Attention Team Broun: This is how you write a hit-piece press release

Jim Whitehead’s campaign has responded to Broun’s press release yesterday which accused the former of “posturing on immigration and abusing Charlie Norwood’s good name.” The end result? It looks like Broun brought a knife to a gunfight — and then got hosed down with lead.

From Whitehead’s release (entitled “BROUN FUNDRAISING WHILE NORWOOD FOUGHT CANCER”):

Paul Broun, MD, was sending out fundraising letters to run for Congressman Charlie Norwood’s seat as early as 2005 while Norwood was still battling cancer.
[...]
“I pray for Charlie to be returned to good health,” Broun wrote in December, 2005, “however in my heart, after much prayer and consultation, I have a deep assurance that I must prepare for a future campaign. What I have been doing these past few months is preparing for the moment - whether very soon, or further into the future, that our Congressman is not a candidate for re-election…As of the date of this writing, I have received firm financial pledges of more than $250,000!”

The most damning statement, though, was this, made in response to Broun’s accusation that Whitehead’s campaign was “abusing [Norwood's] name”:

“Supporting Charlie’s positions is not abusing his name,” said former Norwood Deputy Chief of Staff John E. Stone, who represented Whitehead in the forum, and served under Norwood in the 10th District office since 1994. “Sending out fundraising letters to run for Charlie’s seat while he was recovering from cancer surgery is abusing Charlie’s name.” Stone said Norwood actually read Broun’s letters while fighting to recover.

…”Everyone who loved Charlie and knew about these letters was outraged at the time,” said Stone, “but for Dr. Broun to then have the gall to criticize anyone over using Charlie’s name is so far over the line that this behavior can no longer be ignored. Georgia voters need to know about this behavior before making their decision in this election.”

“Charlie actually found some humor in this,” Stone added. “When he checked back into Inova Hospital in December after his cancer returned, the first thing he asked me to do for him was to look out the window to see if Paul Broun was circling overhead yet.”

Emphasis added. Ouch; score another for Whitehead’s camp in the battle of the volleys.