Posted on 11/21/2007 11:00:13 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
One of the big stories in the Republican presidential race last week was a series of controversial survey calls in Iowa and New Hampshire that asked respondents some pointed questions about Mitt Romney. Specifically, voters in the first two Republican contests received calls with negative messages about the former governor’s religion, his Vietnam-era military deferments, his sons’ lack of military service, and the notion that Mormons believe the Book of Mormon is superior to the Bible.
The question, of course, was who was responsible for the calls. For one thing, they may have been illegal — as the Union Leader noted, “New Hampshire law requires that political advertising, including phone calls, identify the candidate being supported. No candidate was identified in the calls.” The state Attorney General’s office began an inquiry into the matter on Friday.
For that matter, there may be political consequences for this. The calls were pretty harsh, and no campaign is going to want to be tied to testing a message that targets Romney on his faith.
Since then, there’s been some question, and sporadic, inconclusive evidence, that Romney’s campaign may have been responsible for the calls, either as a way of testing the efficacy of likely attacks, or to rally some sympathy.
This report from Sam Stein complicates matters a little further.
Yet another connection, albeit an indirect one, now ties Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign to the recent spat of anti-Mormon phone calls made in New Hampshire and Iowa. […]
Marshan Roth of Fairfield, Iowa, who is paid $500 a month as a GOTV (get out the vote) consultant for the Romney campaign, received a call on this past Wednesday night. Rose Kramer of Dubuque, Iowa, who co-chairs Romney’s Iowa faith & values steering committee and is a $1,000-a-month GOTV consultant, received a call either that same day or a day earlier, depending on conflicting reports.
Roth and Kramer are now the third members of Romney’s Iowa campaign to have publicly acknowledged received the calls. Ralph Watts, a state representative in Iowa, who also backs the former governor, was one of the first people to come forward.
And yet, during subsequent press interviews, neither Roth nor Kramer disclosed the positions they held on Romney’s team. In fact, as several other reporters have pointed out, both individuals drastically downplayed their campaign associations.
Is it just a wild coincidence that paid Romney supporters all got the same anti-Romney calls? Perhaps.
There are quite a few Romney backers in Iowa, and the calls may have gone out to quite a few voters.
But Stein added:
[I]t also cannot be ignored that, even after the scandal surfaced, the actors involved were often in Romney’s camp. Justin Hart, who serves on the Romney For President National Faith And Values Steering Committee and is a blogger at MyManMitt.com, was the only person contacted by a source in Western Wats for comment.
The speculation is such that Romney was asked specifically about his campaign’s possible role in the calls this morning.
Reporter: Are you confident that no one who supports you was involved in that push-polling?
Romney: You’ve got to be kidding.
Reporter: Have you — are you confident–
Romney: Obviously, the beneficiaries of push-polling that attacks me is not me. Somebody else has obviously pushed that forward; I have no idea who that was, but I hope the Attorney General of New Hampshire finds out who that is, and we can get that resolved, and know who it was that was behind it. But you know it was a vicious attack on me, an un-American attack on me, and that’s totally inappropriate, particularly at a time like this, with Thanksgiving, recognizing that this is a nation that celebrates diversity of religious thought and belief.
Reporter: It sounds Machiavellian, but you, yourself, you know, alluded to the politics–
Romney: You know, it’s the same, I think it’s the same as the conspiracy theorists, that you’re raising, that said we brought down the World Trade Center ourselves. It just turns everything on its head. A little silly, I think.
Stay tuned.
Huck has the most to lose and HAS to win Iowa to stay viable but I can't even see him pulling this.
It sounds like something the Alex Jones 9/11 Truthers might get involved in. They have been doing a lot of stuff “on behalf of “ Ron Paul (whether he wants it or not):using servers at overseas locations for net tactics.
It would not be too surprising to see them involved in a telephone campaign.
What would be the benefit to him??
Putting down Romney as a candidate-something they’ve already been doing online-where they attack him as an “open borders” candidate.
The Truthers have raised a lot of money for Paul-and I imagine they are hoping for a big payday out of it.
No, i meant what would be the benefit of him doing this to himself?
Nail+Head=Bingo. :/
That’s all i could think of, is the sympathy, “look how i’m being picked on” routine.
yes.
I can’t imagine any-no matter how hard I try !
‘Voters’ Who Broke Story on Romney Calls On Romney Payroll
Whoever commissioned the calls wanted Romney team members contacted
Did Mitt Romney Push Poll Himself? (New National Review Article)
Romney Calls Attacks on His Faith Un-American
Risk V. Reward: The Anti-Romney Phone Calls
Romney labels calls 'un-American,' pins blame on McCain-Feingold
NH, Iowa Voters Get Anti-Romney Calls
Draw your own conclusions. The stories are written by several different authors.
Link
How hard can it be to trace the origins of the phone calls?
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