Political Football

5/22 – frankly the Dems screwed up on this one. if this hurts Teahen it hurts Loebsack. Teahen is a rich blank stare in this race. Miller-Meeks is by far the best candidate of the three republican candidates running. Loebsack would be very lucky if Teahen wins. -pf

update at 7pm news from Teahen: Teahen responded that the ad hasn’t been broadcast since April, well before the deadline for such ads.

”We believe we have complied,” with FEC regulations, Teahen said.

eh, vote for Miller-Meeks anyway… she’s STILL the better candidate by a country mile.

Another update on 5/23 -

Link now this link takes you to an interesting story. but THIS STORY is even better. I’ve heard a little about Peter’s need for the spotlight and it will be interesting to see how this story gets investigated. You have to go to these links (above) and read them and take the links inside the stories and read the comments.

There is something fishy that I would like to learn more about – stay tuned. There may be no story with the Dems complaint but the other story is interesting and only partially laid out for us. -pf

CBS 2 NEWS Iowa News

Democrats file complaint against 2nd District GOP candidate

May 22, 2008 14:19 EDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Democrats have filed an ethics complaint against a Republican candidate in eastern Iowa’s 2nd congressional district.

The complaint by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is against Peter Teahen , of Cedar Rapids.

It claims that television commercials for Teahen’s funeral home are thinly disguised campaign spots paid for by corporate money.

The complaint points to an ad featuring Teahen and talking about veterans, the flag, patriotism and “those who sacrificed their lives for the sake of freedom.”

The funeral home, which the complaint says paid for the spots, isn’t mentioned until the closing tag line.

A telephone message left at Teahen’s campaign office seeking comment wasn’t immediately returned.

Teahen is one of three GOP candidates in the June primary.

======================

AP wire story

Thu, 22 May 2008 16:40:02 GMT
Democrats file complaint against 2nd District GOP candidate

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Democrats have filed an ethics complaint against eastern Iowa Republican congressional candidate Peter Teahen.

The complaint filed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee claims that television commercials for the funeral home owned by Teahen are actually thinly disguised campaign spots paid for by corporate money.

”He is running TV ads that are clearly trying to reach voters paid for by corporate funds,” Carries James, a spokeswoman for the campaign commission, said Thursday.

The complaint points to a television commercial featuring Teahen speaking into the camera and talking about veterans, the flag, patriotism and ”those who sacrificed their lives for the sake of freedom.”

”I’m Peter Teahen and I’m proud to be an American,” he says in the spot.

The funeral home, which the complaint states paid for the spots, isn’t mentioned until the closing tag line.

The complaint claims the spots ”feature him and are clearly intended to influence his election.”

A telephone message left at Teahen’s campaign office seeking comment wasn’t immediately returned.

Teahen, of Cedar Rapids, is one of three Republicans seeking the party’s nomination in eastern Iowa’s 2nd District. He is running against Lee Harder and Mariannette Miller-Meeks for the nomination.

The seat is now held by first-term Democratic Rep. Dave Loebsack, a college professor from Mount Vernon who ousted veteran Republican Rep. Jim Leach in the last election.

Republicans face a series of hurdles in their effort to replace Loebsack. In addition to a significant edge in campaign money, Loebsack represents one of Iowa’s most heavily Democratic congressional districts.

State election officials said that as of May 1, there were 155,050 registered Democrats in the district, compared to 100,623 registered Republicans. Another 138,049 voters were registered without declaring a party preference.

(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. In the interest of timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain occasional typographical errors. )

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