New Wrinkle in Whitehead Saga

Managers of congressional campaigns really ought to check their candidate's website before making statements to the press denying that the candidate said something ridiculous. Today, Jason Winders, editor of the Athens Banner Herald, reports that Joel McElhannon, Jim Whitehead's campaign manager, says that his candidate's now infamous comment that "'left-wing political activists (are) intentionally registering illegal aliens to vote, including known al-Qaida terrorists" was all a big misunderstanding. McElhannon said:

"That quote does not accurately represent his views on that matter," said Joel McElhannon, Whitehead's campaign manager. "He has no proof. He has seen no proof that al-Qaida has been registered to vote. He just thinks that was a misunderstanding on that quote."
McElhannon, who took the article to Whitehead, translated his response to me. "Jim got the quote and said, 'What? I never said that. Maybe I was sputtering that out. ... No, I don't think al-Qaida members are being registered to vote by anybody."'

That excuse might work, except that the Whitehead put the claim in writing to the AJC and then posted that letter on his website. Jim Whitehead has a "Straight Talk" tab on the front page of his website, but it's clear that voters shouldn't expect any such thing from the candidate.

Face it. Whitehead actually believes this stuff, just like he believes Iraq is "not a big deal" in his district. Did anybody in the Republican party bother to vet this guy?

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