OLYMPIA, Wash. - Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michael Baumgartner, who is challenging Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell in the upcoming election, sent a personal email to a political blogger with the message "go f*$@ yourself," and a picture of a Navy SEAL who recently died in Afghanistan attached to the message.
In a statement released Tuesday, Baumgartner said he is fed up with how little the media is focusing on the war in Afghanistan.
The e-mail was sent to a political blogger with the Seattle-based political blog PubliCola. The blogger was interviewing Baumgartner on Monday and brought up Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin's comments on the issue of rape. According to the Associated Press, the blogger, Josh Feit, said Baumgartner expressed frustration about the lack of focus on the war in Afghanistan.
The e-mail, which came from Baumgartner's personal e-mail account, was published on the blog site Tuesday in its entirety and simply stated: "Josh, this is Pat Feeks, a Navy SEAL killed last week in Afghanistan. Take a good look and then go f*@k yourself." Attached was a picture of Baumgartner with Feeks.
Baumgartner's camp released a statement Tuesday afternoon and you can read it in its entirety below:
August 21, 2012, Bellevue, Wash. – Senator Michael Baumgartner made this statement today regarding Publicola's article that published a private e-mail between him and Publicola editor, Josh Feit:
"This was a follow-up e-mail to a previous conversation with a local blogger," Baumgartner said. "I apologize to Josh for my strong language."
"A cornerstone of my campaign thus far has been to address and end the war in Afghanistan. Every week, our best American men and women are killed. Since I announced my candidacy in October, 301 Americans have been killed."
"The problem is that many media outlets, including Publicola, do not want to talk about why these men and women continue to be killed. They don't want to discuss Maria Cantwell's record supporting the war in Afghanistan or a smarter foreign policy that can save thousands of lives in the future."
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