An email from 8th Congressional District Joe Walsh’s campaign manager Nick Provenzano has arrived which deserves sharing. So, here it is below.
All,
I want to respond to an unfortunate recent email sent by two former Walsh staffers.
Joe Walsh at Patriots United and McHenry County Young Republican 8th District Candidates' Forum Thanksgiving Week. Walsh is reported to have won the encounter.
First, the two individuals pretend to have not been aware of information we’ve all been aware of for some time.
In fact, these matters are matters of public record—his condo foreclosure, failing to file a FEC disclosure document in a timely fashion which has now been filed, traffic citations for lacking auto insurance which he paid for and reinstated his license, late payment on some bills. These matters are part of Joe’s past.
He made mistakes.
He accepted responsibility and dealt with the consequences.
He made amends.
Walsh has addressed a vast multitude of personal issues both internally within the campaign and publicly to media and 8th District constituents.
For example, we have statements Joe issued months ago on the campaign website that explain the foreclosure on his condo and his personal financial struggles subsequent to the end of his first marriage. Joe visited with the Daily Herald editorial board in a taped interview where these matters were discussed at length and he answered every question asked, just as he has at several townhall meetings, open to the public.
All one has to do is Google Joe Walsh and you will find stories in the Daily Herald and elsewhere that detail the matters. Thus, what a couple of disgruntled former employees would have people believe are “revelations” are nothing of the sort.
Joe is probably the most openly vetted candidate on the planet!
Second, the two individuals who make these allegations had been with Joe since the primary campaign—and had been handsomely compensated since that time by the campaign.
In fact, their departure had nothing to do with principle.
There were personality conflicts. Sometimes people have different visions for the direction of an enterprise and ultimately management decisions have to be made.
The way these two individuals chose to part company with the campaign says more about them than it does Joe Walsh. This sort of thing happens on campaigns like in business, as a campaign is very much like a start-up business.
There are growing pains and personnel changes that inevitably occur.
Third, Lake County GOP Chairman Bob Cook rightly characterized this mini-melodrama as little more than an internal staff conflict.
That conflict was resolved in the space of a single day. The campaign has already brought in a new volunteer coordinator and new persons to direct the field program. The transition was seamless and, frankly, a positive development for the campaign.
Joe Walsh speaks to McHenry County Right to Carry Association meeting in Lakemoor. Photo by Ryan Provenzano.
Fourth, Joe Walsh is keeping his promises.
Joe promised to release his tax returns and he did so last week (Melissa Bean still refuses to do so). After he won the primary, Joe Walsh promised to move into the district by May 1.
He has kept that promise. He is moving in to his home in Johnsburg (McHenry County) this week for which he and his family signed a lease effective May 1.
Joe Walsh held a well-attended town hall meeting on health care a month ago, after the primary election.
He promised to hold open-invite, public townhall forums on the issues and he has hosted or co-hosted several since the primary, even inviting Rep. Bean to participate jointly on more than one occasion (which she has declined to do).
This is a time when Republicans and reform-minded Independents and Democrats should be coming together to demand Melissa Bean release her tax returns like virtually every other politician.
This is a time when Republicans and reform-minded Independents and Democrats should be asking why the media doesn’t press Melissa Bean as to why she has failed to move into the district even after 6 years in office—and after saying she would, if she won, when she ran against Phil Crane in 2004.
Melissa Bean at her last public debate. It was held at McHenry County College in 2006 before the traditional Labor Day election campaign beginning.
This is a time when we should be putting partisan affiliation aside and seizing the opportunity to elect a responsive, reform Congressman who will put the interests of his constituents first while Rep. Bean continues to put her own political interests first and hide from her constituents.
Joe Walsh welcomes questions while Rep. Bean refuses to have an honest, open discussion in public with 8th District families about her votes for Obamacare, Cap-and-Trade, bank bailouts, and phony stimulus plans.
Fifth, Joe Walsh is not a perfect candidate but a perfect candidate for these difficult times we’re living in.
He has had some past financial struggles.
He received poor counsel in the primary and, even though the records are public, he didn’t broadcast this information as widely as he should have to ensure a general awareness of the facts so that people could separate the truth from the fiction being spread by his political opponents.
But Joe also took ownership of those past mistakes, accepting and dealing with the consequences.
The campaign has made mistakes too.
Joe failed to a file a personal disclosure statement with the FEC during the primary that should have been filed.
But, upon becoming aware of this oversight, Joe had the campaign contact the FEC to remedy the matter immediately, which was done within 48 hours and the campaign is presently in full compliance with FEC regulations and will maintain that compliance.
STAR 105's Stew Cohen interviews Joe Walsh at the Crystal Lake TEA Party on April 15th.
So, yes, Joe has had financial struggles in the past. But he took ownership of them and worked his way through them, just like a lot of folks in the 8th District do every day.
And, yes, the campaign has not been flawless. But, again, when mistakes have been made, Joe has stepped up to take ownership and remedy them with all due speed along with keeping the public informed of the remedy.
None of the mistakes Joe Walsh has made were rooted in an attempt to mislead or obfuscate the truth.
He made honest mistakes and he’s taken the lumps for those mistakes.
If you have a question, ask.
If you have a concern, raise it.
Joe has and will answer any questions and address any concerns of any interested person.
April 26th Fox News Chicago did a long story on Joe Walsh's failure to file personal financial data. That filing has now been made with the Federal Elections Commission.
Sixth, as you sift through all the sniping and gossip, keep in mind one other thing:
Joe Walsh is poised to win this race.
The most recent survey on the race has Joe Walsh in a statistical dead heat with Rep. Bean. Ask yourself why Joe is getting hit so hard so quickly after the primary.
Finally, Joe Walsh recognizes we must defeat Melissa Bean. Joe is focused on presenting voters with a choice to the big-spending, big-taxing, big-government liberal Melissa Bean.
Joe Walsh talks to Bill Malmoren and Alicde Spanos at a fund raiser for GOP candidate for State Representative John O'Neill.
Joe Walsh recognizes who this race is really about.
It’s not about him.
It’s not about his staff, past or present.
It’s not about the media.
It’s about you.
It’s about fighting for the economic interests and addressing the economic anxieties of 8th District families. And Joe Walsh recognizes one other thing: He knows “regular Joes” like him cannot afford Melissa Bean in Congress.
Contact us and help us spread the word — we finally have a candidate who has “cracked the code” for the Republican Party:
Joe is bringing tea party supporters and Independents into the Republican Party, galvanized around a small government, pro-growth reform platform to take our country back from the established political class in Washington.
Campaign Manager Nick Provenzano
Obviously, there are some out there trying to bring him down because of it.
They have their hidden agenda.
Joe has his public agenda.
Thank you for your time and your support.
Nick Provenzano
Campaign Manager
Walsh for Congress Committee
847-752-8155
I have no hidden agenda. I have a public agenda. My public agenda is to restore honesty and integrity to political office, remove corrupt dishonest politicions from office and stop the ever expandng federal governemnt from eroding moreof our freedoms. Nick I was part of this campaign long before you joined, not as a paid employee but as a volunteer. It is unfortunate Nick that you have singed on to represent a sinking ship. Walsh has brought all this on himself. He lied to his most devoted volunteers. He has brought disgrace to the grassoots organizations that got him the nomination. Before you tell me about how I have been decieved and don’t know all the facts. Check with your boy Joey and see if he will back you up on that. i spoke with him at length. His inability to accept responsibility for any his action convinced me Joe Walsh must withdraw.
John G, or shall I say Rick C,
What holiness do you posses which gives you the right to condemn someone else, especially who’s cause and devotion is noble and just. Are you without fault? Are you less of a man because of your faults? Have you not made mistakes which others have thrown back in your face? Surely you have, and surely they are worse than those you have cast here so publicly. A quick opposition research team could locate classmates, records, and make the same nightmare’s for you, whether behind the shroud as a consultant or at the forefront standing at the podium.
For those who’ve been so critical, I thought we were looking for someone more like “US”. Guess what people, “US” are those people, and “US” have traffic tickets, insurance lapses, financial difficulties, family matters, and it doesn’t make us any less of a person. In fact if anything, we ought to be embracing a man more like “US” than anyone elected in a very long time. Faults and all.
You elected Joe and now you’re letting the elite, the establishment, the local unions, impugn your choice. This is a wake up call.
Here’s a question: How DID he loan his campaign $28,000 after only making $41,000 last year and $25,000 the year before.
Are you telling me people don’t have savings, ira’s, 401k’s and family loaned money?! Give me a break already!
I don’t know- I asked. He’s claiming he’s a regular guy, no connections, a average schmo- Like me. And I could NOT rustle up $28,000 right now even though I do a little better than that and haven’t just lost a house to foreclosure.
Joe, You are obviously not a normal guy either, because you use words like “rustle”.
What’s wrong with “rustle”? It’s a good, old fashioned American word- Duke Wayne would “Rustle up some grub.” It’s positively Palin-esque.
I actually kind of “rustle”, but with all due respect to DW, it’s a little bit passe. Once Rep. Walsh is sworn in, maybe we can all come together and have “rustle” worked back into the lexicon of todays “regular guy” language.
My apologies to Mr. Skinner for diverting the debate.