* We’ve talked before about Republican congressional candidate Bob Dold’s problems with Internet tomfoolery and appearing to hide his perhaps “true” conservative side from 10th District voters. Yesterday, this briefly appeared on Dold’s Facebook site…
I noticed it yesterday before the Dold campaign deleted the post. It originally linked to this Hotline story…
The list of House races that could pose problems for Democrats this November is getting longer by the day, as leaders of the Tea Party-affiliated PAC FreedomWorks unleash a host of last-minute endorsements to “push the boundary of the competitive field.” […]
On Monday, FreedomWorks announced its support of Republicans Jeff Perry in the “lean Democrat” MA 10; Adam Kinzinger (IL 11), Andy Harris (MD 01), Brad Zaun (IA 03) and Todd Young (IN 09) in “Democratic toss-up” districts; and Robert Dold in the IL 10 “Republican toss-up” district.
Like I said, it’s gone now, but you can still see it at Right Nation 2010’s Facebook site. FreedomWorks is run by Dick Armey, a longtime Republican congressman/lobbyist who now touts himself as “the unofficial leader of the anti-Washington Tea Party movement.”
* The Sun-Times looked at some of the history of Dold’s game of hide the ball today…
First came the Illinois Federation for the Right to Life and Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum rescinding their testimonials for Dold after the primary election when Dold clarified that he is “pro-choice” on abortion.
Then Conservative Magazine of Illinois reported in a voter guide that Dold’s “campaign asks that he not be rated highly by our voter guide [indicating that he wishes to be viewed as moderate.]”
Dold denied he or his campaign begged off a high rating from the magazine.
“I’m pro-choice,” Dold said. “I believe Roe v. Wade should not be overturned. I said that in the primary.”
Dold isn’t sure how he initially got the good reviews from the anti-abortion groups, except that perhaps they agreed with his stands against taxpayer funding of abortion; against partial-birth abortions and in favor of notifying parents when their minor daughters get abortions.
Yep. Stuff just always happens to him. For whatever reasons apparently unknown to Bob Dold, the Right just loves him. Poor guy.
* Meanwhile, the Sun-Times also looked at Dold’s curious residency claims, which have now resulted in at least a cursory look by the Cook County State’s Attorney…
What was congressional candidate Bob Dold’s “primary residence” from 2004 to 2006?
He received about $4,000 in tax breaks during those years for claiming a homeowner’s exemption on his house in Chicago’s Roscoe Village neighborhood, according to the Cook County Assessor’s office.
But he voted in every primary and general election in Winnetka, according to the Cook County Clerk’s office. That’s in the North Shore 10th Congressional District where Dold, the Republican nominee, boasts he is a “life-long resident.”
When this apparent discrepancy was called to Cook County Clerk David Orr’s attention Tuesday, his office called the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office to turn over the information.
“When things like this are brought to our attention, we take it very seriously and we forward it to States Attorney’s office for review,” said Orr spokeswoman Courtney Greve.
* Dold repeatedly claims that he is a “lifelong resident” of the 10th District. But partisan blogger Ellen Beth Gill begs to differ. Gill dug up the info on Dold’s Chicago residence, and her further research indicates that Dold hasn’t lived very long in the district since he reached adulthood…
It’s probably a safe bet he didn’t commute from IL-10 to Washington, DC while he worked for Bush I and Quayle (per his own Linkedin page 1991-1993) or when he worked for the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee (again per his own Linkedin page from 1997-1999). I found an address for Dold in DC at 5306 Nevada Ave. in the Chevy Chase neighborhood. There are other possible addresses in Alexandria and Arlington, VA.
Dold didn’t attend college or law school in the vicinity of IL-10. He was in the DC area for about 4 years keeping him away through 1999. In 2000-2007, he appears to be in Chicago working in Oak Brook at Exodus Communications from 2000-2003 per Linkedin, and we can absolutely verify those 2 years in which he obtained the homeowner’s exemption 2005 and 2006–which of course does not preclude it in other years. Prior years are not on the Internet.
While it’s likely Dold didn’t live in the district from college to 2007, at the very least, Bob Dold did not live in IL-10 for the years he claimed a homeowners exemption for the Roscoe Village property.
Thoughts?
LIVE session coverage...
- Esteban - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 12:08 pm:
Wake me when it’s over….
- Cincinnatus - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 12:09 pm:
I hate these carpetbaggers, but there is no residency requirement for the US Representative. There oughta be…
- Jeff Wartman - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 12:10 pm:
Many college kids go away to school and still claim their residence as the town where they’re from.
When I was a student at Elmhurst College living in dorms I referred to “home” as Calumet City and later Mokena. Why? Because it was.
This is another Dold criticism that is just grasping at straws. The perennial Seals campaign is getting desperate.
- Louis G. Atsaves - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 12:18 pm:
Schafly’s group rescinds their endorsement after they discover Dold’s position. Seals pretends the endorsement still exists in his ad.
An amateurish ranking by a Tea Party group is suddenly “proof” of what? I met with the creator of that ranking and I stand by my earlier comments about him and his group.
And Seals lives where? Outside of the 10th. For six straight years.
I thought the silly season was usually the week before the election. Nice of the Seals gang to move it up.
- anon - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 12:19 pm:
I don’t think that the issue is where does Dold live today because we all know that he is living nearly rent free in his parents’ Kenilworth home. The issue is whether he violated state election laws by voting in the 10th using his parents’ Winnetka address in the 2004-2006(8?) elections, when in fact, he was residing in Chicago.
It is ironic that Kirk and GOP were claiming in 2006 and 2008 that the Dems were trucking in thugs from Chicago to illegally vote for Seals in the 10th. There is now documented proof that Dold came up from Chicago during this time period just to vote for Kirk. Does this make Dold a Chicago thug? I would like to hear Kirk’s response.
- J - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 12:23 pm:
Louis, I love that you’re blaming Seals for all this…maybe you should consider that the reporters who’ve written the stories this week are in some way connected to the stories they wrote.
Also, its rather interesting that you don’t offer a word of support for your own candidate. I think you should back off the knee-jerk partisan response and maybe think about why this seems to keep happening to Bob Dold over and over.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 12:23 pm:
Louis Atsaves–
First, please try to get through one post without using a question mark.
Second, how did Bob Dold get the endorsement of the Eagle Forum in a crowded Republican field without the group “discovering” his position on abortion prior to issuing the endorsement?
Third, do you see what I did there?
- Another Anonymous - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 12:30 pm:
Wartman - this isn’t about college years. Dold is 40 and the years in question include seven years when he owned a home and was married with children.
Dold says he has been a “lifelong resident” of the district. Why do that when it is clear he lived in DC for a handful of years and Chicago for seven.
Quinn said today residency is about the location of his underwear. Maybe we should apply that standard. By that, and common sense standards, Dold was not a resident of the district and should not have said it.
- plutocrat03 - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 12:34 pm:
I am not a fan of carpetbagging either, but there is a common sense reason for no residency requirement for congressional office. When redistricting occurs, a resident may be moved from one district to another. Then they may be moved back in during the next redistricting.
I do wish however that people would at least be residents of the districts they aspire to represent to start with.
- shore - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 12:35 pm:
I have long argued here that there would be a big market open to political professionals who knew how to succeed in the new political media atmosphere. Dold clearly didnt read my posts because they are failing big time.
- Jeff Wartman - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 12:37 pm:
Another Anonymous @ 12:30….
Perhaps you should direct the venom toward Dan Seals, who does not live in the district currently. Perhaps you could even ask Dan Seals about how he’s going to create jobs when he doesn’t even have one.
- Another Anonymous - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 12:40 pm:
Wartman - those are fair points and, in my opinion, legitimate criticisms of Seals. But that is no reason for Dold to say things that demonstrably not true. It only hurts his credibility.
- Cheryl44 - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 12:41 pm:
I wonder about all the kneejerk opposition to late term abortions. Basically these people are telling women in danger of dying they can’t be helped.
- Xgman - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 12:42 pm:
It’s a felony to vote from someplace you don’t live; and it’s a felony to take the homeowner’s exemption if it’s not your principle residence. So which felony did he commit during those years? What’s pathetic is that we have such poor candidates in the 10th - neither appears to have a real job. The primary system failed us again here!
- fedup dem - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 12:43 pm:
Since the only residency requirement under provisions of the US Constitution is that the candidate be resident of the state (not a particular district), the pertinent question is whether Mr. Dold falsely claimed a homeowner’s exemption on the Roscoe Village property. If so, then “Book him, Danno!”
- Louis G. Atsaves - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 12:58 pm:
Anonymous, or another Anonymous or whoever you may be, I strongly support Robert Dold. In my many conversations with him I consider him to be a moderate.
Call me stupid, call me whatever you want, but I have a spent nearly 30 years supporting, campaigning for, and hanging around moderate Republicans from the late State Senator Adeline J. Geo-Karis, to former Lt. Governor Corinne Wood and others who have been elected to Springfield or local Lake County offices, to the point where I believe I can tell the real difference between a “moderate,” or a “conservative” Republican.
I stand by my earlier comments. If I wish to use a question mark to question an amateurish ranking, that is my right to do so. I’ve seen enough of those types of things to comfortably state my opinion about them, and I stand by my opinion about it.
The press can be fooled by a campaign. Ask Rod Blagojevich how many newspaper endorsements he received.
To paraphrase Rod’s last campaign: “What Were They Thinking?”
Oh gosh! There is that question mark again! :-)
- Responsa - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 12:58 pm:
It’s still a tossup in the 10th. I don’t know who is going to win and no one else does either. But I do believe this: In the end, the one defining issue for voters here is going to be whether more of them want to see Nancy Pelosi wield the gavel again in the next congress, or if more of them decidedly do not. Anything else at this point (for both sides) is mostly noise and squirrels.
- D.P. Gumby - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 12:59 pm:
The issue is less where he lives or who endorsed him than whether he has a serious Kirk-style veracity problem–His lips say one thing but the facts (whatever they may be) say something else.
- Just the facts - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 1:03 pm:
Louis, the group Seals mentions in his ad is the Illinois Right to Life, not Eagle Forum. Take a breath.
- Xgman - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 1:03 pm:
Mr. Atsaves: If Bob Dold is a moderate then he lied during the primary to get the right-wingers to support him. Oh, he’ll fit in just fine in Washington! Heaven help us.
- Cincinnatus - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 1:03 pm:
- plutocrat03 - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 12:34 pm:
“I am not a fan of carpetbagging either, but there is a common sense reason for no residency requirement for congressional office. When redistricting occurs, a resident may be moved from one district to another. Then they may be moved back in during the next redistricting.”
Tough.
Are you saying that there is some sense of entitlement that an elected Representative should have? He can either move to the district he wishes to represent, or run in the district in which he lands. Your screen name is aptly chosen…
- lake county democrat - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 1:04 pm:
Why couldn’t it have been Hamos v. Coulson? (Please hold the obvious snarky response).
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 1:17 pm:
Chill out Louis. You still didn’t answer my question about how Phylis Schlafly endorsed Dold without knowing his position on abortion.
My general thoughts are this: The residency issue and property tax exemption will be resolved in Dold’s favor by some technical reading of both election law and prierty tax law.
But that the fact that he got the support of some very ardent pro-life activists and groups during the primary was based on the fact that he told them he was pro-life. Its why those groups exist.
- Another Anonymous - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 1:21 pm:
Penny Pullen strongly supported Dold during the primary, and still does: http://conservativebrand.tumblr.com/
- Jake from Elwood - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 1:38 pm:
Perpetual candidate Seals’ chance at election success may be as good as Dold. [rimshot]
- Segatari - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 2:17 pm:
I find it bizarre that someone calling himself a Republican - Dold - is embarassed to be called a conservative. Conservatives are gonna rule the day on November 2nd. Apparently this guy foolishly belives being a RINO is the only way he can get elected…which is absolutely dead wrong.
- Conservative Veteran - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 3:16 pm:
I live in the 10th Cong. District, and I think that Dold is helped, if voters think that he’s moderate. In 2008, Obama won that district. The majority of state senators and state reps., in that district, are democrats.
- my two cents - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 5:18 pm:
Dold thinks he’s above the law. He doesn’t pay FICA taxes for his employees, he gets a tax exemption for a home that apparently isn’t his primary residence and now argues over semantics- and claims it was his primary residence but not his permanent one. Trouble is, the residence he’s in now is owned by his mother and isn’t even in Winnetka, where he has continued to vote during all the years in question. He has committed voter fraud or tax fraud, take your pick. Not to mention being caught in innumerable lies. We’ve already gone through that with Kirk- who needs another congressman who can’t seem to keep his story straight?
Dold’s campaign slogan during the primary was “The Conservative Choice”. He can’t scrub his Wikipedia fast enough to keep his two faces from showing.
- The REAL Anonymous fka Anonymous - Wednesday, Sep 29, 10 @ 9:36 pm:
Don’t have to look at the calendar to see that November 2 is right around the corner. People arguing over…punctuation?
- Anonymous - Thursday, Sep 30, 10 @ 10:20 am:
What a joke…All this is is a desperate attempt of the Seals folks to take the attention away from the fact that SEALS DOESN’T LIVE IN THE DISTRICT AND CAN’T VOTE FOR HIMSELF!
Dold was born and raise in the 10th, and ACTUALLY LIVES HERE…the fact that he went away to college and grad school, and also moved away for a while for his jobs, is something that almost everyone can relate to.
A desperate attempt by Seals to divert attention. The Wizard of Oz would be proud.