Dan McLagan

Dole advisor blames the media

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 08:20:14 -0500

An advisor to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole says the North Carolina media is to blame.

The National Journal yesterday cited Dole spokesman Dan McLagan, who argued that charges that Dole was "the senator from Watergate" were unfair.

He was also harshly critical of an analysis by the Winston-Salem Journal that found that Dole only spent 13 days in North Carolina in 2006.

The Dole campaign disputed the story, saying it did not count days she traveled here on her own dime, but it could not provide documentation. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee made an ad featuring the claim, and Democrat Kay Hagan frequently cited it.

McLagan said the charge was "unfair."

"Unfortunately, the media in this state is to the left of Hugo Chavez," he said. "I have worked most states east of the Mississippi and a couple on the other side, and I have never seen anything like this. That was a great example of a hack job."

Hagan files suit against Dole

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 18:06:09 -0400

Kay Hagan has filed a lawsuit against Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

The Democratic Senate candidate announced this afternoon that she will sue her Republican opponent and the Elizabeth Dole Committee over a television ad that criticizes her for attending a fundraiser hosted by the founder of an atheist group.

"In filing this suit, we've made clear that these kind of despicable tactics will not be tolerated, and our campaign is moving forward with the most important task at hand: defeating Elizabeth Dole, and giving North Carolina's families a voice in the U.S. Senate that they've been sorely missing," said Hagan spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan.

The Wake County Superior Court issued an order allowing Hagan to file a formal complaint within 20 days.

Update: The Dole campaign said the lawsuit is a "courtroom gimmick."

"This lawsuit is frivolous and we will file a motion to dismiss," said spokesman Dan McLagan. "Kay Hagan knows that the Dole Campaign ad is accurate and she is trying to confuse voters until Election Day."

Document(s):
hagan-lawsuit.pdf

Claims Dept: DSCC's 'Silence' ad on Dole

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:43:17 -0400

A new ad from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee criticizes U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole for not taking a more active role on banking issues.

What the ad says: The ad shows a U.S. Senate seat with a sign reading "Elizabeth Dole, Wall Street." Images of trading floors and a couple looking at their monthly bills. "Our economy in meltdown. Elizabeth Dole. Six years on the banking committee. Sixty hearings. Silence. Not one question. Not one statement. But she was busy, raising $850,000 from Wall Street. But for us, she voted against helping families keep their homes. Newspapers called her "ineffective," "with Bush ... not North Carolinians." Elizabeth Dole, fighting for Wall Street — but what about us? The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising."

The background: The ad makes several claims about Dole's record.

BANKING COMMITTEE: Dole has served on the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs since 2003.

According to transcripts of committee hearings collected by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Dole did not ask any questions or make comments at 65 hearings held between Sept. 16, 2003, and July 29 of this year.

Dole spokesman Dan McLagan said the DSCC's list included some wrong committees and times when she was speaking on the Senate floor, but he would not give a detailed explanation.

"At first glance their list is riddled with errors," he said. "I am not going to devote staff time going through their list line-by-line."

FUNDRAISING: Dole has raised more than $900,000 from financial firms for her re-election.

According to campaign finance data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics, the Salisbury Republican has raised $906,905 from several different parts of the financial sector, including $270,985 from securities and investment firms, $247,377 from insurance companies, $242,075 from commercial banks and $146,468 from miscellaneous finance companies.

McLagan noted that those companies include North Carolina-based banks such as Wachovia, BB&T and Bank of America.

FORECLOSURES: Earlier this year, Congress considered a comprehensive bill reforming housing and mortgage regulations in order to address the rising number of foreclosures.

One version of the bill would have allowed bankruptcy judges to reduce the amount owed or changed the interest rate on a mortgage as part of a debt restructuring.

According to a Feb. 29 story in The New York Times, the Bush administration and Republican senators, including Dole, blocked the bill in a party-line vote to eliminate that and other provisions.

"That provision, supported by a wide range of consumer and civil rights groups, drew intense opposition from the mortgage industry, whose lobbyists argued that it would increase risks for lenders and drive up mortgage rates in the future," the Times wrote.

McLagan said the measure would have caused more problems than it solved.

"In a tight credit market, it would have tightened the market further," he said.

Dole voted against a measure in April to provide $100 million for foreclosure counseling, since the measure was not accompanied by an equivalent spending cut elsewhere in the budget.

NEWSPAPERS: Endorsing Democratic Senate candidate Kay Hagan, the Asheville Citizen-Times said Dole was not able to persuade her colleagues to tackle lending reforms.

"Though ... she was one of a handful of senators raising the alarm about the need for more oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for the last five years, she was ineffective in persuading her fellow senators to take action," the paper's editorial board wrote.

In its endorsement of Hagan, The Charlotte Observer said Dole had been ineffective generally.

"Dole should be a terrific senator," the paper's editorial board wrote. "That's why her ineffectiveness in representing North Carolina is such a surprise and such a disappointment."

The Winston-Salem Journal said in its endorsement of Hagan that Dole spent too much time on partisan issues.

"No one questions Dole's work ethic," the paper's editorial board wrote. "She's a vibrant woman. But while in Washington, Dole has reserved her best efforts for issues of importance to the national Republican Party and the Bush administration, not North Carolinians."

Is it accurate? Mostly. The claims quotes from newspapers are accurate. Most observers agree the measures Dole voted against would have helped homeowners, though there is disagreement on their negative effects. It is hard to gauge the truth about the claim about her silence at committee hearings, although it is clear she did not talk as much as other senators.

How Dole voted on foreclosure bill

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:13:46 -0400

How did U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole vote on housing reform?

Earlier this year, Congress considered a comprehensive bill reforming housing and mortgage regulations in order to address the rising number of foreclosures.

One version of the bill would have allowed bankruptcy judges to reduce the amount owed or changed the interest rate on a mortgage as part of a debt restructuring.

According to a Feb. 29 story in The New York Times, the Bush administration and Republican senators, including Dole, blocked the bill in a party-line vote to eliminate that and other provisions.

A recent TV ad by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee says that Dole "voted against helping families keep their homes," citing the vote.

Dole spokesman Dan McLagan said that the measure would have caused more problems than it solved.

"In a tight credit market, it would have tightened the market further," he said. "It would have been counterproductive."

He said that Dole worked closely on the bill and voted for the final version.

Dole voted against credit counseling

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:02:24 -0400

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole voted against providing more funding for housing counseling.

In April, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington proposed spending another $100 million on foreclosure counseling in an amendment to a bill on renewable energy.

At the time, Congress had already budgeted $180 million for credit counselors.

Murray argued that spending more to prevent homeowners from going into foreclosure was "a smart investment," although it would require suspending the pay-go provision of an earlier budget bill.

Senate Republicans argued that they needed to investigate whether the money was being spent appropriately before budgeting more. If more was spent, they argued it should be done through the regular budget process, not an amendment.

The amendment failed 44-40, with Dole voting against it.

Dole spokesman Dan McLagan said it was "a laudable amendment," but there were too many problems with it for her to support it. For one, it was not matched by a similar spending cut elsewhere in the budget.

The ad is "saying we should have gone $100 million more in debt to teach people to be responsible with their credit," he wrote Dome. "That would have been bizarre."

A recent TV ad by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee criticizes Dole for her vote on the amendment.

Dole's vote on home energy help

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:14:13 -0400

Sen. Elizabeth Dole voted against an amendment on a home-energy assistance bill in 2006.

Started in 1981, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, provides funding to states to provide one-time assistance to millions of people who need help paying their heating and cooling bills.

In 2006, Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine proposed transferring an additional $1 billion from the 2007 budget for more immediate assistance that year.

During debate on the proposal, Dole voted against an amendment proposed by Snowe. The amendment passed 68-31. The overall bill later passed the Senate on a voice vote.

Dole spokesman Dan McLagan said Dole objected to how the money would be spent.

"The vast majority of the package was aimed at cold-weather states," he said. "All this money was going to go to northern states for a winter that had been mild, versus southern states that had a hot summer."

He added that more people die from hot weather than cold.

A recent ad by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, citing this vote, says Dole voted "against helping families struggling to keep their homes."

That wording — plus images of a foreclosure sign on a home — makes it sound as though Dole voted against help for homeowners, but the vote was actually on a heating bill.

Hagan, Dole support offshore drilling

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:10:31 -0400

Both candidates for U.S. Senate support offshore drilling.

The Associated Press reports that Democrat Kay Hagan and Republican U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole have both stated in recent months they would support drilling, a reversal of both of their earlier positions against it.

In a new TV ad, the Dole campaign says that Hagan opposes drilling:

Dole has long supported a federal moratorium on such exploration off the North Carolina coast, saying it was necessary to protect the state tourism industry and marine habitat. She changed her mind in June, also citing high gas prices.
At that time, Hagan, a veteran state senator, slammed Dole for the decision, saying "empty rhetoric and false promises won't lower gas prices." But a month later, Hagan softened her stance by signing on to a bipartisan proposal offered by a small group of U.S. senators that included drilling, saying she was willing to approve such exploration as part of a compromise.
Flanagan said Wednesday that Hagan supports the idea of drilling as a solution and called Dole’s ad a "lie."
Dole spokesman Dan McLagan said the campaign was under the impression that Hagan opposed offshore drilling, saying she's repeated the mantra in interview after interview.
"I don't think Hagan can keep track of what she has flip-flopped on anymore," McLagan said.

Hagan backs the bipartisan Gang of 16 legislation, which would open up spots in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and allow North Carolina and other states to decide whether to allow drilling.

Dole also supports giving states the option.

More on that MoveOn ad

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:16:13 -0400

More on that MoveOn.org ad on John McCain and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole from CNN:

The 30-second spot, "Pocket," is MoveOn's first Senate race ad this cycle, according to Communications Director Ilyse Hogue. She added that MoveOn currently has no set plans to use similar versions of the ad in other states, but has not ruled out the possibility, as the nation's energy woes continue to dominate headlines this campaign season.
Dole campaign spokesman Dan McLagan downplayed the potential statewide impact of the MoveOn buy, saying Dole had already been hit with a million dollars in outside spending, "and they are welcome to spend more. That dog ain't gonna hunt down here. These are the same surrender monkeys that called for a peaceful response to the 9/11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans. Their credibility in North Carolina is pretty low."

Dole criticizes Hagan over oil

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:22:27 -0400

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole has criticized Kay Hagan's investments.

Last week, the Salisbury Republican noted that her Democratic opponent and her husband, Chip, have invested in oil drilling operations.

"Kay Hagan is a hypocrite of the highest order for attacking Senator Dole for being too close to oil interests when she herself is an oil baroness and is profiting from the very product she is condemning," said Dole spokesman Dan McLagan. "It is no wonder that Hagan has no energy plan. She is profiting from the status quo."

Meantime, Hagan argued that Dole is beholden to oil interests since she's received more than $266,000 in campaign contributions from oil companies.

"All her oil money must be making her slick, because we can’t keep track of what Elizabeth Dole stands for or stands against, except, of course, for Big Oil's Black Gold," said Hagan's spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan.

Correction: The N&R story incorrectly attributed a quote. (GN-R)

Majority Action to air another ad

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:57:52 -0400

Majority Action will air a TV ad against U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

The liberal 527 group will spend about $115,000 to air an issue ad mentioning Dole's record in the Triangle, the Greenville-New Bern market and Wilmington, said executive director Bill Buck.

"We have reserved air time and will have an ad on the air tomorrow," he said.

He would not discuss the content of the ad until it is unveiled. The group previously ran a radio ad attacking Dole's record on mileage and gas prices.

The Dole campaign attacked Democratic rival Kay Hagan over the ad in a press release today.

"Two things have become crystal clear in this election: Kay Hagan is running as a Trojan horse for big labor, rich trial lawyers and liberal Washington insiders and she has no plan, no agenda and nothing positive to say about herself," said spokesman Dan McLagan in a statement.

Hagan spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan said she wasn't aware of the ad.

She also argued Dole was being hypocritical, since the senator had served as the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which also runs outside advertising in Senate races.

"She can't have it both ways," Flanagan said. "Her job two years ago was to do this, now she's complaining that people are attacking her from the outside."