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

[KoKo]

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. Malchow is Page Gardner's husband.

At the same time, MSHC also does direct mail and outreach for the Hillary Clinton campaign. In fact, the campaign owes MSHC $807,000, according to Politico.com.



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

[EFerrari]

1. This looks pretty bad.

[KoKo]

4. I've been checking "Think Progress" website...

There's no mention. I'm hoping something is going on behind the scenes and John Podesta is getting some e-mails asking him as a Board member to do something about this...

I posted on another thread a letter from one of his fellow alumni at Knox College who was outraged that Dems could be involved in Repug type voting suppression activities. We will have to see what happens. So far there aren't any answers except Page Gardner's weak ...."so sorry, staffing mistake." The connection with her husband's polling firm apparently goes into some work they did for Obama Campaign. So...maybe it's one of those "untouchable" stories that our Dem Family won't deal with. Sad...when so many Grassroots Activists have worked so hard for voting reform, isn't it. When it's our own.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. If it looks like a duck...

[myrna minx]

3. This doesn't look good. n/t

[americanstranger]

5. Yeah, the calling company made $700K from WVWV last cycle.

A supposed non-profit.

I wonder if Page Gardner can say 'conflict of interest.'

Strip their non-profit status pronto. They clearly do not deserve it at this point.

- as

[KoKo]

6. ...

[helderheid]

7. What happens next?

[last1standing]

8. K&R

n/t