Commentary: Ad Hominem Strikes Again!

It's happening again. Every other year all members of the US House come up for re-election. And every other year, the Democrat party starts desperately trying to unseat Representative Ryun from his seat. Just like last time, they're running out Nancy Boyda. And just like last time, I expect them to pull all of their bag of cheap tricks out.

For example, most of the time last year, Boyda spent her campaign money trying to look like Ryun. She ran ads about how she biked across Kansas or about how important her faith was to her. (By the way, vague statements about faith don't win over Christian voters. We know that there's a difference between faith in faith and faith in Jesus Christ.) Above all, though, when all of those tactics failed, her campaign degenerated to ad hominem arguments against Ryun, a strong Christian man of wonderful character.
Now, the Democrat party is at it again. The Washington Post ran a questionable story, and the Topeka Democrat, er, Capital-Journal picked it up. It attempts to tie Ryun to the scandal-ridden lobbyist Abrahamoff through a real estate deal. Not direclty, of course. It's more like the game "Six Degrees of Separation from Kevin Bacon." Ryun bought real estate from a non-profit (step 1) founded by former House Speaker Tom DeLay (step 2). DeLay did not run the organization (step 3). Abrahamoff is the now-infamous lobbyist with ties to Republicans and Democrats, including Mr. DeLay (step 4). The house itself had some structural issues that lowered its asking price significantly.
However, the media quickly jumped on the story, claiming that Ryun is guilty of some sort of corrupt behavior for buying a run-down property. Give me a break! That charge is patently false, as anyone who takes the time to read through the entire story will know. As absurd is the attempt to connect Ryun with Abrahamoff. Ryun is a tenuous 4 steps away from Abrahamoff at best. In reality, there is no connection. This is just mudslinging out of season. Did the Democrats remember to get their license for out-of-season mudslinging? Probably. The party seems to be capable solely of that and not much more.
What's sad about this story is that a lot of swing voters won't take the time to read the whole story, and all they'll do is associate Ryun with scandal. This, of course, is exactly what the Democrats and their allies in the mainstream media want. They want conservatives who disagree with them out, and they're willing to go to great lengths, including the printing of questionable stories, to get it.