There's nothing better than two pot-smoking right wing Republicans with arrest records attacking each other, is there?
The Connecticut Post has the story:
Reefer madness grips GOP congressional race
Republican Rob Merkle, of Norwalk, who is challenging two other candidates in an August primary to run for U.S. Congress, said a video making fun of his arrest 10 years ago on marijuana charges is over the line and distracts voters from real issues.
Here's the video:
There's more from the Post:
Merkle said the video borders on libel, and he said this kind of political trickery is part of the reason so many people are turned off by politics. He said opponents have also gone after him over his 19-year-old daughter, whom he had out of wedlock. He said he paid child support for the daughter, who is now in college.
"It's a personal issue. Nobody has any business digging into my family," he said.
Torres was incredulous at that reaction.
"Everything is fair game," Torres said. "People want to know the character of a person..."
He also confirmed he has smoked marijuana, but the last time he did it was in college at age 23. He said he thinks the age at which Merkle was arrested is a valid campaign issue. Once someone is in their 30s, the time for youthful indiscretions is over, Torres said.
Torres has also been arrested twice, but both cases were thrown out. He noted his mistakes are well-known and that he's answered questions about them. Like Merkle, Torres said he's learned from his mistakes.
and from Wilton Patch:
(Merkle) said it is hypocritical for Torres to focus on this issue since Torres wants to legalize drugs.
"He needs to look at his own record and his own arrest record," Merkle said referring to Torres' arrest for bad checks.
And again from the Wilton Patch:
GOP candidate Rick Torres of Bridgeport said his opponent Republican Rob Merkle should be prohibited from running for Congress.
Torres said Merkle's voting record, or lack thereof, means he doesn't deserve to hold elected office. He maintains that Merkle has only voted twice in his life.
Unfortunately, neither of these is likely to be the Republican candidate in the 4th - but one can only hope, can't one?
"He also confirmed he has smoked marijuana, but the last time he did it was in college at age 23. He said he thinks the age at which Merkle was arrested is a valid campaign issue. Once someone is in their 30s, the time for youthful indiscretions is over, Torres said."
ReplyDeleteWasn't Bush in his thirties when he was doing the passed out drunk ont the floor of Alabama bars awol stoner stuff? I wonder if he had a statement on that at the time of the Bush presidential elections when Republicans were calling that a "young man making mistakes" (to paraphrase the GOP talking point responses) or if he came out and said Bush should not run? Just curious.