Kline sends out flier saying voters shouldn't trust Rowley's judgment

Posted at 3:32 PM on August 17, 2006 by Tom Scheck (5 Comments)

From the Associated Press:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Coleen Rowley's congressional campaign is considering whether to keep an unpaid staffer who had called for decriminalizing drugs on his personal Web site.
The campaign planned to meet Thursday evening to discuss the staffer, David Bailey, according to Walter Winger, Rowley's policy director.
"No decision has been made as to the fate of David Bailey and his relationship with the campaign," Winger said.
Rowley, a Democrat, is challenging Rep. Kline, R-Minn.
Kline's campaign highlighted Bailey's writings in a campaign flier headlined, "Legalizing drugs is the TOP PRIORITY for one of Coleen Rowley's key advisers," adding, "We can't trust Coleen Rowley's judgment." The flier includes syringes in the background.
Bailey is Rowley's unpaid director of earned media, where he works to build her exposure through the media, including blogs.
Bailey, a 38-year-old software developer from Eagan, had written on his Web site three years ago, "If I could change only one policy in this country, I would decriminalize drug use. Regulate drugs the same way we regulate alcohol and tobacco.
"This one change would be a great economic stimulus, allow us to use the billions we throw away each year for the 'war on drugs' more productively, and yank the funding out from organized crime. It's a no-brainer."
Winger said Rowley does not support legalizing drugs, and that she worked to prosecute the war on drugs during her 24 years with the FBI. He said Rowley had not been aware of Bailey's views on the subject.
Kline's campaign flier said that Bailey believes "meth should be treated the same as a glass of wine."
Bailey described the writings on his Web site as "idle musings," adding, "They in no way relate to what I do for her campaign and her position on the issue."
He said the point he was trying to make was that the use of drugs should be decriminalized - so that users get treatment, rather than jail time. He said it should be up to the federal government to regulate the sale of drugs.
"So crack cocaine, I'm guessing, wouldn't be approved," Bailey said.
"In the 1920s, Prohibition gave rise to bathtub gin and Al Capone," he said. "Meth labs are an outgrowth of the fact that drug use is criminalized. So I put forth on my personal Web site the possibility that decriminalization is a better solution - and I still believe that."
Still, he suggested that Kline had hit below the belt.
"This is the most vicious, vile kind of smear, and he's doing this not against Coleen, but against an unpaid staffer," he said.
"It really bothers me that a sitting member of Congress, a retired Marine colonel, sends something like this without any regard for what it's going to do to me," he added. "My son is starting kindergarten in the fall. What's going to happen to him if the other kids think his daddy supports meth use?"
Kline campaign spokesman Marcus Esmay said that Bailey had opened himself up to the criticism.
"He can't have it both ways," Esmay said. "You can't put things out there and not take responsibility."
He noted that a blog on Rowley's Web site, called "The Blotter," features mostly posts from Bailey.
"By featuring David Bailey's positions as a prominent part of her campaign, she has made his views relevant," Esmay said.
This is the second time in two weeks that Kline's campaign has set its sights on Bailey.
Last week, the campaign called Bailey a "double-agent" in a separate mailing, saying he tried to make an illegal campaign contribution and infiltrate Kline's re-election campaign. Rowley's campaign denied the allegations.
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On the Net:
Kline campaign: http://www.klineforcongress.com/
Rowley campaign: http://www.coleenrowley.com/
Bailey: http://www2.bitstream.net/ 7/8jenandav/Dave/Politics/index.htm

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Comments (5)

Guess who else supports legalizing drugs...the conservative leaning CATO Institute.

http://www.cato.org/pubs/handbook/hb109/hb_109-24.pdf

Kline doesn't seem to have any issues with them.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1438/1388/1600/gopcd2greatlinks.jpg

Maybe he just likes sending out shiny mailers...

Posted by rew | August 17, 2006 3:47 PM

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I'm surprised you'd run that without comment. Bailey is an UNPAID volunteer, and all these run-ins significantly predate his work for Rowley.

Are volunteers fair game now? Last I heard it was rare for an actual paid staffer to get this kind of treatment and here Kline's folks are "smearing" a volunteer in a CD-wide mailing.

Where is their sense of proportion?

Should the DFL start running the license plate numbers at Kline events? Run credit checks on paid staffers? Where will this end?

Bad karma John, very bad karma.

Posted by Mark Gisleson | August 17, 2006 5:47 PM

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You reminded me to update the AP story. I'll do that now.

Posted by Tom Scheck | August 17, 2006 5:56 PM

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MPR appears behind on this story as Air America had Bailey on their local show tonight. Also Bailey has a well commented blog diary on kos right now at:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/8/17/115145/874

Posted by EB | August 17, 2006 6:20 PM

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Some more links to information and commentary (with only a shade of self-promotion)

http://www.mncampaignreport.com/?p=230 (me)
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/8/17/115145/874 (DB on dKos)
http://www.norwegianity.com/index.php?itemid=530 (Mark, who commented above)

In case anyone's interested.

Posted by MN Campaign Report | August 17, 2006 6:34 PM

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