8th district Congresswoman Melissa Bean reported raising oodles of money for her campaign for re-election against Republican challenger Steve Greenberg. She had $1.5 million cash on hand at the end of June, compared to $105,000 for Greenberg.

Greenberg just sent out the following press release:

Bean Bought and Paid for
by Special Interests
Democrat’s Hypocrisy Knows No Bounds

LAKE ZURICH 9/15/08 – Democrat Melissa Bean has set a new benchmark for hypocrisy. In only her second term in Washington, she has raised more money from PACs and special interests than all but 5 other members of Congress. Yet a mere four years ago she was railing on her opponent for his disgraceful fundraising from special interests.

“Who does Melissa Bean represent?” asked Steve Greenberg, Republican nominee for the seat held by the Democrat. “As if it wasn’t bad enough that she is bought and paid for by the special interests, she has done so after rightfully attacking Phil Crane for the same disgraceful practices. Now she has far outpaced Phil Crane and embodies exactly what is wrong with Washington.”

Bean has taken over $1.4 million from PACs and special interests this election cycle, bringing her total over her short career to over $3.5 million. This is more than Phil Crane took going all the way back to 1989. In her race against Crane, Bean attacked him repeatedly, stating that his funding from special interests showed that he was a part of Washington and out of touch with his constituents.

“That same criteria holds true today,” summarized Greenberg. “After 30 years, Phil Crane was out of touch, and was justly unseated. It didn’t even take that long for Melissa Bean to fit in with the corruption in Washington. No matter how much dirty money she takes, she will never have enough to change the facts.”

Associated Press reported the following:

“Bean, who upset 35-year incumbent Phil Crane in 2004 in the GOP-leaning 8th District, declined requests from The Associated Press for an interview.

“But in a written statement, she indicated that the issue could be resolved if public financing was available for congressional campaigns. At the federal level, public financing currently is only available in presidential races.

“‘I have always supported the idea of publicly financed elections, as money has come to play too large a part in our political system,”‘she said. ‘Those who wish to weigh in with Congress should rely on the strength of their ideas and not the depth of their pocketbooks.'”

There appears to be some discordance above.