Washington Post / October 20, 2006
During National Character Counts Week, Bush Stumps for Philanderer
By Dana Milbank
LA PLUME, Pa., Oct. 19 - So it has come to this: Nineteen days before
the midterm elections, President Bush flew here to champion the
reelection of a congressman who last year settled a $5.5 million
lawsuit alleging that he beat his mistress during a five-year affair.
"I'm pleased to be here with Don Sherwood," a smiling president told
the congressman's loyal but dispirited supporters at a luncheon
fundraiser Thursday. "He has got a record of accomplishment."
Quite a record. While representing the good people of the 10th
District, the married congressman shacked up in Washington with a
Peruvian immigrant more than three decades his junior. During one
assignation in 2004, the woman, who says Sherwood was striking her and
trying to strangle her, locked herself in a bathroom and called 911;
Sherwood told police he was giving her a back rub.
At a time when Republicans are struggling to motivate religious
conservatives to go to the polls next month, it is not clear what
benefit the White House found in sending Bush to stump for Sherwood --
smack dab in the middle of what Bush, in an official proclamation,
dubbed "National Character Counts Week."
The president encouraged public officials "to observe this week with
appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs" -- but public
officials responded with some unusual ceremonies and activities: The
House ethics committee is holding hearings on the page sex scandal; the
FBI raided buildings as part of a probe involving Rep. Curt Weldon
(R-Pa.); and Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio), the eighth person convicted in the
Abramoff lobbying scandal, is refusing to vacate his seat in Congress.
On the other hand, while other Republicans proclaim their independence
from Bush, Sherwood is one of the few still eager to bask in the
president's faint glow. (Another was Sen. George Allen of Virginia,
who, after a summer of racial and religious gaffes, was happy to
welcome Bush in Richmond on Thursday evening.) Bush may be at a lowly
35 percent in the polls here, but Sherwood should be so lucky: Only 1
in 5 residents definitely intends to vote for him next month. By
Sherwood standards, Bush is still a rock star.
"My family and I are humbled by having our friends support us,
especially when one is the leader of this great country," Sherwood said
in introducing Bush.
His wife and adult daughter stood on stage, human shields against
scandal. Their discomfort became apparent when Bush, trying to defuse
the controversy, praised the letter Carol Sherwood wrote to her
husband's constituents this week about the "needlessly cruel" decision
by his Democratic opponent to run an ad about the mistress's
allegations. "I was deeply moved by her words," he said, while some in
the dead-silent audience noticed an agonized look on daughter Maria
Sherwood's face.
Bush was careful to avoid the usual lines about family and conservative
values; he also skipped the usual first-name-only reference that would
indicate that "Don" is a buddy. Onstage, he gave Sherwood the
obligatory handshake and photograph but quickly moved to stand with the
female Sherwoods.
The president otherwise kept his talk in the comfortable realm of
terrorists and taxes. "As this campaign gets closer to the stretch, you
will hear a lot of rhetoric and a lot of partisan charges coming from
the other side," Bush warned. "Their goal is to distract you."
The nature of the accuser's allegations -- she said Sherwood gave her
"facial lacerations, bruises about the head, neck and other portions of
her body, head injury, injuries to her teeth, mouth and gums, back and
neck strain, injuries to her scalp" -- makes it more than a
distraction. Sherwood continues to deny abuse after reaching the secret
settlement.
Still, the loyal listeners wanted to believe Bush -- and not the polls
that show Sherwood as a goner, down by 15 points. "It all depends on
how forgiving the constituents are," said Harry Strausser III, whose
name tag bore the red star of the big donors at the $350-a-head lunch.
As for Bush's elliptical reference to the scandal, "given the fact that
the unfortunate situation occurred, you can't ignore it."
His father, Harry Jr., added, wistfully: "He's done a lot while in
Congress. It's an unfortunate situation, the Washington problem with
the woman."
There weren't quite enough attendees to fill the 25 tables. Campaign
volunteers, working to minimize reporters' contact with the donors,
guarded the media in a roped-off pen in the rear of the room, even
escorting them to and from the restroom. When the event ended, the
Secret Service joined volunteers in attempting, unsuccessfully, to
restrain reporters behind ropes until the attendees left.
Such precautions -- Thursday's whole event, in fact -- would have been
unnecessary if Sherwood, a car dealer and conservative Republican, had
avoided that "Washington problem with the woman," as Strausser
tactfully put it. But the rural, reliably GOP voters began to sour on
Sherwood with news of the lawsuit; the mood worsened when the Mark
Foley page scandal renewed questions of sexual misconduct among
lawmakers.
"It's the perfect storm of events," exulted Chris Carney, Sherwood's
Democratic opponent. The Penn State professor and naval reservist is
enjoying Bush's "last-ditch" effort to rescue the congressman. Working
a lunchtime crowd at a diner not far from the Sherwood event, the
Democrat didn't have to work hard to win support, even from
Republicans.
"I'm leaning towards him," Diane Kosar said after Carney visited her
booth. Opposed to abortion and eager for a crackdown on illegal
immigrants, she has voted for Sherwood in the past.
But this time, even the president can't save him. "Sherwood's been
okay," Kosar said, "but as far as what he did with the young girl, that
was a bad thing."
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