Memo to Al Wynn: desperation is not an attractive cologne. Voters can smell it from a mile away. And when the traditional press runs stories that come this close to calling you a liar and a moron, you know you’ve gone too far.

Matt Stoller provides the background:

I’m reading through this complaint the Al Wynn campaign just filed against Donna Edwards with the FEC. He literally accuses SEIU, the League of Conservation Voters, Friends of the Earth, Anna Burger, EMILY’s List, the Arca Foundation, ACORN, and the Tides Foundation of campaign finance violations, though as you can see it’s kind of hilarious what independent experts think. I hope you’re proud of your endorsee, Speaker Pelosi. And I hope the rest of these groups come out forcefully against Wynn, mocking him mercilessly for his nonsensical claims.

What’s remarkable is that after reprinting wins vinegar-soaked bluster, the Baltimore Sun actually provides space for an independent analysis of Wynn’s charges. What follows is one of the most hilarious takedowns you’ll ever see aimed at long-time incumbents by the press.

An attorney with the independent Campaign Legal Center in Washington who was asked by The Sun to review the complaint said it didn’t appear to contain any facts that would constitute illegal collaboration.

“Interestingly, and unlike most complaints filed with the Federal Election Commission, there’s not a single provision of federal campaign finance law directly cited in the complaint,” attorney Paul Ryan said. “Several of the allegations, in my view, make clear the complainant doesn’t really have a clear understanding of what constitutes coordination under federal law.”

Talking to some people that know, Paul Ryan is a top elections law attorney and he wouldn’t be lining up on the side of “no violation” if it wasn’t air tight. He’s calling bullshit on Wynn’s charges: the complaint has no argument in it and Wynn’s campaign doesn’t know what the law says.

This FEC complaint is an effort to create the appearance of impropriety in Donna Edwards relationships with a wide range of progressive, grassroots organizations. The reality is that this sorry tactic is only necessary because Al Wynn is facing possible defeat at the hands of Donna Edwards and her people-powered movement.

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