Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas), attempting to portray his Senate opponent as too liberal, has put up a new website arguing that Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) loves Obamacare. The site even features a damning photo of Cornyn looking friendly with the president.
The image, however, isn't real. It's been photoshopped.
The odd-looking image was first noticed Tuesday by Politico reporter Burgess Everett:
As the Wire later noted, the image was originally a picture from a February 2009 event where Charlie Crist, then the Republican governor of Florida, stumped for Obama's economic stimulus plan (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak):
Crist's appearance with Obama and his support for the stimulus bill damaged his reputation with Republicans. He is now running for his old seat as a Democrat against Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R).
The photoshopped image was removed from Stockman's site as of Tuesday afternoon. Stockman's spokesman did not return a request for comment.
Stockman launched his long-shot bid to unseat Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in December, saying he was upset Cornyn did not stand with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) during the government shutdown fight.
Stockman has attacked Cornyn -- labeled one of the most conservative members of Congress by National Journal in 2011 -- for "voting to fund Obamacare" and said Cornyn "wakes up every morning and works to make the Senate a more liberal place."
Stockman caught attention this month for claiming on his website that he had received endorsements from a number of groups that supported him in his run for Congress but hadn't endorsed his Senate bid. Last week, the chairman of one such group -- the Government Is Not God-PAC -- announced the committee would back Cornyn over Stockman and called the congressman "an impediment to conservatives gaining control of the Senate in the upcoming election."