Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) earned a special place in the annals of odious Senatorial speeches when, on the eve of the Obamacare vote in the Senate in December 2009, he invoked Kristallnacht and lynchings when speaking of opponents of Obamacare:
History cautions us of the excesses to which these malignant, vindictive passions can ultimately lead. Tumbrels have rolled through taunting crowds. Broken glass has sparkled in darkened streets. Strange fruit has hung from Southern trees. Even this great institution of government that we share has cowered before a tail-gunner having secret lists. Those malignant movements rightly earned what Lord Acton called “the undying penalty which history has the power to inflict upon wrong.”
Whitehouse beat the weak Linc Chafee in 2006, but he has low popularity ratings due to his penchant for inflammatory rhetoric. He also is the luckiest investor in America, having cashed out a large portion of his portfolio just before the October 2008 crash.
So I’m glad to see private businessman Barry Hinckley taking the fight to Whitehouse, with ads like the one released today using footage from Whitehouse’s speech at Netroots Nation last weekend:
As you know, I have met Barry and enthusiastically support him. He has a tough race ahead of him as Whitehouse has tons of money.
But Whitehouse doesn’t have a message other than class warfare and personal attacks.
Don’t write this race off. Hinckley has been working hard for a year, meeting people throughout the state, and building a campaign staff and operation. Whitehouse has been able to ignore Hinckley so far. But that will not last.
Let’s see where the polls are in October. This race could be the sleeper of the year. As I said before, Meet the guy who can take down Sheldon Whitehouse.
You can support Hinckley here, and there are more links on the Focus Page.
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