Rodriguez: It was my opponent who made me lash out

Via The Hill:

A Texas congressman who got into a heated exchange at a town hall meeting this weekend blamed his opponent’s campaign for the incident, but also apologized for his conduct.

Video emerged Monday that shows Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D) and an audience member getting into an argument over his vote for the healthcare reform law. The attendee suggested that the lawmaker stretched the facts about the Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of the provision

He shot back, saying “Don’t accuse me of not saying the truth.”

“Unfortunately political operatives associated with my opponent’s campaign tried to turn it into something else — attempting to hijack a ‘congress [sic] on your corner’ event merely to engage in uncivil, cynical videotape baiting tactics,” Rodriguez said in a statement. “The people of Southwest Texas deserve better than that.”

The video first appeared on conservative media entrepreneur Andrew Breitbart’s “Big Government” website.

Francisco Canseco (R), Rodriguez’s opponent, released a statement earlier Monday saying that the congressman “has a history of cursing and yelling at people who disagree with him. It shows how much contempt he has for the people of this district and their concerns about the economy, exploding federal deficits, and reckless government growth.”

Canseco’s campaign referenced a town hall meeting last year in which Rodriguez became animated with an audience member, saying the behavior is nothing new for him.

Notice how when Democrats have to backtrack on their hostile reactions to questions from concerned citizens that more and more of them are starting to fall back on the old “my opponent’s operatives made me do it” excuse, as if it somehow justifies their contemptible behavior? Now, I know personal responsiblity isn’t exactly a Democrat party hallmark, but this is getting a little ridiculous …