Last night, I got another email from the Obama campaign, this time from David Plouffe. Here’s the content of Mr. Plouffe’s email:

Gary –

The McCain campaign has finally admitted that this election is about change.

Their new ad uses what news organizations are calling “naked lies” to reinvent two politicians whose records embody the same culture of corruption and far-right policies we’ve seen from the Bush administration.

The biggest whopper in the ad (that’s still being repeated day after day by McCain and Palin on the campaign trail) is that Governor Palin stopped the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere”; in fact, she supported it, and even hired a lobbyist in Washington to get more pork-barrel projects like it.

If the McCain-Palin campaign wants to have a debate about who is prepared to bring the change we need, we’re more than ready.

Before we get into whether the McCain-Palin tick has told some “whoppers”, let’s ask if Plouffe’s boss really is “more than ready” to debate this or any other issue. He’s said that he’s ready to deebate McCain “any time, any place” about a number of things. Thus far, he’s refused to debate “any time, any place.” It’s been more like “under no circumstances, at no place.”

There’s a major problem with Mr. Plouffe’s statement that “The biggest whopper in the ad (that’s still being repeated day after day by McCain and Palin on the campaign trail) is that Governor Palin stopped the infamous ‘Bridge to Nowhere.’” Here’s what CNNMoney reported last year:

Gov. Sarah Palin said Friday the project was $329 million short of full funding.

“We will continue to look for options for Ketchikan to allow better access to the island,” the Republican governor said. “The concentration is not going to be on a $400 million bridge.” Palin directed state transportation officials to find the most “fiscally responsible” alternative for access to the airport. She said the best option would be to upgrade the ferry system.

That sounds like Gov. Palin stopped the earmark in its tracks. This reporting ends the discussion on whether she stopped the Bridge to Nowhere. That isn’t “the biggest whopper in the ad”; it’s the irrefutable truth. How dare Mr. Plouffe state that McCain-Palin is telling whoppers when they’re telling the truth.

Thankfully, Jim DeMint has entered the fray in this WSJ op-ed:

In politics, words are cheap. What really counts are actions. Democrats and Republicans have talked about fiscal responsibility for years. In reality, both parties have a shameful record of wasting hundreds of billions of tax dollars on pork-barrel projects.

My Senate colleague Barack Obama is now attacking Gov. Sarah Palin over earmarks. Having worked with both John McCain and Mr. Obama on earmarks, and as a recovering earmarker myself, I can tell you that Mrs. Palin’s leadership and record of reform stands well above that of Mr. Obama.

Let’s compare.

Mrs. Palin used her veto pen to slash more local projects than any other governor in the state’s history. She cut nearly 10% of Alaska’s budget this year, saving state residents $268 million. This included vetoing a $30,000 van for Campfire USA and $200,000 for a tennis court irrigation system. She succinctly justified these cuts by saying they were “not a state responsibility.”

Meanwhile in Washington, Mr. Obama voted for numerous wasteful earmarks last year, including: $12 million for bicycle paths, $450,000 for the International Peace Museum, $500,000 for a baseball stadium and $392,000 for a visitor’s center in Louisiana.

Mrs. Palin cut Alaska’s federal earmark requests in half last year, one of the strongest moves against earmarks by any governor. It took real leadership to buck Alaska’s decades-long earmark addiction.

Mr. Obama delivered over $100 million in earmarks to Illinois last year and has requested nearly a billion dollars in pet projects since 2005. His running mate, Joe Biden, is still indulging in earmarks, securing over $90 million worth this year.

This sounds like a pretty strong, though not perfect, record on earmarks. If Team Barry is foolish enough to continue attacking on this front, then they’ll get slapped around. This isn’t a winning issue. This won’t move voters into the Obama-Biden column.

These types of attacks have highlighted Obama’s outrage. That isn’t the image that’ll win presidential elections.

Technorati Tags: Obama, David Plouffe, Earmarks, Fundraising, John McCain, Sarah Palin, Vetoes, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

1. That infamous “Bridge to Nowhere” that she was for before she was against it: Are Obama and Biden still for it, since they both voted for it twice (and never against it)? Methinks the two donks love the smell of pork.

   Comment by Carlos — September 13, 2008 @ 3:42 pm