Boehner's opponent can't get debate date (Cincinnati Enquirer)

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/10/21/loc_congresseight21.html

Excerpt:

WEST CHESTER TWP. - The big debate in the 8th Congressional District race is whether John Boehner, the powerful incumbent and friend of President Bush, will debate challenger Jeff Hardenbrook

"He has refused to come out and debate," says Hardenbrook, 45, a Democrat who drew only 28 percent of the vote in his run against Boehner two years ago.

The Dayton substitute teacher and former health-care worker accepted WHIO-TV's (Channel 7) invitation early last month to debate on Oct. 30. Boehner has not.

"If it's good enough for George Bush and Dick Cheney, what's Boehner got to hide?" Hardenbrook said.

running against neo-cons like Boehner, he'll continue to win with 70-80 percent of the vote and not feel compelled to debate.

Boehner's a real piece of work. Under Newt Gingrich, he was the leader of the House Majority Caucus--the fourth most-powerful position behind the Speaker, Majority Leader and Whip. When Gingrich stepped down from Congress, Boehner was not re-elected to his position for some strange reason.

This is a theory on my part, but back then, everybody's sex life was under a microscope. The Republicans' first choice to replace Gingrich (Livingston) stepped down because of extra-marital affairs. Then, several other Republicans came out and confessed that they, too, have been having affairs and siring children out of wedlock, including House Judiciary Committee Chair Henry Hyde and Indiana Congressman Dan Burton, who's best known for calling Bill Clinton "President Scumbag" for his sexcapades. (What goes around comes around, right Dan?)

Back to Boehner. I know a couple of his former colleagues when he served as a state representative. They said Boehner was quite a playboy. It was common for him to arrive and leave with women other than his wife at legislative receptions. During the Gingrich debacle, Hustler publisher Larry Flynt claims he had the goods on several prominent congressmen and would release it to the public. Flynt is from Cincinnati. Much of Boehner's congressional district includes suburban Cincinnati. Think there may be a connection? I think Boehner was too big of a target with his sex antics if he stayed in his high-profile position in the Hosue. So, who do the Republicans vote in to replace Boehner as leader of the House Majority Caucus leader? JC Watts of Oklahoma, a Baptist clergyman. Image is everything, you know.

In my dealings with Boehner, I've never seen such an arrogant, ignorant Republican butt-kisser in all my life. It's a crime that he never receives more than token opposition in the elections.