NC Robo-calls: Hillary's Campaign Manager on board of group making calls

[Melinda]

Some background from this thread

Facing South has confirmed the source of the calls, and the mastermind is Women's Voices Women Vote, a D.C.-based nonprofit which aims to boost voting among "unmarried women voters."

What's more, Facing South has learned that the firestorm Women's Voices has ignited in North Carolina isn't the group's first brush with controversy. Women's Voices' questionable tactics have spawned thousands of voter complaints in at least 11 states and brought harsh condemnation from some election officials for their secrecy, misleading nature and likely violations of election law.

Yesterday, I placed a call to the Virginia State Police, which had investigated similar suspicious robo-calls before that Virginia's primaries last February. Their investigation concluded that the source of the calls was Women's Voices Women Vote.

Facing South then contacted Women's Voices, and staffer Sarah Johnson confirmed they were doing similar robo-calls in North Carolina; they later admitted that they were the ones behind the deceptive "Lamont Williams" calls.

Women's Voices Executive Director Joe Goode worked for Bill Clinton's election campaign in 1992 as a pollster; the group's website says he was intimately involved in "development and implementation of all polling and focus groups done for the presidential primary and general election campaigns" for Clinton.

Some have also questioned the ties between Women's Voices operatives and Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton. Gardner, for example, contributed $2,500 to Clinton's HILLPAC on May 4, 2006, and in March 2005 she donated a total of $4,200 to Clinton, according to The Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org. She has not contributed to the Obama campaign, according to the database.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/4/30/11055/6499/...

Maggie Williams is not mentioned in the DailyKos reference, but a web search reveals the following:

Chief of staff to former president Bill Clinton the Clinton Foundation in New York City, served in The White House as an assistant to President Clinton in 93-97, and also served as chief of staff to First Lady Hillary Clinton. Williams currently serves as Hillary Clinton's Presidential Campaign Manager.

Women Vote Williams bio and background

John Podesta, Bill Clinton's former Chief of Staff, also serves on the board of the group behind the NC robo-calls: Podesta

Women's Vote has attempted to remove all references to Maggie Williams from their website, but the now defunct info was captured and archived on July 8, 2007: http://web.archive.org/web/20070706100052/http://www.wvwv.org/aboutwvwv/index.cfm?id=3

Williams "is a partner in GriffinWilliams LLC, a management consulting firm that helps public and private sector clients navigate transitions and respond to political challenges", and Pat Griffin, her business partner and other half of Griffen Williams, also serves on the leadership team of Women's Voices.

Long-time associate, paid staff member of both Clinton's, and now Campaign Manager for Hillary Clinton, and board member of the group making robo-calls in NC to deliberately quash the vote... coincidence?

Hmmm?

[grantcart]

1. they need to pursue the criminal prosecutions in this case

[ProSense]

5. They should. Hillary's campaign is supported by a bunch of arrogant asses.

Pro-Hillary 527 Spokesman On FEC Complaint: "Is It Possible To Quote Me Yawning?"


There was also the letter from her backers threatening to pull financial support from the Party.

[tridim]

11. Hillary's camp IS a bunch of arrogant asses.

It pains me to say this because I used to love the Clintons, I defended them for 15 years.

[PoliticalAmazon]

82. Corrupted, criminal, arrogant asses. n/t

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

18. I called the NC SBoE earlier today and at this time there are no charges

I have been trying to find someone to sue them with me as a plaintiff,
but time will tell.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

19. What NC Voters Need to DO:

Anecdotal reports from around the state indicate that some voters, often who registered through the Department of Motor Vehicles, are discovering that they are NOT registered to vote.

Please urge all voters in North Carolina, regardless of where or how they registered - to check their voter registration status.

Voters can either look up their registration online if they have a computer, or call their County Board of Elections office. If the voter is not registered, they can still go to an early voting site in their county, and register and vote at the same time. Time is running out - early voting is the last chance to register in person and it ends May 3.

VOTERS: Make Sure You Are Registered to Vote and That Your Vote Counts -Check Your Registration at the State Board of Elections website Look to the left hand side for the "Voter registration button"

Call your County Election Director to check your voter registration if you do not have access to a computer. It is in the phone book. They will be happy to answer your questions.

You can still register and vote during "One Stop Absentee" (Early) Voting: Apr. 17 - May 3

The North Carolina State Board of Elections website now has up to date and easy to understand information for new and current voters. Find out how to register, where to vote, locations of early voting sites and more

[Why Syzygy]

131. If you haven't, be sure to post this in the NC forum.. nt

[C_U_L8R]

35. Class I Felony

There's gonna be some squealing and snitching
before these folks go to jail for Hillary.
Especially when she's never ever going to have pardon power.

[crankychatter]

44. usually, they get paid SO much... because it's a felony... they take the fall

and the candidate expresses regret, but claims innocence.

There was a book "Confessions of a Republican Operative" written by a guy that did hard time for his Republican paymasters.

that's how they get away with it....

the thing is in THIS case... Clinton high staffers and long time associates and operatives... are members.

This could be the smoking gun.

[blm]

95. Look at Penn's salary for March and April - 4 million for WHAT?

.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

74. the legal action probably begins when someone is disenfranchised

we are already voting - and have same day registration during early voting.

But on election day, May 6 if you aren't already registered, you will get a
provisional ballot that WONT count.

Thats when the information from the voter protection hotline will be used
to help us take action:

Call 1-866- MY-VOTE-1
TO REPORT YOUR VOTING EXPERIENCE

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

142. Same firm does voter contact work for robo-call group, Clinton campaign

Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Same firm does voter contact work for robo-call group, Clinton campaign

In our earlier investigation revealing the outfit behind the misleading and illegal robo-calls made to North Carolina voters just days before a critical primary election, we reported that questions have been raised about the connections between that group -- the D.C.-based nonprofit Women's Voices Women Vote -- and the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign.

We noted, for example, that WVWV Founder and President Page Gardner has donated generously to Clinton and to HILLPAC, but has given nothing to the Obama campaign, according to OpenSecrets.org. We also noted that WVWV Executive Director Joe Goode previously worked as a pollster for Bill Clinton, and that WVWV board member John Podesta is the former chief of staff for President Clinton as well as a Hillary Clinton donor.

There are other connections that we did not mention, but that have been pointed out in comments here and at other sites. For example, Maggie Williams is a former member of WVWV's leadership team, according to Sourcewatch.org; she also served as chief of staff to First Lady Hillary Clinton and to the Clinton Foundation in New York, and she was named the manager of Clinton's campaign in February. And Holly Schadler, WVWV's attorney, helped set up the Back to Business Committee in 1994 to defend Bill and Hillary Clinton from attacks by political enemies.

But one of the most striking connections between WVWV and the Clinton campaign -- and one particularly relevant to a story involving what appear to be voter suppression efforts right before an election -- was pointed out to us by a reader. He notes that the firm in charge of voter outreach for WVWV is MSHC Partners, whose president is Hal Malchow. Sourcewatch.org reports that Malchow was a member of WVWV's leadership team.

...more at the link

http://southernstudies.org/facingsouth/2008/04/same-firm-does-voter-contact-work-for.asp

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

143. Women's Voices responds: "Sorry for the confusion"

Thursday, May 01, 2008
Women's Voices responds: "Sorry for the confusion"
Women's Voices Women Vote has responded in several forums to the issues we raised in yesterday's investigation about their illegal and deceptive voter outreach activities. The main response came from group founder and president Page Gardner, in a statement titled: "Confusion Surrounding Robo-Calls in North Carolina."

First, it's important to note that Gardner's statement in no ways refutes, or even addresses, any of the basic facts put forward by our investigation:

* In North Carolina, Women's Voices has been conducting a robo-call and mailing campaign that the state Attorney General has confirmed is illegal, that has been secretive and deceptive, and will likely have the effect of confusing and discouraging North Carolina voters.

* Our report documents that, in at least 10 other states -- Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin -- Women's Voices has drawn condemnation from election officials and voters. The group has been accused of misrepresenting election law, using secretive and dishonest tactics and generating widespread confusion among voters -- again, threatening to dampen voter participation.

...more at the link
http://southernstudies.org/facingsouth/2008/05/womens-voices-responds-sorry-for.asp

[AllentownJake]

2. Disgusting

Do you think they were always like this and we just know it now because the internet allows for more information?

[Melinda]

9. I do, regardless the party. The internet is making the politics of old obsolete

We sure don't have any Woodward/Bernsteins anymore.... I'm with you; there is no way this would have been uncovered if not for the net.

[stillcool]

38. For me ....absolutely...

I had no idea how ignorant I was, and still am... on such a wide range of topics. I've crammed more information into my brain in the last 5 years or so, than in the total of the 45 that went before. And the thing is, if you're not seeking it, you still won't find it.

[tammywammy]

3. Recommended

[catgirl]

4. Talk about a conflict of interest!

And possibly breaking campaign finance rules. I hope Obama's lawyers
look into this.

[Jersey Devil]

6. This could be far worse than Tuzla

If this is true it is the Progressive Jackpot for Obama

[Abacus]

47. It should be far worse than Tuzla.

It's no secret that politicians "enhance" their records, Hillary was just caught in a rather embarrassing manner that would have remained largely unknown if not for striking photographic evidence to the contrary.

Voter disenfranchisement efforts with connections to Hillary's campaign far beyond embarrassment. This is a serious issue with legal ramifications and I'm surprised that there is such a blatant link to her campaign. I should add that I'm surprised by my being surprised.

[Maribelle]

7. when a 527 group aired a shameful ad on Spanish radio stations in Nevada that re-injected ethnicity

Jeralyn is so on top of this:

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/4/30/132223/949

[cali]

34. pathetic. I condemned that ad and the ties Obama had to that

far less pernicious activity are far, far slighter than hillypoo's ties here. And the activities are fucking illegal and the epitome of slime. Some of you hilldroids will excuse the most obviously dcplorable shit.

[SurfingAtWork]

89. I'm sorry, the "its ok because they did it too" defense isn't going to work here.

Running a negative add isn't robocalling and it also isn't commiting election fraud. Nice try though.

:thumbsdown:

[crankychatter]

8. good JOB, Melinda - k/r

:-)

[Melinda]

29. Thanks... it's spreading across the net and the wires like wildfire now.

:hug:

[NJmaverick]

10. I can't imagine this comes as a surprise to anyone

Hillary has already proven she will do or say anything to get what SHE wants.

[Melinda]

28. One can hope, right?

It's like her DLC ties... I keep hoping and wishing that those who call themselves progressives and yet are supporting her will wake the fuck up!!

I guess I'm just a perpetual Pollyanna. ;)

[Lugnut]

76. I'm not at all surprised.

I wouldn't put anything past her.

[americanstranger]

12. A staffer for VWVW has logged on to the comments over at TPM.

She's getting raked, and appears to have run away.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/04/nonprofit_womens_voices_women.php

- as

[Debi]

61. Wow, these folks are doing their research!

from your link:

...I am looking at the 990 tax return for WVWV for 2006.
First of all, WVWV is a 501 c 3 organization which means they cannot do anything to support a particular candidate.
WVWV spent $88,842.00 for "strategic planning" from Griffin William CPM. Isn't that Maggie Williams company? They also spent $225,854.00 on polling and focus groups from Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner Research. Why would a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to voter registration have to spend that kind of money on focus groups?

There is also a company called Woman Voices Women Votes Action Fund which is a 501(c)(4). The same people seem to be on both boards....

[americanstranger]

72. Them TPM guys is sharp.

This story is far from over. And it could hurt The Lion Of Tuzla big-time.

Here's hoping.

- as

[Debi]

77. Lioness? n/t

[americanstranger]

83. Even better!

The Lioness Of Tuzla!

Thx, Debi!

- as

[CookCountyResident]

127. 501(c)3's

are specifically NOT supposed to get into anything political.
Not sure about 501(c)4's and what the differences are.

[Triana]

13. Well - How REPUBLICAN of her. Pffft! n/t

[cbayer]

14. She is not on the Board. That is just a blatant lie.

http://www.wvwv.org/about/board-and-bios

Un-freakin-believable!

In addition, WVWV has issued a statement regarding this today:

http://www.wvwv.org/2008/4/30/mail-registration

[Jersey Devil]

16. Podesta is listed

Did Hillary every meet him?

[cbayer]

24. Podesta is not Hillary Clinton's campaign manager. nt.

[americanstranger]

31. Would you call him a 'senior advisor?'

An 'advisor?'

'Friend of Bill?'

How far are we going to split this particular hair?

- as

[Melinda]

17. Re-read my OP. Williams was most certainly on the board as of 7/07, and her partner continues...

to serve on the board. I explained the removal of the old webpage in my OP. I don't appreciate being called a liar, most especially as I never claimed Williams currently serves, AFAIK. Just because they scrubbed her from the website, doesn't mean they cut ties, particularly since her business PARTENER continues to serve.

It's not a tenuous link, nor a froggy jump.

[cbayer]

26. That's a cached page from 2007

and shows that she was on a "Leadership Team" not the board. She is not on the board and has never been on the board. The title of your OP is not true and is flamebait, pure and simple.

[high density]

32. OK, so replace "board" with "Leadership Team"

Does it matter? What is a "Leadership Team?" It was important enough to be listed on their website before the board members.

[speedoo]

40. Looks to me like the "Leadership Team" INCLUDES the Board.

I think it's the Board plus the Executive Director, etc.

Arguing that Williams was not on the Board because she was on the Leadership Team is baloney.

[Melinda]

42. Yes, it's archived from July 2007, as I stated in my OP, and she was listed on the board

And her listing, as all others are, is under "Board and Bio's". She served on a leadership board... you know what a board is, right?

Board: Main Entry: board
Function: noun
often cap 1 a : a group of individuals having managerial, supervisory, investigatory, or advisory powers over a public or private business, trust, or other organization or institution <Board of Regents> <Board of Bar Overseers> b : BOARD OF DIRECTORS
2 a : a group of citizens elected to administer the business of or an aspect of the business of a political unit (as a town or county) <a board of selectmen> b : a federal, state, or local government agency —see also National Labor Relations Board in the IMPORTANT AGENCIES section
3 : a securities or commodities exchange —see also BOARD OF TRADE

http://dictionary.reference.com/cite.html?qh=board&ia=mwlaw

Regardless the semantics you wish to argue, are you denying her association with the group making the robo-calls?

[PassingFair]

138. Are you getting your debate tips from Scalia now? n/t

[crankychatter]

46. is "ignored" bothering you?

:-)

[Melinda]

50. lol, I've about 20 of them, but so far... none yet. I'll beep when they do!

;)

[cbayer]

62. If you have me on ignore, that says a lot more about you than it does about me. nt.

[fascisthunter]

97. not really

[cbayer]

102. Why wouldn't it?

If someone is ignoring me, I would really like to know why.

[Why Syzygy]

132. Why? They don't want to read your posts. nt

[cbayer]

151. Right.

That's why I said it says more about them than me. If someone choses to ignore me, then I can only assume that they only want to hear exactly what they already think.

My posts are generally pretty non-inflammatory. I am genuinely curious as to why someone would chose to ignore me.

[speedoo]

27. Superdelegates and other senior Dems take note.

Hillary is trying to destroy the Democratic Party. That is not her goal, but to achieve her goal, she will do anything.

It's time to end her campaign.

[americanstranger]

30. Well, then, let's run down who IS on that board....

Page S. Gardner, Founder and President: Major Clinton contributor.
Joe Goode, Executive Director: Worked on Bill's campaign in 1992.
Michael Lux, board of directors: Member of Clinton-Gore Alumni Team.
Mimi Mager, board of directors: Member of Clinton-Gore Transition Team.
John Podesta, board of directors: Clinton Campaign Advisor.
Holly Schadler, board of directors: incorporated the Back to Business Committee, set up in 1994 by Lynn Cutler and Ann Lewis to defend Bill and Hillary.

Lots and lots of Clinton-related flies swarming this particular crap-pile. Interesting, no?

- as

[Melinda]

56. Nice work, thanks! n/t

[KSinTX]

55. The OP belies the statement. nt

[machiado]

60. She WAS on the board until May 07 or so

Check google cache

[blogslut]

110. That page was scrubbed

archive.org says she was:

http://web.archive.org/web/20070706100052/http://www.wvwv.org/aboutwvwv/index.cfm?id=3

[cbayer]

114. I am going to do this one last time.

The page is cached, not scrubbed. If you go to their current website, you will see that this is old information.

She is listed in that 2007 page as being on the *Leadership Team*. The board members are listed further down on the page. She is not on that list.

She is not and was not on the board. The OP title is not true.

[Elidor]

123. Good point

I'm afraid that in the initial rush of info, there is going to be some confusion and error, and I thank you for pointing this out. It's important to strive for truth, or as close to it as we can come.

That said, it's a minor point in the overall story. And the more I read from that TPM thread, the worse it looks, especially the incredibly stupid excuses put up by someone who claims to work for WVWV, which were quickly torn apart by some very intelligent people.

I don't have enough information to gauge the extent of Clinton's awareness of just exactly what was going on at WVWV, but frankly it looks pretty bad when a group of former high-level Clinton staffers assemble and fund a group that behaves so horribly - behaves, in fact, rather like the former Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and the current Freedom's Watch, not to mention the New Hampshire GOP. I'm certain she knows they're doing something over there, and perhaps she feels that the less she knows, the better, nudge-nudge, wink-wink.

[cbayer]

124. I will admit that my not wanting it to be true may cloud my vision.

I tend to believe, based on what I know so far, that this was a good group with a good aim that made some inept mistakes.

That's just the way I operate. You have to give me some pretty conclusive evidence to reach the conclusion of nefarious intent.

[Spazito]

153. This may help you with your struggle....

From a news article written in February, in Virginia:

snip


The group said it is part of an "unprecedented" effort to register women. Trouble was, it was largely unheard of. The calls to potential voters started even before the effort was announced. The organization said it is targeting more than 228,000 unmarried women in Virginia and 22 other states.

Sarah Johnson, communications director for the organization, said Friday that not including information about the source of the voter registration effort was "absolutely an accidental omission."

She said the group was changing its nationwide phone alerts to make clear who is coordinating the effort.

Johnson said that of all the states where the effort is under way, Virginia was the only one where there had been reports of problems.


http://hamptonroads.com/node/453328


Notice anything interesting? I do. Sarah Johnson in February:

"Sarah Johnson, communications director for the organization, said Friday that not including information about the source of the voter registration effort was "absolutely an accidental omission."

She said the group was changing its nationwide phone alerts to make clear who is coordinating the effort."

The same Sarah Johnson yesterday:

The group's spokeswoman Sarah Johnson confirmed to me that those were the group's calls and said that they were part of an effort to register three million women voters in 24 states. The fact that the calls came shortly before the North Carolina primary, potentially confusing voters, was unfortunate mistake, she said. We're "incredibly apologetic about the timing of this." The group was simply working at such a "high volume" that it was "extremely difficult to tailor the mailing to every single state's schedule," she said. The calls precede the mailers, she said, because it increases the rate of response.

snip

As for why the group's calls had used an apparently fictitious persona named "Lamont Williams," Johnson first said, "as far as I know, it is a recorded message." But when I asked why the group had used that name when there is no such person working with the group, she said she did not know why the name had been used.

The group also used a female caller named "Julie," Johnson said (although she was not sure of the name). She told me that she would check to see if there was any particular reason why certain calls were made by Julie and others by Lamont.

But that practice would stop, she said. "This not identifying ourselves on the call, that's not something that is going to continue as we move forward. Our phone calls in the future will correct any confusion about the calls." When I asked if there had been any particular strategy behind not identifying the group as making the calls, she said no.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/


Two and a half months and many states where the same "unfortunate mistakes" continued to happen AFTER the promise to correct them.

Do you not find that troublesome? I certainly do.

[americanstranger]

15. ABC and Newsday have picked up on the story.

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6113377

http://weblogs.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/politics/blog/2008/04/vote_suppression_with_clinton.html

This goddamn well better go wide.

- as

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

20. ironically, Obama introduced a bill to prevent deceptive practices

sick that Hillary's Gang/Mob is doing this.

[Melinda]

22. Wow, the newsday article rocks... abc, not so much yet.

This is potentially an important story in the framework of Democratic primary struggles:

Facing South, a North Carolina blog, has been tracking robo-calls that have surfaced in North Carolina and a number of other primary states that seem to be spreading misinformation, leading voters to believe they aren't registered when they are. The calls have raised questions among election officials.

It now turns out that the calls are being financed by Women's Voices, Women Vote, a DC non-profit that in theory has been trying to encourage unmarried women to vote. The group got some publicity on Spin Cycle last year when it released an ad that featured women in the Oval Office -- which kind of seemed to have a pro-Hillary, as well as a pro-voting, message paid for by a presumably non-partisan non-profit.

The group has tons of Clinton ties -- current Hillary campaign manager Maggie Williams was on the group's leadership team a year ago. Former Clinton chief of staff John Podesta has been on the board, as well as ex-Clinton aides Joe Goode, Pat Griffin and others, and the group's president gave money to Hillary. The group refused to release all of its funding sources, but some of its money came from people who were also Hill-raisers.

Facing South is wondering why African American males were getting robo-calls from a man named "Lamont Williams" that were paid for by a group that is trying to get unmarried women to vote. Some blogs are describing it as a "voter suppression" effort....

http://weblogs.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/politics/blog/2008/04/vote_suppression_with_clinton.html

Time for mass media mailings! Thanks for the links, AM. :hi:

*edited to add link, block quote.

[KittyWampus]

36. I am from Long Island. Newsday is a pretty good paper.

[americanstranger]

41. You're from LI? Me, too!

I knew there was a reason i liked ya. You got that LI 'tude like me.

:hi:

- as

[KittyWampus]

43. east end, south shore, went to school in Freeport.

[americanstranger]

52. South Shore, W. Suffolk.

Born in Philly, been heere since the 80s after living in NYC before it got completely unaffordable. :)

i love it here.

- as

[FrenchieCat]

23. Campaign full of negativity......

I'm so tired of this shit. Folks can't win on their own merits, so this is what the resort to! scums!

[marions ghost]

49. that first ABC link is good but

you have to fish around through the pix to get to the video clip of the guy who first reported these calls --he's the chair of the Durham County Democratic Party, who just happened to get one of the calls on his cell...the call made his :tinfoilhat: antenna go up....

Kind of a Byzantine webpage --but keep clicking on pix and looking for the picture of the woman that says *WATCH VIDEO*...click on that. Worth the effort.

here's the link again-- http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6113377

[myrna minx]

21. This is so disgusting. n/t

[Elidor]

25. Marking this for later perusal

[redqueen]

33. Let the spinning begin!

[americanstranger]

39. Another poster gave it his best shot on an earlier thread...

I think he gave up. You can only post the 'rofl' smiley so many times before your fingers give out, I guess. ;)

- as

[redqueen]

51. You mean the Obama supporter whose "brains didn't fall out"?

:rofl: indeed!

[americanstranger]

54. That's the guy.

If it wasn't against the rules, I'd be inclined to question his sincerity regarding Obama.

Other than that, not a bad egg. :D

- as

[redqueen]

57. Yup... not bad at all.

I likes me some instigators. :7

[sandnsea]

37. People suck n/t

[me b zola]

63. Not all people

I'm rather fond of the couple that is in your sig line. You're pretty groovy yourself. :)

[sandnsea]

71. Aw, that's nice

You're not too bad yourself! :hug:

No, not all people suck. But the number who don't seem to be dwindling by the day. And truth be told, I suck as often as I don't, lol.

Thanks!

[DogPoundPup]

45. Rovian dirty poli-tick-ers

[Cha]

48. Thanks for the information,

Melinda!

Fucking thugs.

[Melinda]

53. Amen... a poster at kos said it better than I can:

"An organization headed by committed, max-donating Clinton supporters. A continuing series of targeted phone calls to the Obama campaign's biggest pool of committed supporters. Calls that could only be intended to confuse, worry and disenfranchise low-information voters. Calls that were very possibly planned to "thin out" the vote among African Americans."

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/30/11055/6499/141/506343

This sure appears intentional which appears criminla under NC statutes to me.

Here's hoping the thugs are prosecuted.

[Cha]

58. There's gotta be a way

that Obama Team and Supporters can counteract this.

[Ronnie]

64. "appears"-"appears"

Weasel words.

[Melinda]

68. I won't apologize for not hanging your candidate out to dry by making direct accusations toward her

Associations, yes. Direct proof she is involved, no. I'll leave those type antics to others, but thanks for the kick! :hi:

[Ronnie]

70. Indirect proof is so much safer.

My in-house lawyer is laughing over my shoulder.

[Melinda]

73. Your "in-house lawyer" needs to re-study their Black's Law Dictionary in re "proof"

And thanks again for another :kick: ;)

[Ronnie]

92. 'Black's Law Dictionary' ---

You law book name dropper you. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha......
This is fun!

[eridani]

96. Haven't you heard of "probable cause"?

Dipshit.

[Melinda]

104. Don't bother... his "in-house JD wouldn't know "rules of evidence" if they hit him in the "briefs".

:hi:

[Why Syzygy]

134. Weasel is as weasel does. If she needs weasal words, guess what.

We don't need her.

[Why Syzygy]

133. Really.

We can sit around all day waiting for HilLIARy to do something about corruption.
SHE CAN'T. She is a HUGE part of the problem.

We can't expect her to uphold the law any more than Bush does. I'm sick of it.

[mod mom]

154. I just read $5000 penalty in NC. It's a drop in the bucket to the corporate crowd.

Page Gardner's husband made $770,000 for the telemarketing:

A lot of apologies but nobody has yet fingered the telemarketer who was hired to make the calls. Why?

Because the telemarketer was probably a company called Integral Resources.

And Integral Resources is owned by Page Gardner's husband. And Page Gardner's husband made $770,000 for doing calls for WVWV in 2006.

Now isn't that embarrassing?

And Integral Resources has been caught doing shoddy work with ethnic voices in the past.



-snip

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/board_members_from_robo_callin.php#comment-2772503

[scheming daemons]

59. If the MSM has the balls to run with this story, Hillary's done....

[americanstranger]

66. Dunno. They've been gorging themselves on 'guilt by association' lately.

They might be too full to eat another spoonful.

- as

[CaptJasHook]

65. Please Hillary just leave the party.

And take Joe Lieberman with you. Follow your destiny, return to your roots, do what you really want to do. Admit it, you are a Republican at heart.

[DogPoundPup]

67. She is "a republican at heart"!

[dailykoff]

69. I'm sure it was all just a BIG misunderstanding.

Or a random coincidence.

[quakerboy]

107. Of course.

They would never do anything even remotely underhanded. Never. Why would anyone ever even think that?

[cui bono]

75. Hm... a lot of website scrubbing happening by Clinton supporters...

well, at least the ones that are seemingly causing "mischief".

[On the Road]

78. Wow, Wow, Wow --

That is a much closer tie than I suspected. Clinton supporters are one thing; a group whose board contains her campaign chair is another.

:wow:

[kerry-is-my-prez]

79. MSNBC said there was an Obama person on the board also.

n/t

[crankychatter]

81. when and who?

?

who in the MSM is reporting on this?

[americanstranger]

84. An Obama ~contributor~.

I ran across that while looking at who was on the board. Lemme see if i can find it again...

On Edit: Ruth Ferguson, CFO, is an Obama contributor.

http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?zip=80210&last=FERGUSON&first=RUTH

She's given him a grand.

- as

[crankychatter]

86. no... someone said it was on MSNBC and I don't believe that's true

If it is I wanted to know who...

I'm going to be offline for a couple of days here

I'm moving to Kansas City...

but this place is my umbilical to the world... for now

[jsamuel]

87. here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5753754&mesg_id=5756338

[crankychatter]

88. OK.... thanks... any word on "MSNBC" carrying any part of this story?

That will give them a little spin and cover, eh?

Still... it's nothing compared to the incestuous relationship this org has to the Clinton Camp.... it's just Crazy, eh?

[jsamuel]

85. now (not an ex-member like Clinton's) - William McNary

http://tools.isovera.com/organizations.php3?action=printContentItem&orgid=57&typeID=103&itemID=958&User_Session=04133820b3bca5fa29390ed98d15f8b1

[ampad]

80. K&R

Where do we find the mass media mailing list?

[ProSense]

90. "difficult to figure out whether the group was up to no good or just mind-numbingly incompetent"

Keystone (cops) Voter Registration

We're continuing to dig into what's going on with Women's Voices, Women Vote, the DC non-profit behind those suspicious robocalls in North Carolina. We've looked into the group's activities in other states and at least outside of North Carolina it's really difficult to figure out whether the group was up to no good or just mind-numbingly incompetent. Purportedly, WVWV's aim was to register unmarried women. But in state after state (Virginia, Arizona, Colorado, Wisconsin, et al.) the group's mailings spurred investigations or rebukes from state election authorities for sending people registration forms after the deadlines, or sending mailings that suggested recipients were legally required to return them signed, to just freaking people out. (For more details, see , which pulled all this information together.)southernstudies.org/facingsouth/2008/04/facing-south-exclusive-dc-nonprofit.asp

That's not a good record. And secretaries of state offices in states around the country seem to have been complaining for months. But in these other states at least it's not clear that WVWV is guilty of anything more than really heavy-handed mailers trying to sign up unmarried female voters, even if the recipients were sometimes married.

Setting aside the incidents in North Carolina, that we're still looking into, it seems like in the rest of the country the group was involved in legitimate voter-registration efforts for a targeted group even though they went about it in heavy-handed way and sometimes confused voters by failing to note key registration deadlines.

Late Update: Mike Lux, who's on the group's board, vouches for the group and Page Gardner, who runs the operation.

Even Later Update: Seems the group flubbed the deadline in Oregon too.

[marions ghost]

94. "flubbed" the deadline....

in Oregon, NC etc. TPM wrote "FLUBBED." :banghead:

Sorry. No. Inappropriate word. This is not a flub of a deadline. This is deliberate malfeasance.

You would not SEND the mailings if there were ANY chance they'd arrive after the deadline (and if you have any integrity)...you would not SEND them.

The fact that they even SENT the ones in North Carolina (even if they can stop them)...is evidentiary.

[Melinda]

105. "Flubbed the deadline" Another CONvenience.

I'm past disbelief.

[JackORoses]

91. Klinton's Kalling Kompany

notice that their target audience is strictly African-American.

Hello, Jim Crow!
I assume you are already acquainted with Bill and Lil' Hilly.

[JackORoses]

93. kick!

[JackORoses]

103. judo chop!!

[JackORoses]

126. roundhouse!!!

[ProSense]

98. NC AG stepped in:

Cease and Desist

The attorney general for North Carolina has stepped into the "Women's Voices Women Vote" robocall controversy.

[writes3000]

99. Fan-freaking-tastic! Please bust these assholes. n/t

[libnnc]

122. good

:nuke:

[FatDave]

100. SHOCKED!

No wait, not shocked. What's the other thing? Oh yes. Saw it coming.

[Blarch]

101. Fuck her and her Karl Rove followers

[YOY]

137. But she did so well on O'Reiley defending "Liberal Principals"!!!

:sarcasm:


I actually have seen a Clinton supporter spout that double bullshit post minus the sarcasm.

[BeyondGeography]

106. Her followers will only applaud

More proof of her willingness to do anything to "win." And of their own political bankruptcy.

[Melinda]

115. Or try and blame Obama... *oops* - too late \/ \/ \/

:rofl:

[McCamy Taylor]

108. This could all be manufactured Obama outrage to distract from Wright

They manufactured Snipergate the last time.

The group says that this is part of an ongoing general election get out the vote strategy. Since Hillary was the presumed nominee, it would make sense for Clinton supporters to concentrate of getting Dems registered before the general election.

Here is a link

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0408/Womens_Voices_apologizes.html

If this is the featured story on Countdown then we will know that it is manufactured from Obama since KO is part of the Obama oppo package. Can not wait to see....

[ProSense]

111. "They manufactured Snipergate the last time." Are you serious? Hillary lied, deal with it. n/t

[ErinBerin84]

112. I heard about the Bosnia thing for months before the MSM would touch it

Though it had originally just been about how stupid it was for Hillary Clinton to try and portray her mission with peacekeepers Sinbad and Sheryl Crow as legitimate foreign policy experience. She asked for it when her team had that "silent moment" when asked about Hillary Clinton's foreign policy experience during the "Obama is not ready for the 3AM phone call" conference call. The sniper thing came in later, and that was her own doing.

[Richard Steele]

116. Yes, and it COULD be a result of monkeys flying out my ass...but it isn't. Go grasp another straw.nm

[Divernan]

149. Start saving your posting pay and buy a scruple.

[enki23]

109. you know what's really fucking sad? i'm not shocked. outraged, but not shocked.

Not that long ago, I would have been. I never wanted to hate Hillary Clinton. We have her book staring down at me from the bookshelf right now. It's sort of making me a little sick. A little *more* sick, anyway.

[ecdab]

117. I put Hillary book in a box because I couldn't look at it anymore.

To think I paid money to read about this person. And to think I actually defended her at the start of this thing (I didn't supporter her - but I defended her).

Robo calls to suppress the black vote - Democrats making Robo calls to suppress the black vote! This is way too much, this is far more than I can stomach - this is why Republicans make me puke - this is Hillary.

[npincus]

113. K & R !!!!!!

[uponit7771]

118. It's hard to put this past the Hillary campaign and that's the sad thing fo rme

[happygoluckytoyou]

119. GOBAMA.......MONICA HAS SUNG....GO HOME HILLARY

[libnnc]

120. kick

[SoxFan]

121. kick for the night shift

[stillcool]

125. uh-oh...

caught in the act. Hillary, Hillary, Hillary....go away.

[kwenu]

128. Disgusting. How anyone can be a Hillary supporter is beyond me. Talk about a sellout of values.

[ecdab]

129. I stop disliking Republicans and stated despising them because of stuff like this.

[Hope And Change]

130. K & R!

:kick:

[liberalla]

135. kick!

This does not look good.

[McCamy Taylor]

136. There is an Obama supporter on the board too. See the thread about it.

You people are acting silly, The AGs are going after the group to suppress voter registration of Democrats and now Obama supporters are cheering them on.

[catgirl]

139. Voter reg. due date has past

This ploy is to create chaos and confusion at specific polls. You seem
to be mixed up on the facts.

[marions ghost]

141. say WHAT???!!

"AGs are going after the group to suppress voter registration of Democrats." :wtf:

Nice try at disinformation, but what you're suggesting is NOT true in the state that spawned Jesse Helms (and his evil mastermind Carter Wrenn). I have followed NC politics for 18 years. We've seen this stuff BEFORE! There is huge scrutiny on the situation. It has all the earmarks of classic election dirty tricks.

The report detailing the activities of the WVWV group comes from a highly respected PROGRESSIVE organization --the Institute for Southern Studies in Durham, NC. The Institute has uncovered corruption in politics and business in the South for decades. This is NOT the time to shoot the messenger!

For background on the robo-calls:

http://www.southernstudies.org/facingsouth/
(this page has been updated since yesterday, reporting the Atty General's actions)

[ErinBerin84]

140. Obama supporter here.

I wanted to make an Op about this, but I've already done three in the past 24 hours.

Huffington Post has a small article/statement from the Obama supporter on the board of Womens Voices, Women vote. It is obvious that they wanted to put him out there to curb any speculation of ties to the Clinton camp (I have been saying that I don't want to assume that the Clinton campaign is connected to this). I still think that the potential campaign ties are really besides the point, because the calls seem illegal. Even if they thought they were acting within legal boundaries, it was grossly incompetent at best. As the replies to the post demostrate, the spokepeople for the group really have not been answering the questions at hand (I assume that they can't because of legal reasons at this point).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-mcnary/womens-voices-women-vote_b_99548.html

[crankychatter]

144. years in the penitentiary for perpetrators... small wonder they WANT THIS DEAD

Read "How to Rig an Election: Confessions of a Republican Operative"

it pays well because it is a felony and FOR that felony... you are EXPECTED to take the fall... and give the campaign you're working for "plausible deniability."

That's how it works.

Move along folks... nothing to see here.

[crankychatter]

145. k/r - move along folks... nothing to see here - n/t

:-)

[Limelight]

146. This only makes a difference the MSM latches onto it...

Please, please, PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE tell me they're not going to ignore this egregious bullsh*t!

You gotta love it... our favorite supposed democratic Goldwater girl shows her true colors yet again while her supporters ignore all evidence that SHE HAS NO SCRUPLES!!!

Pathetic....

Oh, and K&R

:kick:

[marions ghost]

147. Maybe KO will do something with it....

I remember way back in the media blackout after the Selection of 04, he was the only one to touch the indications of a stolen election.

[Divernan]

148. Any informed person who STILL supports her, wouldn't know a scruple if it bit them on their ass!

[jonestonesusa]

150. Come on, HC supporters, no excuses!

There is no excuse for efforts to suppress voters of any ethnicity or to use deceptive tactics like these just to win office.

How about standing up for principles, especially when these actions affect voters in your own party! Why the avoidance, the excuses? There are larger issues involved here than who wins the nomination in 08!

[nsd]

152. Kicking.

This is worrisome. We need answers and can't let this issue fade before we get them.