Last night, the Democrat vying to fill Congressman Pat Tiberi’s congressional seat, Danny O’Connor, confirmed that he would support Nancy Pelosi for Speaker. This comes after months of insisting to voters and media that he would not support Pelosi.
O’Connor’s flip-flop comes as no surprise, as his campaign has been funded by Pelosi’s cronies all along and his policy positions align with hers almost perfectly. The biggest problem for O’Connor is that he lied to the voters!
Watch what O’Connor said last night on MSNBC:
HOST: If it’s a decisive vote would you vote against Pelosi?
O’CONNOR: We need new leadership on both sides.
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HOST: You know that for the Democrats to get control, you have to have 218 members of the House vote for the candidate of the Democratic party for Speaker.
O’CONNOR: I would vote for whoever the Democratic party puts forward.
Here’s what the Columbus Dispatch wrote about O’Connor’s interview:
After long dissing Pelosi, O’Connor now says he could vote for her as speaker
By Darrel Rowland
After saying for months he would not back Nancy Pelosi as the Democrats’ leader in the House, congressional candidate Danny O’Connor told a national television audience Tuesday night he would back whichever candidate the Democrats put forth.
Questioned repeatedly by MSNBC Hardball host Chris Matthews if he would support Pelosi if a Democratic speakership depended on his vote, he finally said: “I would support whoever the Democrat is.”
Previously, O’Connor several times gave the answer he has rendered on the campaign trail and in TV ads: Both parties in the House need new leadership, and “the old ways aren’t working.”
O’Connor is seeking the 12th Congressional District seat vacated in January by Republican Pat Tiberi. The Franklin County recorder is opposed by state Sen. Troy Balderson, R-Zanesville.
Republicans, who have centered their campaign attacks on O’Connor by attempting to link him to the controversial minority leader from San Francisco, immediately pounced after the broadcast.
“When pressed by Matthews, he easily caved in and admitted what we’ve all known — if elected, he will just be another Democrat shill for Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco agenda. It’s no surprise this comes days after the DCCC poured money into the race,” said Mandi Merritt, Ohio communications director for the Republican National Committee.
“Ohioans deserve someone who will stay true to his word, not someone who will easily cave to D.C. interests.”
O’Connor’s statement came after he spent the day in Washington, meeting several Democratic House members as he was escorted by Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Niles. It also came the same day that a major election handicapping site— Sabato’s Crystal Ball — moved the 12th district match-up from “leans Republican” to “toss-up.”
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, controlled by Pelosi, is airing $238,000 of anti-Balderson ads.
“After months of playing coy, O’Connor finally confirmed he would support Pelosi for speaker if he made it to Congress. And when she’s spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to get him elected, I’m not surprised,” said Chris Martin of the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Blaine Kelly of the Ohio Republican Party, which has sent thousands of mailers throughout the 12th district with Pelosi’s and O’Connor’s photos displayed together, said simply, “He lied.”