Posted on 05/10/2007 11:07:58 AM PDT by Bluesguy
OLIN–Last weekend Deb and Jerry VonSprecken of Olin received a call from former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s campaign office asking them if they would be interested in holding a campaign rally on May 4, after she had donated to his campaign.
“We thought it would be an honor and agreed,” said Jerry.
The campaign office continued to contact the VonSpreckens throughout last weekend and were told a security check would be needed. The couple passed the security check and began putting plans in place.
“We started making phone calls. We got the sheriff and fire department and Olin school was going to let out early. We were also expecting kids from the Anamosa school,” Jerry explained. “Deb even went around and personally invited people.”
On Tuesday Deb received a call from Giuliani’s Des Monies office and was asked to call New York.
“They wanted to know our assets,” she revealed, and added that she and Jerry have a modest 80 acre farm and raise cattle.
Later she received a call from Tony Delgado at the Des Monies location.
“Tony said, ‘I’m sorry, you aren’t worth a million dollars and he is campaigning on the Death Tax right now.’ then he said they weren’t going to be able to come,” Deb continued.
The Death Tax is a federal version of the Iowa Inheritance Tax.
The VonSpreckens then called Delgado back and told him how upset they were that the event had been cancelled, how much work they had done and that they had been expecting 75-100 people at their farm.
“I invited him into my home,” Deb said of Giuliani, fighting back tears.
She said she then got a call from New York later the same day asking her to introduce Giuliani at a rally in Cedar Rapids, also scheduled for May 4. They offered her one-on-one time with Giuliani and to have her photo taken with him.
“My feeling is that they’re trying to cover their butts,” said Jerry.
“I may go and give him a piece of my mind, but I’m not going to introduce him,” Deb included.
Preparations had already been put in place for traffic control and bleachers and Deb’s mother, sister and niece were planning to fly from Texas to meet Giuliani.
“Now they pull this,” Jerry exclaimed. “It’s really sad that we aren’t good enough because we aren’t millionaires.”
“This is a horrible retraction we’re having to make. I’m in a state of shock, very hurt and embarrassed. I don’t understand why they don't want to talk to normal people,” she concluded.
Maria Comella, spokesperson for the Giuliani campaign, said, “We’re glad to have Debby and Jerry’s support and are thankful for all their hard work on the campaign. We’re looking forward to our visit to Iowa on Friday and having the opportunity to share Mayor giuliani’s message of fiscal discipline.
Comella did not comment on the cancellation at the VonSprecken home, and said a site had not yet been chosen for a campaign stop.
This one smells funny.
Rudy, “foot in mouth”
Bump!!
No sympathy here for Deb and Jerry; You give money to liberals, you should expect to get burned.
This must be some of that “New York sensibility” that the Rudy supporters often said we commoners lacked, which kept us from appropriately judging what Rudy did and said.
I don’t understand why they don’t want to talk to normal people,” she concluded.
Okaaaaaaaaaayyyy! got my laugh for the day. When are these people going to figure it out......we really don’t count to politicians.
Not NY, but the corporate, little-people-don’t-count mindset that’s common in the higher ranks of the party.
This is really the GOP at its worst. It will hurt Rudy, and it should.
Shrillary and Edwards and maybe Obama will milk this one, I’m sure. And for once, I’d have to agree with them.
Sheesh ... put aside your ideological lenses for a second and look at it from their point of view. This is disgusting, and so is your comment.
It’s probably not a word-for-word quote, but it doesn’t need to be. If it’s essentially right, it stinks. Assuming that Deb and Jerry in fact did the prep work for this event, I have a hard time thinking they were phonies who were in it to set Rudy up. It doesn’t smell funny to me ... it rings true. If it’s not true, we’ll probably find out on FReep.
If it had been Edwards or Obama who had done this to someone, you’d be laughing at them as well, wouldn’t you?
The phrasing sounds funny to me. No campaign spokesman is that stupid to be that blunt.
And I'm not a Rudy booster by any imagination.
Definitely. This is politically bad anywhere, but it’s an effing disaster in Iowa. Almost the worst place for this to happen. The culture there is very egalitarian, and proper behavior, especially in terms of respect, is a very big deal to Iowans.
Rudy must have discovered that a conservative lived in that county! LOL!
As I said, probably not word for word. It’s probably a simplified and slightly exaggerated version of what Delgado actually said. Even if Jerry isn’t deliberately exaggerating, memories are rarely perfect. But Delgado isn’t necessarily a spokesman, and this certainly wasn’t a comment intended for the media or the public. It was a private conversation. It’s possible that he actually said what was quoted. If he didn’t, but made substantially that point, it’s lousy. The “million-dollar” business isn’t made clear in the context of the story, but it’s credible because it’s people in that bracket who are really hit hard by the death tax (as reformed several years ago, but not abolished). It’s understandable that Rudy’s people would want an event on a large farm that would be direly affected by the death tax. It is not understandable — that is, not justifiable — that they would pull the plug on an event that was almost underway, having made (apparently) a commitment to this family. And that’s even if the million-dollar issue never came up.
What Jerry and Deb should do is have their bash anyway and call it the "Screw Rooty Party".
Invite speakers famliar with what a liberal screwball he is and spotlight them.
That’s a very cheap shot.
I have been reading what the DUmmies have had to say for the past few days. They have noticed the threads on FR and are thrilled, thinking that this rejection of Rudy will give them a lock on the ‘08 election. I like that. It may be that the average DUmmie is totally clueless, but perhaps it is a general Dem view that without Rudy as standard bearer this early on....we have no chance. They do not see that it is WAY early yet, a long ways to go, and they will likely be stunned when it is shown that we actually get our s**t together well in time to trounce them come election day.
Not the way people do things in Iowa. They have more class and more (quite, Iowa) pride.
"Invite speakers famliar with what a liberal screwball he is and spotlight them."
Good idea! An effective thing is past election years is hold the event anyway, then leave an empty chair with their name on it. Invite all the press, etc. and embarrass the crap out of him.
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