Huckleberries Online

Mansfield: More Labrador-Ward Bunk

Posted by DFO

Feb. 23, 2010 3:37 p.m. • 12 comments

I felt as though I have just come from “A Tale of Two Sightings” of the Ward for Congress campaign yesterday. First I had a very positive and enjoyable conversation with Vaughn Ward, candidate for Congress in the 1st CD. We discussed many issues, including my recent observations regarding the the “Young Guns” program run by the National Republican Congressional Committee. It was a frank conversation and one from which we both benefitted, I would guess. I am looking forward to more discussions on these tough issues. Then, I received word from the Idaho Conservative Blogger site of a dust-up involving emails and intimations by folks associated with Vaughn’s campaign, that his opponent, Raul Labrador, would be dropping out of the race, shortly. This chatter is untrue/Dennis Mansfield. More here.

Question: What do you make of this latest dust-up between the Labrador and Ward camps?

12 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

Sisyphus on February 23 at 3:50 p.m.
“What do you make of this latest dust-up between the Labrador and Ward camps?”—num. Pass the popcorn.

Its an interesting insight into the people running Ward’s campaign. I’ve talked to a few powerful lobbyists who have remarked that Ward’s staffers are all about getting Labrador behind them. By any means possible it appears. I agree with Dennis, they should be careful.
CDAvandal on February 23 at 6:37 p.m.
I was impressed with Ward when I met him. After these last few issues of dishonesty, I just can’t support him. I’m looking forward to learning about the other candidates. I expected more from such a decorated veteran. Shameful.
Phaedrus on February 23 at 6:46 p.m.
“Linda Cook (working for Ward in CDA) mentioned to a dear friend of ours in NI (Northern Idaho), “Vaughn told me last night Raul Labrador has quit his race because of no support.”

“Linda Cook is the Northern Field Representative for the Ward Campaign.”

“ICB hopes Ward will get control of his campaign before it implodes. ”

Linda CooK? The Vaughn Ward campaign has hired Linda Cook? I’m telling all my friends to cash in their 401K’s, take out a second mortgage on the house, head to Vegas and bet every dime on Raul Labrador! If Linda Cook as a political operative is any indication of Vaughn Ward’s judgment then he is not ready for elected office.
Sisyphus on February 23 at 6:59 p.m.
Well. High praise, indeed.
splashvision on February 23 at 8:09 p.m.
This race is getting more clear by the day- Labrador is the guy. Vaughn Ward is showing a pattern of lies and shady behavior and he is not even elected yet. First he accuses Labrador of missing a committee meeting and later admits Labrador was not even on the committee. Then he claims he is the only candidate to sign some Reagan pledge..only guess what…the pledge does not exist. Now this- text messages and staffers saying Raul is getting out due to “lack of support.” That is wishful thinking and dirty politics.

I have been hearing that Ward is just a DC guy backed with DC consultants and DC/NY money. They aren’t even hiding it well.

Feels like Idaho politics is turning into Chicago politics with this guy….
WordYo on February 23 at 9:29 p.m.
Lets add up the major flubs:

1.) Lie about Labrador missing committee he isn’t on.
2.) Lie about being the only candidate to sign some petition… that doesn’t exist.
3.) Lie about Labrador dropping out of race.
4.) Renting house in Idaho, owning in Virginia.

What’s next? No doubt before the end of the week we will have #5, unless I missed one.

Word Yo.
OutofStaterTater on February 23 at 9:41 p.m.
Frankly, I hadn’t even heard of any rumors until Raul started sending around e-mails denying they were true. So, bad move on Raul’s part. I somehow got on an e-mail list for Raul, and I received a bizarre, disjointed, fuming e-mail from him yesterday denying he was getting out and accusing the Ward campaign of this, that, and the other. The worst thing he could have done is to lend credence to the rumors by deeming them worthy of a response.

But let’s be clear here. Labrador accused Ward of spreading rumors, and told Idaho Conservative Blogger (ICB) about it. In doing so, Labrador cites an ANONYMOUS source - so nobody can verify where Raul heard it from. I haven’t seen any e-mails or texts from the Ward campaign that would serve as evidence. So there’s no smoking gun.

All we have here is a “he said, she said,” situation, so far. I could be proven wrong, but I’m not just willing to trust what Raul said at face value. After all, he has a vested interest in making his opponent look bad, doesn’t he? He needs to produce a smoking gun, or quit whining and chasing rumors and focus on winning.

Ward is talking about beating Minnick nearly 24/7, and all Raul seems to be talking about is a rumor. Seems like Raul’s having a fit that somebody won’t pay attention to him…
fortboise on February 23 at 10:06 p.m.
Lot of rumors flying about. There’s plenty of suspicion to cover both parties, but moreso leaning toward the “I heard a rumor!” rumor.

I’m with Sis, pass the popcorn.
splashvision on February 23 at 10:26 p.m.
Out of State- you must not have read the release very well- it clearly accuses Ward staffers of spreading the rumor, and then ICB actually quotes e-mails and names the staffer. Further ICB reports that multiple members of the legislature received the text message. So it certainly wasn’t made up. It was going around.

If you want to read the actual release from the Labrador campaign it’s here:

http://www.labrador4idaho.com/Media/endorsements.pdf

This also includes an announcement of 33 (33!) endorsements from members of the state legislature.

I think what you are seeing is frustration from the Ward camp that they have been campaigning for 11 months, spent $200,000 in New York and special interest money, and have gained very little traction in this race.

I expect they will employ more lies and shady politics in the days ahead.
moscow_minidoka on February 24 at 7:24 a.m.
They both sound dirty to me.
ShoshoneConservative on February 24 at 9:30 a.m.
“Frankly, I hadn’t even heard of any rumors until Raul started sending around e-mails denying they were true. So, bad move on Raul’s part. I somehow got on an e-mail list for Raul, and I received a bizarre, disjointed, fuming e-mail from him yesterday denying he was getting out and accusing the Ward campaign of this, that, and the other.”

Same here (don’t know how I got on Raul’s e-mail list, unless he is just spamming the other Republican e-mail lists, of which I’m on a few).

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.