The party of God strikes again. This time incumbent Republican congresswoman Barbara Cubin threatens to attack fellow candidate Thomas Rankin, her wheelchair bound Libertarian opponent. According to the Casper Star-Tribune:
The verbal sparring between two candidates for Wyoming’s lone U.S. House seat didn’t end when the televised debate ended Sunday evening.
Immediately after the lights and cameras shut down, incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Barbara Cubin walked to Libertarian candidate Thomas Rankin, who had criticized her for receiving contributions from former House Speaker Tom Delay, R-Texas.
“‘If you weren’t sitting in that chair, I’d slap you across the face,’” Cubin told Rankin, he said Monday.
If anyone can find a link to the preceding debate, please let me know.
Update by Stephen VanDyke: Cubin has offered an official apology, and at the same time tells her version of the remark:
“It was person to person and it was not an attack on the disabled,” Cubin said in a telephone interview from Rock Springs. “In retrospect I was wrong in what I said and I apologize.”
[...] Cubin said she went over to Rankin, challenged his debate assertions and remarked that “if you had said that to anyone else, they probably would have smacked you.”
That sounds like a line of baloney. Rankin has been adamant about what she said to him and has witnesses to support his claim (and considering it was post-debate, it’s very likely some of them were members of the press).
Still, this all stems from her getting campaign money from Tom DeLay (the prince of illegal contributions who resigned in shame after being indicted), so maybe some reporters will grow a pair on this issue and give the glaring ethics issue some much deserved ink.
sucker, ʟʟᴄ