"If the President Won't Listen, Congress Must"

Will Dean Heller listen?

When You Worry About a Blogger from Germany, You're Really in Trouble

After being hit on his Iraq stance by the ad of Americans United for Change, Dean Heller went on Bill Manders radio talk-show last night. That in itself is to be expected. However what is not to be expected is that a conservative talk show host and a sitting Congressman care about some little blogger from Germany. But apparently they do.

Listen to this clip (this is the second part of their talk).

Here's the transcript:

Bill Manders: "What do you know about this guy named Sven Stromann?"

Dean Heller: "Uh... Some guy from Germany."

Bill Manders: "Well, actually he's an exchange student in Nevada."

Dean Heller: "Yea, I think he was at one time..."

Bill Manders: "And he's got a, I guess they've got a website. They're attacking you, they want to defeat you in 2008.."

Dean Heller: "Yes they do..."

Funny, ain't it, how Mr. Manders and Congressman Heller have not only noticed a blog barely three days old but are worried enough about Heller's re-election to give it credence by mentioning me. Also, Mr. Manders, this is a one person effort. No need for invoking the "they've got a website" notion there.

Further highlights from the two parts of this interview: Heller claims that Lisa Mascaro misquoted him in the Las Vegas Sun article. Manders very worried that Heller might change his stance on Iraq, especially his support for the surge. Most hilarious thing, though, is that Heller clearly used information from this blog concerning the automated phone calls made by VoteVets. I'm not surprised, though, as Helluva Heller receives most of its hits from the server of the House of Representatives according to my site statistics (click on "Visitor Paths" on the sidebar and then scroll down).

All in all, you can only come away from this talk show segment with the feeling that Heller's not all that certain about his re-election prospects. Funny thing, that.

Here are the links to listen to this segment in full:

Clip 1
Clip 2

Thanks to JWH over at No Gibbons for the tip and the clips.

VoteVets Targeting Dean Heller

VoteVets are currently targeting 32 House members who voted against a deadline for redeploying the troops from Iraq using automated phone messages, reports the Politico. Among them: Nevada's Dean Heller.

Here's the message, narrated by Brandon Friedman, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan:

"Hello, my name is Brandon Friedman. I served America in Iraq, and I'm calling to tell you how angered I am that on March 28th, your Congressman,______________, stood against America's troops, by voting against legislation that would finally set a course to responsibly redeploy them from Iraq's civil war.

"Congressman_________ talks a lot about supporting the troops, but when the chips were down, he voted with President Bush and against the troops. He voted in favor of sending more and more of my fellow troops to Iraq- with no end in sight. If you're as disappointed as I am in Congressman________ let him know. Call him at ____________. Thank you."

VoteVets is an extraordinary and very credible organization caring about the needs of America's veterans. On its advisory board sit (among others):

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark
Former Sen. Bob Kerrey
Retired Major General Paul Eaton
Retired Major General John Batiste

Clark was in Nevada last year campaigning for Jill Derby.

VoteVets also aired this very powerful commercial against then Sen. George Allen last year:



Of course, these calls come at the same time as the ad by Americans United for Change. Here it is again: