Republican swiftboating Republican or.....

.....another case of Republican hypocrisy?

By Ron Beasley

Here in my home state of Oregon the Republican race for Oregon's 5th Congressional district has gotten interesting.

The 5th District Bombshell

Ugly developments in Oregon's 5th Congressional District race make it clear that one of the leading Republican contenders should drop out.

If reports about past conduct by Mike Erickson can be substantiated, he's the one who should beat a hasty exit for the sake of his party. His opponent, Kevin Mannix, in an 11th-hour direct mail appeal to 60,000 GOP voters, raised allegations that Erickson got a woman pregnant eight years ago, gave her money to have an abortion and callously dropped her off at the door of a clinic where she had the procedure.

Erickson says the story isn't true, but if it holds up, it could doom his candidacy in November should he become the Republican nominee. His party's anti-abortion constituency would not be alone in seeing hypocrisy in his claim to be a "pro-life, pro-family" candidate.

However, if the story proves untrue, Mannix would become the poisoned candidate. He would be guilty of spreading a falsehood so reckless that it would leave him unfit for office.

So far the only evidence is the testimony of two women.  Now both Mike Erickson and Kevin Mannix are pretty sleazy characters.  Erickson has a history of lying and Mannix has some questionable associations including a large contributor who is a sexual therapist in Las Vegas. 

Oregon's 5th Congrssional district is a reddish purple district that has been held by a Democrat for 12 years.  The incumbent has retired and it might have been a rare Republican pick up.  This won't help.