Autographgate III: The Plot Thickens

So, we at WW were doing our regular rounds today, perusing through the normal means of information gathering, and we were putting together a little posting on Welchie's first committee remarks, which were picked up by the AP. Something about how he was defending the Dems on the accusation of a fellow who was testifying before the committee...or something. We're sure that we'll get to it eventually, it seemed so appropriate. However, we got sidelined by this little nugget from the Free Press blog, which we came across somehow. It was, we think, pretty interesting.

For a number of reasons.

If you haven't clicked on our little link, we'll summarize it for you: Welchie just can't stop trying to dig himself out of the hole he's in over this Bush autograph thing. While it was bad enough that he was caught on tape essentially invalidating every point he made about his opposition to Bush, what has been coming out of his office, and from his mouth ever since has been much, much worse. Read: damning. Even to his most ardent supporters.

It's so bad, it seems, that we don't feel that we're in a position to paraphrase. We'll just let Welch's explanation stand for itself, and here we'll post the transcript of his remarks on VPR's switchboard in their entirety. Remember, this is Welch refuting accusations that he was attached to the Pres because of the controversial autograph request:

"On the question of President Bush, the first time I met him was at the Congressional orientation... I had a chance to interact with him as the rest of us did ... I asked him about Vermont farmers and could he help and then he asked me about a friend of his who lives in Burlington and who is somebody he when to high school and college with, Jack Sartore. He asked if I would call him and say hello, which I did. And it was President Bush, when he was leaving after the state of the uinion,(sic) he saw me -- the man has a memory -- and he asked me if I had called Jack Sartore and I said I had... and he asked me if I would let him know he was asking about him again at the State of the Union and so I did that.

Simply stunning.

So, instead of simply saying what everyone would have expected, and what his defenders have been suggesting is the case on the blogs, he says, essentially, that no, he wasn't just getting an autograph for the sake of presenting a token of Americanism to his young nephew. Rather, he was following up on a personal favor that Bush asked him to do, completely outside the realm of politics. Checking in in his buddy from Andover/Yale. That's right: just checking in. With Bush's college pal.

Again: stunning.

What, we are wondering, was the conversation between Welch and Sartore, a fellow Burlington personal injury attorney, like? We imagine it went something like this:

Welch: Hello? John? This is Congressman Welch! I ran into your old pal Georgie boy the other day, and he wanted me to give you a call; you know, see how you're doing. So, what's up?

Sartore: Oh, hello Peter. Thanks for the call! I know that Georgie appreciates it when people live up to their promises. You know, when they say they're going to do something, and then they do it. I'm glad that Georgie has found someone who will call who he asks, when he asks. I'm sure the two of you will get along great!

Welch: Thanks! I'll be sure to let him know that you and I spoke, and that we got along just great. I'll probably see him at the SOTU, so I'll mention it. Hey, want to get some Red Onion sandwiches next time I'm in town? You and I can trade old courtroom stories, and you can tell me all about what Georgie was like at Yale, his days in DKE, and all of that!

Sartore: Sounds great! I''ll make all of the arrangements. See you soon, Peter, or as Georgie now calls you, in classic GWB nickname giving fashion, "Ole' Welchie."

Welch: I'll look forward to it!

Okay, we'll admit it: we are taking some liberties here. But still, even if you're the biggest Welch booster around you have to admit that this is pretty bad. Let's go through the reasons why.

First, there is the actual issue of Welch being fully corrupted, and if not, at least fully corruptible. This is evident by his statement above, which pretty much says that hey, he was just doing a personal favor for Bush, no big deal. Not politics: personal. Are we wrong here? This is, as they might say in Stannard, damned crazy. Even we at WW couldn't have foreseen such a turn of events.

Second, there is the issue of what Welch will or will not say in any given set of circumstances. It's clear as the ice on St. Alban's bay that his office has made some fairly obvious rookie mistakes over the first few weeks in Congress, but it was just chalked up to these wet-behind-the-ears youngsters being inexperienced. Then, Welch was seen in the now infamous MSNBC footage, which we remarked upon as a departure from his tightly controlled campaign atmosphere. Now, with this utterly dumbfounding answer to a fairly straightforward question, the truth is fully revealed. Without Carolyn Dwyer beside him, Welch is a loose cannon. How loose? Loose enough to admit doing a personal favor for George Walker Bush. Let that sink in for a bit. Ok.

Any way you cut it, this spells major trouble for Welchie. Think about it this way: his real explanation for the thumbs up he gave Bush was actually worse than the bungled response his rookie press guy gave, which, considering the foolishness of his Yankees- Red Sox analogy, is saying something.

Our prediction: look for the glad handing of Bush to be the first in a long line of gaffes that Welch will make between now and Election Day, 2008. Why? He simply can't help it. The power to the people swagger which was so effective last Summer has been replaced with more of a, what should we say, power to the Peter strategy? Whatever. Just watch, it's only the start of this kind of thing. Trust us, we intend to pay attention as well.

Judging from what we have seen recently, it should be a heckuva ride.

Frankly, we can't wait.