Democrat Ed Perlmutter’s campaign says an outside group spending nearly $1 million to attack him on the air is being funded by the very Wall Street firms the congressman voted to crack down on.
American Action Network was founded by former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman and is one of the conservative groups spending millions of dollars in this election.
Perlmutter faces a challenge from Republican Ryan Frazier in the 7th Congressional District, a bellwether seat that could determine control of the U.S. House.
“Ryan Frazier is now outsourcing his campaign to the high-priced Wall Street gamblers who drove our economy off the cliff and forced the taxpayers to step in and stop the freefall,” said Perl mutter’s campaign spokeswoman, Leslie Oliver.
Perlmutter maintains Frazier is a partner in an Aurora firm that outsources jobs, which Frazier said is untrue.
Frazier’s campaign spokesman, T.Q. Houlton, said Perlmutter is “desperate,” and he launched a counter-insult.
“I’ve never heard of a ‘crack down’ that included taxpayer-funded bonuses for corporate executives,” Houlton said. “Ed gladly accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from the same Wall Street banks he voted to bail out.”
The candidates also sparred Thursday during their first televised debate, where the focus was mostly economic issues and health care reform.
Also running is Libertarian Buck Bailey of Aurora, who conceded he’s a long shot who could be the spoiler in a close race.
“People are really paying attention to what’s going on,” Bailey said. “They understand that the job situation is not something you can fix by just going out and removing money from their pockets and running it into new government jobs.”
Panelist Eric Sondermann noted that both Democrats and Republicans were responsible for the deficit, and asked Frazier and Perlmutter, “Why should voters really trust you?”
“I’m a new voice. I’m not more of the same. I wasn’t there under the Republican administration,” said Frazier, an Aurora City Council member.
“Buck hit it on the head . . . about the levels of debt and deficit we have in this country. Unfortunately, since Congressman Ed Perlmutter’s been in office, the deficit has tripled.”
Perlmutter said the problem began under former President George W. Bush with tax cuts for the wealthy, two wars that weren’t budgeted for and a Wall Street allowed to “run amok.”
Asked about the bailouts and stimulus money, Perlmutter said 8 million people lost their jobs.
“We were going into a depression, and it had to be stopped,” he said. “We have a long way to go, but we’re getting there.”
Frazier countered that Democrats broke promises they made when they passed the stimulus package and unemployment continues to grow.
The debate, sponsored by Colorado Public Television and CBS4, is scheduled to air at 9 tonight and noon Monday on Colorado Public Television’s Channel 12.
Frazier and Perlmutter square off again Saturday. The hour-long debate airs at 6 that night on 9News.
Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327 or lbartels@denverpost.com
