The Other McCain

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Democrat Jim McGovern: ‘Silly’ to Blame Him for ‘Constitution Is Wrong’ Gaffe

Posted on | October 14, 2010 | 4 Comments

BOSTON — After last night’s debate gaffe in Shrewsbury — when Jim McGovern said, “I think the Constitution is wrong” — it was to be expected that the 3rd District Democrat would try to spin his way out of it:

Last night, I had a slip of the tongue.
While answering a question about the awful Supreme Court campaign finance decision, I used the word “Constitution” rather than “Court Decision.”
Everyone in the room recognized it as a slip of the tongue, but it’s silly season, and my opponent is now cheaply capitalizing on the error in a bid to try to change the subject from his blatant flip-flopping on major issues. . . .

Right. Jim McGovern, who is trying to run away from his own record, accuses Marty Lamb of flip-flopping. Are you going to let McGovern get away with this? Marty Lamb tells you who he is and what he believes:

I live in Holliston with Peri, my wife of 20 years, and my two beautiful daughters, Elissa and Simma. I graduated from the Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University in New York in 1985 and received my B.A. from Hampshire College in Amherst in 1982. After working for ten years with a downtown Boston firm, I started my own successful firm in 1996. My practice is primarily in residential real estate law, representing buyers, sellers and lenders. In contrast to many of those who claim to represent you in Washington, my clients live on “Main Street,” not Wall Street. On a daily basis I serve real people experiencing real life issues, people who are trying to do the best for their families. . . .
Your government’s primary role is to preserve, protect and defend your God-given gift of freedom, not to micromanage your life.
The current administration has lost sight of this role. I’m Marty Lamb. I have a family. I run a business. My issues are your issues. I think it’s time we “clean the House” of incumbents who are out of step with working people and replace them with people like me who will work for you.

Marty Lamb doesn’t just talk about the American Dream, he lives the American Dream. He’s a small-town lawyer, a citizen who felt the call to serve, with no ambition to become a career politician. And unlike Jim McGovern, Marty believes in the Constitution.

What about the 3rd District? It’s a gerrymandered mess that runs all the way from central Massachusetts around Worcester (which locals pronounce “Wuster”) down to Somerset and Narragansett Bay. McGovern was first elected in 1996 and has subsequently won re-election by margins of 3-to-1 or even 4-to-1 margins. Yet Scott Brown won 58% of the 3rd District vote in January, and if Sean Bielat can challenge Barney Frank in the 4th District — where Brown’s margin was much narrower — there’s no reason Marty Lamb can’t win the 3rd District.

Marty Lamb has got the support of Western Representation PAC, which is also backing Bielat, and if readers can send a strong surge of online contributions to Marty, this could be one of the big shockers on Nov. 2. Won’t you give Marty $20?

UPDATE: Here’s a second video clip from last night’s debate to show you what a weasel McGovern is. After audience member Tina Hood said his comment about the Constitution being wrong “blew my mind” and asked him to clarify, McGovern denied having said what he said:

Translation: “You stupid voters don’t understand plain English!”

UPDATE II: DaTechGuy’s post-debate interview with Marty Lamb:

UPDATE: Moe Lane provides The Anatomy of a Gaffe: 

Alas for McGovern, somebody was paying attention to his comments; double alas, he got asked about them. Triple alas, McGovern forgot the First Law of the Age of Scrutiny (“Somebody has a camera”) and reportedly denied saying that he called the Constitution wrong.

The minute I heard McGovern’s Infamous Six Words — “I think the Constitution is wrong” — my reaction was pretty much the same as Tina Hood”s. It blew my mind, because “slip of the tongue” or not, the congressman had just spoken aloud what a lot of Americans suspect is the secret opinion of many people in Washington. And he said it on TV.

The sound-bite is already being played on Boston talk radio stations, but just try to imagine what will happen when national TV audiences see that video.

MARTY LAMB for U.S. CONGRESS
How About a Congressman Who
Thinks the Constitution Is Right?

Category: Congress, Election, Marty Lamb, Massachusetts

Comments

4 Responses to “Democrat Jim McGovern: ‘Silly’ to Blame Him for ‘Constitution Is Wrong’ Gaffe”

  1. Paco
    October 14th, 2010 @ 5:58 pm

    Please! “Slip of the lip”? Freudian slip, at best.