Ogden’s efforts to re-elect local congressman David McKinley began today as the News-Register published McKinley’s first op-ed of the new year:

Behind the Headlines, Things Got Done in Washington

McKinley tells us early on:

Behind all of the blaring national headlines, there were notable bipartisan accomplishments that should not be ignored. While Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her majority spent their time on impeachment, investigations, and scoring political points, our office focused on keeping our head down and getting results.

Sorry, Congressman, but all the accomplishments you list in the op-ed would not have passed without Democratic votes and most likely, Pelosi’s endorsement. Most of what follows in this op-ed, however, is McKinley giving credit to himself and his staff (“we”) for a lot of what the House of Representatives accomplished last year. An example:

Our most notable accomplishment is something that we have worked on for more than seven years. We finally convinced Congress to secure the pensions and health care benefits of over 100,000 coal miners and their families, providing them the peace of mind they deserve.

What crap! Congress did not need convincing – according to most analysis, it’s been waiting for Republican Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, to allow the legislation to reach the Senate floor. (See here.) McConnell had previously blocked all miner benefit legislation until two months ago when his constituents booted their Republican governor out of office. McConnell got the message – the legislation was quickly passed. McKinley’s “we” didn’t convince anyone; Kentucky voters did all the work on the only senator that mattered.

McKinley then lists other legislation in which he and his staff were instrumental to its passage. (Sorry, I didn’t check his other claims – I do have other things to do today.) Obviously, McKinley can assert all he wants, our local “newspapers” will never fact check or challenge him – they’re a part of Team David.

In the six years that I’ve been doing this blog, McKinley’s opponents have gotten next to no coverage in our local Ogden “newspapers.” (I’m sure some casual readers have assumed that McKinley ran unopposed.) This year will likely be no different. To that end, I’m going to call this Day 1 of McKinley’s reelection campaign and begin counting the words dedicated to McKinley and his opponents until election day. (Note -- I realize that sitting members of Congress should get more coverage -- they do make news. I'll be interested, however, in how many self-serving op-eds, stories/pictures with veterans and other groups, and columns promoting his re-election we'll see in addition to straight news coverage.)

Current score: McKinley 754, opponents 0.