When Candidates Compensate [Update]

"My sign is bigger than yours"

In case you hadn't heard, Sam Rasoul has had 4x4 signs up all over the district for close to a year now. Only problem is that Botetourt County ordinance explicitly ban political signs from being displayed until 60 days before the election. As such the County Board of Supervisors send a letter to the the County Democratic, Republican and Libertarian Parties reminding them of said ordinances.

Result: Sam gets the Virginia ACLU to send a letter threating to litigate against any action taken against the Rasoul campaign.

81Blue's "thoughts":

1. First off, Sam/ACLU are correct. This is a clearly unconstitutional law and an issue on which the Supreme Court has already spoken on.
2. That being said, it is the currently unlawful to place 4X4 signs in Botetourt County.

Conclusion: I'm not sure what Sam is thinking. Yes he is standing up for principle and what he believes, but get the law changed then put up your signs. Either way, I hope this county doesn't have to go through expensive litigation because of this. As the situation stands now

1. Yard signs don't vote (no matter how big)
2. Sam is pissing off residents and elected officials of Botetourt County
3. Botetourt provides less than 5% of delegates to the Sixth District nominating convention, only 7 of 147.

Update: The Drew Richardson campaign has released a statement on the Botetourt sign debacle. Click on the link for full text, below is the gist.

"I agree with the Botetourt County Board of Supervisors that political (and other) signage is largely a blight on the environment and a disservice to those who enjoy the beauty of this Valley. I also agree with the ACLU that a form of legalized compliance is probably not necessary and likely does infringe upon freedom of speech.

"I believe that common sense, good judgment and particularly respect for the opinions of those members of the community whose support is sought in an election should be sufficient reason for not putting up such signs far in advance of a general election.

WTF! Call the Lawyers?

Nothing is better than catching a campaign lie while on the attack so I did a little fact checking on the Richardson campaign. I went ahead and looked at Sam's FEC finance reports as Rick suggested and either Drew is holding back some serious heat or they need to hire someone more competent at opposition research.

The first thing I noticed is that Sam has filed each finance report THREE TO FIVE TIMES, that's an original filing plus two-four amended reports for EACH and EVERY Quarter. Anyone who has even thought about doing campaign finance knows that there are more red flags in that than there are at a Chinese military parade.

Even more interestingly is that the original reports were filed and signed by campaign Treasurer Kathleen D Tucei. Many subsequent reports were filed and signed by Treasurer Sam Rasoul. This is perhaps the most absurd move in campaigns since Dukakis wanted to play bobblehead in a tank.

A person who signs an FEC report as Treasurer is personally liable for the report. Let me be clear: Sam Rasoul THE CANDIDATE is now liable for both criminal and civil actions the FEC would bring against the Sam Rasoul for Congress Campaign.

Why would they put themselves in that situation?? Richardson worked for the god damned FBI, do you really think he's not looking into this deeper than Howell's email suggests? A simple arithmetic mistake on those reports would lead to a letter from the FEC and allow Drew to say something along the lines of "Not only was the Sam Rasoul campaign found to be filing inaccurate finance reports, but Mr. Rasoul himself has been personally implicated in actions brought by the FEC. In fact, he signed the reports himself which yada yada yada"

It's going to take me some time to look over the FIVE reports Sam filed for January 1 - March 31 2007 and rinse repeat the process for Q2, 3 & 4 but I'm very curious to see what "amendments" needed to be made four times over.

Did this have something to do with both Kathleen Tucei and Rick Howell leaving? Enquiring minds want to know.

Mud Meet Sling

Drew did they teach you that at the Academy?

Drew sent a clear warning shot at Sam in his opening salvo. Well I should say first mass communication, because this isn't the first time Drew has taken a jab at Sam. In his original stump speech a few weeks back Drew had the line "Being a Congressman isn't an entry level position". I know at least a few folks who thought that was a little too harsh. Then again, they are committee members who publicly support Sam. I haven't heard that line for a few weeks now or any recent "OMG, can you believe he said that about my BFF Sam" recently, so seems that particular line of attack has been axed.

The new line came to us courtesy of the Richardson campaign in an email signed by Rick Howell. That's Sam's very own former Campaign Manager Mr. Rick Howell. Who also reposted his comments on his blog Rick Howell Speaks.

he's only raised 1.9 % of his funds from the Sixth District. Keep in mind, too, that we're talking about someone who has been campaigning for more than a year.

Before Democrats nominate a candidate with caucuses in April, and a convention in May, I don't think it's too much to ask that Mr. Rasoul explain exactly why he's so dependent upon money from Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, Illinois, and, specifically, Louisiana (where, for example, he raised slightly more than $29,000, nearly 39 percent of his total for 2007). What's up with this?

There's also a troubling matter of non-disclosure about some of his donors. The Center for Responsive Politics noted that a full 9% of his donors had "no information about the donor's employer and/or occupation ... listed." Bob Goodlatte, by the way, had fully complied with the disclosure requirements.

So, again, as I said before in my previous post, about this race, Democrats in the Sixth District have to absolutely pick the best candidate, the one with the most experience to run a credible race against the incumbent. All this again suggests very strongly that Drew Richardson is the best choice here.

note: emphasis in the original