If you might remember, back in February it was reported that Bart Gordon (D, TN-06) went to Europe on taxpayer money to… essentially, ski. He wasn’t on any relevant committee that would justify his presence in that particular junket, but he is a twelve-term Democrat whose party overwhelmingly controls Congress right now, which apparently is justification enough. Now Dave Evans, Gordon’s most likely Republican challenger in the general election, has come out with an estimate that Gordon’s travel costs were approximately $7,250; he’s calling for the Congressman to give that money back, fully disclose how much was spent by Gordon and his family on the trip, explain why he didn’t disclose earlier, and explain why the Congressman was on this junket in the first place.
What makes this potentially damaging is that Bart Gordon is a Blue Dog Democrat; their primary distinguishing feature is supposed to be fiscal conservatism. While this has been overshadowed by their willingness to vote for things like the miscalled “stimulus” bills – which Gordon voted for – individual members of that caucus still hope to run on individual records of financial probity. Which is quite probably why Gordon has been notably uncommunicative about his reasons for going to Europe at taxpayer expense. If there was anything resembling a valid reason for it, he would have said so by now. Early days yet for the race, but that’s sometimes necessary when a long-time incumbent is being challenged.
Dave Evans’ site is here; his Twitter is @DaveEvans_TN6; and here is an account of his participation in the Nashville Tea Party. You can check out his priorities here – the man’s a retired Army Reserve general – and then there’s this picture, which should serve as a pretty good shorthand for many readers here. Check him out, and here’s his donation page.
Moe Lane
Crossposted to RedState.