George Holding

Democratic nominee for US House of Representatives Charles Malone has released the following statement regarding an article that appeared in today's Rocky Mount Telegram.

In an interview with The Rocky Mount Telegram, 13th Congressional District Candidate Republican George Holding described the 2012 election as a choice between whether Americans, “want unlimited opportunities and possibilities or a country with unlimited handouts without regard for cost.”

Democratic candidate Charles Malone believes the election is about equal access to opportunity and questions Holding’s use of the phrase “unlimited handouts.”

Don't take my word for it, look at what the guy has to say for himself. Just what we need. Another fast-talking political aristocrat who hates government ... except for that part that includes his job.

Holding, who stayed on into the Obama Administration for two and a half years to pursue the Edwards case and a case against a another Democratic officeholder, rejected claims that politics played a role in his office's aggressive investigation and prosecution of the two-time presidential candidate and 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee.

Press Release from Charles Malone for Congress.

Former U.S. Attorney George Holding’s decision to charge former Senator John Edwards had nothing to do with public integrity, and everything to do with political opportunism, according to Charles Malone, Democratic candidate for North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District.

“The decision by the United States Justice Department to drop the charges against former Senator John Edwards calls to question the judgment of Mr. Holding in seeking indictments in this case. It is apparent now that Holding, while wanting government to cut to the bone otherwise, was willing to throw millions of the taxpayers’ money away to settle old political scores while attempting to enhance his own political career,” said Malone.

Within days of the indictment of Edwards, Holding declared his candidacy for Congress. He won the Republican primary, and Malone is his opponent in the general election in November.

How to succeed in politics without really trying:

During the recent primary, Holding's chief opponent, Paul Coble, a former Raleigh mayor, echoed the Edwards defense team in calling the prosecution politically motivated. He told Main Justice there was "no question Holding thought those two cases would take him to the U.S. Congress." Holding has repeatedly denied such claims.

I'm sure many reading this think John Edwards deserves to be spanked (maybe hard) for his behavior. But thirty years? Really? Even armed robbery doesn't (normally) generate that kind of prison sentence. And for those who refrained from making the observation I just did for fear they would be labeled an Edwards-lover (or whatever), there's a huge gap between being an apologist and being a realist. Don't be afraid to be the latter.

When desperation strikes, the truth comes out:

GOP House candidate Paul Coble today made the Super Pac formed by one of his opponents, George Holding an issue in the 13th congressional race, claiming that it would allow “massive and possibly unaccountable special interest money” to influence the GOP primary.

I was going to say, "No shit, Sherlock", but that's way too crude to type into a blog post. As far as the accountability, that will have to wait until it's too late for the (Republican) Primary voters to use the information in their decision-making: