Topeka — The Kansas Republican Party slammed Democrats for sending out campaign mailers in two legislative races that falsely state two GOP legislators voted for a bill when they voted against it. Democrats said they made a mistake and issued an apology on Friday.
The mailers cited votes in favor of the state budget bill in 2011, which included record school cuts. But the two legislators — Jana Goodman of Leavenworth and Joseph Scapa of Wichita — voted against that specific bill. Earlier in the 2011 session, Goodman and Scapa voted for a bill that would have cut schools even more.
"Despite having internal protocols to ensure that misstatements of facts such as these do not occur, the KDP failed to catch this," said Kansas Democratic Party Chairwoman Joan Wagnon. "We will offer our apology publicly and are issuing this release to set the voting records of Reps. Scapa and Goodman straight," she said.
Kansas Republican Party Executive Director Clay Barker criticized the state Democratic Party.
"Spin and opinions are one thing, but flat out lying about a Representative's past votes on a specific bill is contemptible and smacks of desperation." said Barker.
Wagnon said that when the mistake was discovered she immediately called Goodman and Scapa to apologize.
Goodman faces Democrat Melanie Meier and Scapa faces Democrat Patricia Sloop in the Nov. 6 election.
Comments
kusp8 6 months, 4 weeks ago
Wait.....you can't just apologize. That's not what we do in politics. First you have to deny you sent out the mailers. Second you have to acknowledge you may sent out the mailers but haven't seen them so you can't comment. Third on a Friday afternoon, closer to 3 or 4 PM, release a half-hearted apology the mailers were inaccurate whilst also slamming the Republicans for something else, hence it evens out.
Sarcasm.
Mike1949 6 months, 4 weeks ago
The Republicans want Democrats to recant? What a joke! Lets not even get started what the Republicans have lied about? I don't have enough room on this forum!
OonlyBonly 6 months, 3 weeks ago
But very close to "truth."
fred_mertz 6 months, 4 weeks ago
What good does an apology do? The right thing to do would be to send out a mailer asap correcting the mistake.
jafs 6 months, 4 weeks ago
Did you see the info in the article that the two in question had voted for a bill which would have cut even more funding previously?
fred_mertz 6 months, 3 weeks ago
jafs, what does that have to do with the false information in the mailer? Nothing.
jafs 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Absolutely everything.
They got the particular vote wrong, but the two in question did in fact vote to cut funding for education.
So, they got a detail wrong, but their main point is correct, that the two voted to cut education funding.
fred_mertz 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Then the mailer should have said that. Be kind of like sending out a mailer saying Obama opposes same sex marriage. He did say it once, but that is not his current position.
These candidates voted for a bill that did not pass and then voted against a similar bill. Perhaps their position changed. Shouldn't the mailer be accurate and reflect their current position?
Or is it okay to send out mailers that contain false information?
jafs 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Sure it should.
It was a mistake, and they apologized for it.
That's a good point/question - why would they vote for a larger cut and then not for a smaller one? Perhaps it wasn't a large enough cut for them? Or perhaps their positions changed.
But, generally speaking, in KS D support funding for education, and R want to cut it.
OonlyBonly 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Doesn't matter. They did vote AGAINST the referenced bill. Apparently the previous bill didn't make it through the process. It's a non-entity except to someone grasping for something to hang on the Republicans...
Kathy Getto 6 months, 3 weeks ago
@ Fred: So you agree the Chamber of Commerce should send out mailers to correct the lies they have mailed?
fred_mertz 6 months, 3 weeks ago
I haven't read the story on the Chamber, but if they did indeed send false info then yes, of course, they should correct their error in the same way.
Kathy, something you should know about me, I don't have double standards. One set of principles that apply to everyone.
So let me ask you, if you send out information with false information, do you agree that the right thing to do is to send out a follow up correcting it?
costello 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Kan. Chamber inflates joblessness in Dem attack mailer Chamber's PAC claims 154K unemployed; actual number 87K
http://cjonline.com/news/state/2012-10-26/kan-chamber-inflates-joblessness-dem-attack-mailer?page=1
fred_mertz 6 months, 3 weeks ago
False information, regardless of who sends it, should be corrected as soon as the responsible party knows it was false.
Kathy Getto 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Yes, that fits my set of ethics, fred, but that is not what we are dealing with here. You have to separate your sense of doing the right thing from what is truly happening. I suggest you read about the mighty chamber.
fred_mertz 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Kathy, my response above is in reference to the Chamber.
I don't understand your comment about separating doing what is right from what is happening. Shouldn't doing the right thing always be the thing to do?
Kathy Getto 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Of course, and I think you understand perfectly the difference between personal ethics and political ethics. We expect polititians to lie....what does that say about us? As a society, we are lazy and uninformed, accepting lies out of convenience or just plain ignorance. We have accepted this type of leadership for too long.
fred_mertz 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Kathy, I do not support political lies and I do not expect politicans to lie nor do I condone it.
If you compromise your personal ethics then you really have no ethics at all. I don't condone the actions of the chamber and while I know politicians lie, I actually expect better from the Democrat party in Kansas. Without ethics, they are no better than the Chamber and the GOP.
Kathy Getto 6 months, 3 weeks ago
How in the world do you vote, fred? You are not being totally honest here. -:)
fred_mertz 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Tell me what lies Gary Johnson, libertarian candidate, has told.
And, what did I write above do you think is a lie?
Kathy Getto 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Here are a few on Johnson. Not really worth my time researching since he will only assist in Obama's reelection. http://www.fedupusa.org/2012/09/why-do-we-have-such-crappy-political-choices/
Your insistence Johnson is as pure as the driven snow is dishonest.
fred_mertz 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Kathy, putting words in my mouth doesn't make you right and certainly doesn't make me dishonest.
I never said Johnson was as pure as the driven snow and some partisan 3rd rate blog doesn't make him a liar.
Just because you pick and choose when to have integrity doesn't mean everyone else does.
consumer1 6 months, 4 weeks ago
LJW you truley are a left wing rag.
Agnostick 6 months, 4 weeks ago
...and that fact alone keeps your eyeballs glued to the screen, 22 hours a day...!
beatrice 6 months, 2 weeks ago
Well, except for regular editorials that call Obama everything short of the anti-Christ, and that whole endorsing of Romney, and McCain before him, and Bush, and Bush before that and ...
Wait a second ...
The accusations of a "left-wing mainstream media" are largely false.
snap_pop_no_crackle 6 months, 4 weeks ago
The Chicago Way is spreading.
OonlyBonly 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Of course the electronic machines in Florida and North Carolina that vote Democrat even when Republican is pressed don't matter? Nor the videos of Democratic Party representatives condoling or supporting multiple votes by one individual just nothing at all. A simple slip-up........ Or Panetta not implementing a law (2 years old) stating the Military must set up voter assistance locations at overseas non-combat bases........ How many more do you want?
Agnostick 6 months, 4 weeks ago
Here's a good look at the "Republican" way of doing things, courtesy of snap_pop_no_crackle.
First off... decide which candidate you really want to slander. Dig up some obscene, unverifiable tidbit of gossip on the internet. (If you have connections in the spam/credit card fraud/internet fraud underworld, they might come in handy.) Get a bunch of postcards printed up. Hire a couple of local yokels with about 2.9 brain cells between them to do all the dirty work. Let the yokels twiddle their thumbs and go for a ride through the local media sluice bucket:
"Printer connects local man to controversial Schauner postcard"
"Plumber linked to campaign postcard"
Now, once the yokels have been put through the wringer, you have some time...
"Election postcard still being investigated"
... and if you play your cards right... by the time the truth comes out... nobody will much care anymore.
"Campaign finance reports reveal postcard’s backer" http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2006/jan/12/campaign_finance_reports_reveal_postcards_backer/?politics
"Charges not likely in political postcard"
Sure, they found out who financed the card... but which yokel actually put the cards in the mail ?? Since they can't pinpoint which one--or even both--Tweedledee and Tweedledum get another round of sour mash and corn squeezin's.
Behold the Ram In Nylon!!
classclown 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Agnostic it almost looks as if you're fingering Chad Lawhorn as he seems to be the common denominator in all of those.
situveux1 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Look at the lack of comments... move along folks, nothing to see here...
Katara 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Well, this is refreshing to see an actual apology. None of this "I'm sorry you're mad at me" crap that somehow passes for an apology lately.
Centerville 6 months, 3 weeks ago
If they don't send out a correction mailer with proof that it's going to the original mailing list, then it's obvious that this was intentional. I can't believe Rothschild is giving Wagnon a pass on this....Just kidding, of course she wrote the article for him.
jafs 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Look at the article.
Although they were wrong about this particular bill, the politicians in question did in fact vote to cut education funding, which was the point of the mailer.
It was a small error, but their main point is still correct.
Don't miss the forest for the trees, please.
Armstrong 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Kind of let down here Rothy. If R's had done this your article would have been 3 times as long and the conspiracy theories would be off the chart. Oh well at least you put it in print, changing your political view maybe ?
Kathy Getto 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Oh dear, don't you know, the GOP of today would never admit they made a mistake.
tomatogrower 6 months, 3 weeks ago
"The mailers cited votes in favor of the state budget bill in 2011, which included record school cuts. But the two legislators — Jana Goodman of Leavenworth and Joseph Scapa of Wichita — voted against that specific bill. Earlier in the 2011 session, Goodman and Scapa voted for a bill that would have cut schools even more."
So earlier in the session they wanted to cut schools funding even more, so they voted against the bill that didn't cut school funding enough?
OonlyBonly 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Once again, the previous bill and votes are a non-issue in this case. We don't know anything about the previous bill - perhaps it was killed, died in committee, didn't pass, etc. What does matter is the bill they voted against was incorrectly listed as them voting for. LiberalThink SMH!
Centerville 6 months, 3 weeks ago
His client base is going to be a lot smaller come January. Thankfully.
Armstrong 6 months, 3 weeks ago
You are under the assumption most of Kansas shares your views. I can assure you liberal views are with out doubt in the minorty ( a very small minority ) of Kansas voters. Get outside Larryville once and a while you will see how out of touch the Larryville "elite" really are.
auntmimi210 6 months, 3 weeks ago
One mailer I received that I questioned was also from the Dem party, against Anthony Brown. It says Brown "wants to privatize our state's Medicaid system, turning Medicaid into a voucher system. With Brown's plan, our seniors will pay more for Medicaid, get less, and risk their security in their later years". .... Shouldn't that be MediCARE? Except for what's called a spend-down (kind of like a deductible), to my knowledge no one "pays" for their Medicaid coverage. It's a needs-based medical assistance program. Medicare, on the other hand, last I knew, is only available to people over 65 (62?) and those who have been disabled at least 18 months. ... So am I missing something, or is that mailer incorrect also?
Katara 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Medicaid is not free. There are still co-pays and prescription drug costs depending on your income.
Centerville 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Of course the Democrats are frantic to help Holland and will do anything, even send a mailer saying that senior citizens are stupid. He is the only politician left on their bench. The great Sibileus legacy has come to this.
bearded_gnome 6 months, 3 weeks ago
the disreputable and unacredited KCMO school district with its massive per student expenditure rate proves that just throwing more money at schools doesn't work.
cutting funds to schools is not anti school or anti ed.
KNUCKLEDRAGGER 6 months, 2 weeks ago
Asking for an apology is laughable coming from the KS GOP. Look at the lies, Bold Faced, Flat out Lies coming from the KS Chamber, Americans for Prosperity - All working in lockstep together with the Gov and the State Party .
They ran off their own moderate GOP members with lies , What makes you think they will hold back on the poor Democrats ?
A power grab folks
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