The Kansas City Star says Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline, who’s running for re-election, is going “negative” by notifying voters that his GOP primary opponent, former county prosecutor Steve Howe, made an error that nearly allowed a killer to go free.
In a blog posting today, The Star quoted Howe condemning phone calls to voters explaining the case, describing the calls as a “push poll” and claiming that the Kline campaign was “mudslinging” and “spewing lies.” The Star didn’t explain what Howe meant by “lies,” and didn’t quote anyone from the Kline campaign addressing that specific charge. In fact, in highlighting Howe’s claims, The Star didn’t seem to recognize the irony that by making his accusations, Howe himself had just gone “negative.”
Jenn Giroux, Kline’s campaign manager, told The Star that her client had nothing to do with the phone calls, but the newspaper couldn’t resist incriminating Giroux by pointing out that she didn’t “denounce” the calls.
"The Kline campaign did not sponsor the poll,” Giroux told CitizenLink. “Steve Howe is wrong again, this time attacking Phill Kline before he knew the facts. The guy's lack of judgment is scary and it raises serious questions about his credibility in other areas."
The Star can’t say it doesn’t know the facts about the disputed murder case. It reported a week ago that Howe failed to request a valid “speedy trial” date, as required by state law. The judge in the case, Thomas Bornholdt, told The Star, “If no one had noticed that, then I would have had to discharge him for lack of a speedy trial. Then you could blame Steve (Howe). You could blame me.”
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