Romney makes midcourse communications correction (Re-hires anti-Palin smear peddler Kevin Madden)

CBS News ^ | 7/7/12 | Norah O'Donnell

[jimbo123]

In a sign that Mitt Romney's campaign team plans to adjust following growing criticism from fellow Republicans, CBS News has learned that Romney campaign senior adviser Kevin Madden will soon be taking on a larger and more visible role within the campaign.

Sources tell CBS News that Madden will be spending more time on the road with Romney and is likely to become a more public presence as a TV spokesperson for the candidate. He will hit the road with Romney next week, following Romney's New Hampshire vacation.

This move to make Madden a more public face of the campaign comes a week after fellow senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom committed a messaging misstep, which resulted in Romney having to walk back those comments.

[Diogenesis]

INSTEAD of apologizing to Gov. Palin, Mr. ROmneyCARE
is ELEVATING Mr. Madden who began the attacks on Gov.Palin
and her helpless children on the Eve before Election 2008.

The GOPe-SOROS group has declared final war on American conservatives with this.

FLASHBACK:

The McCain/Palin ticket was up ++4 to 10 pts
in some polls, days prior to Election 2008.
So rather than helping the GOP, Romney and
TeamROMNEY and the RNME (Republican National Media Establishment)
decided …to attack Gov. Palin to throw Election2008.

Romney, and the Van der Sloot RNME RINOs for Obama in 2008

Late in October, The American Spectator's The Prowler revealed:
"Former Mitt Romney presidential campaign staffers…
have been involved in spreading anti-Palin spin to reporters, seeking to diminish her standing after the election.
'Sarah Palin is a lightweight, she won't be the first, not even the third, person people will think of when it comes to 2012,'
says one former Romney aide…
'The only serious candidate ready to challenge to lead the Republican Party is Mitt Romney.
"Some former Romney aides were behind the recent leaks to media, including CNN, that Governor Sarah Palin was a 'diva' and was going off message intentionally."

---

The Palmetto Scoop reported: "One of the first stories to hit the national airwaves was
the claim of a major internal strife between close McCain aides and the folks handling his running mate Sarah Palin."
"I’m told by very good sources that this was indeed the case and that a rift had developed, but it was between Palin’s people and the staffers brought on from the failed presidential campaign of former Gov. Mitt Romney, not McCain aides."
"The sources said nearly 80 percent of Romney’s former staff was absorbed by McCain and these individuals were responsible for what amounts to a premeditated, last-minute sabotage of Palin."
… aides loyal to Romney inside the McCain campaign, said The Scoop, reportedly saw
that Palin would be a serious contender for the Republican nomination in 2012 or 2016, which made her a threat to another presidential quest by Romney.

---

"These staffers are now out trying to finish her off ….hoping it would ingratiate themselves with Mitt Romney."

---

"Who's the Palin Leaker from the McCain Campaign?
National Review Online The publication of a Vanity Fair profile of Sarah Palin
appears to have opened old wounds in the McCain campaign.
... the source of the “Diva” leak was Nicolle Wallace’s husband."

---

"Peeking Out From the McCain Wreckage: Mitt Romney"

"Someone's got to say it: IS MITT ROMNEY RESPONSIBLE FOR OBAMA'S VICTORY?"

"Vanity: Team Romney Sabotaged Palin and Continuing to Do So?"

"Romney Supporters Trashing Palin"

"Romney advisors sniping at Palin?"

---

and was going off message intentionally.

[jimbo123]

Kevin Madden Flashbacks:

Traitor Kevin Madden: Responsible for the anonymous attacks aired on FoxNews tonight

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-gop/2126663/posts

One week prior to the general election, former Romney spokesman Kevin Madden took to the airwaves (on CNN) and defamed Sarah Palin, setting off a media storm over an alleged fight between Team McCain and Team Palin. They were the very early opening salvos in the battle for the party. Fox News expanded on off-the-record anti-Palin comments tonight. Was traitor Kevin Madden for those comments?

Romney Supporters Trashing Palin

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2118686/posts

It looks like there might be some truth to those rumors former Mitt Romney supporters are already trying to clear Sarah Palin from the GOP presidential deck to make room for their man Mitt in 2012.

Former Romney Spokesman Kevin Madden was particularly harsh on Palin in an interview on CNN. His criticism of Palin is especially noteworthy because we’re only days from the election.

In a spot with Campbell Brown Madden said Palin’s wardrobe flap showed how “unseasoned” Palin is.

RedState: Romney Surrogates Sabotaging Sarah Palin?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2117945/posts

When I was in St. Paul for the Republican Convention, more than a dozen people told me acolytes of Mitt Romney were feeding all the stories to the media portraying Palin in a negative light.

In fact, I heard that one of the biggest pushers of anti-Palin stories, including encouraging reporters to pursue the “Trooper-gate” story was Romney spokesman Kevin Madden.

Flashback:

Red State and other reporters accuse Romney staffers, including Kevin Madden (former Romney press-man) of pushing reporters into “Troopergate” stories

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2126515/posts

[MrChips]

Does this have to posted twice. We all know you hate Romney and hate Madden and worships Palin. Fine. But twice?

[lexington minuteman 1775]

And this is the “etch-a-sketch” re-setting itself or what is the purpose of this hire?
Freegards
LEX

[jimbo123]

Kevin Madden was re-hired to replace Etch-A-Sketch Eric Fehrnstrom.

[Kinder Gentler Machinegun Hand]

I know. Its like a broken record. How long are we going to keep rehashing 2008? Don’t we have elections to win this year?

[MrChips]

Thanks. And exactly! The thought of a 2nd Obama term scares the Hell out of me, and these fools are acting like it doesn’t matter. Romney may not be ideal, but compared to Obama? GIve me a break! . . . Hey, I love your screen name! :-)

[trebb]

Gee - a second round of the same article - are you voting for Obama like the folks who get even more rabid and spittle-lipped with each posting of an anti-Romney article? I’d like to spend about 15 seconds in one of you guy’s head (more might cause permanent damage)to see what “having it so bad nothing else registers” feels like. Maybe then I could feel pity instead of bewildered disgust.

[shalom aleichem]

These anti-Romney guys on here claim Romney helped elect Obama the first time, but our own FReepers who bash Romney will certainly be able to claim credit for 4 more years of The One.

[jimbo123]

Romney and Obama are two sides of the same coin. Sleeze begets sleeze and I’m disappointed that Romney’s character seems to not matter to people like you.

[Flintlock]

RINOs and RINORomney knew that nobody was going to beat the Monied Muslim in ‘08.
Their WHOLE DEAL was to set things up for ‘12.
The point was to get rid of Palin once and for all, and to hell with the election they felt was already lost.
Too bad for our side, as at the time McNutt was UP about 8-10 points. Had he not panicked and “suspended” his campaign, he just might have eaked out a win.
CERTAINLY the result would have been better for the party.
Rule or Ruin.

[Sudetenland]

All I see is Madden stating fact, in the interview with Brown. Palin was a political tyro (on the national level) and therefore "unseasoned" by definition and she did make some terribly rookie mistakes in that campaign.

It is also a simple truth that vetting is usually done over a longer period than McCain's campaign took with Sarah.

Picking Sarah was a political ploy for the McCain Campaign. She was picked primarily to give some life to his run for the White House. Fortunately she turned out to be a net positive to the campaign and it probably the reason he did as well as he did, but had she been as prepared as she would be today, she might have put him over the top.

All the rest of what you posted is hearsay . . . not credible . . . not sourced. The Red State article comes closest to credibility as the author claims to have spoken to several people at the time, but it is still nothing but rumor.

Madden may indeed have been everything you claim, but the evidence is very thin. Besides that, the whole topic is irrelevant. I don't care what he did in the past, I care whether he is a competent campaign strategist. Sarah Palin is irrelevant to the current race. She isn't running.

I'll reserve my judgment until I have seen the results of this move--I don't start out from a position of irrational Romney-hatred.

[Sudetenland]

"Does this have to posted twice. We all know you hate Romney and hate Madden and worships Palin. Fine. But twice?"

Simply breathtaking, isn't it? Such an overarching hatred for someone they don't even know, whose never done anything to them personally. It's irrational.

[WKB]

[Sudetenland]

"Romney and Obama are two sides of the same coin . . ."

Proof beyond all denial of your complete irrationality. Only one completely blinded by hatred could make such an absurd and patently dishonest assertion.

[jimbo123]

Character counts. These people don't have it.

[MrChips]

Yes, irrational, and mean-spirited. What was the Bible said: “Avoid loud and vexatious persons.” I think it’s in Ecclesiastes. Maybe Ecclesiasticus. But, wherever, it’s good advice.

[AppyPappy]

A lot of gay Republicans dislike Palin. I’m just sayin’.

[wolfman23601]

Your stretching a bit. McCain was not ahead on the eve of the election, he was well behind. He was ahead for a few days months before the election and fell behind after he suspended his campaign to support Bush, Obama, and TARP. Had nothing to do with Romney or Palin.

[jimbo123]

Romney has a knack for surrounding himself with gay advisors and strategists who enjoy going nuclear on conservatives but refuse to do so on on their fellow Boston and NYC liberals.

[wolfman23601]

“A lot of gay Republicans dislike Palin. I’m just sayin’.”

Good, I don’t want their votes in exchange for what they want.

[Pigsley]

People are free to discuss what they want, of course. But, at this point, considering that our ONLY choice is Romney...What purpose does this stuff serve?

The country is circling the drain. If Obama gets re-elected he is going to load the Supreme Court. I imagine that stellar legal mind Eric Holder will get thrown a cookie for taking a lot of heat for Fast and Furious and get a spot. How does that sound?

Romney needs somebody pretty good to help give him a “voice” that will resonate with voters. I frankly don't care who it is. Romney needs to broaden his message and call out Obama on who he REALLY is, and what he is REALLY doing to the country. It can't just continue to be a one note samba on the crappy economy.

Romney has got to start addressing Mr. Obama’s radical background and his desire to destroy the country “as founded” in order to create his Leftist version of utopia.

He needs a tough S.O.B. to help him with the message.

[Timber Rattler]

Thanks for the good work on this. It seems that there is some selective short memories around here at best, and outright revision of history at worst, among Romney’s FR water carriers.

[jjotto]

Mitt Romney will never need toilet paper as long as he has his FR sycophants.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

‘zackly.

[Timber Rattler]

Does this have to posted twice.

Yes, it can't be posted enough, considering how these vile cretins treated Governor Palin in 2008. And now, here they are elevated to high positions within Team Romney.

I expect to soon hear about the hiring of Nicolle Wallace and Steve Schmidt to key positions within the Romney campaign.

[Diogenesis]

It is YOU who are mistaken.

McCain and Gov. Palin COULD have won,
were it not for Mr. ROmney devoting all his time
and money to financing surrogates after her children.

Sorry, but it is true. Brutus Romney
is also the author of DEATH PANELS.
Fortunately, weak RINO Mr. ROmneyCARE is not YET the
candidate of the GOP.

There is still time to save America.

STEP DOWN, Mr. ROMNEY, and SAVE AMERICA.

[Timber Rattler]

How long are we going to keep rehashing 2008?

Considering the GOP-E's war on Conservatives and Sarah Palin, for a long time to come.

Screw Romney and the GOP-E he rode in on!

[Sudetenland]

Beyond that, holding a resentment of this sort is counterproductive and unchristian.

[Timber Rattler]

These anti-Romney guys on here claim Romney helped elect Obama the first time...

Does that include the owner of this site?

NOTICE: FR DOES NOT AND WILL NOT SUPPORT ABORTIONIST, GAY RIGHTS PUSHING BIG GOVERNMENT STATISTS

[MrChips]

Give it a rest. As far as I am concerned. Anyone doing anything that might help Obama stay in office is just another marxist, an Aparatchik of the highest order. And don’t give me the baloney about Romney being “just as bad.” Nobody is just as bad. Nobody is worse . . . except maybe Vladimir Lenin, himself.

[MrChips]

True. Evil consumes when you let it.

[Timber Rattler]

All the rest of what you posted is hearsay . . . not credible . . . not sourced.

Puh-leeeze! Team Romney's backstabbing was well documented on the Palin threads back in 2008 and 2009. The Romneyites attempts at either willful ignorance or outright revision of history are laughable when we've got literally hundreds, if not thousands of posts on file, discussing what was going on at the time. We will NOT forget!

[JudgemAll]

I smell a Bush family rat in this. They are big on their liberal legacies of BS.

They are all cowards who will not stand up to the criminal cartels and call us instead vigilantes while vigilante illegals criss cross the country at will.

[Timber Rattler]

Anyone doing anything that might help Obama stay in office is just another marxist, an Aparatchik of the highest order.

Take it up with the boss.

Notice: Free Republic has been in full rebellion mode since 2008 and will remain so for the duration--NO ROMNEY!

[vmivol00]

Romney....proving a majority of the GOP voters will vote for ANYTHING with an R behind it. Even if it’s a pro-gun control, pro-socialized healthcare, pro-mandate, pro-access to $50 abortions, pro government bailout, pro cap & trade, pro global warming, coreless candidate.

I’m guessing the same guys who adamantly defend Romney, would also tell us how Bloomberg’s soda ban really isn’t that big of a deal since its a city action, and not a federal one, if he were the chosen nominee. Nothing disgusts me more than the expediency of those trying to justify the disgusting actions of others.

I can respect the fact that Romney may be slightly better than Obama, but call a spade a spade. He is a socialist gun grabbing turd, that might be slightly better than the socialist gun grabbing turd that’s in office.

My take is that Romney would be better than Zero in the short term, but is definitely worse for conservatism in the long run. In my mind killing the conservative brand and moving the GOP even further to the left may be even more damaging for our country in the long run than anything Zero can accomplish in the next four years.

If you can vote for him, go ahead, I won’t think less of anyone...my intent is not to discourage if you are feel differently from me. I’m just not sure i can push my principles aside.

Jimbo123 that rant wasn’t directed at you....it just came out as I started my response.

[uncbob]

Agree it was the economic collapse that did McCain/Palin in

[Kinder Gentler Machinegun Hand]

Its like trying to beat Al Gore in 2000 by complaining about how poorly Dan Quayle was treated years earlier.

[Timber Rattler]

You don’t get it do you? The attacks on Palin were attacks on us Conservatives.

[RichInOC]

Memo to Mitt: It’s a presidential campaign, not a clown car.

[jimbo123]

This has the Bush fingerprints all over the ineptness of the Romney campaign.

I’ve been of the opinion for a long time that the Ken Mehlman gay mafia ex-Bush/RNC staffers running the Romney campaign are just doing all this damage to Romney to ensure there will clean-slate for Jeb Bush in 2016.

[jimbo123]

The gay staffers running the Romney campaign have so much contempt for conservatives and conservatism that they are unable to conceal it and they end up getting in trouble when their true feelings are spoken.

[Johnny_cash]

“Maybe then I could feel pity instead of bewildered disgust.”

Amen.......

[Conservative Vermont Vet]

These anti-Romney guys on here claim Romney helped elect Obama the first time, but our own FReepers who bash Romney will certainly be able to claim credit for 4 more years of The One AMEN!

At last, I am not a voice crying in the wilderness here as someone else has.....

Post of the day, week and even the whole month!

Thanks!

[napscoordinator]

People are free to discuss what they want, of course. But, at this point, considering that our ONLY choice is Romney...What purpose does this stuff serve?

That is 100 percent untrue. We have NOT had the convention yet where if Republicans had any principles at all, they would drop him for a true conservative. The problem is you and your ilk who have been cheerleading this disaster. We should be fighting against Romney and ensuring that we get who we want at the convention instead of settling for someone substandard.

[jimbo123]

Exactly. Funny how all of the Romneybots and RINO-sycophants are pretending that the convention is already over.

[napscoordinator]

Drop Romney at the convention.....that is why it is extremely important for these patriots to show how awful Romney is for our country. I am so surprised in your displeasure with these great folks. Not your normal thinking. We have a convention to win and kick Romney to the curb. Can we ONCE get a conservative as President? Yes we can if everyone would be truthful at the convention.

[napscoordinator]

Some of these ankle biters on here find Romney so good looking that it is blocking the truth. They are like the folks who voted for JFK who they considered good looking. We are seeing the same thing with the Republicans. The weird thing is the Republican guys on this thread who find Romney dreamy.....that is a bit scary.

[DNME]

If even one negative PEEP about Sarah Palin comes out of the Romney camp, or if they ignore her completely, then we have our traitor.

Sarah could be quite valuable in rallying the troops for November, so she should be used as an asset, not a target.