DiNardo wants to meet with Whitnum over “whore” comment

Greenwich Democrat Lee Whitnum’s description of U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy as a “whore” for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) during the finale of last night’s U.S. Senate debate has garnered plenty of media attention.

Here’s video from debate sponsor NBC Connecticut:

View more videos at: http://nbcconnecticut.com.

This morning in an interview Nancy DiNardo of Trumbull, chairwoman of the state Democratic Party, said, “Her behavior last night was very inappropriate.”

“And right after the holidays I will be reaching out to her and talking to her,” DiNardo said. “I believe she crossed the line of inappropriateness.”

Whitnum, whom I profiled last month as part of our coverage of the fight for the Democratic Senate nomination, has for the past few years been at odds with the party mainstream, particularly because of her vocal criticism of America’s Israel policies.

I’ve heard some complaints that state leaders are too tolerant of Whitnum, and choose to ignore her when they should be making an effort to slap her down in public.

To be fair, the last person who tried that approach – Stamford Mayor-turned-Governor Dannel Malloy – got slapped with a lawsuit.

Others believe she does a good job discrediting herself, last night’s debate performance being a good example.

I asked DiNardo if Whitnum poses a conundrum in part because the party wants to be viewed as tolerant of different opinions. 

“Lee Whitnum has been running for office since 2008 and we have always been open and provided her with the same information and access that we provide every other candidate (Whitnum disagrees),” DiNardo said. “And we will continue to do that when candidates are appropriate. This has nothing to do with the message she wants to deliver. It’s just a matter of being respectful to everybody’s opinions.”

UPDATE: Whitnum just issued the following statement to the media:
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Lee Whitnum Candidate for the US Senate

Citizensforleewhitnum@yahoo.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 6, 2012

In response to criticism of Whitnum’s performance at the April 5 NBC debate Whitnum blames her disconnect and hostility at the end of the debate on being “flabbergasted” at the other candidates apparent ignorance of well-documented fact.
“I was struck speechless. The entire reason why I run for public office is because of the Neoconservatives’ role in the taking down of Iraq. A handful of people played my great country into unnecessary war. This must never happen again. It mobilized me into action and it is why I run for public office. I can’t believe the other Senate candidates were not aware. My realization of their ignorance shocked me so much it caused a momentary disconnect. I think for the first time in my life I was rendered speechless.”
Whitnum said she finds it hard to believe Congressman Murphy doesn’t know about the facts. “I can’t fathom that a Congressman doesn’t know about what happened. The first question any American should ask after it was proven by the bi-partisan 9-11 Commission that there were no WMD is why did we take down Iraq? It was not an accident. We were played by a handful of Neocons with an agenda for Mr. Netanyahu.”
Whitnum cites the Washington think tank that spawned the Neoconservative, The Project for the New American Century and Mr. Netanyahu’s highly published manifesto that came out of that think tank.
“The Neoconservative manifesto is called: Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm”, said Whitnum. “It was written by Richard Perle and other neoconservatives for Mr. Netanyahu. Penned by Richard Perle in 2000 and signed by (Colbert, Fairbanks, Feith, Loewenberg, Torop, Wurmser) it states plainly, “focus on removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq – an important Israeli objective in its own right – as a means of foiling Syria’s regional ambitions.”
“I still can’t believe that a handful of Neoconservatives, the aforementioned plus Joe Lieberman, Judith Miller, and Steven Hadley played my country into unnecessary war.” said Whitnum. “at the same time AIPAC bragged that ‘quietly lobbying congress for war in Iraq’ was an accomplishment. Our worst strategic decision as a nation was AIPAC’s accomplishment. This is in direct contrast to Mr. Netanyahu’s insistence that we have ‘shared values.’.
Regarding the other candidates, Whitnum believes Tong is very bright but doesn’t know anything about the Neoconservatives. Susan knows but will never publicly admit, and Murphy, to whom she directs most of her anger, is “a feel-good candidate.”
“It just proves Murphy is a feel-good candidate who will say anything to get himself elected,” said Whitnum. “I would never do that. I can’t tell people what they want to hear – I’m going to tell them the truth. I’ve never been afraid to face truth.”
Whitnum says that in 2003 after reading Bob Woodward’s “Plan of Attack” and then the first 60 pages of Pat Buchanan’s book “Where the Right Went Wrong” that changed her life and spurned her into political action. She has since done extensive research on the topic. She has posted relevant points on her website citing 40+ references all pointing to the same chain of events and the same people. All responsible for the lead-up to Iraq.
http://www.leewhitnum.com/Iraq_the_real_reason.html
“Those who don’t learn from history are destined to repeat it. We are on the brink of another war, Netanyahu has the nerve to come here and to demand that we take down Iran all part of the same agenda. Meanwhile he hasn’t lifted a finger to solve his domestic problem which is something five US presidents have demanded – a resolution to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. A conflict that makes us all unsafe. Demand truth and knowledge from your candidates.”
Whitnum is a candidate for US Senate in Connecticut.

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Paid for by Citizens for Lee Whitnum

Brian Lockhart