Bolden and Wynn Pad Endorsements

Al Wynn is a Democratic congressman running for reelection in Maryland’s 4th District. A. Scott Bolden is a former president of the DC Chamber of Commerce running for the at-large city council position in the DC Democratic primary. Both candidates have been accused of resembling Republicans — Wynn because of his support of Bush and the Iraq war, Bolden because he’s a K Street lawyer who’s extremely friendly to big business. Both have underfunded opponents who portray themselves as more liberal: Wynn faces challenger Donna Edwards, while Bolden faces incumbent councilmember Phil Mendelson.

But the similarity doesn’t end there. Both men list on their campaign materials endorsements from organizations or persons who say they have made no such endorsements. According to today’s Washington Post, Wynn claimed the support of a Montgomery County council member and two unions, all of whom deny endorsing him. His claimed support from the Teamsters is particularly incongruous, since last month two of his campaign workers were accused of beating up a Teamsters officer who was a supporter of Donna Edwards.

Similarly, Bolden claims on his website and campaign literature that he’s been endorsed by the Ward One Democrats, but a press release from Kathy Boettrich, chair of the Ward One Democrats, disagrees:

The Ward One Democrats did not endorse Mr. Bolden, or his opponent, Councilmember Phil Mendelson (D - At-Large), for the September 12 Primary. Records confirm that Mr. Mendelson received more votes than Mr. Bolden received at the July 17th forum, but did not reach the required two-thirds threshold.

Of course, once the false information is out there, there’s really no way to entirely correct it. As Mark Twain said, “a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”