My name is Dan Cheek. I run the website StopLouBarletta.com, which is dedicated to keeping Lou Barletta out of the US Congress.
Earlier this week, Hazleton (PA) mayor Lou Barletta released a statement blasting Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D) for comments he made about the last Congressional election, where the Democrats took control of both houses of Congress from the Republicans. Representative Kanjorski essentially said that Democratic promises to end the war in Iraq were “stretched” in order to improve their chances in the election. Lou Barletta, in his statement, said this statement left him “shocked and saddened”.
I’m not going to either defend or attack what Representative Kanjorski said. It’s common knowledge that all politicians, at every level, make a living by “stretching” the truth and promising things that, really, they can’t deliver on even if they wanted to. In my mind, Kanjorski’s comments were just business as usual. The problem I have, however, is with Lou Barletta.
It’s all well and good that Mayor Lou Barletta wants to rake Representative Kanjorski over the coals for his comments. Kanjorski is Barletta’s campaign opponent and I would expect nothing less. However, Lou Barletta has yet to make public where he stands on the Iraq War. To criticize someone on comments they made about a very important issue, while at the same maintaining a strict code of silence regarding your positions on the issue, is wrong.
Lou Barletta is running for the United States Congress. It’s all well and good for him to criticize his opponent. However, without coming out and announcing where he stands on the Iraq War, why should anyone care about his opinion of Paul Kanjorski’s comments? They shouldn’t. If Lou Barletta is serious about defeating Congressman Kanjorski, who has been in Congress for over twenty years and is one of the most senior members of the House of Representatives, he had best let everyone know where he stands on important issues and understand that criticizing his opponent’s position is not, in and of itself, a “position” or enough to get him elected.
Lou Barletta, since his campaign has kicked off several months ago, has refused to take any meaningful positions on any meaningful issue. He appears to be willing to bet that his badmouthing his opponent will be enough to win him a seat in Congress. Mayor Lou Barletta might be a popular mayor, but as a Congressional candidate, he is clearly in way over his head.
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