Kentucky

Here is a strange story for the books coming out of our Senate campaign between Lunsford and McConnell in a quasi deja' vu moment reminiscent of "Watergate" but more open.

A tape recorder belonging to a member of the McConnell campaign may have been hidden at the podium of Lunsford during the debate;
"the" recorder ended up in the hands of someone at the Lunsford campaign; the recorder was returned to the McConnell camp minus the debate recording.

If this "ispying" was not enough, now the the GOP's RNC folks are pushing for an investigation into the conduct.

Of course, I wonder how this would have played out if "the" recorder had started making an odd sound in the middle of the debate, and would its ownership have been asserted then???

Now don't get distracted by the fact that this was a public debate which is available on line by clicking here. 

Let me see if I have this right. 

We are on the verge of a global recession or depression; in the midst of a credit crunch, banking meltdown, foreclosure fallout, insurance incineration, and other REAL issues; and somebody is whining over their tape recorder that was arguably abandoned or hidden where it wasn't supposed to be????  And it was returned intact (minus any recording)???

This is too weird for words.

Here is the story from the Courier Journal  -  

GOP files complaint against Lunsford

Complaint accuses Lunsford of snapping up a GOP's recording device.

And WHAS 11's political blog points to the fact that the putative pilfering may have been nothing more than poppycock when it comes to pointing the finger at Lunsford personally as opposed to it simply ending up in the Lunsford camp's hands. 

Tape Appears To Show Lunsford Didn't Take Recorder

9:26 AM Fri, Oct 24, 2008 | Permalink
Mark Hebert 

A tape of yesterday's U.S. Senate debate between Bruce Lunsford and Mitch McConnell appears to show that Lunsford didn't steal a tape recorder belonging to a RSCC staffer, as republicans allege. The recorder wound up in the hands of a Lunsford staff member and some recordings were erased. Video of the end of the debate shows Lunsford walking across the stage to shake McConnell's hand then heading into the crowd. A young, blond guy in a navy blazer goes up to Lunsford's podium and appears to take something off of it. The question is whether that's the RSCC staffer coming up empty on his recorder or a Lunsford staffer stealing it. Go to the Paducah Sun's FourRivers Business Journal web site, click on the debate video and drag it to about 1:33:00.  Watch it and see if you can solve the mystery of the pilfered tape!!!!

Of course, tape recorders are not new to political skullduggery as noted in the following blog piece from the LA Times (which is where I got the above photo) - Mayhill Fowler, how big is your tape recorder?