Young's open letter to Sodrel

In a recent mailing, Sodrel corrected Young on some things-- and here, Young replies with some clarification...


Dear Mike:

I see that you are sending out letters to 9th District voters asserting that I am lying about your record in Congress. Since my character is now at issue, I believe a response is in order.

You are correct that I was wrong when I publicly stated you had voted for almost 14,000 wasteful earmarks in 2005. I had my volunteer staff go back and recheck all our research and they discovered that they had been a bit too overzealous in their initial analysis of your voting record. The correct number of wasteful earmarks you voted for is 12,621 over your two years in Congress. Again, I apologize for my exaggerated statement. I should have been more precise.

You are also correct that I was wrong when I stated the deficit had gone up under your watch as a result of spending bills you voted for. I misspoke. I was referring to the national debt, which did indeed go up as a result of the spending bills you voted for.

The Office of Management and Budget's official statement of revenues, expenditures and debt shows that $776.7 billion was added to the national debt during fiscal '06 and '07 - again as a direct result of the spending bills you voted for.

Surely you would not dispute that our children and grandchildren will ultimately be forced to pay off that debt with their hard-earned tax dollars.

These are the facts that I believe 9th Congressional District voters should consider as they weigh a decision on which of us might be better prepared to find ways to cut wasteful government spending and bring down the debt without massive tax increases.

Finally, I have one favor to ask. I have received several reports from people contacted by a telephone polling firm that you are using. The pollsters are telling callers that I have lied about my military service - that I didn't really serve 10 years.

Would you please inform your pollsters that they are wrong. I served five years as a Marine Corps officer, four years as a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy and one year as an enlisted sailor in the United State Navy. That's 10 years. That's not a lie.

One thing I learned in the service is the importance of being honest. In the heat of the battle, I made a couple of statements that could have been more accurate. I have corrected the record.

I would ask that you do the same with your pollster, and we'll move on with no hard feelings.

Sincerely,
Todd Young

Sodrel continues to make lame excuses for his voting record. In a word, his problem is that Young can "correct the record" and Hankins can avoid misstatements. But Sodrel cannot correct his voting record without apology and repentance-- which is apparently not going to happen.

Moreover, Sodrel continues to get all chippy with it, apparently even at a Lincoln Day Dinner. I've been told two things that I cannot verify: 1.) Sodrel heavily criticized Young at the Floyd Co. LDD; and 2.) this is not within the decorum for such events. Can anyone confirm either or both of these two points?

UPDATE: I got a call, telling me it was the Clark Co. LDD-- not the Floyd Co. LDD. The caller also claimed physical threats were made against him.

It's interesting that Sodrel has responded to these attacks at all-- and it's interesting that Sodrel seems to be engaging in push polling and attacks through a poll (can anyone verify Young's claim?)-- indicating as well that the race is too close for comfort or Sodrel's trailing. (It'll be interesting to see if those polling results are released!)

UPDATE: Lesley Stedman Weidenbener wrote an article in Sunday's C-J about this.

Meanwhile, Hankins largely stays out of the fray and continues to work his strategy. The funniest part of this is that Travis has a passion which is not totally consistent with the stereotypical picture of a "statesman". But in the squabble between Young and Sodrel, Hankins certainly looks the part.