Corporate campaign cash on Maryland ballot

To take one example of funding by corporate PACs, the Exelon PAC, one of Wynn’s $5,000 funders, has also contributed campaign money to 33 other House Democrats and to five Democratic senators in the 2007-2008 election cycle.

Exelon has also given $15,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Exelon is the largest nuclear power plant operator in the United States.

“She’s hypocritical. She’s taking money from some of those interests, individual lobbyists and lawyers for oil companies and telecom companies. She took money from the CEO of something called Bonanza Oil,” Wynn said.

Votes draw fire from foes
Wynn’s critics point, among other things, to his votes to:

• Authorize President Bush to use force in Iraq;
• Repeal the estate tax in 2005;
• Authorize federal court intervention in the Terri Schiavo case in 2005.

“He voted to interfere (in the Schiavo case) along with Bush and (former House Majority Leader Tom) DeLay,” said Edwards campaign volunteer Joe Corbett, who lives in the town of Olney in Wynn’s district. “I called him and I said, ‘this is outrageous. This district is against this. The problem is you’re out of touch with your district.’ When you tell people he voted for the Schiavo bill, people are against him. But they didn’t know that he voted for it.”

Wynn admits his vote for the Iraq war authorization was “a mistake. I did not hedge on that issue; I said that in 2004, not in 2006. People know that Sen. Clinton, Sen. Kerry, Sen. Edwards, (House Majority Leader) Steny Hoyer made the same judgment as I did, so it is not a case of my judgment being totally outside the realm of the Democratic mainstream.”

Backlash against ad spending?
There’s some evidence that the torrent of anti-Wynn radio and TV ads may be alienating some voters.

On Saturday, greeting voters outside the Giant supermarket in Largo, Md., Edwards shook hands with one older man emerging from the store with shopping cart full of groceries. He then gave her a scolding.

The anti-Wynn TV ads, he said, had become a nuisance.

“Those ads are constantly on. You couldn’t possibly have raised all that money,” the man told Edwards. “I was going to vote for you, but I got suspicious of those ads. I don’t really appreciate those ads. You have lost my vote and my wife’s vote.”

Edwards gamely replied, “I can’t control what other organizations do… when I’m elected, I’ll be open and accessible to you, even when you disagree with me.”

But before tangling with that man, Edwards had also met one local resident, Roger Alston, who’d soured on Wynn not for ideological reasons, but for allegedly flunking the most basic job of a House member: constituent service.

Alston said local business people had started Mountainside Gourmet Coffee in Forestville to roast and package coffee. “We had Wynn come into the plant. He said he was going to support us. He did not do one thing, never did anything.” He said the firm wanted to get into Sam’s Club, but had not been successful. “We’re a certified minority company, he could have helped us, and he never did.”

Tax liens against Edwards
In the closing days of the primary campaign, Wynn has lashed out at Edwards for failing to pay taxes in 1994, 1995 and 1999 which resulted in a tax lien placed against her in 2002.

In a statement on her web site, the Edwards team explained that, “Like so many working moms in our community, Donna faced some tough challenges. Raising a son for years with no child support and almost losing her home because of big hospital bills. …Donna worked her way out and paid every cent she owed, including a hundred thousand dollars in student loans.”

But Wynn said Edwards's explanation of her non-payment of taxes is “an insult to all the single mothers who are working hard, have debts and have to negotiate payment plans. She’s somehow trying to say she’s special, she’s entitled to have a debt for ten years and not make any payments on it.”

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