Bagwell choice words

Democratic congressional candidate Tim Bagwell opened his Edwardsville campaign office yesterday with some harsh words for opponent U.S. Rep. John Shimkus.

"We have a representative who is more concerned about standing with Tom DeLay's Texas Republicans than he is with working for the people of Illinois," Bagwell said. "We have a representative who is a veteran, and yet sends our soldiers off to war while voting to cut their veterans benefits before they return home.... When I serve in Congress, the people of Southern Illinois will no longer be a colony of Texas."

According to the Belleville News-Democrat: "Bagwell, 48, of Olney owns a computer consulting and Web site publishing firm. He is a graduate of Southern Illinois University Carbondale, has a doctorate in public administration from St. Louis University and has worked for the U.S. Department of Defense and at least two health-care corporations as a computer analyst.

Bagwell said he has a plan in place to farm out his Web site publishing contracts should he win the election, in order to avoid conflicts of interest."

Maybe I'll make buttons: Vote for Bagwell! Give Dave more work!