State Senator John Cosgrove has found himself on the receiving end of three relatively new political organizations seeking to grow their name recognition and leave their mark on Virginia politics. All have sent attack mailers into the district and, quite frankly, they leave much to be desired in terms of veracity.
First, Cosgrove is a target of the National Association of Gun Rights, who are claiming that Cosgrove is out of touch with the second amendment.
This might have some credibility if the NRA didn’t give him an A+ rating.
So, this seems to be more a turf battle between the NRA and the upstart NAGR, which Matt Colt Hall has documented.
Second, the Campaign for Liberty have sent these missives out about Cosgrove voting as a member of the House of Delegates for the 2013 state budget (which is an up or down vote).
CFL seems to think funding the government should be sacrificed at the altar of nihilism when there is any provision that could actually help people in need. In this case, they’re pretty unimpressed that we might actually spend money on helping people, who, you know, need it.
The “Certificate of Public Need” (COPN) provision allows expansion of beds and facilities at hospitals. If you are really interested in digging into the details, check this out.
But more to the point, Cosgrove takes the ObamaCare question head on.
“I voted against ObamaCare on four separate occasions during the 2014 General Assembly Session,” Senator Cosgrove wrote to me via email. “I have fought and will continue to fight ObamaCare Expansion in Virginia.”
Bottom-line, this line of attack could be used against every legislator who voted in favor of the budget in 2013. And there are plenty of conservatives in that crowd. Regardless, in this case, John was a member of the House of Delegates and voters didn’t seem to think it was problem two years ago when they overwhelmingly gave him the GOP nomination to succeed former Sen. Harry Blevins. (Coincidentally, Bill Haley, who is challenging Cosgrove for the GOP nomination, was also a candidate in that race. He came in third.)
My impression is that CFL is just bitter. Apparently Cosgrove snubbed their survey. Then again, so did most of the General Assembly members.
Emily Brewer, campaign manager for the Cosgrove campaign, stated that CFL was using a UPS Box as a mailing address and that this made the difference in the campaign not replying to the survey. It was a matter of credibility. They also weren’t called by the organization.
“I am tired of mailers that come from “Interest Groups” and hide behind UPS Store mailboxes with their lies,” an obviously annoyed Brewer wrote on Facebook.
Finally, in what is a clear example of dancing up to the line and doing a pirouette with your toe on the far edge comes from the very newly formed Virginia First Foundation.
The organization (and it’s a bit tough to read in the top left of the below photo) states that they do not endorse candidates. But check out the love they shower on Haley:
And their not so positive impression of Sen. Cosgrove:
“Cosgrove did not answer our survey and Haley did,” wrote Steve Waters, founding board member of VFF, in an email. “We put out mail on three other districts as well, Senate Districts 11 & 12 and HD 28. They were not endorsements, as we do not endorse candidates, but to make people aware of their positions on issues, issues that are important to the Virginia First Foundation.”
Brewer stated the Cosgrove campaign did not reply to VFF as they are so new and have no footprint.
So, what’s the point in all this? We’re obviously into the last 72 hours of a campaign. And some organizations are doing everything they can to get noticed.
