Letter from Nick Lampson in TX to DeLay re: Scanlon memo:

[nickyt]

Lampson Calls on DeLay to Repudiate Ally's Intolerance
11/17/2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Release (001-020)
Contact: Mike Malaise, [phone]

Date: November 15, 2005

Houston, TX -- Congressional candidate Nick Lampson today called on Rep. Tom DeLay to repudiate an email written by his ally and former staffer Michael Scanlon. Mr. Scanlon is lobbyist Jack Abramoff's business partner and still has close ties to Rep. DeLay. Nick Lampson sent a letter to Congressman DeLay regarding this issue. The letter should arrive to Rep. DeLay's office today. A copy is attached below.

In an email outlining a strategy to trick religious voters into backing a gambling effort that is in conflict with their beliefs and values, Scanlon wrote:

"Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them."

"The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees . . ."

Nick Lampson stated, "The views of religious voters should be taken seriously, not used against them in some political scam to push through a gambling effort that goes against their beliefs and values. And there is no excuse whatsoever for calling voters who identify themselves as devout Christians ‘wackos.' It has been reported on more than one occasion that Michael Scanlon and Jack Abramoff touted their connections with Tom DeLay to secure clients like the ones in this email. That reflects poorly on Congressman DeLay. It's important that he now say publicly that his allies were wrong -- both in the comments made in this email and in targeting Christian voters with what amounted to a political dirty trick."

LETTER FROM NICK LAMPSON:
November 17, 2005
Congressman Tom DeLay
7002 Riverbrook Drive, Suite 200
Sugar Land, TX 77479

Dear Congressman DeLay:

I encourage you to immediately repudiate the comments of your friend and ally Michael Scanlon, who wrote an email recently uncovered by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs referring to Christian voters as "wackos." This cynical intolerance toward Christians and other people of faith is inexcusable.

It has been reported that Michael Scanlon and his partner Jack Abramoff, whom you have called one of your closest friends, used their connection with your congressional office to secure the Indian tribe on the receiving end of this email as clients.

This email indicates that lobbyists often associated with your political organization in Washington, DC were deliberately trying to trick religious voters into backing gambling interests that go against their values and beliefs. A Houston Chronicle editorial this weekend perhaps said it best:

"The irony of Scanlon's strategy was that he used covert money contributed by one gambling interest to mobilize religious voters to vote against other gambling operations. This manipulation was politics at its ugliest and most deceitful and was laced with the lobbyist's contempt for the very people he was wooing."

I am attaching the entire email message by Mr. Scanlon. I look forward to your prompt repudiation of its content, purpose and cynical attitude of treating people of faith as pawns in a political gain.

Sincerely,

Nick Lampson

http://www.lampson.com/news?id=0026

Mr. Lampson was a Congressman (D) in Dist. 22, TX, from 1996 - 2004. He is apparently running again.
Glad to see the Houston Chronicle ran an editorial on this - word's gettin' out!

[jasmeel]

1. That's a good way to highlight the wacko comment.. maybe it

will work?

[nickyt]

2. Yeah, I'm just so glad this is getting out in major papers (or, at

least one in DeLay's neightborhood!)...