Time to get the Kline debate out in the open

The unmasking of "klinefan" as an operative of the John Kline campaign may help move the debate in this race out into the open.

Kline's campaign apparently has a policy of requiring its staff to fully disclose their role in the campaign in any public political statements they make. This prompted Coleen Rowley to hand deliver a letter to John Kline on Tuesday saying in part:

So I was disappointed to learn someone in your campaign office has been regularly posting anonymous comments on a political weblog.

Your staff has thus demonstrated a pattern of repeatedly crossing the line in what you claim the voters are owed. And by focusing your campaign thus far on personal attacks and allowing your staff to engage in dirty tricks you've violated your promise to the district.

The voters of the second district have a right to know who John Kline is and what he stands for. Anonymous Internet banter does not accomplish this.

In the letter, Rowley challenges Kline to a series of one-on-one debates that will focus on issues that matter most to second district voters such as the Occupation Of Iraq (Kline supports "staying the course"), Health Care (Kline supports the pharmaceutical industry's bloated Medicare Part D prescription drug fiasco) Medical Care For Returning Veterans (Kline opposes the funding) Homeland Security (Kline has repeated voted against improved port security) Ethics Rules (Kline has voted against) and Tax Breaks For Oil Companies (Kline has voted for the tax breaks when both oil profits and the federal debt are both at record levels).

We know the Kline campaign continues to read this blog (even though they don't put up intimidating posts anymore). So "klinefan" ask your boss to be a brave soldier and have a real debate!