* Democratic congressional candidate Colleen Callahan has a new TV ad that pays homage (to the point where it even seems to have the same voice doing the “countdown”) to LBJ’s “Daisy” ad from the 1964 presidential race…
* Meanwhile, many congressional candidates differed over yesterday’s botched financial systems bailout vote, but Colleen Callahan and Republican Aaron Schock were on the same page…
Both the Democrat and Republican candidates for the 18th District Congressional seat say they would have voted for the bailout bill. […]
“Those questions I did have, have been answered. And as distasteful as this bailout is, I could and would vote for this package,” said Democratic candidate Colleen Callahan.
“Something has to be done. To do nothing in this case, absolutely nothing, would wreak havoc on our economy in this country,” said Republican candidate Aaron Schock.
The horse is out of the barn,” said [Republican Martin Ozinga]. “Instead of them talking about how the door was open, we should be catching the horse.” […]
“The banking crisis is more serious than most people realize,” said Ozinga. “What’s going on is so shocking and complicated it’s hard for people to understand.” […]
[Democrat Debbie Halvorson] said she would have voted “no” on Monday’s bailout plan. The lack of any meaningful protection for homeowners facing foreclosure was one of her key criticisms of the legislation.
“If we want people to pay their mortgages, why are we allowing them to go into foreclosure?” said Halvorson, who said helping homeowners pay their mortgages would prop up the banking industry.
* As I told you yesterday, Democrat Bill Foster voted “Yes.” His GOP opponent, Jim Oberweis, said he would’ve voted against the proposal. From a press release…
“I support the action taken by the House of Representatives this afternoon in rejecting a flawed bailout plan that would have put American taxpayers at risk for $700 billion. Had I been a Member of Congress, I would have voted ‘no.’
“Now that the flawed measure has been rejected, Congress can take the time necessary to strengthen the legislation to improve the odds of its success at solving the problem at hand, while reducing taxpayer risk and improving taxpayer protections. It is important that Congress address this very serious economic crisis that we are facing, but it is equally important that Congress address this situation in a way that will subject taxpayers to the smallest loss possible while doing what is necessary to keep our financial system working in a positive way. We must not sow the seeds of future, equally serious problems by trying to solve this situation too quickly. We must do this right with reasonable speed rather than doing this wrong with great speed.”
* Republican Judy Biggert voted “No,” but her Democratic opponent Scott Harper said he would’ve been a “Yes.” From Harper’s press release…
“With our economy in trouble and with the American people deeply concerned about their homes, their investments and their retirements, Judy Biggert took the coward’s way out and voted against an economic package that would have helped rescue our markets.
“I would have voted yes.
“No one is happy about the current situation we’re in and if Judy Biggert hadn’t been asleep at the wheel on the financial services committee, perhaps we could have had more oversight and regulation and less corporate greed that got us into this mess in the first places.”
I’m more interested today in how you feel about the political tactics of the various incumbents and challengers - without the canned, pre-approved DC political talking points, of course. Let’s all take a deep breath and try to analyze the politics in a clear-headed manner without bringing that DC insanity into the blog. Thanks.
