Yesterday the Senate campaign of Texas Rep. Steve Stockman accused me of misrepresenting the blow-off I got when I asked where the candidate would be this week. I published the email exchange and moved on, unaware that the campaign was putting together a fundraising pitch all about the alleged misquote. So, at the risk of alienating even more readers of this space, I have reprinted the email below.
Well, fine, it needs some annotations.
- In the email, “Stockman” (we can’t assume the guy actually writes his fundraising letters) claims (re: me) that “when he asked our campaign for a time to sit down and talk, we told him ‘We’re not interested’ in talking to him.” I posted the original emails between me and the campaign yesterday, which prove that this isn’t true. I never asked for a sit-down with Stockman.
- I’d written that Stockman wasn’t telling local reporters (or me) where/whether he was making campaign appearances. This outraged email doesn’t even contradict that. “As you may have heard,” writes Stockman, “we’re contacting the entire Texas GOP voter list on a daily basis.” Voter contacts? That’s not the same thing as in-person campaigning—that confirms the point I made in the piece. This is a Potemkin campaign, a ruse to separate people from their money in support of a candidate who’s still carrying debt from his 2012 race.
From: “Congressman Steve Stockman” <friends@congressmanstevestockman.com>
Date: February 20, 2014, 3:27:19 PM EST
Subject: FLASH: Media launch anti-Stockman assault
Reply-To: stevestockmanforsenate2014@gmail.com
Dear patriot and supporter,
John Cornyn is panicking.
And now, so are the D.C. press.
A D.C. reporter has gone beserk, attacking our campaign with misleading quotes.
Help us fight the mainstream media. Go here right now to chip in $2500, $1000, $500, $250, $100, $50, $25 or just $5 now.
When he asked our campaign for a time to sit down and talk, we told him “We’re not interested” in talking to him.
So he took that quote and misleading put in it a paragraph to imply “We’re not interested” in speaking to voters.
As you may have heard, we’re contacting the entire Texas GOP voter list on a daily basis.
This same reporter was previously fired by The Washington Post for unethical attacks on conservatives.
If The Washington Post thinks you’re unfair to conservatives, you know you’ve gone too far.
And others in the media are stepping up their anti-Stockman campaign.
They’re panicking because polls are indicating Cornyn may not win the March 4 primary.
If Cornyn loses, they lose their insider access to Senate leadership.
So they’re smearing me to protect their jobs.
Help me fight back, and win.
Just go here right now to chip in $5 or more.
Sincerely,
Congressman Steve Stockman
Conservative Republican for U.S. Senate
P.S. The media are stepping up their anti-Stockman assaults. One reporter even took a quote from us declining an interview and used it to falsely imply we refused to speak to voters. As you know, we’re speaking directly to the entire Texas voter list on a near-daily basis.
The polls show Cornyn may not win, so others in the media are fighting to keep their insider access by smearing me.
Help me fight back.
