When the House voted in early September for a $1.4 billion relief bill for victims of Hurricane Katrina, Rep. John Hostettler (Ind.) was one of 11 Republicans to oppose it.
Yesterday, the congressman, who is facing a tight race next year, and several other Indiana members asked President Bush for money to help victims of another natural disaster -- the tornado that ripped through many areas in his 8th District [...]
Jay Howser, the campaign manager for Democrat Brad Ellsworth, who is challenging Hostettler next year, said that the campaign had already raised Hostettler's Katrina vote and that now is not the time to bring the tornado, which killed 22, into the conversation.
"I just don't want to go there right now," Howser said. "We're less than 24 hours from this happening."
Howser said Ellsworth, the sheriff of hard-hit Vanderburgh County, spent yesterday assessing the damage. The county encompasses Evansville, one of the two population hubs in the 8th District. Howser said the county includes 25 percent of the voters in the district [...]
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) declined to comment on the race. But privately, Democrats voiced disbelief and amusement with Hostettler, saying the fifth-term congressman would rather help tsunami victims halfway around the world and rebuild Iraq than aid poor Americans drenched by hurricanes.
One prominent Indiana Democratic source recalled: "It's something that we were talking about when he made the first vote. What happens if something like this happens in our own back yard? And then it did."
Interesting point at the end of the article -- Hostettler only has $28K cash on hand at this point of the race. Ellsworth has $258K CoH.
