The Connecticut Democratic Party has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission in the wake of a joint fundraiser for Republican congressional candidates Steve Obsitnik and Andrew Roraback. The complaint says, among other things, that the invitation for the Sept. 18 event failed to properly note who paid for solicitation materials or who will get the proceeds from the event.
Spokesmen for the Roraback and Obsitnik campaigns have said the invitations were changed to bring them up to snuff and that the complaints are not only groundless but irrelevant — ticky-tacky stuff of no import to voters.
Amanda Bergen, Obsitnik’s spokeswoman, said Thursday afternoon that it’s a campaign distraction. “This election is about far more important issues than party invitations,” she said. “With Congressman Himes’ abysmal record on jobs and the economy, it’s no wonder he’s attempting to distract voters from the fact that he promised to bring 41,000 jobs to Connecticut, yet there are fewer people employed now that in 2009, when the congressman took office.”
Chris Cooper, Roraback’s spokesman, said Thursday night that Roraback’s reaction is the same as when Democrats complained about the event earlier in the week. “The Roraback campaign is confident that the event, invitation and response card fully comply with FEC laws,” Cooper said. “This is a partisan attempt to distract attention from (Democratic candidate and former state House member) Elizabeth Esty’s record of raising taxes by hundreds of millions of dollars and increasing government spending by hundreds of millions of dollars during the depths of the recession when Connecticut families were hurting the most.”
As is the case with complaints filed with the FEC during this time frame, there is an almost zero chance it will be resolved, or dismissed, prior to the election. What that means is this: If there is a legitimate campaign law violation, the offender gets off scott-free until way after the election is over. And if the complaint is a frivolous one, the party or candidate who made it can reap the publicity from its filing, secure in the knowledge it won’t be tossed in the trash until way after the election.