Charles Walker denies Hastert story of boastful meeting

Posted 8:03AM on Monday 7th October 2002 ( 22 years ago )

SAVANNAH, Ga. - U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, stumping Sunday for Republican congressional candidate Max Burns, told a crowd of 300 he'd already met Burns' opponent when the Democrat boldy introduced himself as the 12th District's next congressman. But that Democrat, Charles "Champ" Walker Jr., called the speaker's story a fabrication and demanded an apology. Speaking a fund-raiser for Burns in Savannah, Hastert said Walker approached him in Washington in September after a late dinner at the popular Capitol Hill hangout Old Ebbitt Grill. "He came over and introduced himself and said, `I'm Charles Walker. I'm going to be the next congressman from the 12th District in Washington,'" Hastert said. "I said, excuse me, sir, but I don't know that that election has happened yet." Hastert said the story illustrates how Democrats see as a "slam dunk" their chances of winning the 12th Congressional District, drawn by state lawmakers as an open seat packed with Democratic voters. "I'd never be so presumptious to tell someone I've already won," Walker said in a telephone interview. He also denied ever meeting Hastert. "I can say without any equivocation that I've never met Rep. Hastert at any point in time," Walker said. "To flat-out tell a lie about meeting someone, it's hypocritical when they keep saying integrity is paramount. ...I think the speaker needs to apologize." Walker's campaign says he did visit Washington from Sept. 12-14 with his father, state Sen. Charles Walker. It's possible Hastert got the two Walkers confused, said Walker spokesman John Kirincich. The elder Walker did eat at Ebbit's Grill and sat at a table adjacent to Hastert's, Kirincich said. But the elder Walker also denied ever speaking to him. "No communication passed between the two of them," Kirincich said. "The most he (Sen. Walker) could think of is perhaps Hastert overheard part of their conversation. Perhaps he didn't know there were two Charles Walkers." Hastert spokesman John Feehery did not immediately return a telephone message left at his home seeking comment. Hastert's appearance at the $100-per-plate event was Burns' second high-profile GOP visit this week. On Friday, Vice President Dick Cheney spoke at a Burns fund-raiser in Augusta. But while Cheney concentrated his remarks on Iraq rather than Georgia politics, Hastert took direct aim at Walker and Democratic lawmakers who designed the 12th District. "When the Democrats drew this district, they thought it was a slam dunk for them," Hastert told reporters. "We don't take anything for granted. When a seat's open in the Congress, it's important to us." Republicans hold just a five-vote majority in the House, and are trying to protect and improve on those numbers in the Nov. 5 elections. Burns, a Sylvania college professor who pulled off an upset victory over Barbara Dooley of Athens in the GOP primary, says he can do the same against Walker in the general election. The 12th District, which sprawls 200 miles from Athens to Augusta to Savannah, has a voting age population that's 37 percent black. Black voters generally side with Democrats. A handful of black Savannahians attended Burns' fund-raiser Sunday at an Anheuser-Busch distributing plant. But not all of them were in Burns' corner. "I'm supporting Champ Walker," said the Rev. Leonard Small, a black minister who attended at the invitation of local Republican officials. "My mind's basically made up." Later Sunday, Burns criticized Walker, an Augusta businessman, on statewide television for turning down a debate in Atlanta. Burns received 15 minutes of airtime alone, answering panelists questions while standing beside an empty podium. "He needs to address why he will not come out and face the press, why he will not address the issues, why he will not respond to your questions and mine," Burns told the panel. Walker said he could not attend the Atlanta debate because a scheduling conflict with the opening of a new campaign office in Augusta. He also accused Burns of ducking previous candidate forums. "Am I willing to debate him?" said Walker. "If he could deal with issues and be mature, we certainly don't mind." Burns has been fending off accusations by Walker's campaign that he wants to abolish Medicare and the Department of Education. Burns has signed a pledge with the Republican Liberty Caucus, a political action committee that on its Web site calls for ending the entitlement to Medicare and dismantling several federal agencies. But Burns said the pledge he signed included no promises to abolish any programs. He said he wants to strengthen Medicare and improve the Department of Education while cutting its bureaucracy. "I'm going to support Medicare. I always have, I always will," Burns said at the Savannah event. "My opponents are trying to label me as something I'm not."

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/10/189197