Posted on 05/15/2008 10:34:37 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
John McCain's campaign asked a prominent Republican consultant, Craig Shirley, to leave his official campaign role Thursday after a Politico inquiry about Shirley's dual role consulting for the campaign and for an independent "527" group opposing the Democratic presidential candidates. The campaign also released a new conflict of interest policy barring such arrangements.
Shirley, a conservative public relations veteran, doubled as a consultant to McCain and to the group Stop Her Now, a 527 group barred from coordinating its activities with presidential campaigns. He is not currently on the McCain campaign’s payroll, but would also step down from his role on McCain’s Virginia Leadership Team, a McCain spokesman, Brian Rogers, said.
"If you're working for a 527 involved in the presidential race, you won't have a named role in our campaign,” said Rogers.
Under the new policy, a copy of which was provided to Politico, “no person with a McCain Campaign title or position may participate in a 527 or other independent entity that makes public communications that support or oppose any presidential candidate.”
Shirley’s firm, Shirley & Bannister Associates, was paid more than $22,000 by McCain for work this February and March to win conservative support. Stop Her Now has paid the firm more than $155,000 since 2007 for public relations work.
Shirley said Stop Her Now wasn’t the sort of group airing hard-hitting, factually questionable attack-ads that have given 527s a bad name, but rather a “lighthearted” effort.
“This is not the nether regions of 527s,” he said.
But his background is in some of the hardest hitting Republican attacks on Democratic presidents and presidential hopefuls.
He was reportedly a member of the team that tarred Michael Dukakis with the “Willie Horton” ads in 1988, and later he helped organize the first press conference with Paula Jones, who had sued Clinton for sexual harassment. In 2004, his company did public relations work for a move attacking John Kerry for undermining the treatment of Vietnam Veterans, “Stolen Honor.”
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A staffer, Susan Nelson, also lobbied for EADS.
Susan Nelson, McCain's campaign finance director and former DGI associate, was still sucking down 15K/month from Goodyear while working on McCain's campaign.
Both Lieberman and Graham are co-chairs for the Vets for Freedom 527. A good cause, but the rulz are the rulz, and now McCain has left himself wide open for Dems to attack- which they are already doing. What's a stalking horse to do?
McCain is either incredibly naive of the daily operations of his campaign which lends credence to his being unfit for POTUS or he took a typical arrogant McCain approach to get the most out of his lobbyist pals before he had to throw them under his Straight Talk Express bus.
I can hardly wait for the swarms of "Bustamante" parrots.
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