Joseph James: Claims 'Inaccurate'

The continuing saga of Joseph James and his quest to eke out a top-two win in the 17th Legislative District state house race just got a little bit tougher:

In a flyer laying out his campaign positions, James states: “Only 3 percent of us use mass transit, yet over 90 percent of transportation funds go toward mass transit.
...
County Democratic Chairwoman Dena Horton said she was incredulous when she read those numbers. “Can you imagine what our transportation system would look like if over 90 percent of the funds were put into mass transit?” she asked. “Where did he get those figures? The literature piece does not quote a report or study to show from where these numbers are derived. … Not only is it factually inaccurate, it only seems to perpetuate a climate of anger around transportation issues when there are many stakeholders involved in trying to constructively work toward solutions.”

James didn’t have a ready answer.

Wait a second. An MBA is always a master with the numbers. It can't be the fault of Joseph James that he doesn't have a ready explanation, so it's time to blame the campaign consultant:

“My consultant, Doug Simpson, is the one that helped me write that,” he said Monday. “I just took his word for it. He’s an expert, the consultant for (state Sen.) Don Benton as well. He’s been doing it for about 20 years and I assumed he was on top of it. “

Shorter James: "You see, as a CEO of a dog adventure camp, I delegate these kinds of things, just like my idol, George W. Bush. It's not my fault that I don't know anything about an issue that's front and center on my web site."

Dena Horton then goes for the jugular, like some pit bull who's escaped the confines of the dog adventure camp:

Horton also pointed out that the “businessman of the year” award James touts in his campaign biography is an award conferred by the National Republican Congressional Committee for campaign contributions.

According to an ABC News investigation, the committee has given such “awards” to at least 1,900 GOP donors. Political watchdogs have derided the “awards” as a telemarketing scam.

“I’ve donated money to them, definitely, and I received the award in the mail,” James said. “I don’t believe it was an exchange. I donated the money and they sent the award.”

James, who owns a dog boarding business, said he donated $2,500 in 2006, the year he was named by the campaign committee as one of Washington’s “businessmen of the year.”

So we now have two instances where James simply sends money for sham "awards" or "degrees". In James' world if only one could just send money in the mail for the title "state representative", he'd be all set.

Meanwhile, the Democrats have this fantastically qualified candidate who wins awards the old fashioned way, through hard work. Voters will hopefully get beyond partisan labels and select Tim Probst.