matches my voter registration form (Slaughter). Just another thing the Republican House can’t get right