Posted on 02/18/2011 7:14:06 PM PST by Free ThinkerNY
WASHINGTON -- Three days before the Nov. 2 election, Oregon Rep. David Wu’s most loyal and senior staffers were so alarmed by his erratic behavior that they demanded he enter a hospital for psychiatric treatment.
Their concern had been spiking for weeks in tandem with Wu’s increasingly unpredictable performance on the campaign trail and in private. He was loud and sometimes angry, some of them told The Oregonian. He said kooky things to staff and -- more worrisome with a tough election fast approaching -- around potential voters and donors.
Most of all, they were worried for Wu, a 55-year-old single father of two young children.
Earlier and gentler efforts had failed, so the tight-knit group of high-level staff took other steps, including quiet inquiries about the availability of beds in hospitals in Portland and Washington, D.C., multiple sources familiar with the effort told The Oregonian.
Several staff members confronted Wu for the final time on Oct. 30. Wu’s psychiatrist was brought into that meeting as well, joining the group at the Portland campaign headquarters by speaker phone. The meeting was held after four consecutive days of troubling behavior that led the staff to agree that Wu needed a higher level of medical care, according to people intimately familiar with the events of that period.
Wu's past Read earlier news stories from The Oregonian about David Wu. "This is way beyond acceptable levels and the charade needs to end NOW," wrote Lisa Grove, a senior and long-serving campaign pollster, in an e-mail to colleagues that day. "No enabling by any potential enablers, he needs help and you need to be protected. Nothing else matters right now. Nothing else."
(Excerpt) Read more at oregonlive.com ...
He’s the right guy for Oregon, and Oregon is the right state for him.
No mention of party affiliation - I wonder ....
Anthone Weiner could use such a concerned staff
He’s a Demwit, so of course...
Thanks Free ThinkerNY.
Wu who?
If he’s a liberal (he is), he already has a very severe mental disorder.
Wu’s on first? Many political insiders are wondering if U.S. Rep. David Wu, Oregon’s First Congressional District Congressman, is about to be called “out.”
Following a disturbing and yet to be fully explained departure of six of the congressman’s long-time staffers, rumors are flying that Wu’s days in office may be numbered. So intense is the speculation that campaigns, in both Republican and Democrat circles, are not so clandestinely being contemplated for a special election to replace Wu.
On Jan. 18, Oregonian reporters Charles Pope and Janie Har reported that since the November election, “U.S. Rep. David Wu has lost at least six staffers plus the leadership of a veteran campaign team that guided him to a seventh term amid complaints about his public behavior.”
“The exodus includes Wu’s longtime chief of staff, Julie Tippens, and communications director, Julia Krahe, both in Washington, D.C.
“In addition, Wu has lost virtually his entire political team — people who have been with the Democrat for more than a decade — including his chief fundraiser and chief pollster who told The Oregonian she wouldn’t work for him again.”
With 63 Democrats being ousted from the House, over 2000 staffers are said to be job hunting in D.C. This shaky job market has only increased curiosity about why so many on Wu’s staff quit.
What did Wu do to cause them to walk after he was successfully re-elected? Two odd campaign incidents are being publicly identified as justification for the resignations.
On Oct. 27, Wu gave a speech in Washington County that was so strident and strange that it caused a fellow Democrat to file a complaint with his office.
Days later, another complaint was filed against Wu with the Transportation Security Administration when the Congressman used his clout to demand access to a prohibited area of the airport to greet passengers as they arrived.
While weird, these incidents do not measure up as reasons for so many staffers to quit in a perilous job market. Compounding the confusion is their “no comment” and, “I’ll never work for Wu again” statements.
After all, there were no mass resignations when Rep. Wu went to the House Floor in 2007 and gave a nationally maligned speech about “faux Klingons” in the Bush White House.
Reports are rampant that Wu may soon face a congressional investigation for untoward deeds. To date, Wu’s only public statement has been, “I have only the utmost esteem for every member of my staff, present and past.”
That’s it? Your veteran staff is quitting in droves, serious rumors are circulating that you may be soon expelled from office, and all you can come up with is a perfunctory written statement of blather.
David Wu needs to step up to the plate and defend himself. He needs to fight these scurrilous charges head on. His stay-in-the-dugout cowering is only fostering more questions with ugly answers.
Wu may be crossing his fingers that this too will pass, but that is not the strategy of a statesman. David Wu’s District deserves answers.
http://www.oregonlive.com/argus/index.ssf/2011/02/are_the_faux_klingons_seeking.html
Noticed the same thing. The only clue is the article says he spoke to a democrat group.
Sounds like just the right kind of guy to represent Oregon.
Kinda disturbing he got re-elected. Gerrymandered district?
Yes, Wu is the rapist. A far left Dem who has been re-elected several times since it came out he had raped a woman in college. This district will vote for him even if he’s wearing a straight jacket in the state hospital.
mad, mad,
mad, mad,
wu!
Ping...
Since the November election, U.S. Rep. David Wu, D-Ore., has lost at least six staffers plus the leadership of a veteran campaign team that guided him to a seventh term amid complaints about his public behavior.
The exodus includes Wu’s longtime chief of staff, Julie Tippens, and communications director, Julia Krahe, both in Washington, D.C. Krahe left without securing a job while Tippens took a similar position with a lawmaker with far less seniority.
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