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BuzzFeed is reporting that U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Monica Wehby has again plagiarized her campaign platform on health care. This time, the website says, she copied her positions word-for-word from her Republican primary opponent, Jason Conger.
Wehby, a pediatric neurosurgeon challenging U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), came under fire last month for using a health-care platform written by Karl Rove. She replaced it with a new platform. Today, BuzzFeed News reporter Andrew Kaczynski says she copied that replacement platform from Conger, who she defeated in the spring's GOP primary.
Among the passages Kaczynski cites as being the same in Conger and Wehby's platforms: "Guarantee protection for Americans who remain continuously enrolled in insurance plans."
Wehby spokesman Dean Petrone says Wehby's positions are commonly held.
"The
campaign has already addressed this issue and taken the necessary steps
to correct it," he tells WW. "Dr. Wehby stands by the concepts and
principles that are shared by a majority of Americans who recognize the
need for reform of our broken healthcare system."
In WW's endorsement of Conger over Wehby in May, this newspaper cited Conger's better grasp of health-care policy as a reason to support him:
Wehby won the primary easily. But in recent weeks, her campaign has unraveled. She trails by about 20 points in polls, and has has avoided joint appearances with Merkley, including skipping the WW endorsement interview.
WWeek 2015