Ben Quayle, Schweikert, and District 6

Friends,

It has become a common theme with the Schweikert campaign: lie and deny. Dodge, weave and deceive. Lie early and lie often.

One of their early and continuing favorite topics about which to deceive voters is the new District 6 and who represents it. Utilizing every form of communication, the Schweikert campaign forges ahead with propaganda, telling Republican voters that District 6 belongs to Dave and Ben Quayle is an intruder.

But nothing could be further from the truth. Two-thirds of District 6 is represented by Ben Quayle; less than 30 percent is represented by Dishonest Dave.

Be grateful, however; 30 percent of the truth is a good number for Dave and better than he usually manages. 

Dave continues to tell voters that Ben Quayle “abandoned” District 9 to run against him in District 6. But wait: who exactly do we find in District 9? The majority of Dave’s current District 5 constituency. So if anyone has selfishly abandoned District 9, and the “good of the Party,” it’s Dishonest Dave.

Deceptive, yes; disappointing, surely. Surprising? No.

Now in contrast with our opponent's campaign, we have not presumed to tell him where to run. But if one wished to do that, the case is much stronger that Dave Schweikert should run in District 9, where a majority of his current constituents live, instead of abandoning them to run elsewhere.

The larger problem with our opposing campaign is not that of district lines and housing locations. The problem is that a candidate seeking a high federal office has a habit of trafficking in deception. Time and time again, the record shows that when publicly challenged or at a loss for an answer, Rep. Schweikert shows a mind well trained for mendacity.

Dave is really just another case study in the career politician. He has been running for office nearly non-stop for almost a quarter century. He first started running when Ben Quayle was 13 years old. He longs for public office – needs it – a lot more than it needs him. And like most people his long years in politics have not made him a more honest person. They have made him increasingly comfortable with manipulation, rhetorical sleight of hand and outright lies, to the point that he now wears these things like an old shoe. They take him from place to place, carry him along on a light step of convenient falsehood in service of his political ambition.

The real import of all this is not only what it tells us about Dave Schweikert’s integrity. It tells us something about his philosophy. Dave is not really a conservative. Conservatives know that truth, in the end, is the thing that really matters. A “conservative” who traffics in deception and manipulation isn’t really a conservative at all. He’s a poser. He’s not serving the cause. He’s serving himself.