Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Ed Bryant's Campaign of Deceit and Personal Destruction Continues

It appears the Ed Bryant clan has been caught in another circle of lies.

In Saturday's Kingsport Times, Ed Bryant was quoted as saying that Congressman Ford supported a public timetable for the withdraw of troops from Iraq.

Nothing could be further from the truth, and Ed knows it.

Congressman Ford has said over and over on the record that he was opposed to a public timetable for the withdraw of troops from Iraq.

As shown on our blog, Ford has been unwavering on that view.

Nevertheless, even after we had caught and exposed Ed in this lie, his attack dogs at Blogging for Bryant came to Ed's defense by starting their own lies about Congressman Ford.

They tried to give the impression that Ford had flip flopped on his opposition of a public timetable, which was in direct contradiction of the facts that I clearly laid out on my blog.

However, the lying did not stop there. Ed supporters even went as far as to lie about speaking to Hank Hayes, a Kingsport Times reporter.

The commenter which posted under the name Tennessee Tristar, said that he/she had recently spoken to Mr. Hayes and that Hayes had told him/her that, "When he had interviewed Ford previously, Jr. told him in the conversation he supported a public schedule for a general withdrawal."

However, it did not take long before that lie was also exposed.

On Monday, Hank Hayes himself dropped by Blogging for Bryant to set the record straight saying:

"Hello Mr. Tennessee Tristar:

It would have been pretty hard to have talked to me this past weekend since I was out of town. But I would be glad to take your call anytime.

Hank Hayes

Kingsport Times-News"

Once again, the Bryant clan was caught lying rehanded.

So lets recap this latest circle of lies.

First, Ed lied about Congressman Ford's record and got caught doing so. Plain and simple.

After Ed was caught lying, Jay Bush and Blogging for Bryant went lying in his defense.

Then, Bryant supporter, Tennessee Tristar, lied about speaking with reporter Hank Hayes to cover up the lies that Ed and Blogging for Bryant had told and to create more false information on Congressman Ford.

This was just another grand example of the campaign of deceit and personal attacks that the Ed Bryant campaign is running.

However, none of us should be surprised by the tactics that Ed and his clan are using.

They have a long and documented history of running deceitful and negative campaigns.

Example #1/Ed Bryant: A man once accused of running the most negative campaign in the modern history of the Republican Party.

Its deja vue all over again! In his failed 2002 US Senate campaign, Ed Bryant's campaign focused on negative attacks and not real issues: "U.S. Rep. Ed Bryant and former governor Lamar Alexander have done a masterful job of attacking each other over plaid shirts, car leases and car washes. They want to be the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate, but critical campaign issues, such as the nation's shaky economy and the war on terrorism, took a back seat to topics that were more sensational."

Memphis Commercial Appeal, Editorial, 07/31/02

Some political observers believed Ed Bryant's 2002 campaign was so negative that it created a backlash against him : "Although both sides ran negative ads in the Senate Republican primary last year, some observers credited voter backlash with helping Lamar Alexander beat Ed Bryant after Bryant ran ads attacking Alexander's tax record as governor.

Memphis Commercial Appeal, 10/25/03

Republican U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander called Ed Bryant's 2002 campaign "the most negative campaign in the modern history of the party": Mr. Alexander said Rep. Bryant has "been running the most negative campaign in the modern history of the party ... through his own comments, his staff's comments," and "scurrilous" direct mail.

Chattanooga Times Free Press, 07/10/02

Republican U.S. Senator Bill Frist even chimed in to tell Ed Bryant to tone down the negative rhetoric. However, he did not listen . "Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) on Wednesday urged both former Tennessee governor Lamar Alexander and Rep. Ed Bryant (R-Tenn.) to "tone down the rhetoric" in their race for the GOP Senate nomination. But neither candidate took heed."

Memphis Commercial Appeal, 06/27/02

Ed Bryant's mean-spirited and negative tone surprised his Republican rival: "At the same time, Alexander says he is surprised and disappointed at the mean-spirited, negative campaign waged against him by U.S. Rep. Ed Bryant, his chief primary opponent."

Knoxville News Sentinel, 05/19/02

Alexander even called Ed Bryant's 2002 campaign 'a negative personal campaign': "Two-time Tennessee governor and presidential candidate Lamar Alexander on Monday accused his chief rival in the state's Republican Senate primary race of waging a negative personal campaign. Alexander said opponent Ed Bryant, the four-term GOP congressman from Henderson, has distorted his record on an almost daily basis while failing to show the state's voters why he deserves to be in the Senate."

Gannett News Service, 05/12/02

So as you can see, Ed Bryant and his clan have a distinguished record of running deceitful, negative, and personal campaigns.

However, I am confident that the people of Tennessee will reject this kind of rhetoric very quickly in 2006.

People are looking for a positive change for the future of our state and country.

That is where Harold Ford Jr. comes into play.