May 1, 2008 12:28
Robo-Cop
The blog Facing South has been following the controversy surrounding robo-calls made in North Carolina by the group "Women's Voice, Women Vote." You can listen to the call here. Again, the Clinton conspiracists have plenty of grist for their respective mills: The calls instructed listeners to wait for a "voter registration packet" and to sign it and send it in "THEN" they could vote. The problem? Facing South explains:
The call is deceptive because the deadline has already passed for mail-in registrations for North Carolina's May 6 primary. Also, many who have received the calls -- like Kevin Farmer in Durham, who made a tape of the call that is available here -- are already registered. The call's suggestion that they're not registered has caused widespread confusion and drawn hundreds of complaints, including many from African-American voters who received the calls.
The last bit is key, obviously, for those that think the calls were intended to suppress the black (and likely Obama) vote. What's more, the group has documented ties to the Clinton campaign -- including a shared "voter outreach" firm, as well as overlap in their leadership: Maggie Williams (HRC campaign manager) was on WVWV's executive committee, and FoB John Podesta is on the board of directors.
This all could be a coincidence. The world of progressive politics is not that large, and WVWV insists that there was simply "confusion" about when and where the calls were to be placed. Thing is, they've apparently been confused a lot: Facing South found WVWV doing some kind hinky election mailing or call in ten other states, including a similar case investigated by the state police in Virginia.
Even if the Clinton campaign is not directly involved, the group's activities have certainly warranted the scrutiny of the blogosphere -- and beyond. As well as, you know, the police.
UPDATE: Thanks for the Open Left link. I admit that Becky Bond's defense/explanation makes more sense than the one in WVWV statement: She points out that the board has two Obama supporters on it, and says the calls are supposed to be a general election strategy, not a primary one -- and that the reason the calls go out after the primary registration deadline is because "around primaries people are reminded that they need to register in time for the general." She also says WVWV has research to support all the slightly suspicious aspects of their tactics, apparently including the use of a fake name to identify the robo-caller, saying that calls "from an individual with a name and way of speaking that is similar to the target demographic" are more effective than a "generic" caller.
I think, then, that the Clinton connection sounds like just a small-world thing -- but as for the actions themselves, it is striking that these apparently innocent tactics have still been called illegal and been the subject numerous complaints. But, again, it could be coincidence. And political consultants can be as inept as anyone. Perhaps more so. If the options are: well-designed voter suppression campaign versus badly-designed GOTV campaign, the history of the modern Democratic party suggests the latter. (Now, if it were the Rs....)
UPDATE 2: Yep, they're just idiots. TPM has a statement from Podesta:
With respect to the calls and mailings made in North Carolina, I understand that remedial action is being undertaken. I agree with fellow board member William McNary that the North Carolina state calling program was a mistake of judgment and execution.
About Swampland
Ana Marie Cox, Washington Editor of Time.com, is the founding editor of Wonkette and the author of the novel Dog Days. Read more
Joe Klein is TIME's political columnist and author of six books, most recently Politics Lost. Read more
Karen Tumulty is TIME's National Political Correspondent and has also covered the White House and Congress. Read more
Jay Carney is TIME's Washington bureau chief. He has covered the Clinton and Bush 43 White Houses as well as Congress. Read more
Jay Newton-Small has covered the Bush 43 White House and Congress since the DeLay era. Read more
Michael Scherer is a TIME Washington bureau correspondent covering the 2008 presidential campaign. Read more
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Reader Comments (20)
Meanwhile, is there no John McCain controversy you people will cover? (a little humor)
http://rising-hegemon.blogspot.com/2008/05/i-dont-mean-to-complain.html
Posted by attaturk | May 1, 2008 1:40 PM
All right, just arrest Hillary and put her in jail. Then maybe you will stop posting this cr*p.
Seriously, we have you and Michael in the tank for McCain, Jay N-S has always been in the Obama camp, Joe moved to Obama, Karen fairly neutral, and well Jay C... It isn't the occasional post like this from you that irks me, it's that even in mostly unrelated ones, you have to slide in a dig.
Posted by ivb | May 1, 2008 1:46 PM
For more (and better) context:
http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=613F31CB6006D8A4589E18A2E3AE834D?diaryId=5489
I'm actually pretty open to conspiracy theories, but there are Obama supporters involved with WVWV. Of course they must be Clinton plants...
Posted by Rose | May 1, 2008 1:51 PM
It's wrong no matter who they support. I don't care if they had motive one way or other. If they did it, they did it and should be held accountable for those actions.
Posted by lsumarkb | May 1, 2008 1:57 PM
You're way behind on this story AMC. The calls come after the primary because this is a moment in time when people are receptive to registration messages. The work was botched, but not malicious.
There is no way Clinton or her supporters have anything to do with this.
Posted by jayackroyd
|
May 1, 2008 1:59 PM
(and like Obama) vote
you, of course mean likely....
Posted by Paul Dirks
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May 1, 2008 2:04 PM
"All right, just arrest Hillary and put her in jail."
Can we do that? Seriously?
Because that would be so awesome.
Posted by Disenfranchised_Libertarian | May 1, 2008 2:06 PM
It's been some time since we've had a bash at Clinton. Need to balance the scales so Obama can get back to work. Don't want Clinton to get off too easily.
Posted by Pat | May 1, 2008 2:09 PM
The work was botched, but not malicious.
The only reason I'm aware of this organization is they hosted a "Best woman blogger" contest which I voted in and Digby won.
I too am inclined to attribute any problems to incompetence rather than malice but I have no basis other than gut feel to base that on.
Posted by Paul Dirks
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May 1, 2008 2:10 PM
@Pat It's been some time since we've had a bash at Clinton.
Yep, way back to yesterday. The first one was only a dig at how inept she was with a coffee machine.
April 30, 2008 8:07
Paying a Price
And then there was this, yesterday...
April 30, 2008 4:20
Hillary's Maya Angelou Ad
Although the good post about Feingold slid in between those two.
Posted by ivb | May 1, 2008 2:36 PM
I don't buy that it's a coincidence that
a) They were calling with a message which convinced people they couldn't vote.
and
b) They didn't include the name of their organization in the call.
It's normal for a phone-message to identify whom it's from.
This ommission in numerous states suggest they knew they were doing something slimy and didn't want to be held responsible.
Posted by EricJaffa
|
May 1, 2008 2:43 PM
Dis_Lib . . .
Hee hee hee . . . Hillary in an orange jumpsuit makes me giggle. She's have her toothbrush made into a shiv in under an hour.
Posted by Realpolitiko | May 1, 2008 2:46 PM
Thanks for the update, AMC.
Guess we'll have to wait a little longer for Hillary in an orange jumpsuit.
Posted by ivb | May 1, 2008 2:51 PM
Thanks for updating your post, AMC.
Posted by Rose | May 1, 2008 2:54 PM
WHy no posts about the McCain Hezbollah connection?
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/04/the-mccain-hezb.html
If the coverage of Obama and Wright and Obama and Ayers is an indication, there should have already been about 3 posts on this topic.
A question to the Swampland Bloggers -
Honestly, what kind of difference in coverage would there be if this person was associated with the Obama campaign?
Posted by McCain Fluffer | May 1, 2008 3:02 PM
Honestly, what kind of difference in coverage would there be if this person was associated with the Obama campaign?
I see your Obama and raise you a Clinton.
Would guess there would be 5 posts if it were related to her campaign.
Posted by ivb | May 1, 2008 3:13 PM
I see your Obama and raise you a Clinton.
Would guess there would be 5 posts if it were related to her campaign.
Posted by ivb
I agree with you!
Posted by McCain Fluffer | May 1, 2008 3:17 PM
You guys are dreaming.
If either Democratic candidate were found to have a man with demonstrable ties to a terrorist organization working on their campaign, the story would dominate every media cycle from here to the general election. The Republican Party and the McCain campaign wouldn't be able to shout "TEH DEMOCRAT PARTY COMMITS TREASON!" loud enough or often enough.
Every sloppy, bored political journalist hack in the country would pick up the ball and run with it.
Posted by FastEddie | May 1, 2008 4:10 PM
I don't suppose this story (damaging to HRC in its implications) will get any attention from the TV pundits because it's not visual and it doesn't "fit the narrative." Nah...let's talk about Rev. Wright some more.
Posted by Cheeseman Forever | May 1, 2008 5:34 PM
So an assurance by Women's Voices board member John Podesta that he has been assured remedial action is being taken assures you that this was all an innocent mistake?
Women's Voices made similar assurances when previously caught, and simply continued its illegal practices.
It boggles the mind that the word of someone linked to the Clintons can be taken to settle the question of whether the Clinton campaign was involved.
Posted by acanuck | May 2, 2008 4:48 PM