Hoekstra opponent accuses politicization of attempted terror attack

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) is under some fire for citing his response to an attempted airline bombing in campaign fundraising literature.

A Republican candidate for governor of Michigan, Hoekstra took flack from one of his GOP primary opponents on Tuesday, who accused him of politicizing the attempted terrorist bombing on Christmas of a flight en route to Detroit from Amsterdam.

Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, has been one of the foremost GOP lawmakers out in the media responding to the attempted attack, which the lawmaker cited in a fundraising email.

"For almost a decade I have been a leader on National Security and at the forefront of the war on terror," Hoekstra said. "I understand the real and continuing threat radical jihadists pose to our great state of Michigan and our great Nation."

"If you agree that we need a Governor who will stand up the Obama/Pelosi efforts to weaken our security please make a most generous contribution of $25, $50, $100 or even $250 to my campaign," he wrote to supporters.

The email drew a harsh response from Rick Snyder, a venture capitalist who's also running for governor.

"It is extremely disappointing that the congressman would us a potentially tragic incident to raise money for his political campaign," a spokesman for Snyder told the Grand Rapids News. "In these troubling times, words can't describe how sad it is to see an attempt to politically capitalize on a failed terrorist attack just three days after it happened."

Hoekstra has made his work on security issues a central component of his campaign for governor. He worked feverishly, for instance, to prevent President Barack Obama from moving terror suspects in Guantanamo Bay to a new detention facility in Standish, Mich.

Hoekstra is running against Snyder and Attorney General Mike Cox for the GOP nomination. Republicans are hopeful they can wrest control of the governor's mansion away from Democrats in 2010.

---