The Rahm Emanuel Connection: Wilson Campaign Moves into Lala Land Territory

By almost all accounts, Repub incumbent Rep. Heather Wilson's campaign against Dem challenger Patricia Madrid in NM-01 has been mostly dismal, destructive and dysfunctional -- taking the big bucks from oil, gas and pharmaceutical companies, as well as PAC's and other funds controlled by the likes of the disgraced Tom DeLay, Mark Foley, Duke Cunningham and various other icons of Beltway crime -- and using it to carry out the dark and dirty strategies of Karl Rove and his ilk.

Poison Pieces in Our Mailboxes
For me personally, a new low was achieved with the recent mailings I got from the Wilson campaign (sent even to loyal Dems it seems). They suggest, in true Rovian fashion, that Patricia Madrid wants all child molesters and heroin addicts back on the street. Who knew? The paid rodents who created these postal attack pieces had to dig hard through Madrid's long career as an attorney, judge and attorney general to find a couple cases where, due to legalities and decisions beyond her control, a couple people received probation etc.

Oh, woooooooo! Look into the files of anyone long active in the justice or law enforcement fields and you'll find similar examples. If this is the best the Wilson campaign can do, I have to say I'm disappointed in the much touted wiles of Rove et al. After all, this is the man who pretty much created modern-era direct mail campaigning of the politically poisonous variety. When he and his imitators are grasping at straws like these, you know it's bad.

Rahm Emanuel on the Page Scandal Hot Seat?
But wait -- something even more smelly emerged today from the Wilson campaign. Turns out DCCC chair Rep. Rahm Emanuel was in Albuquerque yesterday meeting with the Madrid campaign and attending a private fundraiser. Big whoop, right? Especially since almost all fundraising visits from prominent Repubs for Wilson have been private affairs, including a recent visit from the sleaze man himself - Karl Rove. But noooooo. Wilson's staffers took this opportunity to claim that Emanuel didn't want to talk to the media because he didn't want to answer questions about Foley and the page scandal. Again, who knew? Quote from article in the Albuquerque Journal:

The no-press-invited luncheon from the head of the group responsible for anti-Republican attack ads around the country had the campaign of Republican Rep. Heather Wilson breathing fire: They suggested that Emanuel, a U.S. House member from Illinois, made no public appearances in order to dodge questions about the congressional page scandal and other issues.

Paging Heather Wilson
I have to admit Wilson's bunch has nerve, if not much else this campaign season. Think of the ironies: Wilson served on the Congressional Page Board from 2001-2004 and yet, to this day, she claims she had no idea that underage pages and ex-pages were being sexually pursued during that period by Rep. Mark Foley. This, despite Foley being a prominent member of the Republican caucus and the Republican leadership team, and the person who headed their child protection legislative efforts. Wilson has repeatedly claimed that the Page Board is nothing more than an informal group that deals only with trifles like scheduling and other minor administrative details. The reality? The House Page Board was created in 1982 "to ensure that the Page program is conducted in a manner that is consistent with the efficient functioning of the House and welfare of the Pages." Oops.

Rove, Rove, Go Away
Of course this tactic is right out of the Rove play book -- when you're tainted by something, accuse your opponents of that very thing. In the psych books they call that "projection," and it's been used over and over again by Rove and his minions to wrongfully smear Dems. Think about the Swiftboating of war hero John Kerry in response to revelations about the military service shortcomings of George and his boys. Think about the attack on the patriotism of ex-Sen. Max Cleland, who lost most of his limbs in Viet Nam, in response to the unprincipled and cowardly reputation of Saxby Chambliss. I'm sure you can think of your own examples.

And now this -- a Democrat being accused by Republicans of avoiding questions about the Foleygate scandal when right in our midst is the real thing -- Heather Wilson. The same Heather Wilson who served on the Page Board while the harrassment was ongoing and complaints were bubbling up all over. The same Heather Wilson who, mercy me, just had no idea anything out of the ordinary was going on!

Just how low will the Wilson campaign go in its quickening spiral into the depths of Lala Land? I'd guess it'll be pretty darned low as we tick down the hours to election day 2006. Be forewarned.