Posted on 11/21/2007 7:07:01 AM PST by JRochelle
I thought that I was going to have a nice quiet Thanksgiving. Perhaps not.
Erick Erickson at Redstate (disclosure I too contribute to Redstate) has uncovered some more information on the Mitt Romney phone scandal. Leon Wolf, another Redstate contributor who today endorsed Mitt Romney, also pointed out that this happened previously (described then) when Leon was on the Brownback campaign.
The basic facts are that a Romney staffer, Marshan Roth contacted the Salt Lake Tribune, identified herself as "leaning towards Romney", and told her story:
Marshan Roth, of Fairfield, Iowa, got a call on Wednesday night. It started out like a regular poll, she says, but then asked positive questions about Sen. John McCain and delved into disparaging things about Romney. She was asked whether she knew that Mormons have ‘baptized thousands of dead people’ and that the Book of Mormon was more important than the Bible to Mormons. ‘It was sick. It really was. It made me just furious,’ says Roth, who is leaning toward backing Romney. ‘If you didn’t know enough about McCain, you’d think he was the white knight coming in on his charger saving the world and that Mitt Romney was tantamount to the devil
Erick points out that Roth receives $500/month from the Romney campaign.
Similarly, Rose Kramer, another Romney staffer who describes herself as "a supporter," told a McClatchy reporter her story:
Rose Kramer was at her Dubuque, Iowa, home, waiting for the TV show ‘House’ to start at 8 p.m. Tuesday when a pollster called and started asking her about John McCain. After a few polite questions, the caller started saying unflattering things about Mitt Romney. Kramer, a Romney supporter, got so angry that she missed the opening of her show. ‘I was still ranting at my husband,’ she said.
Rose isn’t just a supporter. She is a staffer, making $1,000/month. She is also a co-chair of Romney’s Iowa Faith & Values Steering Committee.
It doesn’t stop there. Rose told a different story to Real Clear Politics:
Rose Kramer, an Iowa voter who backs Romney, told Politics Nation the call, which she received around 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, began with typical screening questions on whether she planned to caucus and if she had caucused before. After an initial ballot test — on which she says Romney’s name was listed last — the pollster offered five questions about John McCain, all of which she characterized as ‘glowing.’ Kramer said she asked the caller whether he was working for a campaign; he said no, his was an independent research group.
First, when Rose talked to McClatchy, it was Tuesday 8pm. With Real Clear Politics, it was 8:30 on Wednesday. She lied to one of the reporters.
Second, in both (all three?) cases, the Romney staffers highlighted the McCain questions. It seems to me that the Romney campaign was deliberately pushing the McCain angle.
Third, either the staffers didn’t disclose their relationship to the reporters or the reporters didn’t disclose it in their stories. My money is on the staffers, something that, as Leon pointed out before, Romney consultants in Iowa have done in the past.
This raises several questions:
First, is there any evidence that this poll contacted anyone in Iowa who was not a Romney staffer or supporter? If not, is there any evidence that the calls actually occurred? Could this be a story manufactured by the Romney campaign? After all, Western Wats only seems to talk through another Romney official, Justin Hart.
Second, were they directed by either Boston or Des Moines to deliver these messages? If so, were they told to hide their relationship with the Romney campaign?
Is Romney auditioning for FEMA Administrator?
UPDATE: Jonathan Martin had reported a non-Romney supporting phone call recipient.
ping.
The Romney campaign will be its own undoing.
Sleaze can only stay hidden so long.
PING
Remember the gay guy who scratched gay on his forehead and claimed he had been the victim of a hate crime.
Probem was it only read gay when looking in the mirror. LOL
From the comments at RedState.
Amnesia on the part of some of Romney’s paid campaign staff would explain how this could happen.
On Monday, Romney’s paid staff authorize polling on questions related to Romney’s religion. But by Wednesday after a heavy lunch, the Romney folks forget about what they asked to have done on Monday. By Wednesday evening, after yet more alcoholic beverages and high cholesterol foods, they receive a phone call from their own pollsters.
The next day, they complain to the media about it.
I can see how this could happen. Sure.
Now isn’t this interesting.
We all know about the Romney Sleaze Machine by now, but this . . . this would be huge.
I want to see more details. I will enjoy watching it play out, believe me.
People must have wondered why this guy was running around with 'yag' scratched on his forehead.
I will enjoy it too.
The other day I was starting to feel sorry for Romney, thinking this was done by some well meaning supporter.
My sympathy has all flown out the window. Romney has had plenty of time to clear this up. He has chosen not to.
Come and see.
What’s clear is that these three people are either deeply sleazy or deeply dumb.
Here are the possibilities:
1. They are Mitt supporters, and they decided on their own to get cute.
2. They are Mitt supporters, and they got the go ahead to do something from the Mitt campaign.
3. They are ROOTY (or McCain!) supporters, and they got on the Mitt payroll, when they pulled this stunt to boost their candidate. A longshot!
I wonder which it is? Mitt will go for door #1 unless he can prove #3.
One thing is certain... there’s a lot of lying going on, and some kind of attempted dirty trick. Poorly executed, unless it’s #3.
I vote for #2.
Please check the Redstate site. There are other, more plausible “possibilities.”
It’s what many of us suspected from the beginning.
The question is, when it’s publicly proven, will the mythbots disavow their candidate?
Are you sure you're not remembering Morton Downey Jr.'s pathetic tale of being attacked in an airport bathroom?
He claimed they punched him and drew a swastika on his forehead, but had to admit he drew it himself when people noticed it was backwards, and security cameras showed he was alone in the bathroom.
Seems he has Judge issues as well...
Mitt may be twisting in the wind here shortly...
Money can’t make one a conservative...
It’s shaping up to be a lousy day for Flipping Mitt. First Willie Horton and now this.
Which is why suspicion falls on the Romney sleaze machine -- it fits their MO.
ROTRL...too many margaritas for the Romney folks!
They both confirmed they are on the Romney payroll.
They both called the Romney field offices after they got the push poll calls.
The Romney camp asked them if they would be willing to talk to the media. They both agreed.
The Romney camp never told the media that those women are both paid staffers.
The Romney campaign is full of idiots.
It's all very Nixonian.
No it was some fat loser in Missouri, I believe.
Even had pics.
Bye-Bye Mitt.
It's funny that Romney is trying to make himself out to be a victim of misleading push polling by McCain, when this is exactly what McCain pulled on Bush.
Does anybody remember when he trotted out the weepy South Carolina "phone boy" who was devasted by a poller who said something mean about Johnny?
McCain almost started crying himself, empathizing with the boy who suffered the horrors of allegedly hearing something unpleasant said about John McCain. I think some members of the press were wiping back tears in the room as well.
It just seems stupid for the Romney campaign to have push polled through Western Wats - but the Romney campaign is the only one that seems to benefit and now you have the staffers. I really want to know, one way or the other.
"yap"
I am going to go donate to Fred right now!
Good idea! :)
LOL! Wish I saw them. Stupid yag!
Wille Horton?
Actually, it is all very Clintonian.
I read through all the Redstate posts. The only scenario missing would be:
4. The calls were NOT “push polling” but an ACTUAL poll, to gauge anti-Mormon feeling, but were horribly botched and alarming to the staffers.
The problem with this one is that the 3 “supporters” who complained were not forthcoming at all about their relationship to the Mitt campaign.
One can hope...
One massive RINO in the race is enough.
At least Rudy is honest about it...
I’m somehow getting the image of Mitt following in his father’s footsteps, tearfully withdrawing from the campaign.
Yeah, except the Clintons are good enough at it to get away with it.
[In the comments over at RedState a Romney supporter has called both women and asked them some questions.
They both confirmed they are on the Romney payroll.
They both called the Romney field offices after they got the push poll calls.
The Romney camp asked them if they would be willing to talk to the media. They both agreed.
The Romney camp never told the media that those women are both paid staffers.
The Romney campaign is full of idiots.]
At some point, the response to the scandal becomes as bad as the scandal. Whoever was responsible for the polling, using staffers without attribution to respond is a separate issue of trickery.
This being a Romney-hater thread, the former precludes the latter.
I consider this to be good old fashioned ratfu**ing, the way Donald Segretti used to do it for Nixon in 1972: paranoid, unnecessary, dirty tricks.
The Romney staffers were called to ensure that the media would be notified.
That is the most likely scenario.
The others just don’t make sense.
I agree with you and the other one who cited Nixon. It *smells* like Nixon to me (although I would certainly entertain thoughts of an overzealous staffer or infiltrator.
The implication angle is that these “supporters” were PAID STAFFERS and never mentioned it. Either not smart, or weaselly. Not good for Mitt whichever.
I’m still not shutting the door on my #3 scenario, though! (That Rooty planted the staffers)
So this makes 2 Romney "problems" in the news this morning. I wonder if we'll see an Is Romney Dead or Just Morphing Again? thread today. I noticed that some of the Romney folks really enjoyed yesterday's "dead" thread about Fred so perhaps they would find this one fun, too.
> If this were another campaign, they would make sure they were not calling Romney staffers.
Oh, you misunderstand me! My scenario #3 has the *staffers* as longtime plants. Mitt was starting to gain on Rooty!
Tooty would be devious enough to do it! Maybe he should head up the CIA, if this is true.
We may if the polls start to waver a bit, which I do expect to see in the very near future.
It all happens right after Thanksgiving and into Christmas week. That’s when we see what Fred’s made of and how long Huck can last.
“Marshan Roth contacted the Salt Lake Tribune, identified herself as “leaning towards Romney”, and told her story:”
This is also quite telling : why in the world wouldn’t she contact a newspaper in Iowa? She must have been told to contact a a paper in Utah to affect Mormons. But I can’t remember if the Tribune is the Gentile paper? Stranger and stranger.
"Judge me by the Judges I appointed (and those murdered by their decisions)."
"We would have voted in 2008 if Romney's Judge had not let a murderer free to kill us both."
As would I, if this wasn't an ongoing pattern.
So a paid staffer on the Romney campaign is only ‘leaning toward Romney’?
This is starting to get beyond belief.
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