Mitt Romney for President My Man Mitt

Listen to my appearance on Hugh Hewitt last night here.

In the past 12 hours I have had to deal with and debunk yet one more crazy theory that Romney is really behind all this push polling.

After RedState publishes their non-apology, non-recanted post about yesterday's egregious "push poll" theory, Erick Erickson couldn't help but delve once more into the fever swamp and pull out a self-admitted "off-the-wall theory", that only Romney people are the ones complaining about the poll. On top of this Soren Dayton implies that Romney planted the people who reacted negatively to the Mormon poll from his own paid staffers.

You see, in a few press accounts, Marshan Roth and Rose Kramer told their stories of receiving the anti-Mormon polls. But wait! ALERT! Roth and Kramer have been paid by the Romney campaign. It seems they might be staffers! It's true.

So, I pull out my arsenal of exclusive tools and skills (my forefinger, a phone and a brain) and I look up said Marshan and Rose and find them at home (I woke them both up, sorry ladies).

I conjured up my own theory as I read the Erick's post. I'm thinking these ladies actually received the bad polls, called their local Romney office (which they knew well) and told their stories. The Romney office made a note of it. When the press comes calling looking for people who got the phone calls the Iowa office point them to Marshan and Rose.

Shocker! I was right. Marshan and Rose, who are both seemingly retired, roused enough to confirm my story.

Please remove your tinfoil hats! There will be no more conspiracy theories!

UPDATE: Lots of complaints now. "Why didn't they reveal their status with the campaign?" I asked Marshan that last night. Her reply: "What? Why? What do you mean? Why do they want to know that?" Folks, these are non-political septuagenarians. They just were answering a phone call and telling their story to someone in the press. My guess is they went to Ames and they help out at the local office stuffing letters.

Labels: Alex Gage, iowa, marshan, mitt romney push poll, push poll, redstate, rose, target point consulting, targetpoint, western wats


	4 Comments: Also . . . Wouldn't a lefty 527 want to purposefully "stir the pot" on a controversy like this by making sure such calls went to Romney staffers (making sure it got plenty of exposure to people who would complain)? By Jeff Fuller, at November 21, 2007 1:51 AM It seems to me that these calls would not just be made randomly because the total impact of them would seem to be negligible, and basically a waste of time. So, whomever did this obviously called specific people who they knew would report this....they wanted this all to hit the news, for whatever reason, perhaps because they thought it would look like Romney people. By Bob, at November 21, 2007 9:50 AM Justin, FYI: This post is going around Free Republic: --- Blogger in contact with Western Wats resigns from Romney campaign November 21, 2007 – 2:52 pm Justin Hart has notified me that he has resigned from his position as a Vice Chair of the Romney campaign’s Faith and Values Steering Committee after I challenged him for not disclosing that he was an official in the Romney campaign. Justin had been, until today, the only person who Western Wats would speak with. This afternoon Liz Mair wrote about a discussion she had with Jeffery Welch, a senior Western Wats executive and Romney donor. He appears to have resigned soon after contacting the Romney Iowa staffers who the Romney campaign has now admitted to misrepresenting to the press. --- So, what's the real story so I can cram this BS down their throats? Any indication if this is a strategy from one of the rival campaigns? By Mark, at November 21, 2007 4:03 PM While not foolproof, (and that would seem to be what is required given the nonsense that has transpired) wouldn't the simplest explanation have the greatest chance of being correct? At least, it would seem to be the razor you would want to start with. Since thankfully pundits occur infrequently in the general population, at least far less frequently than Romney supporters, the callers contacted more Romney supporters than fair-minded pundits (which is a smaller subset of the whole set of pundits). Romney supporters would be far more likely to be offended and thus far more likely to let someone know. And if they knew where the local Romney office was, that might be your first contact. This was a large calling effort. It can't be that tough to hit a Romney supporter with that much buckshot. But if you need a conspiracy, I suggest you check into the foaming-at-the-mouth Bill Keller-type ministries. After all, they are engaged in the work of saving the world from Mormonism, even as it dies of secularism. By rick, at November 21, 2007 4:41 PM Post a Comment

Here is the audio from the Hugh Hewitt show. Don't adjust your browser. I really do speak that fast:

QUICK IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION. In the audio it sounded like I confirmed that Mormons believe the Book of Mormon to be more important than the Bible. The audio actually cut out. I said "this is UNtrue". Just to be clear :)

So, lets review.

1) There is ZERO evidence linking TargetPoint the anti-Mormon calls
2) TargetPoint VEHEMENTLY denies they are behind the calls
3) As I indicated on Hugh’s show… I asked my source about Gage’s denial. His response: “Yeah, we knew it wasn’t them already.”

Today. Mark Hemingway attempted to apologize and wiggle out of a untenable corner defending a theory that has been refuted on every side you turn to.

Late tonight, and to their credit, Kathryn Lopez from NRO admits: "Mark noted some interesting publicly available connections Monday but there is no real evidence I've read that the Romney campaign had anything to do with it."

Then, RedState issues a non-retraction, failing to apologize to Gage & Company for maligning their integrity. To boot, they add another theory to the pot.

Here's the quote of the day from RedState: "we should not be afraid to ask a very plausible question based on, if nothing else, real world experience in politics: did a friend of the candidate hit him in a well meaning but misguided effort to help him?"

So, we can dismiss any evidence that's not there and instead rely on RedState's "real world experience". What?

Labels: Alex Gage, Anti-mormon, anti-romney, mark hemingway, mitt romney push poll, nro, push poll, redstate, target point consulting, targetpoint, western wats


	2 Comments: Heard you on Hugh Hewitt! Great job!! This is my first time visiting this site (After hearing about in Hugh Hewitt). I'm glad you clarified the comment about Mormonism and the Bible. You're right, it did sound like you said "true." You had me a little concerned, but I'm glad you clarified. I'll be back. Keep up the great work. By Larry, at November 21, 2007 11:14 AM Fantastic job, I'm glad you were able to articulate the issues at play so well. It will be interesting if anyone does eventually own up to this. I won't hold my breath. This story is getting a little play over at CNN. Again, Thanks for the work you do. By Stephen, at November 21, 2007 1:21 PM Post a Comment


	1 Comments: The nice thing about Mitt Romney is that he is someone you can trust, implicitly. He has a nice family, doesn't beat or cheat on his wife, does what he says he'll do, and so forth. He's shown time and time again in different areas of his life what kind of character he has. This appeals to lots of voters like me. I want someone I can trust will do what he or she says they'll do. I want someone, like Mitt, who will do everything in his power to prevent another war from starting, say, in Iran. Now, with every good thing there are always negatives. The negative is that if someone can prove (and make it appear) that Mitt is sneaky and under-handed, some of that support goes away. Such people have no problem turning a despicable act of religious bigotry into a nefarious plot by the victim. They might even repeat the religious bigotry, saying it is justified (I've seen that a few times on some of the comments sections on the links you've provided). The good side to all of this is that it reminds us of what kind of person Mitt is. Those of who familiar with conspiracy theories, spin doctors, and even just plain old propaganda, won't fall into the trap. We'll stick with Mitt and when the truth comes out it won't surprise us very much. By Anonymous, at November 19, 2007 2:56 PM Post a Comment

Please remove your tinfoil hats now!

Audio: Justin Hart on the Hugh Hewitt Show

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