Fake ‘Progressive’ Super PAC Actually Backing Conservatives, Run By Former Consultants For Rove

[Indyfan53]

Source: Think Progress

A secretive new super PAC with the misleading name “Americans for Progressive Action” has made a $700,000 ad buy on behalf of Massachusetts Republican Senate nominee Gabriel Gomez. But while the group claims it is not partisan and will back independent-minded candidates, the group’s leadership includes Republican consultants with ties to Karl Rove and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN).

The super PAC — which will not have to disclose any of its donors until after the June 25 special election to fill the remainder of Secretary of State John Kerry’s Senate term — says it will back “people with a more independent streak who care more about doing what is right, than relying on partisan politics,” and sees Gomez as a “moderate, reasonable candidate.”

But the committee’s treasurer, Nancy H. Watkins of Tampa, FL, is a prominent Republican accounting and compliance expert who has served for former Reps. David Rivera and Rick Renzi (R-AZ), and Bachmann’s unsuccessful 2012 presidential campaign. Her husband, Robert I. Watkins, is assistant treasurer and a Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) appointee and was a major bundler for both the George W. Bush (R) and Mitt Romney (R) presidential campaigns.

More notably, The Hill reported Wednesday, Americans for Progressive Action’s spokeswoman is Sheena Tahilramani. Tahilramani served for several years as chief of staff for Karl Rove’s company and was media liaison for the Republican strategist. She now works as head of marketing and publicity for a consulting firm whose clients include birther Joseph Farah’s WND Books.

Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/06/13/2148891/rove-protege-progressive-superpac-gomez/?mobile=nc

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Do not be fooled by this PAC! Do NOT donate to them!

[Cooley Hurd]

1. The very definition of "Rovian"

Make a crazy claim, and then blame your opposition.

[SharonAnn]

19. Just like the "charities" who take in money, pay themselves, and provide little help.

There was a post here recently about the worst "charities" who do this. They misrepresent what they provide and enrich themselves.

Definitely Rovian.

[RILib]

24. Speaking of which, I see Komen gave their CEO a raise to over half a mil a year.

[bunnies]

2. Will we ever be rid of that smarmy bastard?

Damn!

[mtasselin]

3. look

I look forward to the day, carl the asshole rove is in jail, how one guy could fuck with so many people and is considered a hero speaks volumes about the gop

[Jackpine Radical]

4. I would like to tak this opportunity to announce

the creation of a new right-wing PAC--no, wait, make that a 501c3 group--that supports independent-thinking politicians who want to do the right thing regardless of party. I'm calling it the 3-R Group: Reformers on the Radical Right.

The first three Radically Righteous politicians we have identified as worthy of our support are Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Alan Grayson.

[bbkenn92]

20. Can you tell me why Sanders voted against closing Gitmo?

[Jackpine Radical]

23. Bernie:

“A number of important questions remain unanswered regarding the rather complicated issue of not just how you close down the facility, but what you do with the prisoners,” he added. “Are there some who should be released, are there others who should be returned to their home countries, are we confident that under Bush the correct determinations were made with respect to these prisoners’ status as ‘enemy combatants’? In order to answer these questions, President Obama has appointed a high-level committee of top administration officials who will be issuing a report in the coming months. I think that it is prudent to review that plan they develop before we spend $80 million in taxpayer money.”

And, according to Greenwald,

And the reason Democratic Senators such as Feingold voted against funding Gitmo's closing wasn't because they were afraid to support its closing. It was because they refused to fund the closing until they saw Obama's specific plan, because they did not want to support the importation of Gitmo's indefinite detention system onto US soil, as Obama expressly intended.

[bbkenn92]

31. Thank You.

[Major Hogwash]

5. They're probably tax exempt, too. Thank you Senator McCain!

You know that Rove doesn't want to pay any of those "nasty taxes".

[AnnieK401]

6. No one should be surprised - this is what the GOP does, this is what they are.

Exactly why I am skeptical whenever I hear a story that seems "off" and makes Obama look bad. This is why I believe we need to consider the source and the fact that we are not able to see the complete picture.

[Blue Owl]

7. Karl's a super POS

n/t

[Berlum]

8. Republican OCCULTISM

Hiding the truth -- occultism -- is the standard Republican operating procedure.

Freaking Republican occultists. What would Jesus say?

[Quantess]

21. creepy photo!

[Hestia]

25. Don't you dare bring occultism into the conversation! There are many

pagans, esoterics, practitioners of magic, etc. on this board. Other than the weeping blood, actually there is nothing wrong with that pic. Many levels of meaning.

[Lucky Luciano]

34. LOL!! Practitioners of magic!

I suppose we should get out the tarot cards too! Yay!

[LanternWaste]

37. We should also get out our tolerance for the benign beliefs and faiths of others sans snark.

"I suppose we should get out the tarot cards too!"

We should also get out our tolerance for the benign beliefs and faiths of others sans snark. Which I admit, may be rather more difficult for a petulant, child-like mind-- which is why I'm so very confident that you can do it!

[Lucky Luciano]

38. Just wish people would be more scientifically and intellectually grounded

as opposed to making up stuff that feels good

But I give you that. The person is harmless. Probably could have skipped it.

[starroute]

9. Sheena Tahilramani

http://www.sheenatahilramani.com/

Sheena Tahilramani received her M.S. in Journalism from The Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University in May 2007 [new media concentration]. She spent fall 2007 as an intern in the White House Office of Political Affairs, where she drafted briefing papers for top-level officials. Now she is chief of staff at Karl Rove & Company and serves as Rove’s media liaison. In addition to organizing the firm’s staff and managing logistics for his public appearances, she is responsible for managing the company’s online presence, including Mr. Rove’s official Web site.


http://gawker.com/5157561/from-j+school-self+promoter-to-flack-for-karl-rove

Who says there aren't jobs out there for J-school graduates? Thanks to a tipster, we learned today that Columbia J-school alum and fame-seeker Sheena Tahilramani now works (worked?) for evil Republican vizier Karl Rove.

They're Twitter buddies even!

The girl who wrapped herself seductively in newspaper and took other sexy photos for her now-defunct website SimplySheena.com (her new site SheenaTahilramani.com is "coming soon"!), has the fancy title of chief of staff for Karl Rove & Company, which according to a Google search and Nexis' archives involved, most recently in November, serving as his spokeswoman.




http://www.7secondstrategies.com/team-view/sheena-tahilramani/

Sheena Tahilramani leads the marketing and publicity team at 7 Second Strategies. We’ve affectionately nicknamed her ‘new media ninja’ for her proven ability to develop and implement effective digital marketing campaigns that deliver results. . . .

Acting as Karl Rove’s media liaison, she organized over 1,700 media interviews and has worked with numerous media outlets, including Fox News Channel, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, BBC, SkyNews, Sean Hannity Radio, Hugh Hewitt Radio, Forbes, TIME, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times, amongst others.

From media placement to social media monitoring, Sheena was responsible for managing all facets of the national book tour (110 cities in 90 days) promoting Karl Rove’s memoir Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight. She was an instrumental part of the team that executed the marketing plan that landed Courage and Consequence on the New York Times bestseller list.

[DonCoquixote]

10. This is the exact crap

That so many "progressives" fall for. No, nobody is "too cool to fool!"

[cantbeserious]

11. It Had To Happen Sooner Or Later - Wolves In Sheep's Clothing - Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction

eom

[xtraxritical]

12. So that explains our Republican President...

[WillyT]

13. K & R !!!

[glinda]

14. A Law should be introduced that says groups must clearly

label their affiliates under the Title. I think it should be a crime in the same way of some commercial products and claims when they are truly lying.

[City Lights]

15. Nothing is beneath them.

Their only goal is to win. How they do it doesn't matter to them.

[99th_Monkey]

16. Yep. My thought exactly.

I must admit, these evil bastards do keep me in amazement at how low they
can stoop, as they keep outdoing themselves.

[Tarheel_Dem]

17. Repukes pretending to be liberals? I'm shocked! You Better Believe It!

[livingwagenow]

18. I wonder, can duped donors sue said pac due to misrepresentation by this superpac? nt

[Kingofalldems]

22. Never trust a republican

[alp227]

26. Americans for DEMOCRATIC Action should sue!

ADA = The good guys who rate members of Congress on progressive causes

website: http://www.adaction.org/

[rdharma]

30. Interesting Site. Thanks for posting. nt

[saidsimplesimon]

33. alp227, yes sue while waiting for a day in court

In the interim, raise hell. No violence please, we can accomplish many things without it.

[Blue Owl]

27. Stick a fork in Spam Rove already

n/t

[blkmusclmachine]

28. LOTS of fakes in DC.

[DallasNE]

29. Still Another Reason Why

The whole area of campaign finance must be changed. The very best solution would be public financing of federal elections. We also need to get the IRS out of elections and that means going back to the original language that says social welfare organizations need to be "exclusive" to their social welfare mission -- that also takes out the hair-splitting on differences between issue ads and political ads. And there can be no period where PAC's don't have to disclose their major donors.

It is catch-22, Congress is completely dysfunctional with an "approval" rating of 10% because of the current rules and because they are dysfunctional no progress can be made to clean up the current rules so we stay on the merry-go-round.

[intheflow]

32. They meant to name it Americans for Regressive Action

but spelling once again got beyond the conservative mind. Is our children learning? smh.

[DainBramaged]

35. Nancy H. Watkins could be corrupt. Why is she unscathed to this point?

Ex-Arizona Rep. Rick Renzi convicted in federal corruption case


Former Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., was convicted Tuesday of federal corruption charges involving land deals and his family insurance business.

Renzi, 55, was convicted of 17 of 32 counts in U.S. District Court in Tucson. His defense team said in a statement that while Renzi was acquitted of 15 counts, "we are disappointed by every guilty verdict."

Renzi, who served on the House Intelligence Committee during his three terms in Congress from 2003 to 2009, was released pending sentencing, which was scheduled for Aug. 19, and had no comment, according to the Arizona Republic.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/11/18907533-ex-arizona-rep-rick-renzi-convicted-in-federal-corruption-case?lite

[AverageJoe90]

36. Not surprised.

Makes me wonder what'll happen when they start really getting involved in our pet causes.....are they gonna back the climate doomers or the people who want the Brady Bill(gun control) brought back and/or expanded?
(Honestly, I wouldn't discount it myself; the Rethugs will do anything to discredit us progressives, including promoting the fringes of our sphere as if they represented us all. They have probably already done this with climate doomers and "ban all guns" B.S. and they're likely going to branch out.....this fight is FAR from over, folks.)