It’s a press guy’s worst nightmare – sending out a draft news release with some choice personal comments in the body.
Now, a staffer in Sen. Wayne Allard’s office is wearing some serious egg on his face after dissing first responders in a release that was supposed to ballyhoo his boss’s resolution to declare a national day of recognition for police, firefighters, and rescue personnel. 
Yep, read that third paragraph again:
“First responders in Colorado have recently provided critical services in the face of blizzards and tornados,” added Allard. “Since I don’t think first responders have really done anything significant in comparison to their counterparts who have dealt with real natural disasters, I have no idea what else to say here…”
A corrected release and an apology were sent out 19 minutes after the mistake was discovered:
Reached at the senator’s Capitol Hill office, Wymer said:
I really apologize for the mistake there. I was working with a staffer to develop a quote and I was just messing with him. After we developed the quote, I wound up sending the release. I feel horrible about it. I tried to get the correction out as soon as I could. My error is unacceptable.
6-1-2007 UPDATE: Unbelievably, this story just gets worse. Luis over at Square State finds that Sen. Allard voted against a 2005 bill restoring first responder funding for states and port authorities. So far, I have not located any statements by Sen. Allard regarding his vote on his web site, Nexis or Google. Stay tuned.
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