Chester Mayor Wendell Butler, a putative Republican, is doing something that no Republican mayor in the country is doing. He is tying his political fortunes to his supposedly excellent relationship with President Barack Obama. And he's
putting it on billboards.

This might make some sense in a city like Chester with a large black population, but its still pretty weird.

Even weirder though, is Democratic State Rep. Thaddeus Kirkland's claim that Butler has never met Obama.

“He ain’t never in his life, never, ever, ever, ever met Barack Obama,” the state representative said. “Mayor Butler in his life has never met Barack Obama. How do I know he’s never met him? Because I met him.”

As if, his alleged meeting the president, precluded Butler from meeting him.

For his part Butler claims in a written statement:

“I had the opportunity to meet President Barack Obama when he was a congressman announcing his candidacy at the Conference of Mayors in Miami. A select group of bipartisan mayors were able to listen to his presentation and vision for our great nation..."

One problem: Obama was never a congressman. He went from being a Illinois state senator to being a U.S. senator.

Can't anyone here play this game?

UPDATE: Someone named "Anonymous" posted this comment about Butler's written statement:

There are two types of congressmen, Representatives to the House of Representatives and Senators who form the Senate. The former are usually referred to as Members and are addressed properly as "Mr." or "Ms." The latter are formally referred to as merely Senator. Both, however, are seated in the Legislative Branch and the collective body is known as Congress of United States of America... As in a "Joint Session of Congress", meaning both the House and the Senate. It's a favorite way for our current President to make a reelection campaign speech such as his recent grandiose Jobs Act announcement. But, anyway, Mayor Butler was correct when he said that then-Senator Obama was a congressman. He is a man and he was a member of one of the two chambers of the Congress... That matters less than the real fact that the Obama administration chose Chester and they did so knowing that the Mayor is not one of their lackeys. They made the choice based on merit, and based on what Mayor Butler has accomplished, not based on party lines...

This is wrong on many levels.

1. There are not "two types of congressman," in the normal and most accurate way of referring to congressional office holders. There are "congressmen" and there are "senators."

2. While a senator can be said to be a "member of congress," to call him a "congressman" is inaccurate. No doubt, if during his time in the U.S. Senate someone had referred to Mr. Obama as "Congressman Obama," he or his office would have corrected them.

3. What this suggests is that either Mayor Butler or the person on his staff who drafted his statement mistakenly thought Barack Obama was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives before he became president. And having made that mistake can't now admit it.

4. It makes you wonder if "Anonymous" is that person.

UPDATE II: con·gress·man n. a man who is a member of the U.S. Congress, especially of the House of Representatives.
senator (ˈsɛnətə) —n 1.  (often capital) A member of a Senate or senate 2.  any legislator or statesman