Campaign Gains Momentum
Shimkus opponent's campaign gains momentum in wake of page scandal
Danny's getting noticed more, getting more money, and getting much busier - and the Belleville News Democrat seems to be doing a tremendous job of documenting it. Perhaps, being from Belleville, they aren't afraid of angering Rep. Shimkus as much as some of the other area papers. Take a look at this stuff:
hmmm...Shimkus is "very angry." Maybe he could've avoided that anger by acting on the information he was given in an appropriate manner.
I suppose my main issue is this: Isn't Shimkus a former educator? Why is it that something like a grown man requesting a picture of a 16 year old boy didn't raise gigantic, blood-red flags for the Congressman? Why did he not even try to make sure that Foley's relationships with these boys were merely "overly friendly?" How can he continue along now, asserting that he did absolutely nothing wrong? Is he an idiot, or just a bad liar?
Of course, Shimkus's word hasn't been all that trustworthy in the past, either. Remember that term-limit pledge - five terms, made in 1996, and here he is running for a sixth?
There's still a long road ahead, folks, and Shimkus is still sitting on an unspent million. Money is going to decide whether Stover's message of hope is heard at all throughout the district, or whether it gets buried. A scandal brought attention to this race, and it's gotta be issues that win it - and the only way to get the issues out is to spend some real cash. Please consider contributing to the campaign.
We're adding some fresh bloggers to the BlogForStover scene - be on the lookout for new faces and fresh ideas.
Danny's getting noticed more, getting more money, and getting much busier - and the Belleville News Democrat seems to be doing a tremendous job of documenting it. Perhaps, being from Belleville, they aren't afraid of angering Rep. Shimkus as much as some of the other area papers. Take a look at this stuff:
Republicans and Democrats alike have criticized Shimkus, a Republican from Collinsville, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and other House leaders over how they handled the scandal surrounding sexually explicit electronic messages that Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., sent to teenage male pages.
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"I heard the first report while I was in Chicago and the phone started ringing immediately and hasn't stopped since," Stover said. "I think a lot of people are pretty disgusted about what has taken place. We now have a lot of people volunteering to help, I have a dozen phone calls to return when I get back to the office."
Shimkus has said he's "very angry" over accusations that he did not do enough to protect the pages. He said he told Foley privately last fall to stay away from a page he had been e-mailing because the Louisiana teen's parents wanted the matter handled quietly.
hmmm...Shimkus is "very angry." Maybe he could've avoided that anger by acting on the information he was given in an appropriate manner.
I suppose my main issue is this: Isn't Shimkus a former educator? Why is it that something like a grown man requesting a picture of a 16 year old boy didn't raise gigantic, blood-red flags for the Congressman? Why did he not even try to make sure that Foley's relationships with these boys were merely "overly friendly?" How can he continue along now, asserting that he did absolutely nothing wrong? Is he an idiot, or just a bad liar?
Of course, Shimkus's word hasn't been all that trustworthy in the past, either. Remember that term-limit pledge - five terms, made in 1996, and here he is running for a sixth?
There's still a long road ahead, folks, and Shimkus is still sitting on an unspent million. Money is going to decide whether Stover's message of hope is heard at all throughout the district, or whether it gets buried. A scandal brought attention to this race, and it's gotta be issues that win it - and the only way to get the issues out is to spend some real cash. Please consider contributing to the campaign.
We're adding some fresh bloggers to the BlogForStover scene - be on the lookout for new faces and fresh ideas.
