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Rep. Phil Hare is Starting to Panic

By: Brian Faughnan (Diary)  |  September 2nd, 2010 at 06:00 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

A few months ago, Congressman Phil Hare (D-IL) was an obscure backbench Democrat in a safe House seat, in the president’s home state. With each passing day, however, it becomes clearer and clearer that his big government voting record and apathy toward the Constitution has led to a real race.

First Congressman Hare was caught on video confusing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and saying the Constitution ‘doesn’t matter to me.’ Then he calls questions about the Constitution ‘silly stuff.’ He had already earned an ‘F’ on the Liberty Central legislative scorecard. And now comes word that he has filed an FEC complaint against a group of veterans:

“The collusion between Bobby Schilling and ‘Veterans for the Constitution’ is not only unethical, it’s illegal,” Moody said in a statement…

In the news release announcing the complaint, [Rep.] Hare said Schilling should “emerge from the shadows and demonstrate the courage to challenge me directly.”

Schilling and the veterans group denied wrongdoing.

Bill Albracht, treasurer of Veterans for the Constitution, said the complaint is a sign it’s having an effect.

“We have taken the fight to Hare, and I see this as retaliation and intimidation,” he said.

The group Hare is targeting has raised just $6,000.

Furthermore, I’m told by a source on the ground that Congressman Hare’s supporters have prodded the City of Canton, Illinois, to try to force  Schilling’s supporters to remove a legal billboard that highlights the importance of the Constitution – Hare’s statements notwithstanding. Hare is apparently nervous enough about his race to resort to attacking groups whose resources are so limited -a few thousand dollars here, a billboard there – that they have negligible influence. At least, they had negligible influence – until Congressman Hare elevated them.

As Jim Geraghty has pointed out, at least one poll shows Hare trailing his Republican challenger by a margin of 45%-32%. Hare’s panicky reactions to these small groups suggests that poll may be right. After all, a confident incumbent would have shrugged off this opposition. Instead, Hare has given them more attention than they ever could have gotten for their $6,000, and he’s done so in a way that makes him appear vindictive and petty.

Cross-posted to Liberty Central

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COMMENTS

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  • mosander

    I saw that video of that idiot calling the Constitution “silly stuff”. I have also seen the Department of Homeland Security calling Constitutionalists terrorists. Well, it is the law of the land and even though Barry is breaking it with impunity, we will win this. How do I know? If he can’t secure the border of one state, how can he hope to win against most of the country that still have their brains?

  • http://www.foundersquotes.com Ed

    He (and THEY) just don’t get it. The great majority of the American people hold the Constitution very near and dear to their hearts. Disparaging or belittling remarks about the Constitution are pure political suicide, in almost any area of the country.

    • zuckey6

      This is on ot the many who deserve to lose for varing reasons. Other for defeat of other menbers include voting for Obamacare and te Wall Street Reform.

      • http://www.helpawhiteguy.com livefreenh

        that there will be a Dems post-game where they sit and analyze why, oh why, they lost so many seats. This, while everyone else in the country is instead continuing to expend their energies towards making America an even better place to live and raise a family. They will be the ones who will insist on keeping the ‘we-vs-them” model. It doesn’t have to be that way, but for some reason, they need to be different. So sad.

  • merryj1

    Hare IS vindictive and petty. His complaint against the Veterans For the Constitution is pretty much the type of “Gotcha” play that would make a village idiot think he (or she) was being slick. Here’s the gist of it:

    The Veterans for the Constitution is a small group of (apparently) politically-newbie vets who first adopted the name “Veterans for Schilling.” Bobby Schilling is Hare’s opponent for the Illinois 17th District congressional seat (judging only from his web site, he looks and sounds like a good, solid conservative candidate).

    The Veterans group, with help from neighbors and some local women, ran a fund-raising lasagne dinner which raised enough money (about $1,300 and change) to purchase bill-board space for a Schilling ad. The ad included the required disclosure of “Paid for by Veterans for Schilling,” but did not include required contact information nor a disclaimer indicating the Schilling campaign was not connected to the Veterans group (McCain-Feingold prohibits coordination or collaboration between a campaign and Party or independent organizations).

    Hare’s complaint to the FCC demands investigations ‘to determine who contributed and if any donations exceeded legal limits (unlikely, since the total collected is less than the annual limit per individual), and financial penalties in excess of all monies collected both before and after the name-change to Veterans for the Constitution.

  • RedBeard

    The shotgun, when you’re holding it correctly, will have the wooden bit against your shoulder and the pointy end directed away from you. Just thought you could use the tip.

    • itrytobenice

      5 to infinity.

    • GCBWI

      remind RedBeard that you’re not supposed to interrupt your opponent when he’s making a mistake.

      But the cooment IS funny…

  • http://hillbillypolitics.com Steph C

    or maybe the option to choose both. He’s either suicidal or stupid or both of them simultaneously.

    Either way, he’s proving the old adage: If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

  • renny

    I’m not sure little o doesn’t fall into that category, for if someone was a brilliant student and all-’round scholar, one would think he would brag about his school records.

    But we have now had pol. people who have declare that more troops on Guam would tip the island (I don’t think it’s a metaphor), “The black caucus is hounded by racists,” “The CIA lied to me,” the Constitution doesn’t matter, “This is the summer of recovery,” stimulus funds helped AZ’ 59th district,” and little o’s famous 57 states and the US is the largest Muslim nation in the world.

  • Next93

    Has anyone noticed that the left is no longer even trying to counter arguments from the right, but rather looking for ways to shut down dissent? I could go into a number of recent examples, but the bottom line is that the left no longer feels that it needs to actually support its positions, and instead feels that it only needs to make people stop disagreeing.

    Now, where have I heard that sort of behavior before? Oh, YEAH – ever other socialist/communist/authoritarian dictatorship in history.

    I don’t know if it’s arrogance, desperation, or groupthink, but when even Woody Allen thinks it would be ok to give the president (or, to be more precise, THIS president) “a little dictatorial power”, something has REALLY gotten out of hand. It’s starting to look like not only is this not the Democratic party of my father, it’s not even the hippie movement of my youth. These guys have blown right past Trotsky and are well into the early stages of Stalinism.

  • http://theminorityreportblog.com Repair_Man_Jack
  • IJB

    Hare was apparently elected in 2006, which makes him a ‘second-term’ or “sophomore” Congressman.

    But, yeah – I think he’s toast. It’ll be one of those election results that’ll catch Cook and Rothenberg off-guard…

    • The_Gadfly

      RedState is now a sufficiently important player there have to be people watching it so they don’t get caught completely off guard on things they’ve missed.

    • merryj1

      Phil Hare, a former union boss, was also a long-time aide to and district director for Rep. Lane Evans, who he replaced when Evans retired. He was “next to” his present (Evans’) congressional seat since about 1976.

  • ltnowis

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IL17_109.gif

    • acat

      After the 2010 census the map gets re-drawn.. and since Illinois is likely to lose Reps .. the Combine will be all in to make sure they hold onto what’s left…

      Mew

      • IJB

        …That looks like the current IL district map. “Geographically compact” they ain’t!
        (And ditto Corbett in PA…)

        Luckily, as a downstate guy who’s in no way beholden to The Combine, I doubt Brady has any incentive to play along with their asinine corrupt games… :)

        • acat

          First, that there’s enough cross-overs from Brady voters to put Kirk over the top.

          Second, that there’s enough cross-overs from Kirk voters to put Brady over the top. That’s the trickier ones – Kirk supporters are liberal repubs and literally find Brady “frightening”…. as opposed to what’s going to happen to Illinois taxes, fees, and jobs under a second Quinn term… go figure.

          Beyond that, I hope he follows the rules achance has outlined for an incoming administration. Fire everyone you can fire, and then some. This is the political equivalent of a marine drill instructor getting the recruits’ attention…and is just what Illinois pols need – to be on notice that business as usual has ended.

          Mew

          • merryj1

            Kirk’s Congressional District is very liberal, the apparent reason he voted for Cap & Tax, but he started walking that back and moving to the center-almostRight when he began lining up ducks for a Senate run. Yet his creds seem to be acceptable to at least some of the teacher’s (and other) union leadership & they’re beyond disillusioned with his opponent. That might not translate to a straight-ticket R vote from the leadership, but the membership could be a different story.

  • tomato

    Should be YouTube worthy. Ironic, the same Constitution he belittles is same code of laws that opens the door to his exit.

  • davesinsanantonio

    he is vindictive and petty. No person should be elected to anything in this country who holds the Constitution in such contempt. He is giving the voters in his district the opportunity to rectify their mistake.