Lt Gov Endorsement - Pro-life or Profit ?
Power politics that uses the broken bodies of unborn children to build little mini-feifdoms on makes me want to throw up !
In the rapidly heating up Republican Primary for Lt Governor, Charlie Ross, has recently received the endorsement of Mississippi Right to Life.
Shouldn't be a big deal, right ? Charlie Ross has a solid pro-life record. Of course so does Phil Bryant. In fact Miss. RTL has endorsed both Ross & Bryant in previous elections. So why did RTL not remain neutral.
Could this be the answer ?
According to Right to Life's Barbra Whitehead : "All three candidates are pro-life. That will be on our Web site along with the information on all the other candidates that we sent questionnaires to. Jamie Franks and Charlie Ross both have pro-life voting records for these last four years. Phil Bryant did in the past when he was in the Legislature. All three of them have been endorsed by the PAC. This makes them all equal."
But Whitehead said that Ross got the endorsement because he was the "the best candidate for lieutenant governor from a right-to-life stand point."
Whitehead also confirmed that a key participant in selecting the slate of 396 Mississippi statewide and legislative candidates endorsed by the group and "the real backbone of our organization" is Scott Fischbach.
Whitehead said Fischbach is a member of the board of Mississippi Right to Life. Fischbach is also the leader of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life and lives in Paynesville, Minn. He is the husband of Republican Minnesota state Sen. Michelle Fischbach of Payneville, Minn.
In 2002, Campaigns and Elections Magazine named Fischbach a "rising star" in politics and in 2005 Minnesota Law and Politics dubbed Fischbach and his wife "king and queen of the red" in reference to their GOP influence.
Also in 2001-2002, Fischbach's political consulting firm, Coalition Productions, Inc., of Payneville, Minn., received $22,000 in payments from the Ronnie Shows for Congress campaign in his Democratic congressional race against eventual winner Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering.
Earlier this month, the Ross campaign reported $7,261 in total payments of Fischbach's Coalition Productions, Inc., firm. Ross said he hired Fischbach because "he's worked in the past for Haley Barbour, Amy Tuck, Kirk Fordice and a lot of other successful Republican candidates."
Ross said he was not aware that Fischbach was on the board of Mississippi Right to Life when he hired him prior to getting the group's endorsement.
"I hired him because he gets results and is effective," said Ross. "There was no quid pro quo."
Fischbach concurred in that assessment and said he did not participate in the choice of Ross for the endorsement but that after meeting Ross "I decided I wanted to go with him."
But a March 10, 2007, memo from Fischbach to Bryant paints a different picture. In that memo, which Fischbach confirmed, he said: "This race is going to be decided in the next 120 days and I want to do my part to ensure your victory." Bryant didn't hire him.
Fischbach said that despite his offer to Bryant, his hiring by Ross had nothing to do with Ross getting the endorsement.
Sure. And I've got a bridge to sell you -- LR
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