Reality Check: Kennedy Running As An Outsider

09/27/2006

submited by: Katherine Speer

WCCO News
Pat Kessler
Reporting

(WCCO) Minnesota’s Republican Mark Kennedy accepted his party’s endorsement for U.S Senate without once mentioning the name President George Bush.

Instead, he’s asking voters to elect him so he can “change” what’s going on in Washington D.C.

“We need to change Washington,” said Kennedy in his acceptance speech. “It begins with understanding what’s wrong and what we need to change. ... Change in Washington will take hard work.”

Here’s what you NEED TO KNOW.

Mark Kennedy’s been a Republican Congressman for six years. During that time Republicans controlled
Washington and still do.

There’s a Republican House of Representatives, a Republican Senate and a Republican president.

Now Republican candidates are worried about the president’s sharply lower approval ratings.

“This is a president that has provided bold leadership on tough issues,” Kennedy said with Bush at his side in

Minneapolis last December.

That’s NOT THE WHOLE STORY.

Including a $1 million fund raiser with the president six months ago, Congressman Kennedy reported raising

$5.1 million for the Senate race through March.

The vice president has also raised hundreds of thousands of dollars more for Kennedy.
And this week, an estimated $550,000 was raised with First Lady Laura Bush.

The strategy is keeping distance from an unpopular president without a perception of a political “cut and run”.

IN FACT, until this campaign year, Kennedy’s voting record was among the most loyal to President Bush.  In 2002, 2003 and 2004, Congressional Quarterly reports Kennedy voted with the president 97 percent of the time.

In 2005, after deciding to run for Senate, Kennedy’s voting patterns changed –- supporting the president only 87 percent of the time.

That’s Reality Check.
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