Monday, October 27, 2008

True Colors

You can tell it's the end of October: the leaves are turning, the days are getting shorter, the frost is on the pumpkin...

... and Mike Rogers is going negative.

Coming soon: the argument that Mike has nothing to do with the recent slimefest mailers going out around the 8th CD, since the mailers were paid for by the (rather nervous!) MI Republican Party rather than the Rogers campaign.

But at the end of the day, long-time incumbents -- especially those with strong ties to the state party apparatus -- know exactly how things work. If Rogers was serious about keeping his campaign on the high road, you can bet he would have communicated this to the MI GOP.

This is just another example of how Mr. Rogers is happy to let others do his dirty work. Last week, we learned about the negative push polling from the "Victory Center" where Rogers' campaign is based; a month ago we were treated to the spectacle of questionably legal pro-Rogers signage in Genoa Township.

Way to demonstrate your ethics and leadership, Mr. Rogers!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Where's Mike?

With the election just around the corner, it's no surprise that Mike Rogers is in the news for his usual blend of evasion and ignoring the voters.

In the "Ignoring the Voters Category," Mr. Rogers broke new ground this week -- he didn't bother to show up at a well-attended candidate forum in Lansing last week.

"People need to hear what the candidates have to say, they need to ask the questions so that they know what the candidate's positions are and the things that personally concern them," Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings says.

[snip] there were also other questions the crowd had for candidates who didn't show up like Congressman Mike Rogers (emphasis added)

Moving right along to "Evasion Expertise," Livingston County radio station WHMI reports that Rogers challenger Bob Alexander is concerned about fake polling calls circulating in the district.

Democrat Bob Alexander of Lansing says voters have been receiving calls from various organizations that claim to be conducting polls. According to recipients, the poll asks questions to establish their party preference, but soon moves directly to a question which, he says, are false allegations. Alexander says the calls are calculated to be inflammatory and in some cases, factually inaccurate. He alleges a call to the Rogers’ campaign confirmed the polling calls are coming from the “Victory Center”, which houses Rogers’s re-election operations.

The classic response from Rogers' spokeswriter?

The Congressman’s spokeswoman Sylvia Warner tells WHMI that "Congressman Rogers' campaign does not discuss any polls the campaign may or may not be doing.”

Once again, someone else does Mike Rogers' dirty work. Then we're treated to the spectacle of Mr. Rogers being shocked, shocked to find that such dastardly things are going on. Somehow, though, he's never shocked enough to do more than grin, shrug and say that he didn't ask for it to be done.

Golly! This is just the kind of leadership we need to solve our nation's problems, isn't it?