Dinsdale accuses RedState blogger of falsely maligning his family

By Deena Winter | Nebraska Watchdog

LINCOLN, Neb. – U.S. Senate GOP candidate Sid Dinsdale – who’s surging in some polls and attracting more scrutiny for it — accused a national conservative blogger and “D.C. special interest groups” of falsely maligning him and his family.

Erick Erickson, editor of the RedState.com blog and a supporter of GOP candidate Ben Sasse, on Thursday wrote a piece calling Dinsdale a Democrat, claiming his wife has given money to pro-abortion groups, his sister is on the board of Planned Parenthood of Nebraska, his family “married into Warren Buffet’s family,” he’s said he would vote to raise the debt limit and his Pinnacle Bank PAC gave money to former U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson even after he voted for Obamacare.

“Before the campaign began, Republicans in Washington were under the impression he would be the Democrat in the race. Rumor was that he was meeting with Democrat consultants,” Erickson wrote.

Dinsdale released a statement Thursday calling the blog a baseless and slanderous attack on his family members.

“Once again we see Washington, D.C. special interest groups are trying to buy this race by saying and doing anything in order win,” he said. “My wife Dawn and my daughters, Alison and Paige, have never been involved with Planned Parenthood and have never given money to any pro-abortion group.”

Rather, he said they’ve been involved in groups “with the complete opposite message of Planned Parenthood” such as Nebraska Children’s Home, Hope Center, Living Word Ministries, Youth For Christ and many other faith-based groups.

Dinsdale’s statement did not address the other issues raised in Erickson’s blog.

“It saddens me that my wife and daughters are being subjected to attacks by groups in Washington, D.C. that have endorsed Ben Sasse,” Dinsdale said, noting that he’s been endorsed by Nebraska Right to Life. All four of the top GOP candidates were endorsed after March 15 interviews, and in response to the group’s voter’s guide questions, Dinsdale said he only supports abortions “to prevent the death of the mother.”

“This is a perfect example of the negativity that plagues our political system and continues to drive good, qualified people away from running for public office,” Dinsdale said. “Nebraskans are tired of being told who to vote for by Washington, D.C. special interests. I am running to end this kind of politics and take more Nebraska to Washington.”

Erickson wrote that that the one-time frontrunner in the race, former State Treasurer Shane Osborn, “is done” and while supporters of he and Sasse are busy going after each other, Dinsdale is quietly gaining momentum.

“Osborn has destroyed his last bit of credibility and has driven his own negatives so high that he can’t win. Sasse is in the lead with Osborn and (Mitch) McConnell’s PAC attacking him,” Erickson opined.

The Osborn campaign has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Contact Deena Winter at deena@nebraskawatchdog.org. Follow Deena on Twitter at @DeenaNEWatchdog

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