GOP Candidate Tedisco: "Rush Limbaugh Is Meaningless To Me" [UPDATED]
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Updated below with a response from Tedisco's office
New York congressional candidate Jim Tedisco has boldly gone where few Republicans have been before: publicly blowing off firebrand conservative talk host Rush Limbaugh.
"Rush Limbaugh is meaningless to me," Tedisco said in an interview with the Oneonta (N.Y.) Daily Star editorial board on Thursday. "The only constituency I'm worried about are the residents of the 20th Congressional District.''
Other GOP politicians who have belittled Limbaugh recently, including Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele, rushed back to reverse their statements and praise Rush at something approaching warp speed.
The Huffington Post contacted Tedisco's campaign to ask for him to expand on his thoughts on Limbaugh.
"Jim's comments were in response to a question about what voters are asking him about on the campaign trail," writes campaign spokesman Adam Kramer. "So far, the concerns he has been hearing from voters on the campaign trail have been local in nature, such as his support for lower property taxes, fiscal responsibility, and his opponent's appalling support for the AIG bonus loophole. That was his point and any effort to characterize it otherwise is a distortion of the facts."
Tedisco, the minority leader in the New York's state assembly, is running against Democrat Scott Murphy for the seat vacated by Kirsten Gillibrand, who was appointed to the U.S. Senate following Hillary Clinton's nomination as Secretary of State. The special election will be held on March 31.
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First Posted: 4/20/09 Updated: 5/25/11