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Tue Jan 01, 2008 at 02:16 AM EST
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(With a little more than a month until the Feb. 12 election, the Wynn-Edwards contest should get very interesting very quickly. My sympathies to the 4th District residents likely to be deluged with robocalls like this one from Al Wynn. - promoted by Isaac Smith)
Added 04-Jan-2008: As Isaac Smith has reported, it looks like the endorsement from MSTA/NEA is the real deal. Apparently Mr. Wynn simply jumped the gun in mentioning this in his 31Dec robocall.
It's a disappointment, but not really a surprise given Mr. Wynn's past support for policies advocated by the NEA. Particularly for distressed schools - which PG County has in some quantity - NCLB has been a real burden to teachers, on top of all the other crap they deal with. Having an advocate in Congress who is in the majority party and has some seniority was clearly irresistable. [FWIW, announcement is on Wynn's campaign site, but my quick searches of the MSTA and NEA Websites didn't find anything. Presumably these folks will release statements soon.]
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In anticipation of the Feb.12 Maryland primary, featuring a strong challenge from Donna Edwards, a robocall recorded by Congressman Albert Wynn was left on my answering machine on the afternoon of Mon. 31Dec2007. A transcription of this New Years Eve robocall is provided below the fold.
This call was very similar to the robocall I received two weeks ago from Mr. Wynn's campaign (on 19Dec). One difference in this one is that Mr. Wynn claims endorsement by the Maryland State Teachers Association, the Maryland state affiliate of the National Education Association. Because he has made false claims about endorsements in the past, I went to the Websites of these organizations to attempt verification of Mr. Wynn's claims.
I found no statement of endorsement at either organization's site for Mr. Wynn, but it is possible that they simply haven't been posted yet, perhaps due to limited holiday staffing at these organizations' offices; my research capabilities could also be deficient. If any readers have information on MSTA and/or NEA endorsements for Albert Wynn, please let me know in comments (TIA). The only remotely relevant item I could find via a Google search is Matt Stoller's early November post at Daily Kos on Progressive Maryland's endorsement of Donna Edwards, where one of the listed Board of Directors for PM (Betty Weller) is associated with MSTA (Vice President through mid-2009, according to this MSTA site). It should be noted that Mr. Wynn has done some things in Congress that MSTA/NEA support, so an actual formal endorsement by one or both of these organizations is not inconceivable. However, I was just poking around in His Corporateness' campaign website, where I would have thought such a well funded, resource-rich operation would have posted such important endorsements immediately - even during the holiday - but I also came up empty here. Hmm...
The transcript, and some final comments, are below the fold.
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| MurlandGuy :: Another Albert Wynn robocall to (some of?) his Democratic constituents in MD-04 |
Transcript of 31Dec2007 robocall, recorded by Congressman Albert Wynn, received at my residence in PG County:
Hi, this is Congressman Albert Wynn, and I'd like to wish you and your family a Happy New Year, with good health, happiness, and prosperity in 2008. In the new year, I vow to keep fighting to bring our troops home safely. I've been endorsed by the Maryland State Teachers Association and the National Education Association, because of my commitment to overhauling No Child Left Behind, with fewer tests, more federal money, vocational programs, and anti-dropout programs. For safer neighborhoods, I fought to put fifty thousand more police officers on our nation's streets. I brought back two hundred fifty thousand dollars for programs for ex-offenders, and cosponsored legislation to invest in our youth. One of the major assets I offer is my seniority. For example, I obtained three million to fight gangs, 1.5 billion for construction of the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge, and also got funds for diabetes screening. Again, Happy New Year, and I hope I can count on your support on February twelfth. Thank you.
Two robocalls don't constitute a trend, but it looks like Mr. Wynn is sticking with what he considers his strong points, as well as concentrating on shoring up support in his traditional base in Prince George's County. (On that latter point, I am presuming that he is limiting broadcast of this particular robocall to PG County Democrats, as he apparently did with his 19Dec robocall. If anyone knows otherwise, please let me know in comments.)
Finally, Mr. Wynn's campaign has started to put up more signs. Two signs in particular I've just seen are very well placed, relative to where morning commuters tend to get stuck in traffic - one at the intersection of Bock Rd. and St. Barnabus Rd. (facing city-bound commuters on Bock Rd.), the other at the Bock Rd.-Livingston Rd. intersection, angled so that inbound drivers on both Bock and Livingston can see it during their daily morning stop-n-crawl.
The repetitive robocalls and daily morning reminder signage suggest standard practice aimed at what I believe election campaign pros call "low information voters". Let's do what we can to inform these folks about the importance of making a change in MD-04.
Finally, allow me to join my corporate bagman Congressman in wishing all of you a Happy New Year.
[FYI/FWIW, likely to be cross-posted at OpenLeft and MyDD]
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