MN GOP Gets Dirty again in House 51A - Gas Station Hijinks!

They're at it again. A couple of weeks ago I opened my mail and found what turned out to be the beginning of a smear campaign against House DFL Candidate Shawn Hamilton. The glossy but ominous brochure, funded by the Republican Party of Minnesota, shouted about a marijuana ticket allegedly received by Hamilton several years ago in - yes, this is the real name - Cloverleaf Park here in Blaine. I blogged about that here, but you can check out the mailer in all it's smarmy glory here. Going after a DFLer for a minor marijuana offense seems rather< ironic given Norm Coleman's old habits, or George Bush's habits, but I guess when you're a member of a rapidly imploding movement made up almost entirely of rabid poodles, you do what you can.

Today I was greeted by part two of the GOP smear campaign, and this time the GOP has upped the ante. Hamilton is now accused of - wait for it - driving off in his Honda Civic without paying for gas. See the front of the mailer here, the back here. That a driver of a gas-sipping Honda Civic might forget to swipe his card isn't hard for me to believe, but I guess if you're filling up your Norm Coleman-approved Hummer five or six times a week on the way to the Nieman Marcus for fancy clothes, it would be more of a habit.

Seriously, Republicans. My own mother has done this. So has yours, but she hasn't told you about it, because she's afraid you'll send out a full color mailer to all of her friends at the mystery thrillers book club.

In any case, no charges were filed in this alleged incident, because if charges had been filed we have to assume the mailer would have included said charges in giant, ominous letters, probably juxtaposed next to children's play equipment and images of some sort of naughty-looking personal care device. That's about where this is going.

The MN GOP really has hit rock bottom. They're reduced to scraping Jim Ramstead's office for used interns (that's where Tim Sanders, Hamilton's opponent, comes from) and to prop the poor little fellow up, they have to send smears like this. Fortunately, this one came today with one of Sanders full color propaganda brochures. so voters will be able to make the connection.

Sanders is a question mark - his numerous full color mailings are totally ambiguous, with no specific policy choices of any kind. His web site is the same. Clearly, Sanders is hiding who he really is, as a moderate republican might play rather well here. And he has the MN Republican party to send out smears - which Sanders obviously approves, as he didn't stop them after the first mailing - to distract from the issues. Tim Sanders, I predict, is a wingnut.

If you have some extra cash, let Shawn Hamilton know these kinds of tactics don't go unpunished. Send some dough his way, here.