Democrats Defend Rep. Scott in Surprisingly Tight Race

House Democrats and members of the Congressional Black Caucus went to bat for Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.), charging his Republican challenger with running a misleading campaign.

The Democrats said that allies of Republican Deborah Honeycutt have sent out fliers that appear to come from Democrats and that accuse Scott of being corrupt. Scott’s campaign has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission over the fliers, alleging that the group that distributed them, Democrats for Good Government, is tied to Honeycutt.

In a conference call Monday, Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.) said that Honeycutt has used her $4.3 million campaign war chest to distribute “bad information.”

“Even though she hasn’t spent any time in Washington D.C., I think she’s mastering the Potomoc two-step, trying to fake out many of the voters in the 13th congressional district,” Meek said.

The show of support for Scott comes after a recent poll showed a surprisingly tight race. The survey, conducted two weeks ago by Cooper and Secrest Associates, showed Scott leading Honeycutt 43 percent to 38 percent. Scott had won in 2006 in his heavily-Democratic district with 69 percent of the vote.

Underscoring Democrats’ concern over the seat, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) organized the conference call on Monday with Meek, House Majority Whip James Clyburn (S.C.) and Rep. John Lewis (Ga.). Scott’s campaign is also airing a radio ad that notes Honeycutt’s support for John McCain.

In addition, Democrats are scrutinizing how Honeycutt’s campaign raised its money. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) spokesman Doug Thornell said that nearly three-quarters of her funding — $3.3 million — come from donors who don’t indicate who their employers are.

“It adds to a growing list of questions,” Thornell said.

In the call organized by the DCCC, House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) took particular issue with the statement in the flyer that Scott is using “endorsements from ‘old line’ Democrat Civil Rights Leaders who have sold their souls for the money.”

“Civility in political discourse is something that the American public would like to have back,” Clyburn said.

Michael Murphy, Honeycutt’s campaign manager, said denied that Honeycutt had any connections to the group that sent out the flyer and said that the unitemized donations were came in small contributions that didn’t have to be reported. He said that Democrats are “in serious desperation mode, for sure.”

See the flyer attacking Scott below.