On the Bill O'Reilly Show tonight, there was a segment on Rep. Robert Wexler (D-[allegedly] 19). Wexler's Republican opponent Edward Lynch did some research and discovered the Democrat is fulfilling his residency requirement by residing at his mother-in-law's home, one in what The Palm Beach Post describes as a "55-and-older-community." His wife and children live in Rockville, MD. where the kids attend a Jewish Day School.
The Fox News reporter did the job right, asking hard questions and catching the congressman off guard as he headed for his car, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. The congressman was tongue-tied, apparently unable to recover from the unexpected barrage of questions about his residency.
Wexler has been touring with his new book, 'Fire Breathing Liberal.' He's done talk shows and author events, and The Daily Pulp blog says it was actually Wexler's book that raised the residency issue. The blog noted: On P. 52 he states, “While many members don’t bring their families with them to Washington, choosing instead to fly home each weekend, Laurie and I decided it would work best for our family if our three young children attended school in the Washington area.” It was that statement the caused this candidate to look further into Rep. Wexler’s past.
There's another issue in this scoop as well, one with an elitist motif. Like many congressmen, Wexler's children apparently attend private school. Many Democrats criticize the use of school vouchers for children who are stuck in failing public schools, but whose parents cannot afford a private school.
Wexler's dilemma and what promises to be a lively race in District 16 suggest the GOP may have a solid chance at recovering those seats in Congress. Wexler probably didn't expect that fire breathing to affect his seat, both literally and figuratively.
Just a reminder about adding state tags, folks.
Moe Lane July 23rd, 2008 at 12:01 a.m. CDT (link)
Typing the State name out in full in categories will put them in under the Get Local drop-down. Also, adding the State-District will help people looking for information on specific races. Lastly: it never hurts to give a GOP candidate's website.
Edward Lynch certainly wouldn't mind it, particularly if a link to his donation page was included.
Here endeth my last nag of the night. :)
Moe Lane
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC.I've been usurped!I saw the segment.
Flagstaff July 23rd, 2008 at 1:19 a.m. CDT (link)
As much as I dislike Wexler, it seems to me that his situation is only a shade worse than what the others all do more or less out of necessity. He's just more of a cheapskate than most.
There is no Constitutional requirement for politicians to return to their electing district or state any minimum number of times while they're in office. They just have to be residents of that area when running for office.
This was a charge leveled unsuccessfully against Rick Renzi (my accused Congressman) every time he ran for office here. Am I wrong in believing that the individual state (Florida, Arizona) sets its own residency tests for its politicians?
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Responses to responses
KBDay July 23rd, 2008 at 8:58 a.m. CDT (link)
Moe, I really appreciate your giving me the scoop on tags and such. I'll put your advice to good use--I went in last night and edited 'Florida' in after I realized I missed it. So nag away especially if you're sharing good info with me!
Flag, I don't know about Florida setting the res requires. But it seems to me Wexler's situation really stands out--he lives in a retirement community and I wonder if his immediates ever lived here at all. Time will tell and thanks for feedback!
best, Kay
No worries, KBDay.
Moe Lane July 23rd, 2008 at 9:15 a.m. CDT (link)
It's a new feature for RS, and one that we really want to work with: after all, all you folks are in excellent positions to drill down on your own local races, so why not?
Let me also note that we care about State legislative races. County-level races. Heck, if people are involved in a town election and it's a GOP/Democratic thing, write something. Somebody here will read it. :)
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC.I've been usurped!In case you forgot
mbauer July 23rd, 2008 at 11:59 a.m. CDT (link)
This is the wacko that was on the Colbert Report saying something to the extent of "I love doing cocaine."
I'd make a you tube link if I had sound here and could actually assure I was getting the right video.
Mbauer, there's a vid at YouTube.
KBDay July 23rd, 2008 at 12:08 p.m. CDT (link)
A couple of them actually. Colbert goaded Wexler into doing that and it's really funny. But the congressman did it all in jest. I did a story at my Florida blog with part of the clip-Fox aired an interview with Wexler about his new book. But the whole clips are at YT.