Desperation in the air

Desperate for some kind of hook, something that will keep 2008 from being an epic, prodigious electoral failure for them, Republicans are emptying their bags of dirty tricks faster than they can think of them.

Facing almost certain electoral carnage against Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.), Republican candidate Edward Lynch went on The O'Reilly Factor yesterday to air his claim that Wexler's address in Delray Beach is fraudulent.

"Is it not a ruse?" host Bill O'Reilly asked John Fund, author of Stealing Elections: How Voter Fraud Threatens Our Democracy.

Fund said it is not illegal for Wexler to use his mother-in-law's address, which is in a deed-restricted community for people 55 and over. But that it certainly is not within "the spirit of the law," he said.

"In the next few months, (Wexler) might want to shop around for a little garden apartment in Delray Beach," Fund said.

Edward Lynch, a Republican running for Wexler's congressional seat, has been researching Wexler's living arrangements and took his argument to the Fox News program.

"The house he lists on his voter registration is his in-laws' house, in a gated 55-and-older community," Lynch said. "Legally, he can't move back with children under 18."

Lynch said Wexler's three teenage children attend Charles W. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Md.

A Fox News reporter surprised Wexler in his Maryland front yard.

Wexler, wearing shorts, a T-shirt and a ball cap, said his mother-in-law does own the house in Delray Beach. But he also said he lives there.

"Yes, it is my residence," Wexler said.

A spokesman for Wexler denounced the accusations.

"Congressman Wexler moved to Florida when he was 10 years old and he has continually met Florida's residency requirements ever since," spokesman Josh Rogin wrote in an e-mail. "As members of Congress have since the founding of the nation, he also keeps a home in the Washington area so his wife and three children can be with him while he serves in Congress."

Lynch said he intends to file legal papers about the issue in the coming weeks.

Yeah, good luck with that, Ed. You're not even going to get in the courthouse door with that load of crap. Find me a member of Congress who doesn't maintain a home in the D.C. area, Ed. At least among those whose actual home districts are too far from Washington to commute, you can't find one. But, you know, take your claim to the propagandists at Fox News and they'll put you on teevee, so everyone can see just how foolish you are. Even the hand-picked wingnut pundit said what Wexler's doing isn't illegal.

It's fun to watch Republicans squirm.