The hits keep coming for Bob. A new story in today’s Denver Post follows on yesterday’s bad news about Schaffer’s ties to federal inmate 27593-112 (otherwise known as one Mr. Jack A. Abramoff). If you read the Denver Post story yesterday you might remember crowd-favorite Dick Wadhams (Schaffer’s Karl Rove, previously seen running George Allen’s failed VA Senate bid in 2006) weakly trying to deflect the issue by claiming that [listen for the raised whine pitch in his voice] Schaffer barely even knows FCI 27593-112:
Opponents “are trying to leave the impression that Bob went gallivanting off to the Mariana Islands with Jack Abramoff, who Bob has never met, never talked to and wasn’t even aware was around back then,” Wadhams said.
Such a quote stretched all bounds of credulity yesterday and today it looks even worse. A few key points from today’s article:
At two key moments in the political life of Benigno Fitial — governor of the Northern Mariana Islands and a powerful former ally of now-jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff — then-Congressman Bob Schaffer was among several Republican U.S lawmakers who stepped in to lend their support
and
The two instances … show that Schaffer has had close and enduring ties with key politicians on the American protectorate…. They also show that Schaffer was part of a concerted and public campaign by Republicans on the House Committee on Natural Resources to boost Fitial’s public career when he became key to extending a multimillion-dollar lobbying contract for Abramoff from the island’s government.
In case you don’t think this story is really that big, Wadhams tells you how big it is:
Schaffer campaign manager Dick Wadhams declined Thursday to discuss his candidate’s role in island politics. “The Denver Post continues its character assassination of Bob Schaffer,” he said.
In other words, “We have currently have nothing of substance with which to disprove this story, and there is no way we can prove that Bob and Jack weren’t actually very close, so we will attempt to change the subject by making the real story here the work of the liberal media establishment to undo an honest conservative.”
Mark my words: this is Schaffer’s Jack Ryan moment. You don’t remember Jack Ryan? He was Barack Obama’s Senate opponent back in 2004. He had a decent shot at beating Barack — many at the time probably would have said he was the favorite — before he spectacularly flamed out, eventually giving Barack Obama the presidency of the United States (as will most likely be borne out in November). The ramifications may not be quite that high here, but Schaffer’s Abramoff ties are giving the D’s on a silver platter one more vote toward filibuster-proofing the upper chamber.
