“Dupligate” in Virginia 2nd traced to leak from Kansas congressional campaign
By JR Hoeft | Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 | PoliticsScott Rigell has accused Scott Taylor and Ben Loyola of copying his proposed Congressional reforms. Bearing Drift has learned that a Kansas campaign working with Rigell did email Taylor the plan on March 20, two days before Taylor and Loyola released their “Contract on Congress”.
Bearing Drift has obtained information that David Ray, formerly of Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s campaign staff, is the leak that sent working papers from the Scott Rigell campaign to the Scott Taylor campaign.
Ray, current campaign manager for State Sen. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, received the documents because Rigell was seeking Huelskamp to sign-on to the proposal.
Additionally, we have learned that Gary Marx, a mutual acquaintance of both Scott Rigell and Tim Huelskamp, spoke with the Kansas candidate regarding both the candidate’s participation and the release of information.
Huelskamp said to Marx that he was unaware of the offer by Scott Rigell to participate in the congressional reform proposals, despite the information being sent to Ray and Ray’s participation in a nationwide conference call to discuss the reforms mere days before the proposed joint campaign announcement from the Republican candidates at the Lincoln Memorial.
What BD has obtained is information about an email with three attachments dated March 20 from David Ray with the subject line ‘DID NOT COME FROM ME’ to the Taylor campaign.
The email includes material sent by the Rigell campaign, including the nine proposed reforms.
We asked Ray about the email and the campaign’s relationship with Gary Marx.
Ray did not to address our question regarding the email, but did address the relationship between Huelskamp and Gary Marx:
“For a brief time, Gary Marx consulted on our race. Once it was decided we were no longer interested in retaining his services, Gary continued to contact our campaign repeatedly, pitching us on hiring him for other projects. Additionally, he attempted to leverage his past, but brief, relationship with our campaign to advance his efforts to service his other clients. I want to be clear: Gary Marx is in no way affiliated with this campaign — nor should he represent himself as being in any way affiliated with this campaign — nor will he be involved with this campaign in the future.”
Clearly Marx is persona non grata in Kansas; however, it is also clear that Ray did not deny his involvement in sending the email.
Marx, however, seems to think otherwise regarding the relationship.
“I became aware that David Ray was the campaign manager with Tim Huelskamp on Tuesday, February 16, 2010 at 3:32 PM when he relayed a request from Senator Huelskamp for me to take some action on behalf of the Huelskamp campaign,” said Marx. “I have been working for Senator Huelskamp since late 2008 until this very day. My activity of connecting my two clients, Scott Rigell and Tim Huelskamp, was done directly via phone communication with them separate and apart from David Ray. Both men will be tremendous conservative leaders in the next U.S. Congress.”
Marx went onto say that “I’ve never met nor spoken with David Ray, Scott Rigell’s campaign manager e-mailed him after Sen. Huelskamp requested, to inform him of this proposal by Scott Rigell after I had spoken with the senator.”
Marx, who normally works on national campaigns and is involved with the Huelskamp campaign as a favor, said he encouraged the senator to get involved with the Rigell proposals because he thought they were strong, commonsense, conservative proposals that the next Congressional freshmen class should rally behind.
“I called Sen. Huelskamp to encourage him to take the call from Scott Rigell and listen to these positive conservative reforms,” said Marx. “The senator asked Scott Rigell to have that information forwarded by the Rigell campaign onto his campaign manager, David Ray. From that point on, from what I was told by Sen. Huelskamp, Ray never passed the information on the senator, despite having also participated in a national conference call hosted by the Rigell campaign.”
The Taylor and Loyola campaigns also put forth the effort to bring fellow Second District GOP competitors Bert Mizusawa and Ken Golden into the scheme. Sources close to the Mizusawa and Golden campaigns acknowledge that they were approached by Taylor and Loyola to participate in coming out with the proposal to preempt Rigell, but each, for their own reasons, decided to not participate in upstaging Scott Rigell.
“I told Ben this was a bad idea,” said Golden.
The Taylor campaign responded to our query about the leaked email tonight by saying:
“Does the Scott Rigell campaign have an ideological trademark on term limits? Balancing the budget? Congressional pay cuts?
“The answer to all is NO. As I stated previously, we have been discussing these issues for months. In fact, I pulled up a lone press release, titled “The Freshman 50″, dated January 15th, 2010. In this single release it outlines 4 of the 8 “ideological trademarks” that Mr. Rigell’s campaign claims we have now taken.
- Term limits at 12 years. Point 2 in our freshman 50 release.
- Read the bill. Point 4 in our Freshman 50 release.
- Apply the law equally. Enrolling legislators in the same programs that citizens are in. Point 1 from the Freshman 50 release.
- Balance the budget. Point 6 in our Freshman 50 release.
“Have we accused the Rigell campaign of plagiarism? No we have not, because we are working on building consensus not tearing it down. To think that these ideas belong to them alone is the definition of arrogance.
“We are not focused on petty politics like the Rigell campaign continues to be. We are focused on helping right this downward economy, focused on making sure our military men and women overseas are safe, and focused on the issues important to our voters.
“Mr. Rigell’s campaign continues to harass and intimidate individuals that do not agree with them and it is sad to see this race hit such a disturbing low.
“We have been attacked online, had our consultant bribed from underneath of us, and dealt with the continued harassment of our supporters on our social networking mediums. Through this all, we have not complained to one media outlet, unlike the Rigell campaign who has spent two weeks focused on destroying our party with accusations and intimidation through the press.
“Also, according to a very reliable source, a recent poll that the Rigell campaign just completed had Scott Taylor right with Rigell and Ben Loyola very close behind. If you believe this is anything but a political stunt, you are wrong.”
Later, by phone call and email, the Taylor campaign accused Bearing Drift of illegally obtaining the email and threatened legal action. The information about the email was provided to BD by a source outside of BD contributors.
We did inquire about the poll with the Rigell campaign and they claim Rigell has a 4 to 1 advantage.
In the end, Scott Rigell used red meat Republican proposals, going back to the “Contract for America” and beyond, in an effort to unify several campaigns under the banner of “reform”. However, he used this well-known red meat as a pitch to other campaigns throughout the country and could not guarantee their willingness to participate, nor could he guarantee the privacy of the proposal.
Of the 16 campaigns approached by Rigell, nine campaigns officially participated in the conference call mere days before the proposed roll out of Mar. 23 (one of those campaigns being Huelskamp, represented by Ray).
Unfortunately, when we look at this whole process in retrospect, there are more than enough errors in judgment amongst all the campaigns to embarrass everyone involved, especially those who pride themselves on integrity and honor.
Meanwhile, Democratic incumbent Congressman Glenn Nye sits at over 50% approval in the district, has a solid conservative voting record in opposition to Speaker Pelosi (despite his having voted for her), has exemplary constituent services, and his assistance and access to the military member and family has been superb.
I would think the freshman incumbent is feeling pretty good about himself and his chances right now.
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Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.
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65 Responses to "“Dupligate” in Virginia 2nd traced to leak from Kansas congressional campaign"
This is a disgrace. It continues to be a disgrace by these ridiculous defenses offerred up by the Taylor and Loyola campaigns.
The leadership needs to get involved IMMEDIATELY for all the reasons stated by JR.
Unbelievable.
Of all my years observing politics, few things are more bizarre than Taylor’s response, especially since you can review the so-called “Freshmen 50″ proposal and see some obvious points.
1) Freshmen 50: Fair Tax. Rigell’s Reforms mention nothing regarding a Fair Tax.
2) Freshmen 50: Repeal 16th Amendment. Rigell’s Reforms mention nothing regarding repealing 16th Amendment.
3) Freshmen 50: Annual Tax audits. Rigell’s Reforms mention nothing about tax audits
4) Freshmen 50: Balanced Budget Amendment 3/5ths vote. Rigell’s Reforms don’t mention Balanced Budget Amendment.
Which goes to a larger question, Mr. Taylor. If you had ALREADY SIGNED ON TO THIS FRESHMEN 50 GROUP, WHY DID YOU NEED TO SEND OUT A SECOND EMAIL TOUTING REFORMS?
Mr. Taylor nor Mr. Loyola have explained how they came up with 9 Reforms, that match up EXACTLY with the 9 reforms that Rigell had drafted and was to release on March 23rd.
Not only are they exact, they are in the EXACT SAME ORDER as Rigell’s reforms.
Neither Mr. Taylor nor Mr. Loyola have explained why they would “team up” to release these 9 reforms together, Are they so weak they are running to be “Co-Congressmen”?
Neither Mr. Taylor nor Mr. Loyola have failed to produce one shred of work product, email or notes showing any kind of collaboration.
Neither Mr. Taylor nor Mr. Loyola can explain why Mizusawa and Golden failed to sign on to these reforms as to “upstage Rigell”. So, are they part of their “grand conspiracy”
They have disgraced themselves and their party.
Too sad.
Tim J, earlier today, you blasted me for unfairly accusing Scott Taylor and Ben Loyola. Kinda said I was full of elephant dung. I just want to know who has the character, credentials and competence to represent me in the general election. I just want a statement form either of these guys to unequivocally deny or admit. Not a lawsuit. Just an answer.
Kudos, Timmy, for reacting the same way John Edwards’ campaign manager reacted. Whether a Taylorite or a Loyolist, you should know that it’s not smart to raise the fighters on the elevators when swells are rocking the deck and the barometer is crashing. Remember, Timmy: take-offs are optional but landings are mandatory. Weigh anchor. Batten the hatches and pray that this whole unpleasantness blows over.
Unfortunately, due to my pro-life stance, I can’t help you with this abortion. Being wrong at the top of your voice doesn’t make you right.
It just makes you an accessory after the fact. Whichever guy you’re close to, I suggest YOU have him look YOU in the eye and tell YOU whether it’s true or one. Then launch your fighters or issue your own retraction and apology. It ain’t hearsay when the guys have proof.
If Scott Taylor or Ben Loyola post on BD or if either of them make a public statement in any fora in which they categorically deny the story as reported by JR and later picked up by Bill Bartell wherein either candidate states unequivocally that they did not gain access to the work of others and feebly try to foist it upon the public as a collaborative effort produced from weeks of joint effort, I will absolutely retract my post and offer my personal apology.
And then I’ll change my Depends.
Timmy, don’t preach to me about Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment. Any true Republican can tell you that Ronald Reagan would acknowledge that the first 10 Commandments take precedence over his 11th Commandment and one of those commandments is “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods.”
OMIGOSH — sounds alot like that old Naval Academy Honor Concept thingy! I’m not thowing any academy mate under the bus. Where we come from, we have a DUTY to be honest. If Ben or Scott received this stuff and tried to pass it off as their own, that’s unethical and deceitful. To exacerbate things by lying about this having been their collaborative effort after a period of joint work is such a thinly veiled lie that the only one who can’t see it might be you and Stevie Wonder.
This kind of behavior gets midshipmen thrown out of the Academy on a bus — not under it. If either candidate has the moral conviction to state that the facts as represented were false, I’ll retract. If they can’t, they don’t deserve to be my Congressman.
You’re no expert on elephant dung even though you are standing in a pile of it.
Well I can see why Lacivita left the Scott Taylor campaign. Serious amateur hour over in that place.
However by sending that stuff out to me also shows something of a judgement issue in Rigell too. Once you release information its free, free enough to come back and bite you in the butt. Trusting other campaigns even out state campaigns is really silly. Great idea to build a coalition of idea’s across the country but poorly poorly executed. Would mistakes like this be the hallmark of Scott Rigell’s time in Congress? Will this lack of judgement and forethought continue?
This is why I like Kenny Golden. He was smart from the beginning in saying “…This is a bad idea”.
Kenny Golden gets it right the first time folks. That quality is sorely lacking in Washington and its time to send them someone to teach it to them.
Kenny Golden gets it right the first time! Remember that one.
Lee-
Addressing JR’s most important part of the post… we must have a candidate that can build a local coalition to beat Nye. Nye will be more formiddable than some of us here seem to think. It will not be a GOP cake walk in November. Rigell is the only one building local coalitions, building national coalitions, and raising the money required to unseat Nye. All of this “dupligate” underscores an important point: it shows Rigell’s leadership on issues that need action and not empty bullet points promises on a palm card. Rigel is already working to reform Congress while he leads the way in this primary. His actions in contrast to these other campaigns speak volumes to the voters. Rigell can and will defeat Nye, but we have to get by this BS first.
As far as Loyola and Taylor are concerned… they are done. I don’t even want to talk about it anymore. The truth as provided by BD will all but bury these two campaigns. It’s over. The sooner they snap into reality the better for the party. If they continue down this dark path more light will be shed on their actions. Kathy hit the nail on the head. It’s sad.
Yes what Rigell had was a great idea… but like the healthcare bill a great idea poorly implemented just stinks on ice my friend.
Kenny Golden gets it right the first time! Say it with me folks. Kenny Golden gets it right the first time!
Lee,
The bestpart of this story is that Kenny didn’t want to particapte in stealing the document.
Instead he drove to DC to try and upstage Rigell’s campaign mere minutes before they were suppose to announce the platform….
As for David Ray – he needs to be fired if Taylor wants any chance of winning.
Rigell campaign – will you release the poll publically to bearingdrift so we can see if Taylor is actually “neck and neck”???
JR,
I know you at least work with Kirwin (if not friends with him). Did Kirwin have anything to do with this?!
It seems to me that based on his past “stuff”, he’d be in the center of this on behalf of Loyola’s campaign.
Can you comment on that please?
Thanks,
Eric
Lee-
It was only poorly implemented because a campaign staffer in another state witheld the plan from his candidate (try doing that with your boss). Then that staffer stole the document and delivered it to a Rigell rival. They in turn knew it was stolen (I reference the email title) and they decided to pass it off as their own in what can only be described as one of the most bizarre campaign strategies ever witnessed in Virginia Politics.
I fear their insanity is becoming our insanity. We’ve got to move beyond these guys and the egregius mistakes perpetrated by their illegitimate campaigns.
Back to real politics…
Rigell is a businessman. In business we take calculated risks. We rely on our reputations, ideas, and the law to protect us. Rigell did just that with this proposal. He packaged and worked with other candidates to mold a plan of action in order to implement long discussed, but never enacted legislation.
He knew it would be held up to scrutiny, but he also knew the ideas were what was right and needed for the country. So he acted. That is leadership. That is what we need in a Congressman.
An important point here for all the detractors of Rigell. In politics ideas are currency. They can make a campaign and you don’t need deep pockets. Any one of these guys could have done the same thing Rigell did. They didn’t. It would have cost them little more than time and long distance charges. They didn’t take the lead.
I want a proven leader with a record of getting things done.
Lee, you ought to sign on with GEICO — that’s as catchy as the bees knees. At least it rhymes.
Knew you’d check. Psyche!
Okay, so Mr. Golden and Brig Gen Mizusawa made the right choice. Does anybuddy know if Maulbeck, Sandlin, or Smith were approached — and if so, what their responses were? Was this already reported or covered? If so, I missed it.
Have all the candidates turned in their paperwork (signature petitions, money, and candidate forms) yet or are some still out there collecting signatures?
JR, you’re not holding back are you?
68 days and a wake-up until the polls open. Man, this just isn’t fair! I mean, an elephant’s gotta sleep.
Notice: Do not be surprised of the Virginia Medical Association determines that JR is the main cause of sleep apnea in this red state!
It’s really sad to see this. Obviously an act of desperation on the part of Taylor and Loyola.
From the Pilot article: “Loyola and Taylor said in separate interviews Friday that they could not offer details of how they developed their own plan or when they decided to make it public.
Taylor said the pair had been working on it for “a little while” but declined to be more specific.
“There’s no purpose for me giving details on any of this stuff,” Loyola said. “I don’t have a specific date for it.”
They continued to claim it was their original product, even after the questioning from the Pilot article points out how flimsy their story is.
They were not counting on the ‘smoking gun’ of the email trail. Taylor and Loyola should do us all a favor and bow out now. These are not the men we want to elect to represent us in WDC. We have plenty of fellows like Taylor and Loyola in Congress right now.
Rigell has been and will continue to be head and shoulders above the others in this race. It is not fair that Scott Rigell gets mud spattered on his race just because he pointed out that a document that was being put forward by his competitors was actually stolen from his campaign. If there was nothing wrong with them copying it and calling it ‘their own work product’then why did they deny receiveing the document? You must be mistaken about Taylor saying he was tied with Rigell in the latest poll. I can’t believe he would be foolish enough to say something so blatantly false. Oh, that’s right – it wouldn’t be the first time. Loyola must have spent a little too long with his ill-advised first campaign managers to have gone along with Taylor on this one.
I hope Nye is smug enough to think his seat is safe. Nothing could be further from the truth. He refuses to take a stand on upcoming legislation ahead of the final vote. This isn’t leadership; it’s hiding in Nancy’s skirt-tails.
Hey hey, ho ho – Glenn Nye has got to GO! Bye, bye Nye.
Taylor has no honor. He should just withdraw and spare us all the lies. Despite his previous statements to Bearing Drift and the Pilot, Taylor has essentially admitted that his campaign got the email from David Ray, which means he has been lying all along.
(Note to Taylor: threatening Bearing Drift regarding how they got the email just proves that it exists and that you received it…which makes you look even more guilty. Pretty stupid move on your part.)
By duplicating the Rigell document (merely changing some language and a few minor points), Taylor has shown an utter lack of judgment, not to mention a complete lack of imagination (You couldn’t even change the order of the points from Rigell’s document? Duh.).
Taylor has lied to Bearing Drift, lied to the Pilot, and most importantly, lied to the people of the Second District.
Grow a conscience and withdraw.
Same goes for Loyola, who appears to have gone totally MIA. Hopefully he is not commenting publicly because he has already realized that the game is up, and he is making his plans for a quiet withdrawal.
Taylor should do the same.
Well you don’t have the career in the Navy that Kenny Golden had and not get things done.
Go Kenny Go!
As stated previously, theft is theft, honor is honor. It’s been my unfortunate experience over the years, academy grads circle the wagons and protect their own. Scandals at the academy over the past twenty years bear this out. Judging by Capt. Loyola’s silence, he does not wish to further exacerbate the current situation brought on by being lead into this dilemma by Mr. Taylor.
A day of reckoning for all is near.
This type of distraction is not needed and will unfortunately be remembered by voters of all parties.
The Republicans in this primary need to live by, focus on and earnestly believe in the principles as outlined by Mr. Rigell.
THe only easy day was yesterday. Let’s gear up for Mr. Nye!
In reading these comments, I can’t help but agree about the Republican “leadership” or rather the lack thereof. Where are they? I’ve been hearing major expressions of rightful outrage, but our leaders seem to be too weak to do anything about it. Did anyone go to Taylor and Loyola and tell them that they need to quietly withdraw? And if that didn’t work, why wasn’t some type of censure being circulated to force these disgraced candidates to withdraw? This little scandal is about a week old now. Deal with it already.
I would love to see a statement from Chairman Byler on this issue.
“According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, to “plagiarize” means
•to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own
•to use (another’s production) without crediting the source
•to commit literary theft
•to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.
In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else’s work and lying about it afterward.
But can words and ideas really be stolen?
According to U.S. law, the answer is yes. The expression of original ideas is considered intellectual property, and is protected by copyright laws, just like original inventions. Almost all forms of expression fall under copyright protection as long as they are recorded in some way (such as a book or a computer file).
All of the following are considered plagiarism:
•turning in someone else’s work as your own
•copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit
•failing to put a quotation in quotation marks
•giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation
•changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit
•copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not (see our section on “fair use” rules)
Most cases of plagiarism can be avoided, however, by citing sources. Simply acknowledging that certain material has been borrowed, and providing your audience with the information necessary to find that source, is usually enough to prevent plagiarism.”
This is directly quoted verbatim from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.
JR,
When you talk about the errors amongst the campaigns, I truly hope you are not including Rigell. As far as I can tell, the only mistake he has made was in trusting that the other campaigns across the nation would keep his plan confidential before the roll out. It was a calculated risk, and it looks like it was a necessary one. I’m sure nothing would have been accomplished without a document for people to review so that they could decide whether to join the coalition. It unfortunately turned out that some people who know better (David Ray first, then Scott Taylor and Ben Loyola) are less honorable than they should be.
Personally, I like the fact that Rigell showed some major initiative and started building a national coalition with like-minded people – before he is even elected! You gotta love a guy like that who gets things done. He just went out and started making things happen. No wonder Loyola and Taylor attempted their little scheme. They realized they were already way behind Rigell and would never catch up.
I bet that Nye is already scared. Here Rigell is showing more leadership before the primary than Nye has ever shown in his entire time in office.
Idea’s are one thing and leadership is another…
Yes Rigell’s idea was a good one but again getting things done means getting things done successfully. That did not happen here. Again better / reformed healthcare… great idea! The current healthcare bills…. stinks on ice. The ability to implement those good ideas is also important and in many ways more important.
Lee,
I wouldn’t be too quick to judge. I’m told that Rigell is still moving forward with the other candidates across the nation and is in fact reaching out to still more candidates than he had originally planned. Apparently he only postponed the original March 23 roll out in order to gather more support and create an even bigger roll out than initially planned.
Obviously Taylor and Loyola didn’t know that…hence their panic and attempt to one-up Rigell the day before his initially planned roll out date. Although, with two days to look at Rigell’s document, I am still baffled as to how Taylor/Loyola couldn’t at least change the numbers on their document to make it slightly harder for us to see through their scheme.
Unbelievable. Seriously.
Anyway, I bet Scott Rigell agrees that doing something successfully is the key. He’s been pretty successful in his business, and it looks like he is well on his way to being successful in this campaign. Leadership + making things happen = recipe for success (in politics and in life).
So,
just like when someone gets caught cheating on anything… deny, deny, deny.
This is not how honorable people operate. This is not how honorable leaders operate. TRUE leaders take responsibility for their own actions as well as those actions taken by their subordinates. AMERICA RESPECTS leaders who take responsibility. AMERICA EXPECTS leaders to take responsibility. AMERICA DESERVES leaders who take responsibility.
This is actually pretty funny to watch. It seems between the GOP strip club expenses and this, you all just can’t get your act together…
So much for real honest conservative morals and values. Guys its just the same old dirty politics… The names change but the results are the same.
William, I’m sure it does look that way to you. Eric Dunn, from my understanding Kenny Golden did not go to D.C. for this. He was not invited and had other plans anyway. Please do not add to this fiasco by making false statements. Thank you.
For the good of the Party, both Taylor and Loyola need to gracefully step out of the race or fire those responsible. Sad to see them so tarnished, but luckily the GOP has several other good candidates to choose from.
Thanks J.R. for this wonderful reporting (who says you can’t get serious reporting from a blog?).
Thanks also for the plug for the candidate I support, Glenn Nye.
I am fairly certain Glenn is going to wind up with my vote in November. I will admit some of what I am hearing from Republican candidates appeals to me, but with Glenn I get a proven track record.
A bird in the hand is better then two in the bush. The Republican candidate might campaign on moderation but the party has swung hard right in the light of recent losses. I had hoped for, and argued in favor of, the Republican party moderating their tone but that did not happen. In my opinion the party has become even more stridently conservative and as far as I am concerned started running off the edge of the right wing cliff.
The moderate, Blue Dog Democrat, Glenn Nye is probably going to end up with my vote. He got my vote to put him in there, and he has not betrayed me once in office. I do not agree with him on everything, but I agree with him enough that I am reluctant to take a chance on someone else.
Adding to Kathy Mateer’s comments, Kenny is frequently in DC or Richmond and to my knowledge was no party to the dupligate actions of the other candidates or any activity unbecoming of a future congressman.
Let me share something I have learned about Kenny Golden, he is a truly good man, quite an honorable gentleman and has a long career that exhibits better judgement than the majority of the congressmen currently in office. Qualifications matter.
Talk about a tempest in a tea pot, while the President is out there building coalitions with folks from all parts of the political spectrum, the party faithful in this district just keep showing us over and over again how isolated they are from the needs and wants of real citizens. This demonstration of misplaced priorities is a sickening display of how bright and intelligent men and women can act like blathering idiots when compressed together in an closed society in which rumor and innuendo prevail. Frankly, stop it, for all you do is show how incredibly ill prepared you are to participate in the electoral process.
DAMNIT TAYLOR….REALLY??????????????
Everyone needs to take a deep breath. Loyola and Taylor are both good guys and deserve to be in this race. Neither party is dropping out. Is Nye and the dems laughing at us now? Yeah probably, but we’ll be laughing in November when the Republican nominee bets him. We need to move on and focus on something positive.
Rigell should know better than to contact numerous campaigns about a joint effort and think it won’t leak. Most campaign staffers in this race have worked on numerous races and have contacts all over the country. He got scoped and now he’s crying. This is just preview of what the dems and all their campaign committees will do to him if he wins. Toughen up and get ready for the remaining days in this primary. I’m sure things will get more heated.
I look forward to the Tea Party forum tomorrow. I’m sure each candidate will speak for themselves about this situation. Lets move on!
Dearest Eric, just so you’ll know, I never knew the time and place of the so called event Scott Rigell was trying to stage. Had I known I still would not have participated without an invitation. In fact I had four meetings set up to see folks from conservative organizations and a very cordial dinner with Senator Roger Wicker at the Capitol Club. The steak was incredible. The thing that took me the longest time was picking up my 4×8 signs on Branch Avenue in Suitland. My old Ford (1990 Diesel) tried to die on my but my tool box, a flashlight, and a patient cabbie (with a good tip) kept me in the hunt and I was back here that night so sorry, had no intention of upstaging, or hanging on or, participating in this adventure. In fact it has little to do with any real campaign for the Second District. All the best. r Kenny
Leadership……. while I can understand Rigell wanting a national stage, what I look for is local leadership before they can be trusted with national leadership. Why not have included in this plan the local candidates? That would have impressed me more than leaving them out and “secretly” reaching out to other candidates across the country. I know about his proven leadership in business and his very generous contributions to campaigns and lives here in Hampton Roads. His life has been commendable. On this issue however, again, I would have been very impressed with him reaching out to the other candidates here at home. To me, that would have been excellent leadership. Here. Where it counts.
Mr. Golden,
I’m hoping its you and not someone pretending to you. My bad – I had seen that on a different board and assumed it was true when people looked at your schedule changes.
JR – can you answer my Kirwin question for me?
Bottom line, all this information is not new or belongs to one person only, I have heard many of the candidates discussing the same issues. This is just an attempt to slander Taylor and Loyola’s campaigns. For me it won’t work, I will listen to what each person says INDIVIDUALLY. Crying over something that everyone has been talking about is just part of the bad politics and slander moves. How about stand on your own merrit instead of spending time trying to make others look bad???!!!
Eric, as JR has stated, he works a full time job to support his family. As much as Kirwin can get under the skin at times, if Kirwin had anything to do with it JR would have included it. Conspiracy theories and accusations aren’t helping. Maybe you should go write a best seller and stop making this worse.
I’m not defending what Taylor and Loyola did but I believe all the fact should be laid out before anyone can draw these conclusions.
The more important issue that should be focused on is how conservative is Rigell? This seems very petty to me and childish. But as long as we are asking questions regarding integrity and truth let’s ask Rigell why did he donate to the Obama campaign in 2008? I don’t care what a politician says he is going to do when he gets elected when his actions do not align with his words. We have enough “republican” that say they are for true reform and then do what keeps them in office once they get there…… I hope everyone has a great day!! God’s will be done.
Kenny,
You are a gentleman and an honorable man. You just convinced me why you’d be a better congressman than all these other guys, including the prodigal son Mr. Rigell. I plan on voting for you in June and I wish you the best.
Kathy,
Asking a question isn’t accusing someone. I literally said “Did Kirwin have anything to do with this?” (speaking in terms of Loyola’s campaign).
It’s a logical question to ask how Loyola’s campaign got involved. I realized these articles completely detail Taylor’s involvement and how it all spun out of control from his campaign’s standpoint.
Why am I not allowed to be curious about how Loyola’s campaign got involoved? Was it Ben himself? Or was it a consultant like Brian Kirwin?
It’s a fair question that deserves to be looked at.
LLE, so you are doing the “poopy” dance over the latest information on this scandal by characterizing the John Edward’s scandal to this? You must know more than you indicate about Rigell, Taylor, Loyola, Golden with regard to an illegitimate child somewhere in this, a campaign manager who lied and took the fall, a sex tape, and other apples, oranges and straws which you grasping to make a point or maybe points?
Unfortunately, instead of sitting down with each other in Byler’s office and discussing this, the Rigell campaign employed the “nuclear option” by going to the Blogs and the press. Was there anger? sure.. was there embarrassment? sure… were there actions by all involved in their own interest of their campaigns”… sure … so as this thing plays out, will the 2nd district Republicans be better off for it… probably not.
Your mind is obviously stuck in reverse, because you didn’t process from eye to brain to keyboard when I mentioned we needed the facts about this before jumping to conclusions. We now have some of the facts and as voters line up to take sides on this issue, you are calling for a Balkanization of the 2nd district. The warring factions in the Republican 2nd district, where the bloodiest candidate left standing will go against Nye is not red meat for Republicans, it’s “red meat” for the press, Nye Democrats, blogs and armchair wannabe pundits like you.
Quite frankly, you are still stuck in some Academy time warp fantasy bubble that is removed from the harsh, real world of gut-level reality and especially politics. Maybe you should go and petition the Navy for your commission back so you can put on your Dress Whites and pontificate about all the things you want in a utopian candidate and society which follow the Midshipman Honor Code. Or, why don’t you get a pair and start your own 2nd district candidacy instead of following the circus around and shoveling elephant dung.
[...] March 31, 2010 The 2nd District…what the hell? Posted by RightOnGallows under 2nd District, Virginia elections Leave a Comment Normally I keep the focus here on the 8th District of Virginia, the At-Large District of Vermont and occasionally the New York 23rd. I’ll endorse candidates in other districts but I usually won’t post entries about them but having been on the staff of an old 2nd District campaign (Chuck Smith,) I felt it was relevant for me to comment on the “dupligate” scandal going on down there. Since Chuck Smith’s departure from the race and subsequent reentry, I have been supporting Scott Taylor. I regret to say that I can no longer do this. If anyone wants a good rundown on the situation, head over to http://bearingdrift.com/2010/03/30/dupligate-in-virginia-2nd-traced-to-leak-from-kansas-congressiona... [...]
Eric,
I’ve only been able to find out the following the Loyola campaign and other sources:
* That they partnered with Taylor to produce the joint release, but were not able to produce any of the work product that went into it. And,
* Ken Golden’s quote in the story saying that Loyola approached him to participate in the preemption.
If other folks have additional facts to provide, that’s what this forum is for. However, I would caution that they should be facts and not wild speculation in an effort to defame anyone.
Facts that can be proved are welcome, even if they are uncomfortable to hear. But they should also add value to the conversation.
In my personal opinion, I don’t think there is too much more that can be added to this story. Frankly, as I concluded the post, it is time to get past this issue and focus on what matters.
Is it possible for my donation to be used specifically against Scott Taylor?
As an ODU Monarch I find great disgust in the fact that he, who also claims he attended ODU (for a certificate, NOT an actual degree) has disregarded the honor code within the Monarch Creed which vehemently opposes any form of dishonesty and/or plagiarism.
Katie, I’m sure that Bearing Drift would take the donation for their legal defense fund.
Because Rigell sucks so bad he’s had to resort to this, “they copied me”.
Again, who gives a rats ass, the question is, what do they stand for, and Scott Rigell apparently stands by Obama. FLUSH.
Odd….where’s Jared and Govgirl rushing to Taylor’s defense?
David, that would be ‘Ashley’
I was not approached by anyone regarding this, for the record.
Mike: You don’t have to stand for Obama to keep Palin and McCain out. Sometimes people choose to support the lesser of two evils. I commend Rigell for stepping over party lines and doing that.
Tim: Great idea, thanks.
Mike Key-
When you make ethics reform a centerpiece of your campaign and if someone steals that reform, presents it as their own, and then lies about it then you are compelled to act.
It’s not whining or crying. It’s standing up for what’s right.
It’s saying that we as republicans won’t take it from Pelosi, Reid, Emmanuel and Obama anymore. And we sure as hell won’t take it from members of our own party.
This is about standing up and saying emphatically that politics as usual no longer stands. Not in the Republican Party.
How do you people honestly justify it as politics as usual, especially when you have a choice? You can stop it in its tracks. You can find another candidate to back. It doesn’t have to be Rigell, but you can’t defend these two people’s decision to steal, plagiarize, and lie and still be true to the essence of our Party, the Tea Party movement or the constitution. The reality is that stark. Sometimes the shades of gray bleed together and you are presented with a black and white proposition. Right versus wrong. You must decide for yourself, but don’t think you’re fooling anyone but yourselves with your weak justifications.
I’m a Democrat, and I don’t have a dog in this fight whatsoever. I know of Rigell only because of his automotive business, and I don’t know the others at all. But I can tell you from the outside looking in, and from what I read in the newspaper and on this blog, I don’t know how anyone can construe this as anything but underhanded on the part of Taylor and Loyola. It defies all logic, really. And if anyone tries to spin this otherwise, and claim that Riggell is “whining” and “crying,” they are displaying the most egregious form of hypocracy. I thought we were trying to bring honesty and integrity to Washington. The actions of Taylor and Loyola display neither. And don’t make excuses for them or their campaign staff.
The Scott Taylor Campaign has alway been the ” me too” campaign and the campaign which duplicates the others, they cant come up with their own ideas or proposals so of course they have to copy Scott Rigells. This just shows how much the Taylor campaign cares about the district, they can lie to your face and then use another lie to cover up! Scott Rigell will make a great Congressman for the Second Distrct of Virginia! Scott Rigell for Congress 2010!
Please, Mr. Taylor and Mr. Loyola, if you care about this party, do the honorable thing and step aside.
David Ray should be fired for this, and at the very least, their should be legal consequences.
Katie, You stated “Mike: You don’t have to stand for Obama to keep Palin and McCain out. Sometimes people choose to support the lesser of two evils.” Do you, Katie, think you can discuss any justification for a self proclaimed conservative candidate to offer $1k to the most anti conservative president in our history?
Dupligate findings revealed here on BD demonstrates in 20/20 why it is crucial to vet all of our candidates without personal bias and to rally behind those few good people who have a record of demonstrating good judgement. We cannot afford to lose any more ground to the party that thrust Barack Obama into office.
Back to Scott.. Until I found out that Scott Rigell not only donated to the socialist Barack O., but donated a generous sum, I was glad to support his campaign and did so monetarily. I listened to Scotts justification for donating one thousand dollars to Barack Obama and I became nauseated. As more information regarding his donation against my interests and my country unfurled, my faith in Scott to reliably make decisions consistent with republican ideals of less government and taxation on my behalf was regrettfully violated. I still don’t feel good about Scotty’s explanation or candidacy for that matter, but, I remain respectful as a fellow Republican.
We received a release from the Loyola campaign entitled “Ben Loyola’s 6 point Stimulus Plan” which was dated 30 March. We looked at all the other candidate web sites and didn’t see anything that directly correlated, at least what we could view publically. Based on that his reputation and campaign has been thouroughly trashed here, where did he get it and when is the Rigell camp going to start screaming about it?
Wow. So the Dems opt to play t-ball with their future by placing themselves as the ball on the tee following passage of the Obamanable-health Beast (though Nye was allowed to join the “no” crowd of vulnerable Dems). All the GOP needs to do is get past the primaries and let their candidates swing for the fences in the general elections in November and now we have Dumb and Dumber stealing someone else’s bat and wiffing a collective swing prematurely (or maybe ducking the pitch?). This drama moment is not the leadership folks are hoping to see. My family has lived in the Commonwealth for almost a decade, but I am and forever will be, a Texan. We do things big there…big like choosing to fight at the Alamo when you can’t possibly win for the sake of honor. I know my Texas heroes were preceded by amazing patriots from Virginia cut from the same cloth. These two gentlemen are making a political mole-hill into a mountain and highlighting their lack of honor in the process.
“All the campaigns have done something wrong…” What? I don’t see how Rigell did anything wrong. What would you do in this position? Just keep quiet and bite your lip? Hell no. Loyola and Taylor stole his ideas and tried to pass them off as their own package of ideas merely days before they knew Rigell was to announce them with other GOP candidates. Now I know these aren’t unique ideas, but that’s not the point – these guys are thieves. On the part of Loyola and Taylor, these are actions unbecoming of an officer. They should be ashamed of themselves, but are unlikely incapable of such feelings.
Abraham Lincoln paraphrased a statement from Jesus in a speech delivered to Republican delegates in Springfield, Illinois on June 16 1858: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
As true then as it is now because the campaigns in the 2nd district are acting selfish and self-serving to the point of dividing the party by fighting over constitutional and conservative principles they both claim to own and want to represent. Have our conservative principles been reduced to “ownership” where a campaign claims they were actually “stolen”? Aren’t we now reducing conservative definitions of “freedom” and “liberty” to commodities which can be bought, sold and traded as “things” not principles we believe in? Isn’t this happening right now in Congress, and shouldn’t whoever we send there be solid enough to realize that he/she isn’t there as a broker to buy, sell or trade our freedom or our conservative principles?
I blame the 2nd District leadership as much as the candidates because they have been totally ineffective and inept in the course of this entire scandal. What’s even worse is that they don’t have a clue that they have a problem on their hands much less, how to handle it. So, as the volleys keep flying between the campaigns, we as voters and interested bystanders will watch until one side eventually takes ownership of “constitution conservatism”.
Or even worse, it will become the focus of a legal challenge where ownership rights will be conveyed on whoever wins. If this happens, the owner could set up a website where you can use a credit card to lease/purchase one or several of the 9 conservative values for a certain length of time like an on-line movie or an E-book. Or maybe they could be traded as credits for 2nd district light rail and transportation funding. Absurd, yes, but we didn’t think that Health Care had a price either until details of the deals used to buy the votes came out.
In the mean time, Nye wins, Pelosi wins, Reid wins, the Democrats win, Obama wins, and we will have some time to bitch and moan about it until they restrict free speech over the Internet
Frankly this entire Contract idea was stupid to begin with. Not only have these wannabe politicians screwed up a local election with this debacle, it now has the potential to affect GOP chances nationwide for anyone remotely connected to Rigell’s brilliant plan. All the Dems in other states have to do is link this blog to the opposing candidates. In the eyes of the common voter who really can’t stand either party, Rigell’s lame attempt to become the next Newt on the nation’s stage merely projects him as power hungry instead of being the citizens representative. It’s better to vote for Nye or some Dem in Kansas than risk electing a possible ego maniac whose personal interests will come first. We have enough of those in office already, we don’t need more. So far Nye has proven he isn’t one of them.
To Mr. “Turbo” Cohen – You are a master of irony. You condemn Scott Rigell for monitarily supporting President Obama, while admitting that you monitarily supported Scott Rigell until you discovered this fact! Don’t you think it’s possible that Mr. Rigell, like YOU, sent a donation to a candidate’s campaign before he discovered what that candidate was really all about?
Betty, no one that heard Obama when he ran for office and voted for him can cry now. He clearly ran on a socialist platform. Google back and watch his campaign. He didn’t lie about his agenda, I will give him that.
I give Mr. Rigell credit for coming up with important goals that others running for office also agreed were important to American citizens. We often wonder how ‘one person’ can make a difference in Washington.
Scott Rigell recognized that he could make a difference by coming together with others running for office across the nation. In fact, his idea was so good that Taylor and Loyola apparently decided to steal it and call it their own. The voters of the Second District are smart enough to realize that Mr. Rigell did not cause this scandal. It was the actions of Taylor and Loyola that resulted in this turmoil.
I will vote for the business man who understands how to build a coalition with other conservative candidates. That individual is undoubtedly Mr. Scott Rigell. You have my vote as well as my donation. I hope you reached your goal today and shut out Nye in the fundraising tally.
Godspeed, Sir.
“Honor is greater than honors.” – Abraham Lincoln
“Honor? What honor? Let’s plagiarize, lie to the voters of the 2nd District, blame everyone else for our predicament.” Scott Taylor & Ben Loyola
@David A – busy having a life; that is where I have been.
All I am saying is, if I turned in something to ODU that was as similiar to someone else’s paper as Rigells and Loyola/Taylors is, and under the same circumstances of “coincidences”, I would be brought before the honor council on plagerism charges and expelled.
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