Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 26, 2006 16:28:48 GMT -5
Kline launches Web site to criticize opponent over 2000 law
Attorney General Phill Kline added a new twist to campaigning by launching
a separate Web site devoted to criticizing Democratic challenger Paul
Morrison for his role in a 2000 law shortening the time released inmates
were under state supervision.
Dubbed "Paul's Policy" and launched Monday, it isn't tied to the Kline
campaign Web site. At the top of the page is a photograph of the Johnson
County district attorney in front of some 40 mug shots. At the bottom in
small type is the notation that it's paid for by the Kline campaign.
It also features 4 photos of men identified as having been returned to
prison. The photos link to the Department of Corrections Web site showing
their criminal histories. Viewers also can check on individuals by county
or specific crime.
"That Web site is full of deliberate lies and Phill Kline knows it," said
Morrison campaign manager Mark Simpson. "Paul Morrison had a hand in the
bill, but like everything else on the Web site, it is distortions and
lies."
Kline has made linking Morrison to the 2000 law and saying it shows
Morrison is soft on crime a cornerstone of his campaign. But the way of
conveying the message is unusual, said Bob Beatty, Washburn University
political science professor.
"What they are doing is relatively new, in setting up a Web site for a
specific purpose not linked to the campaign Web site," Beatty said. "This
is the modern face of American politics and Kline is on the cutting edge
of this."
Beatty said in the past, it has been common for candidates to write books
explaining their views on various issues and giving readers insight into
who they are.
"It is the modern version of the old campaign book by candidates. This Web
site can be used by supporters of Kline in talking to undecided voters,"
Beatty said. "It's all designed to look like a factual Web site when in
fact it is no different than a speech that Phill Kline might give."
Kline spokeswoman Sherriene Jones said: "It was our way of drawing Kansas
voters to a significant difference between Phill Kline and Paul Morrison
and their approach to policy."
Paul's Policy focuses on what Kline says is Morrison's role in the passage
of Senate Bill 323, signed into law by then-Gov. Bill Graves after it was
overwhelmingly approved by the Legislature.
"Paul Morrison wrote the bill that let the felons out. Now he wants to be
your attorney general," the Web site stated.
The bill's final version was crafted by legislators. To deal with a
growing inmate population, the legislation shortened the time offenders
were supervised after their release from prison and also included $6.7
million for prison expansions.
"He did help craft the bill and he did lobby lawmakers to get it passed,"
Jones said, adding the bill included recommendations by the Kansas
Sentencing Commission that Morrison supported as its vice chairman.
The Web site also refers to more than 1,500 offenders whose supervision
was shortened by the law and who have returned to prison. Corrections
officials say 2/3 of them already would have been released from
supervision when they committed new crimes, even without the 2000 law.
Simpson said the Web site mentions that Kline, then a House member, voted
against the bill, but neglected to mention many conservative Republican
legislators voted for it, including Susan Wagle, GOP candidate for
lieutenant governor.
"Phill has been throwing that attack out for a long time. It's an unfair
criticism of Paul Morrison and also a criticism of the
Republican-dominated Legislature that overwhelmingly supported it,"
Simpson said.
The site also mentions Reginald Carr, who is on death row along with his
brother, Jonathan, for a December 2000 killing spree in Wichita. After
Reginald Carr's release from prison in March 2000, the state ended its
supervision of him prematurely, less than 2 weeks before the 1st killing.
Kline has argued it's fair to link Reginald Carr to the 2000 law because
the law shaved a year off the time he was under state supervision, setting
the end date as June 1, 2001.
But the state actually ended its supervision 6 months earlier, on Dec. 1,
2000, something the Department of Corrections attributed to an error by 2
employees. Had the error not occurred, Reginald Carr would have been under
state supervision at the time of the killings.
On the Net: Kline Campaign: www.klineforag.com
Morrison Campaign: www.morrisonforag.com
Paul's Policy: www.paulspolicy.com
(source: Associated Press)
Attorney General Phill Kline added a new twist to campaigning by launching
a separate Web site devoted to criticizing Democratic challenger Paul
Morrison for his role in a 2000 law shortening the time released inmates
were under state supervision.
Dubbed "Paul's Policy" and launched Monday, it isn't tied to the Kline
campaign Web site. At the top of the page is a photograph of the Johnson
County district attorney in front of some 40 mug shots. At the bottom in
small type is the notation that it's paid for by the Kline campaign.
It also features 4 photos of men identified as having been returned to
prison. The photos link to the Department of Corrections Web site showing
their criminal histories. Viewers also can check on individuals by county
or specific crime.
"That Web site is full of deliberate lies and Phill Kline knows it," said
Morrison campaign manager Mark Simpson. "Paul Morrison had a hand in the
bill, but like everything else on the Web site, it is distortions and
lies."
Kline has made linking Morrison to the 2000 law and saying it shows
Morrison is soft on crime a cornerstone of his campaign. But the way of
conveying the message is unusual, said Bob Beatty, Washburn University
political science professor.
"What they are doing is relatively new, in setting up a Web site for a
specific purpose not linked to the campaign Web site," Beatty said. "This
is the modern face of American politics and Kline is on the cutting edge
of this."
Beatty said in the past, it has been common for candidates to write books
explaining their views on various issues and giving readers insight into
who they are.
"It is the modern version of the old campaign book by candidates. This Web
site can be used by supporters of Kline in talking to undecided voters,"
Beatty said. "It's all designed to look like a factual Web site when in
fact it is no different than a speech that Phill Kline might give."
Kline spokeswoman Sherriene Jones said: "It was our way of drawing Kansas
voters to a significant difference between Phill Kline and Paul Morrison
and their approach to policy."
Paul's Policy focuses on what Kline says is Morrison's role in the passage
of Senate Bill 323, signed into law by then-Gov. Bill Graves after it was
overwhelmingly approved by the Legislature.
"Paul Morrison wrote the bill that let the felons out. Now he wants to be
your attorney general," the Web site stated.
The bill's final version was crafted by legislators. To deal with a
growing inmate population, the legislation shortened the time offenders
were supervised after their release from prison and also included $6.7
million for prison expansions.
"He did help craft the bill and he did lobby lawmakers to get it passed,"
Jones said, adding the bill included recommendations by the Kansas
Sentencing Commission that Morrison supported as its vice chairman.
The Web site also refers to more than 1,500 offenders whose supervision
was shortened by the law and who have returned to prison. Corrections
officials say 2/3 of them already would have been released from
supervision when they committed new crimes, even without the 2000 law.
Simpson said the Web site mentions that Kline, then a House member, voted
against the bill, but neglected to mention many conservative Republican
legislators voted for it, including Susan Wagle, GOP candidate for
lieutenant governor.
"Phill has been throwing that attack out for a long time. It's an unfair
criticism of Paul Morrison and also a criticism of the
Republican-dominated Legislature that overwhelmingly supported it,"
Simpson said.
The site also mentions Reginald Carr, who is on death row along with his
brother, Jonathan, for a December 2000 killing spree in Wichita. After
Reginald Carr's release from prison in March 2000, the state ended its
supervision of him prematurely, less than 2 weeks before the 1st killing.
Kline has argued it's fair to link Reginald Carr to the 2000 law because
the law shaved a year off the time he was under state supervision, setting
the end date as June 1, 2001.
But the state actually ended its supervision 6 months earlier, on Dec. 1,
2000, something the Department of Corrections attributed to an error by 2
employees. Had the error not occurred, Reginald Carr would have been under
state supervision at the time of the killings.
On the Net: Kline Campaign: www.klineforag.com
Morrison Campaign: www.morrisonforag.com
Paul's Policy: www.paulspolicy.com
(source: Associated Press)