The news on Monday that a Super PAC has formed to back the Senate campaign of Republican George Allen was met on Tuesday by a challenge to Allen from Democrat Tim Kaine to accept a “no secret money challenge.”
The word from the Allen campaign with regard to the challenge: “gimmick.”
“It’s difficult for voters to take talk of transparency seriously when it comes from a campaign that is substantially funded by big union bosses and their organizations. In fact, most will see it as an unfortunate gimmick, typical of the partisan gamesmanship playing out in Washington today,” the Allen campaign wrote the Kaine campaign in a letter made public late Tuesday.
Last week, longtime Virginia political operative Paul Bennecke filed papers with the Federal Election Commission creating the pro-Allen Independence Virginia PAC, and on Monday talked up plans to try to raise $2 million to $3 million to back the Allen campaign.
“The very definition of a ‘Washington political gimmick’ is saying one thing and then doing another. George Allen told Virginia voters that he has ‘always been an advocate of disclosure and freedom,’ but today he showed he is unwilling to back up his words with action,” Kaine campaign spokesperson Brandi Hoffine said. “Of course, this is far from the first instance of George Allen taking a public position and then doing the exact opposite. Nevertheless, we remain hopeful that George Allen will reconsider and believe Virginia voters deserve nothing less than transparency.”
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AFP
