This is the last thing Larry Pressler needs.
With opponents on the both the right and left trying to make an issue of the former Republican-senator-turned-independent’s longtime presence in D.C., an old Associated Press story from the 1990s surfaced on Twitter Monday in which Pressler himself touted how long he’d lived in DC and openly pondered a run for D.C. mayor.
Pressler, whose presence in the South Dakota Senate race has disrupted that race, was weighing a Washington, D.C., mayoral bid in the AP story headlined “PRESSLER MAY RUN FOR D.C. MAYOR” and dated July 11, 1998. The uncovered press clipping follows a report from Politico last week that Pressler’s primary residence is still in Washington.
“I have lived in D.C. since 1971, longer than anyone else who’s running,” Pressler, a senator from 1979 to 1997 and a congressman before that, said in 1998 to explain why he was toying with running for mayor. He never ultimately went through with it.
Pressler also explained to the AP why a white South Dakotan could contend in what was then majority-black D.C.
“I have a lot of African-American friends,” he said.
That’s a killer. I think this race is about to swing for the GOP candidate.
We must put an end to this business of members of Congress living in Washington once and for all!
I actually believe that we should have a couple of government housing complexes where the members of Congress can live while on the job. It cannot be a permanent residency, and must be immediately vacated upon leaving office. Doing this would not only cut down on costs, but prevent MoC’s from either living in their offices or living in places where they can be influenced by lobbyists.
Pressler is the worst, but still better than a teabagger. Maybe…
“I have a lot of African-American friends, he said.”
Is this the playbook Rep. Steven Cohen in Memphis dusted off to take Harold Ford’s former seat. Once in Rome it is impossible to leave because of propaganda, money and friends.