When Rep. Joe Walsh looks back on his brief and inglorious career in Congress, he will have many moments to blame for his demise, but none more colorful than Thursday afternoon, when he managed to utter the word “Ashleigh” 91 times over the course of a 12-minute interview.
This bizarre verbal obsession had origins in the freshman tea party Republican’s town hall meeting in Illinois a few days earlier, when he unfavorably compared his opponent, who lost both legs in combat in Iraq, to John McCain, who Walsh claimed was reluctant to talk about his military service.
“He talked a little bit about it, but it was very uncomfortable for him. That’s what’s so noble about our heroes,” Walsh said. “Now I’m running against a woman who, I mean, my God, that’s all she talks about. Our true heroes, the men and women who served us, it’s the last thing in the world they talk about.”
So Lt. Col. Tammy Duckworth, who earned a Purple Heart in 2004 when the helicopter she was co-piloting was hit, is not “noble” or a “true” hero because she talks about her military service? It was similar to what Walsh told Politico a few months earlier: “I have so much respect for what she did in the fact that she sacrificed her body for this country. Ehhh. Now let’s move on.”
If this isn’t enough to persuade voters to “move on” from Walsh, the lawmaker continued his self-destruction by appearing on CNN and declining host Ashleigh Banfield’s invitation to cast his remarks as a “slip-up.” Instead, he scolded “Ashleigh,” using her first name repeatedly when he wasn’t calling the 44-year-old anchor “kiddo” or asking the recently naturalized citizen whether she served in the military.
“No, no, Ashleigh. No, Ashleigh, this wasn’t a slip-up. I don’t regret anything I said,” Walsh declared.
Banfield tried to read a list of things Duckworth has talked about other than her military service.
“No, she hasn’t, Ashleigh. No, Ashleigh, no, she hasn’t.”
“Do you want to hear it, Congressman? Do you want to hear it or do you just want to rail on me?”
“Hey, Ashleigh.”
“I’ve got the list here.”
“No, Ashleigh, Ashleigh.”
Banfield read part of the list.
“Ashleigh, Ashleigh, Ashleigh,” Walsh replied. “Hey, Ashleigh, Ashleigh, Ashleigh.”
All indications are that Walsh’s first term in the House may be his last, as challenger Duckworth, a failed candidate in 2006, is favored to win Illinois’s 8th District, redrawn to favor Democrats.
But Walsh’s antics should be of concern to Republicans far beyond the congressional district, both because they are the type of tea party histrionics that raise doubts about the GOP’s readiness to govern, and because they point to a potential Republican vulnerability among veterans, usually a reliable voting bloc.
Polls are conflicting, ranging from a Gallup survey in May showing Mitt Romney with a 24-point lead among vets to a Reuters poll the same month giving Obama a seven-point lead. (McCain won vets by 10 points in 2008.)
Regardless, Obama tends to do better among veterans under 60, and his campaign, seeing a potential inroad, is planning to make veterans’ issues central to the Democratic convention in Charlotte. Obama’s pitch to veterans is that he has sponsored various jobs programs for them and proposed steady increases while Romney backs the House Republican budget, which would cut domestic discretionary spending by 19 percent — likely costing vets tens of billions of dollars.
Walsh is a ripe target for reasons well beyond his crass putdown of Duckworth. During his term, he failed to show up to a court hearing on his ex-wife’s claim that he owed $117,000 in child support (there were earlier tax liens and a foreclosure). His driver’s license was suspended last year for the second time in three years. He called Obama a “ tyrant” and accused the president of “ lying.” He even squared off with the other Joe Walsh, of the Eagles, over unauthorized use of the song “ Walk Away.”
And now there’s Ashleigh, Ashleigh, Ashleigh.
Walsh acknowledged to Banfield that all veterans are heroes, but he defended his claim that Duckworth isn’t a true hero because she spoke about her service. He made this argument primarily by repeating the host’s first name 91 times by my count.
After many such Ashleighs — “Hey, Ashleigh, well, Ashleigh, look Ashleigh” — the interviewer responded in kind with “Yes, Congressman, Congressman. Yes, Congressman.”
“Whew,” Banfield said after the final “Ashleigh.” “I need to take a big breath.”
So should Illinois voters — and send a true hero to Washington in Walsh’s place.
They want to talk a lot about true heroes and true Americans and whatever else like somehow they’re the ones who make their determinations. It’s pretty obvious that an honorable person wouldn’t question another’s integrity simply because they disagree on political issues.
I liked him better when he was with the Eagles.
Mr. Walsh may have used bad judgment but his opponent should be running on the issues, not the injuries she acquired in the war.
Mr. Walsh’s opponent is running on the issues and one of the issues for her is veterans’ affairs. He has no right to suggest that a true hero doesn’t talk about his military service.
Gee John McCain never mentioned his military service? He did and certainly deserves to do so just as
Lt. Col. Tammy Duckworth deserves to. Joe Walsh get over it.
This Tea Party Freak hates the American Military. He also owes over $100,000 in back child support. Time for a change of venue for Walsh, vote him out of Congress. Prosecution and jail for back child support. Just another Republican Fraudster.
Joe Walsh? Life’s been good to him, so far…
At least he didn’t pull a Joe Biden and ask her to stand up and take a bow.
This guy needs a rubber room, he should be put in it and the key should get lost for ever. What a jerk. The scary thing is what type of person votes for a nut like this?
So-o-o-o, Joe Walsh, where were you when you had a chance to serve your country and be a hero who didn’t talk about it? You aren’t worth a pimple on Tammy Duckworth’s patootie.
I am an old veteran and by God you make me sick!
They carry signs proclaiming themselves to be “REAL PATRIOTS”, they claim to love the Constitution and The United States of America yet members of the tea party parrots will support and defend people like Walsh just because he marches in lockstep to their flawed ideology. They talk about things like personal responsibility but make excuses for a man who is over $100,000. behind in paying his child support. They will blindly support and defend a man who is critical of a woman who actually proved her love for her Country as well as showing herself to be a “REAL PATRIOT’ not by carrying a sign or wearing pajamas made from an American Flag but by putting herself in harms way and losing both of her legs in service to our Country. They talk about character and family values, but yet stand behind a person who fails to show character or family values simply because he says things that the tea party parrots want to hear.
Walsh is an anomaly in the Republican Party. His silly antics would be much more welcome and accepted in the Democratic Party.
Darn shame. We need to get majority control of both houses of Congress and the White House to begin repairing the mess Obama has created.