Candidate Landowski Denies Recruitment by Anti-Catholic Pol

Update II: Informed sources say that absolutely no mainstream Republican will have "anything" to do with Tom Reynolds. That will make this story a bit less fun to cover, but it merits stating that the GOP ought not be blamed for anything Reynolds and his people do and say.

Update: Clean Sweep Wisconsin’s (CSW) PAC is mandated to file a 2008 continuing financial report with the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board by July 21. Citizens seeking CSW’s disbursements made prior to July 21 can request a copy or inspection of CSW’s report. CSW can claim exemption from financial reporting if several criteria are met.

Tom Reynolds' candidate, Phil Landowski, says on his website that he was not recruited by Tom Reynolds or Reynolds' political action committee, Clean Sweep Wisconsin.

Landowski is running in the Democratic primary against Christine Sinicki (D-Milwaukee, 20), and has been linked to the notorious anti-Catholic Reynolds in press reports.

"... I haven’t been ‘recruited’ by any Tom, Dick, or Harry and I made that quite clear to Mr. Pitsch (of the Wisconsin State Journal)," says Landowski on his site.

The Landowski denial, echoing other denials made to Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writers, casts further doubt on the credibility of his candidacy, that has been described as part of a disingenuous effort by Reynolds, because Landowski's links to Reynolds have been made public in several press reports.

Last Sunday's Journal-Sentinel political column by Daniel Bice notes:

Landowski is a graduate of Bob Jones University, a fundamentalist Christian school that barred interracial dating as recently as 2000 and has been accused of being anti-Catholic. Landowski said he opposed the ban as a student and isn’t sure if he would send his children to Bob Jones. ... Landowski, of Milwaukee, one of Sinicki’s two primary challengers, demurred when asked if he had been recruited by Reynolds. But he acknowledged he has talked to the former West Allis senator about his campaign.

Bice has posted the audio of a Tom Reynolds phone call to state Rep. Sinicki (D-Milwaukee, 20), revealing the rightwing Reynolds' plan to run his recruited candidates in the September Democratic primary, opposing Milwaukee-area state representatives. [See link to the audio of the Reynolds phone call.]

Transcription of the Reynolds phone call, reads:

“… In Milwaukee here, we are working on a full slate of 12 candidates; eight on the north side, and four on the south side. And we are at eight or nine candidates right now. ... We have a candidate against Sinicki and a candidate against Staskunas. And we're still working on Zepnick and Colón….”

Landowski has also criticized the reporting of the Wisconsin State Journal's Mark Pitsch, asking, "So what’s this guy Tom up to that’s so sinister, that Mr. (Pitsch) couldn’t seem to focus on anything else (so much for issues) in our interview?"

One political observer sympathetic to Democrats, speaking on background, said the Reynolds-Landowski and allies' efforts, is a "clumsy head fake," that has "politically ruined anyone associated with it forever. ... At least we still have Tom Reynolds to kick around some more."

Clean Sweep Wisconsin still refuses to post its slate of candidates or answer its phone.