Thanks to their elected representative Joe Donnelly, residents of Indiana's 2nd Congressional District are getting front row seats to an embarrassing spectacle: the timeless art of political deception.
Over the course of the last few months, Donnelly has been working overtime to make himself into a joke throughout much of the nation with his bizarre behavior.
For instance, though he attempts to market himself as an affable, mild-mannered Hoosier, Donnelly became the first national candidate in the country to go dirty. He began slinging mud against his capable challenger, state lawmaker Jackie Walorski, in late July - over 3 months before the election.
While avoiding his own voting record entirely, Donnlley alleged Walorski's "goofy ideas" have shipped jobs overseas and threaten to raise taxes. That's pretty influential stuff for a woman who has been just one of a hundred votes in a small Midwestern state legislature.
Donnelly also made his contribution to the biennial Democrat Party strategy of scaring seniors into the voting booth by accusing Walorski of a diabolical scheme to allow Wall Street to gamble away all of Social Security's funds on the stock market. In contrast, Donnelly informs his constituents that he is responsible for helping keep their Social Security "rock solid." Yes, he is speaking of the same government-run Ponzi scheme that has a $7 trillion structural shortfall and begins running permanently in the red this year. Evidently that's how Joe defines "rock solid."
Moreover, despite the fact that recent polling shows only 1% of voters in IN-2 regard immigration as the major factor in their voting decision, Congressman Donnelly spent precious campaign money on an ad bragging how he opposed his party on the issue. In it, he displays an image of Obama and Pelosi while declaring, "That may not be what the Washington crowd wants, but I don't work for them...I work for you!"
One can almost envision Joe standing behind the controls of the wizard head feverishly shouting, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain," as Toto pulls back the drapes to reveal his voting record. That record includes a vote for the Wall Street bailout, the failed $800 billion Obama stimulus bill, and two votes in favor of ObamaCare. In fact, Donnelly has voted with the Pelosi/Obama agenda 88% of the time. And though that isn't overly surprising given the fact that since 2007 Donnelly has accepted $84,000 worth of donations from liberal politicians including Pelosi, you would never know it by watching his "Mr. Independent" ads.
As if that weren't enough, Donnelly recently released an equally deceptive commercial, accusing Walorski of wanting to enact a national sales tax of 23%. Donnelly's ad ominously recites how much money that would cost his constituents. What Donnelly purposefully omits, however, is that the Fair Tax plan Walorski supports would also eliminate all federal income tax, estate (death) tax, gift tax, payroll tax, and would totally obliterate the IRS. If enacted, that plan would not cost his constituents, but rather save them thousands of dollars. It would also mean less control for Washington politicians over the people's money, which explains Donnelly's opposition.
Perhaps all this was to be expected from a politician like Donnelly who, in just four years, has morphed into the very Congressman he once campaigned against. Back in 2006, Joe Donnelly told the voters of IN-2 that his opponent, then-Congressman Chris Chocola, was aloof and unaccountable, representing only those who agreed with him politically. Fast-forward to current day and such complaints are embarrassingly laughable. Consider this is the same man who is so interested in political dialogue that he has ignored almost 200 voicemail messages I have left with his press secretary on live radio requesting an interview.
But Donnelly's behavior has been getting attention far outside my radio audience. After seeing the Congressman's ad on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, Democratic National Committee Chair Tim Kaine called Donnelly crazy for running away from who he is. Time Magazine noted Donnelly's propensity for using "unflattering photo(s)" of Obama while arguing he is, "not one of them." Even David Gregory on NBC's Meet the Press noted the bizarre Donnelly sideshow, forcing liberal columnist E.J. Dionne into some mental gymnastics as he attempted to explain it away.
As Donnelly's propensity for half-truths and deceptive ads earns uncomfortable snickers from national audiences, his constituents should recognize what this says about his character.
Bristling at this possibility, Donnelly's campaign manager Mike Schmuhl pouted, "Joe Donnelly's independence is reflected by his pro-life, pro-gun, anti-amnesty positions." This, of course, begs the question: what kind of a pro-life, pro-gun, anti-amnesty conservative crusader would ever vote to put the gavel in the hands of someone like Nancy Pelosi? Yet, Joe Donnelly has done so every chance he's gotten.
One month ago, the prideful Donnelly campaign was mocking Walorski, challenging, "What evidence can her campaign produce that shows she is even competitive in this race today?" Besides the subsequent Sarah Palin endorsement and recent polling that shows the race a dead heat, it remains Congressman Donnelly's shameless resort to deception and deceit that offers the best evidence of all.
