Late April Fool's Joke? FRC Promises That Blunt Will Fight Corruption In Washington

This is a real paragraph from the Family Research Council Action PAC's press release announcing their endorsement of Roy Blunt in the U.S. Senate Race:

"Roy Blunt is a true friend of the family. He is a leader and proven champion of the values that make America the greatest country in history," said Tony Perkins, Chairman of FRC Action PAC. "We need conservative senators who will fight to defend our faith, family and freedoms against the radical anti-family leadership in the Senate and the corruption that affects so many Members."

Perkins must have been running the FRC from another planet for the last decade.  Blunt, as the House GOP's "official K Street liaison," was twice named as one of the "most corrupt members of Congress" by a nonpartisan watchdog group. "Blunt's ethics issues stem from the misuse of his position to benefit family members, his connections to Jack Abramoff, and a trip paid for by a foreign agent," CREW wrote in 2006.  That same year, Public Citizen declared that Blunt's "ties to special interests leave him unfit to lead."  In fact, his GOP colleagues refused to make him the permanent GOP leader in 2006 precisely because he was directly connected to the scandalous leadership of Tom DeLay and Jack Abramoff.

Blunt has long been telling Missourians that he's the most ethical kind of politician. For instance, here's how he presented himself to voters in 1992:

But it's 2010, and we've seen what Blunt has done in Washington -- so it's hard to take the words in Perkins' endorsement seriously.

Here are a few articles Perkins and the Family Research Council may have overlooked when preparing their endorsement and declaring that Blunt will "fight to defend our faith, family and freedoms against the radical anti-family leadership in the Senate and the corruption that affects so many Members."

• CREW, 2006: "Beyond Delay: The 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress"
  Blunt comes in at #1: "Rep. Blunt's ethics issues stem from the misuse of his position to benefit family members, his connections to Jack Abramoff, and a trip paid for by a foreign agent."
   
• CREW, 2005: "Beyond DeLay: The 13 Most Corrupt Members of Congress"
  "Rep. Blunt’s appointment is a case of ‘new boss, same as the old boss.’ While Rep. Blunt may be new to the job, he has long followed Rep. DeLay’s pattern of ignoring campaign finance laws and ethics rules."
   
• Public Citizen, 1/13/06: "Roy Blunt: Ties to Special Interests Leave Him Unfit to Lead"
  "In this report, Public Citizen compiles a disturbing dossier on Blunt, based on original research and a comprehensive compilation of news accounts of recent months. In the end, what emerges is a portrait of a legislative leader who not only has surrendered his office to the imperative of moneyed interests, but who has also done so with disturbing zeal and efficiency."
   
• CREW, 1/12/06: "Ethically Challenged Reps. Blunt and Cantor Not Fit for Leadership"
  “If Members of the House were truly committed to cleaning up the cesspool that Congress has become, they would not even consider Reps. Blunt and Cantor to lead the way."
   
• The Washington Post's WhoRunsGov.com Profile
  "As the Republicans’ official K Street liaison, Blunt helped transform the lobbying community into a vote-winning force for House Republicans."
   
• New York Times, 11/21/06: "Same Old Party"
  "Roy Blunt embodies the insidious, half-legal corruption that has permeated the G.O.P. majority since 1995. Blunt’s election as minority whip, by a 137-to-57 margin, was a defiant Republican rejection of calls to clean up their act. Warnings by Blunt’s challenger, John Shadegg of Arizona — “We ceded our reform-minded principles in exchange for a ...tighter grip on power” — went unheeded."
   
• The Star, 2/13/09: "Is Blunt the BEST Senate candidate?"
  "Blunt, though, is D.C. personified. Not only does he have more K Street ties than Mark Shale and Jack Henry combined, he’s married to a lobbyist. His son is one. His links to that world, and by extension former Majority Leader Tom “The Hammer” DeLay, and by extension (again) disgraced superlobbyist Jack Abramoff, are ingredients for a Democratic campaign feast. Those connections are a big reason why Blunt’s fellow Republicans rejected the Missourian as majority leader in 2006, ultimately denying him his dream of becoming House speaker."
   
• Washington Post, 6/11/03: "GOP Whip Quietly Tried to Aid Big Donor; Provision Was Meant To Help Philip Morris"
  "Several Republicans who learned of the November effort have privately expressed concern that Blunt pushed the provision partly because of his personal relationship with Philip Morris lobbyist Abigail Perlman. Blunt, who several Republicans said spends considerable time with Perlman, would not discuss their relationship or whether the two had talked about the provision."