2010 Cantor challenger retracts Twitter accusation
VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ymz24JpucVA>Did he Tweet
Charlie Diradour had a rocky start in his quest to unseat the No. 2 Republican in the House of Representatives, Eric I. Cantor, R-7th.
In the course of his first day on the campaign, the Richmond business owner acknowledged that he doesn't live in the district -- which is not required -- and amended details of his criticism about Cantor's conduct during President Barack Obama's health-care speech to a joint session of Congress.
Television cameras caught Cantor using his BlackBerry as Obama called for health-care reform. Cantor told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that he was taking notes about the contents of the speech.
Diradour launched his campaign for the 2010 Democratic nomination yesterday morning with a Web video that said Cantor was using Twitter during the speech. His video showed several postings during that general time frame. Diradour later backed away from the claim, saying his campaign made "an honest mistake" on the timing of Cantor's messages.
Ray Allen Jr., a senior strategist with Cantor for Congress, said: "No tweets went out during the president's speech -- period."
"This charge is an outrageous lie," he said. "It is amazing that someone who thinks he wants to represent the good people of the 7th District would begin his campaign with an outrageous lie and fabrication."
Cantor's posts were made before and after, not during Obama's speech. According to the White House, Obama began speaking at 8:16 p.m. and ended at 9:03 p.m.
The tweets, which referred to the congressman's upcoming TV appearances, were posted by Cantor's staff. Allen said Cantor approves tweets that his staff posts.
Though speaking on cell phones is not allowed on the floor of the House, per the House speaker's rules, use of a BlackBerry to record text is not specifically prohibited.
"Whether the congressman was tweeting or not is now not the question," Diradour said. "The fact that he was on his BlackBerry during the president's address is an affront to the people of the 7th District, the House of Representatives, the president and the presidency."
Diradour, a small-business owner who has been involved in local politics for years but has never run for office, said yesterday that he lives blocks from the 7th District, and he faulted the political gerrymandering of the district to divide the community.
"I live 10 blocks outside the district, but I live in a community that's being underserved by Eric Cantor," Diradour said. "The Constitution says I can run in the 7th District, and I'm running in the 7th District."
(Cantor's wife, Diana F. Cantor, is a member of the board of directors of Media General Inc., parent company of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.)
Contact Olympia Meola at (804) 649-6812 or
.
Advertisement
Reader Reactions
Yep, the next thing you know, old Charlie will swear Eric is anti-semantic…
Diradour continues to mislead the public over the Tweeting issue. Read about it here - http://lifeinthe804.blogspot.com/2009/09/diradour-continues-to-mislead-public.html
What’s worse, he continues treat the issue as a joke on his Twitter page. The people of the 7th District deserve a legitimate challenger to Cantor who will take the race seriously. Diradour needs to step aside.
Let’s try that again:
No, it isn’t. Diradour’s a <strike>Democrat</strike> politician. Lying’s what they do.
No, it isn’t. Diradour’s a <s>Democrat</s> politician. Lying’s what they do.
Fixed that for you.
This is for all of you who jumped on the bandwagon yesterday and criticized Cantor for Tweetering during the Presidents speech. Looks like he is innocent of that charge and your democratic candidate lied about the whole episode. Don’t you all feel stupid for going along with this sham? The answer is no, because at least one of you has changed your opposition by throwing out this dumb statement: “The House rules say no electronic devise is to be used during sessions.“ Well let me put that in perspective. Sitting in your seat for a half a hour waiting for the president to arrive is not exactly a “session”. Everybody is up walking around, talking to their seat mates, slapping each other on the back, etc. No business is being conducted so it’s a far far stretch to throw out that rule and say that some big violation occurred. Come on people. Grow up. You have a non-event here. If you don’t like Cantor so be it. If you want to state a reason for not liking him then do it. But if this is all you’ve got…good grief.
“This charge is an outrageous lie,“ he said. “It is amazing that someone who thinks he wants to represent the good people of the 7th District would begin his campaign with an outrageous lie and fabrication.“
No, it isn’t. Diradour’s a Democrat. Lying’s what they do.
I’m sure Mr. Cantor would have been paying close attention if the Speaker had been from one of the Health Care or Insurance Agencies that donated over 4.5 million to his campaign fund. When money talks, people listen…..........
Why doesn’t a person have to live in the District he/she hopes to represent? Isn’t that the centerpiece of a representative democracy - one must actually represent the people in the district and be one of them? I would find it surprising if Dirdour sold and moved out of the home his late mother purchased as her legacy to the family. So what will he do, rent an apartment in the 7th? That just doesn’t seem right.
Don’t we have bigger things to worry about than exactly what Cantor was doing on his Blackberry? I have been to many meetings were multiple people were typing away on their hand helds. Others are probably day-dreaming. What’s the difference? The speech was released in full, Obama read it from the prompter, his supporters stood and applauded at key moments when their leaders indicated such response was appropriate (The Speaker and VP doing so). It’s over. Let’s move on. The same kinds of things were done with Bush was in office, when Clinton was in office, and so on. It’s par for the course. I care more that they’ve actually read the bills before them rather than relying on some lackey staffer.
Man you people are still arguing about this? It’s a non-issue. Are none of you in the business world? Has nobody here ever held a job before in the business/corporate world? I work with people on a regular basis that will conduct meetings on their blackberries while sitting in another meeting! Emails get read and sent while sitting in meetings. Are people addicted to their blackberries? Probably. But Cantor is doing nothing different than the average american worker. Move on people.
I have used a hand held device for taking notes for almost a decade, it’s my second choice to typing notes on a laptop. Being able to edit, transcribe, and share my notes electronically saves time and increases the value of note taking for me. Cantor’s explanation is not unreasonable, and the folks posting here who are whining about people “playing with their phone” while working are just clueless.
It is unfortunate that Cantor’s opponent so far appears to be a complete doorstop. We really deserve better representation than Cantor, who was instrumental in the enormous corporate welfare giveaway that was TARP. When Goldman Sachs was going about the business of shaking down the taxpayer by proxy last year, Cantor was there to help them load up the truck.
Further, one less Zionist in congress could only be a great improvement, as the 60 year old mistake of the creation of the state of Israel will eventually be corrected. Over the long term, U.S. interests are not being well served by continuing support for this artifact of European colonialism.
Post a Comment(Requires free registration)
- Please avoid offensive, vulgar, or hateful language.
- Respect others.
- Use the "Flag Comment" link when necessary.
- See the Terms and Conditions for details.
Advertisement