NRCC Recruit Fincher Goes Negative In Primary
The farmer from Frog Jump has a fierce fighting side. Stephen Fincher (R), one of the NRCC's favorite recruits this cycle, is up with a new, and unannounced, attack ad slamming a GOP rival for being too much like House Dems.
Fincher's new ad takes on physician Ron Kirkland (R), another well-funded contender in the race to replace retiring Rep. John Tanner (D-TN). The ad accuses Kirkland of being complicit in thousands of dollars of donations to Dems while Kirkland headed the American Medical Group Association.
The group also gave money to Senate Maj. Leader Harry Reid and WH CoS Rahm Emanuel, Fincher's campaign said in a release last week. More immediately, the Jackson Clinic, which Kirkland also ran, wrote $8K in checks to state Sen. Roy Herron (D) -- the likely Dem nominee for Tanner's seat.
Fincher's campaign did not announce the new ad, and a staffer at his campaign claimed spokespeople were engaged in debate preparation all day. Multiple phone messages went unanswered. But Brent Leatherwood, a spokesperson for Kirkland's campaign, said his candidate would be up with a response ad today.
"We are going up with a response. Once again it will show that Dr. Kirkland is the proven, trusted candidate in this race," Leatherwood said. "Mr. Fincher going up so early with a negative ad clearly shows that he is losing this race."
"With the Washington Establishment's losing streak going strong in Republican primaries, they apparently will use any tactic available to save Mr. Fincher's sinking ship," Leatherwood added.
Though Fincher is the one to go negative first, indicating he may be seeing internal numbers going against him, national GOPers still believe Fincher is their candidate. He is seen as a better retail politician, and his access to financial resources has been impressive.
What's more, Fincher's candidacy is a matter of pride for some members of NRCC leadership. He was personally recruited by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and held up as an early example of the party's promising recruiting drive last year. Fincher has also been subject of several profiles in national news outlets, cited as the "Farmer from Frog Jump" -- even though he doesn't actually live in the unincorporated area.
But both candidates have access to money. Fincher has raised more than $1M and had $828K in the bank at the end of March. Kirkland had raised more than $857K and still had $780K in the bank. A third candidate, Shelby Co. Commis. George Flinn (R), held $124K in cash reserves, though some GOPers believe he will be a significant factor in the race.
Kirkland has an added boost, thanks to new FEC rules that allow individuals to spend freely on independent expenditures. Kirkland's brother, Robert, has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on IE spots on Ron's behalf -- a legal maneuver, so long as the brothers don't coordinate campaign activities.
Update: We misspelled Kirkland's campaign manager's name. This post is corrected with the right spelling.
Update: Fincher communications director Matt McCullough comments: "Stephen Fincher has lived and farmed in Frog Jump his entire life, on land that has been tilled by seven generations of his family. These unfortunate and inaccurate attacks have been spread by Dr. Kirkland's campaign for weeks.
"We feel very good about where we're at and we've run an honest campaign based on the facts. In his own words, Dr. Kirkland said he will 'reach across the aisle to try to work with Democrats.' Stephen Fincher will be a conservative leader who fights Obama and Pelosi and stops the liberal agenda in its tracks.
"To make matters worse, Dr. Kirkland has personally contributed multiple times to Democrat John Tanner and other Tennessee liberals. While Dr. Kirkland wielded influence as the chairman of The Jackson Clinic, the organization donated $8,000 to our Democrat opponent, Roy Herron. During his tenure as chairman and the largest contributor to AMGA, Dr. Kirkland's group contributed thousands to Washington Democrats, including Rahm Emmanuel, Charlie Rangel, and Harry Reid."
When I first read this article, I realized how you incorrectly reported Kirkland's campaign director as "Motherwood." Then it was quickly changed to the correct Leatherwood.
You've still got the name wrong in one paragraph. Sounds like very, very sound journalism.
This article is nothing more than the liberal media siding with Kirkland, a candidate who on many different occasions bent over backwards to help these guys out.
Of course this guy is bashing Fincher. If you were a liberally minded individual, would you choose to support a candidate who is a sound conservative or one who has on many occasions crossed the aisle to assist liberal candidates in other raises.
I somehow have a hard time believing that Kirkland was merely "complicit" in giving up this money to these different political action committees. If you are the Chairman and largest donor to BOTH of these PACs, how can you NOT know that the money is being given to liberal democrats?
If he isn't aware of where his money is being spent, then what makes us sure that he will be able to watch over our tax dollars in Congress?
I have known Stephen Fincher for 20 years! He has lived in Frog Jump his entire life These attacks from Kirkland have been going on for months. They aren't true and it's a shame that the media won't call them out on it. Kirkland has been attacking Fincher since he got in the race!
Looks like Kirkland has been playing both sides of the aisle. I wonder what he tells the Dems when he gives them money? Does he just hand them a check with a wink and a nod? The Tea Party folks are going to love it when they see this - a candidate running around as a conservative while donating to Democrats.
How about Fincher has voted in three democratic primaries. Is he running for office as Republican, or is he confused?
I heard that Kirkland voted in 4 Democrat primaries. Pot calling the kettle black, Dr Kirkland? Just more attacks from Kirkland's staff that divert from the real mission - beating Roy Herron in November!!!
God Bless Stephen Fincher. He will be a strong conservative leader in Congress
Funny, Fincher won't participate in OUR debate.. what's he hiding?
Negative ads.. not participating in a Tea Party debate... smells like poll numbers are falling like a rock!
About a week ago i downloaded Fable II Torrent from www.games-iso.com and, despite the fact its not really a new game, its simply the best NINTENDO DSi game ever made in my opinion ;-)
Wow. Somebody's poll numbers are tanking obviously. Rule #1 in politics: If you're poll numbers are sinking, don't go negative.
FYI Fincher WAS NOT the first one to go Negative and a title like the one on this post clearly shows hotlineoncall is biased against Fincher.
Kirkland has been writing negative letters to the editor for months, all insinuating attacks by Fincher that don't exist and misleading people about Fincher's residence, integrity, and income, all with statements that he can’t document. And he’s using pro-Kirkland bloggers like Lind and Beadle, and now apparently Wilson to print his negative smear letters. Kirkland made this campaign dirty months ago and at some point Fincher has got to defend himself. Bottom Line, Kirkland is a privileged elitist who believes he deserves this seat because of his family money, family name, and family benevolence; And do you notice all those contributions are high profile and always have the Kirkland name on them. He’s got an ego and this 8th district seat is nothing more than another way for him to feel his importance. Give it up Kirkland. You’re the one losing, that’s why you feel forced to mislead the public with deception and outright lies through these pathetic letters.
P.S. Mr Fincher has lived in Frog Jump, TN his entire life and had never even visited Washington D.C. until he decided to run for Congress. And Kirkland is trying to paint him as the D.C. Candidate. Now That's Funny. Dr. Kirkland, How many times have you been to D.C.?
I have been looking into the activities of Dr. Ron Kirkland, candidate for the TN 8th Congressional District. What I have found casts serious doubt as to his motives for running for this office.
I would first like to say that I am not involved with any other candidate for the 8th Disctrict seat- as a staff member, volunteer, or even supporter.
I urge anyone interested to look into the information I have found, and decide for yourselves.
About Dr. Kirkland:
Jackson physician Dr. Ronald Kirkland, a practicing physician for 25 years, Dr. Kirkland is the immediate past Chairman of the Board of The Jackson Clinic, a multispecialty medical group comprising over 120 physicians in 14 West Tennessee locations.
Dr. Kirkland also served as Chair of the Board of American Medical Group Association based in Alexandria, Virginia, in 2008.
During his first appearance on "The Mike Slater Show", which is broadcast on WTJS, Dr. Kirkland stated that:
"I could not run against John Tanner, I’ll say that again. What I chose to do was to take advantage of our close friendship and call him and plead with him at times to please vote the conservative line of the people of the 8th congressional district whom he represented in Washington. And I think I was effective in that."
Considering that Tanner has voted with House Speaker Nanci Pelosi over 90% of the time, I'm not exactly sure how effective Dr. Kirkland was in influencuing Congressman Tanner, or was he?
Kirkland has been campaigning around the 8th District saying he is a "true conservative", however his own words, and even more importantly his own actions, speak very differently.
Along with donating money to John Tanner in the past, Kirkland has also donated money to liberal Democrat State Senator Lowe Finney (D-Jackson). When asked about his campaign contributions by Mike Slater, Kirkland responded "In my role as chairman of the board of the Jackson Clinic, it’s been necessary to speak to our representatives up there....it’s just appropriate that you help someone a little bit politically if they help you.
Which begs the question-
Dr. Kirkland was Chairman of the Board of the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) in 2008, the very time healthcare legialstion now passed into law and known as Obamacare was being written.
I have found publised donations to Members of Congress while Kirkland was Chair of the AMGA, and it reads like a Who's Who of the most liberal Democrats on the Hill.
1.) Max Baucus ($10,000!!!!) (D-Montana)
2.)Pete Stark (D-California)
3.)Anna Eschoo (D-California)
4.)Earl Pomeroy (D-North Dakota)
5.)RAHM EMANUEL (No explanation needed)
6.)John Dingell (D-Michigan)
The donations of the AMGA to candidates for the 2010 election cycle gets even better
1.) Nan Hayworth AMGA member $5,000 (Running for NY 19th Seat- got more info on her down the email a little bit)
2.) Our own RON KIRKALND- AMGA Member- $5000!
3.)Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) Senator
4.)CHARLIE RANGEL (D-Harlem)
5.)Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
6.)Steny Hoyer (Pelosi's Right Hand Man)
7.)Max Baucus
Why all this money to liberal Democrats, especially THESE? They all have to do with controlling Obamacare legislation. Kirkland saying he had no control over, or no idea who the AMGA giving money to while serving as Chair of the AMGA is like Steve Jobs saying he had no clue Apple was developing the iPhone...
So, you may be wondering why was Kirkland and the AMGA throwing money at these people? What were they trying to get written into Obamacare?
I'll tell you.
Ron Kirkland admits "I've helped form health policy at the national level."
"The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) announced significant accomplishments in its advocacy efforts.....with the inclusion of language establishing Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) in the recently passed health reform legislation" (AMGA News, March 29, 2010)
You maybe wondering what an "Accountable Care Organization" or "ACO" is. Here's what the AMGA says an ACO is: "The AMGA, Alexandria, Va., said multispecialty medical groups “already function” as accountable care groups " (Modern Healthcare Magazine, "AMGA Releases Principles for Accountable Care Organizations", June 3, 2010)
That is, multispecialty medical groups, just like The Jackson Clinic.
So what? Well, here's where it gets good. Looks like Dr. Kirkland and the Doctors at The Jackson Clinic stand to make out like bandits financially with the passage of Obamacare, thanks to the legislative language the AMGA donations and lobbyists (like Dr. Kirkland) got inserted into Obamacare creating these "ACO's".
From the same article in Modern Healthcare Magazine: "HHS officials are drafting rules for such accountable care groups to begin in 2012 under provisions in this year's health reform law that allows Medicare to give a cut of the savings to groups that meet cost-control and quality targets."
This all started with Dr. Kirkland and the AMGA getting an $18,000 per Doctor subsidy written into the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (or porkulus bill). $18,000 per doctor doesn't sound like a lot, but multiply that times the 105,000 doctors who make up the AMGA and you get a total of well over ONE BILLION DOLLARS. All taxpayer money.
And Kirkland has the gall to call out other candidates for taking $3 million in farm subsidies over the last 10 years, when he spends a BILLION of our taxpayer dollars in one shot?
Well, you may be asking, what does this ahve to do with everything else?
The $18,000 per doctor subsidy is supposed to be for the purchase of Electrinic Medical Record software, which will take the place of the patients ability to determine whether or not they are recieving quality service from thier doctor.
Also from Modern Healthcare Magazine, "Let Healthcare Politics Begin", March 10, 2009 "Ronald Kirkland, board chairman of the Jackson (Tenn.) Clinic Professional Association, who noted how congressional staffers reached out to AMGA’s public policy team while drafting the health information technology portions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act—including one midnight call to help with the final language—and this led, in part, to the inclusion of an $18,000 subsidy for physicians who adopt information technology.
Bureaucracies love documents, and the EMR software is designed to show these "cost-saving" measures that will earn these doctors thier cut of supposed Medicare savings.
Basically, Ron paid members of Congress to make him and his AMGA cronies even richer.
Not to mention, the Federal Government in 2012 will mandate everyone on Medicare/Medicaid and the Govt healthcare plan will have to use these "ACO's" (like the Jackson Clinic), taking away our choice of doctor, and running out of practice provate physicians.
Now to part II of Dr. Kirkland.
Dr. Kirkland says he is pro-life. His campaign team released a statement stating "In NY-23 last year, national Republican politicians backed Dede Scozzafava, a liberal Republican, over Doug Hoffman, a conservative accountant."
Funny, especially when Kirkland himself has donated to the campaign of fellow AMGA member Dr. Nan Hayworth, who is running for the NY 19th District deat in the House. Hayworth is PRO-CHOICE and MODERATE
Hayworth's husband, Scott Hayworth, happens to be the current Chair of the AMGA, and an abortion doctor, and pro-abortion activist with ACOG in NY.
Add in Kirkland's big brother Robert Kirkland, who has already spent over $500,000 of his own money IN THE PRIMARY in an "Independent Expenditure" campaign that has been ethically questioned to help little brother Ronald get elected, in addition to the $250,000 Ron Kirkland himself loaned his campaign.
Why is Ron so determined to occupy the 8th District seat?
I have attempted to ask the Kirkland campaign numerous times to address these issues, and I have recieved nothing but silence.
I have sent this information to evey news organization in the 8th District, once again, nothing but silence.
I guess the newspapers would rather have all of that Kirkland advertising money coming in than to post factual information or engage in any actual journalism that would result in not-so-flattering information coming out about Dr. Kirkland.
So, I am sending this email in the hopes that independent minded individuals will at least take a look, and if you get a chance "Ask Dr. Ron" yourselves about all of his activities.
Patriotically,
The West Tennessee Conservative
FYI, everyone at hotline and readers alike, West Tennessee Conservative is a Fincher staffer that has been fed information directly from the Fincher campaign and has been a very large part of the attack effort against Dr. Kirkland. This message he just wrote was also sent in an email coordinated with the Fincher campaign the very same day Fincher's negative ad hit the airwaves.
Funny considering that WTC denies it all.
Funny how Fincher's DC-ran campaign works.
ResStateReader:
I am not a staffer for Fincher, nor a volunteer. Just a simple individual who has found some not so nice truth about your boss, Ron Kirkland.
You people have accused me of being 9 different people, all with no proof to back it up.
Fact is, it doesnt really matter WHO I am, just that the information I post it factual and true, and as you can see, I link my information to the actual sources of information where I found it.
West Tennessee Conservative. Documented. Referenced. Truthful.
RedStateReader Works for Kirkland. Spreads lies and false Rumors.
Case Closed.
the post was wonderful - how long did you wrote on that thing?