Stripped down
As promised in an earlier post, it’s time to talk about strip clubs, so let’s not dance around the issue:
You may remember Joe Sinsheimer, who is on a mission to drive House Speaker Jim Black out of office. It hasn’t worked so far, but Sinsheimer seems undaunted in his quest to find stuff in Black’s campaign finance reports that folks might find unsavory.
Click here to see his latest effort, sent around Jan. 10, (or click here for a word file if you're reading this long after this posts publication date, since his releases aren’t indexed). It reads in part:
Joe Sinsheimer, creator of the Jimblackmustgo.com website, blasted Jim Black’s November 2, 2004 acceptance of a $3000 contribution from Texas-based strip club owner David Fairchild who is listed in Black’s campaign finance report as a “restauranteur.” According to records at the Texas Secretary of State, Fairchild is the owner of The Men’s Club which operates strip clubs in Charlotte, North Carolina as well as the Texas cities of Dallas and Houston.
Sinsheimer goes on the list at least one other contributor from the strip club industry.
I guess whether you get up in arms about this depends on what your think about these sorts of clubs.
At any rate, Julie Robinson, Black’s spokeswoman, fired this e-mail back, which reads in part:
"When you get through all of the mudslinging, Sinsheimer in reality 'accuses' Speaker Black of receiving contributions from individuals who operate legal businesses, who pay taxes, employ North Carolinians, and run paid advertisements that are accepted by all major media outlets across North Carolina . . .
I'll leave it to you folks whether accepting money from strip club owners says anything about a politician (or newspapers or television stations or radio stations) one way or the other. A quick spot check of the 2004-2005 campaign finance reports filed by the Triad delegation didn't immediately show any donations from the folks mentioned on Black's report.