Governor's spokesman behind anti-GOP signs?

Palmetto Journal ^ | 3/24/02 | Pitchfork Ben

[PJeffQ]

We reported on 2/19/01 that signs (pictured at left) had appeared in various around the State, that reference legislation proposed in the House and Senate that would loosen restrictions on the concealed weapons law. The signs purported to be paid for by "The Republican Party" and referenced legislation in the General Assembly that proposed reform of concealed weapons laws.

At the time, we were the first to report that members of the House Republican caucus were said to be seeking a SLED investigation as to whether laws had been broken. Herb Hayden, executive director of the State Ethics commission, told reporters that the signs were not violations of ethics laws because they did not deal directly with an election or campaign for a candidate or a referendum.

We also reported on some possible places the signs might have been made. After our initial story we narrowed the list down to one potential in-state source, based upon the information provided to us by someone knowledgeable on signage and manufacturers.

At the time, we reported that Republican sources were pointing the finger at either prominent Democratic consultants or at Democratic candidates for office this year. These same GOP sources downplayed the theory by some Democrats that the signs were placed by disgruntled moderate Republicans.

However, in the ensuing weeks, we keep hearing from sources in SC,NC and VA where he has worked in the past, that these signs bear the signature of an operation masterminded by Jay Reiff, spokesman for Governor Jim Hodges. Some of these sources also indicated that the signs were produced outside of the state of SC.

Sources we spoke to in NC indicated that Reiff, as chairman of the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, had participated in similar "stunts" while working to help totally repeal NC's concealed weapons law in the 1998 election cycle. (The NC Democratic Party made repeal of the law part of its platform in 1996.) In fact, one flyer mailed to voters took advantage of a similar debate over loosening restrictions in NC's concealed weapons laws. Reiff was also attacked by a Senate candidate that year for a negative piece of mail. The candidate claimed that the information was inaccurate while Reiff cited results of a Project Vote Smart survey as proof of the mail's claims. Project Vote Smart survey results are not supposed to be used for negative campaign tactics, according to disclaimers on the surveys.

Some of this activity seems to be a spillover from the 2000 gubernatorial election in NC. After being Mike Easley's spokesman in the Attorney General's Office Reiff succesffully managed the campaign of Mike Easley against Richard Vinroot. Journeyman politico Chris Neeley, now back at the SC GOP as Interim Executive Director after stints in AL and NC, worked for Vinroot.

Reiff then worked for Easley in the Governor's office. Word has it that he will reverse that trend in SC by going over to the Hodges campaign after working in the Governor's office.

Reiff also worked in the VA House Democratic Caucus during the 1997 election cycle and for a pro-lottery group in NC after Easley's election. In NC, an anti-lottery group accused Reiff of having a cozy relationship with lottery vendor GTECH through a Richmond law firm he was employed by, but later backed down from its claims.

[fire and forget]

Now if some of the cleverer FReepers would just infiltrate dem party activities in their areas, imagine all the crimes we might uncover.

[Redbob]

"Several school shootings have been stopped in recent years by a citizen with a firearm."

And we haven't heard a word about this.
Because the media doesn't want us to.