USD College Republicans

Slowing Muller's and Nesselhuf's spin

*The following has not been influenced by, accepted by, or endorsed by the USD College Republicans. They are the views of Matt Hittle*

I've been detached from the uproar over my last column, as I've been out of town. But I'm pleased as punch!

Bill Muller, the Nesselhuf campaign manager sent out a press release after my column went to print.

Here it is:

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Friends of Nesselhuf,
With a mere 48 days until election day, the Republicans have begun their attacks on State Senator Ben Nesselhuf. Recently on campus, posters have surfaced against Ben and then in the current issue of The Volante there was an opinion piece personally attacking Ben. Both of these pieces originated with the College Republicans.
The attacks do not change the facts. The fact is that Ben has been a powerful voice for USD in Pierre.
- Since 2001 Ben has co-sponsored, sponsored, or voted upon legislation that would create, expand or fund a scholarship program over 21 times.
- Ben has voted 9 times to reduce tuition for specific categories of students, such as members of the National Guard.
- Ben helped bring $4.3 million in construction money to USD, including $1.8 million for the new medical school.
- Ben obtained special clearance for the Board of Regents to bond for almost $16 million for lab upgrades at USD.
His voting record shows that Ben understands what is important to USD and has provided a powerful voice for students and employees in Pierre.
It is clear that the Republican Party will go to any lengths to take down Ben, so please donate $25 to help defend Ben against these baseless attacks.
You can donate by clicking here.
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I've got a few things to say about this:

1) My column did not originate with the USD College Republicans. In an on-the-record phone call, Mr. Muller refused to fix this error and became quite angry when I said it was wrong.

2) The Republican Party will go to "any lengths" to take down Ben? I'm discussing his legislative history. It seems that the Nesselhuf campaign needs to learn the difference between issue-based and ad hominem attacks. I will VIGOROUSLY attack Mr. Nesselhuf on his legislative history, but I will ALWAYS refrain from attacking his personal life. The Nesselhuf campaign is again trying to squelch discussion of his legislative history.

3) Almost everyone who has been in the legislature for nearly a decade would have sponsored, co-sponsored- or voted upon USD-related legislation. Just the Opportunity Scholarship legislation was proposed several times, was funded by a separate bill, and there have also have been votes to change it. That amounts to several votes on one USD-related issue. Image all of the scholarships that USD provides, then imagine voting on changes to those scholarships. That amounts to tons of tiny votes- that the Nesselhuf campaign spins to appear important.

4) Mr. Nesselhuf may have voted to reduce tuition for specific categories of students, because these bills often arise in the legislature. However, they are typically opposed by the Regents because they rarely include funding to pay for the loss in tuition revenue - the burden is simply thrown back onto the other universities. Leave it to a Democrat to mandate that something occur, but not fund it!

5) As for the USD construction and lab upgrades, these were part of Regents-pushed bills that were supported by the governor. When Mr. Muller says that Mr. Nesselhuf "helped," that merely means he voted for it, not that he played an active role!

And I think we all would like to know what "special clearance" means.

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As you can see, the Nesselhuf campaign states facts in such a way that pumps up the Senator's resume. They may be true, but when you dig a bit deeper, you'll find that Mr. Nesselhuf isn't a leader, but merely follows.

-Matt Hittle

Posted at 09:14AM Sep 19, 2008 by College Republicans in General  |  Comments[0]