Kennedy Castigated for Writing Off Rural Areas in 2000 (posted June 28, 1999)

Gleeful Republicans are castigating Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Patrick Kennedy's June 18 comment to reporters during the gun control debate that Democrats were writing off rural areas in the 2000 elections. Republican National Committee Chairperson Jim Nicholson took the unusual step of writing a letter to the editor of the Providence Journal that was published June 28 condemning Kennedy's statement and noting that Republicans plan to do well in those parts of the country.

The public controversy started when reporter Steve Roberts disclosed Kennedy's comments during the national airing of the PBS show "Washington Week in Review." Roberts' discussion was followed on Sunday when his wife Cokie Roberts repeated the comment during the ABC show "This Week With Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts." Providence Journal writer John Mulligan included the statement in a recent newspaper story.

For his part, Kennedy admits he made the comment, but explained to Roll Call newspaper that he recanted the point right after he said it and asked reporters to strike it from the record. During the same interview where he made the comment, he explained that Democrats were poised to pickup rural seats in several states. Kennedy criticized Republicans for attempting to "make political hay" from his statement. "The notion that we're writing off rural districts is ridiculous. It was an emotional response to a very personally important issue to me. It had nothing to do with my politics or my chairmanship of the DCCC," he explained. "What is really being spun out of control is a very emotional response that I gave to a reporter who I think was baiting me for this kind of controversy. My family and I feel very strongly about this issue, and for good reason."

Republicans have indicated they may make a television commercial centering on the comment for broadcast in rural states next year. National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Davis said, "Writing off rural areas is a very cynical idea, and I think it's going to come back to haunt many rural Democrats in the next elections. From a blatantly political point of view, I'm glad he said it. But it was way out of line, and we're certainly going to make it known."