Republican Congresswoman Jean Schmidt gained national attention when Democrat and Iraq war veteran and Paul Hackett gave her a scare when she ran for election to win what was thought to be a safe seat in congress in a by-election in Ohio last year.
Now she's getting some more unwanted attention. As I discovered in 2004 writing for Blue States for Bush, Kerry's claim to have run in the Boston Marathon could not stand up to scrutiny. He lied.
From the Cincinnati Post:
State elections officials agreed Thursday to examine a complaint accusing U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt of doctoring a photo on her Web site to embellish her performance in a 1993 marathon though records back her claim.
The photo of Schmidt, who received a public reprimand in April from the Ohio Elections Commission for claiming on her Web site that she had two college degrees when she had only one, depicts the suburban Cincinnati Republican near the finish line at the Columbus Marathon.
A time clock shows 3:19:06 - for 3 hours, 19 minutes, 6 seconds - which would have made her one of the top finishers. But a newspaper article listing the overall winners does not include Schmidt, said Nathan Noy, of Piketon in southern Ohio, who is seeking to run as a write-in candidate against Schmidt in the November election.
Noy said he believes the photo may be fake and suggested that Schmidt never even participated in the event. In the photo, Schmidt is not casting a shadow on the pavement while other runners are, Noy said.
A couple of clarifications. The Post is wrong about 3:19 being a top finishing time. Columbus is a top-tier race, and the writer could only have been talking about Schmidt being a top finisher in her age group.
Just as asked my friend Chris Riley from Swansea, Mass., to travel to the headquarters of the Boston Marathon to inspect the official finishing results for the race. No Kerry.
Noy needs to one of his staffers to Columbus to take a look at the 1993 results of the marathon.
My friend Dan Curry over at Reverse Spin came across a Marathon fib by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, (D-IL). I can't remember the precise times, but some 2002 Blago campaign literature claimed "Gov. Elvis" ran a speedy 2:53 or so 26.2 miler in Chicago in the 1990s. His time actually was 3:07. A great performance--a race that almost any runner would take pride in. But that wasn't good enough for Elvis.
Blagojevich owned up to the fib, sort of. He blamed the "mistake" on campaign staffers.
Hat tip to fellow Pajamas blogger Pat Curley of Brainster, from the chat room of the Radio Patriots.
UPDATE 6:05PM CDT: Blogger Whisky Tango Foxtrot points out to me that Schmidt's people have come up with some documentation backing her finishing time. Noy should ask to see that documentation, as my experience with the Boston Marathon contact I talked to in 2004 was less than satisfactory--He was covering for Kerry.
Technorati tags: Marathon Running Run
John Kerry Jean Schmidt Blagojevich Boston Marathon
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