Phone Jamming Case

[catbirdseat]

I guess I haven't been paying attention until this morning when I saw an article in the PI. Some of Bush's cronies cooked up a scheme in 2002 to jam the phones of a Democratic get-out-the-vote call center in New Hampshire during the election. These guys hired an Idaho telemarketing firm to make a bunch of hangup calls to the Dems office to tie up their phones.

 

John Sununu, the Republican candidate, ended up winning with 51% of the vote.

 

The ring leader, James Tobin, made numerous calls to the Political Affairs office in the White House. I'll bet the whole thing was Carl Rove's idea.

 

Story in the PI

Another Article

[DirtyHarry]

The slickest thing about Carl Rove is how he's always got his fall guy lined up. Whenever a Rep Party guy gets caught doing some questionable or illegal shit there's always just enough degrees of seperation from the national guys, that the local underling takes the fall. Pretty slick, actually.

[G-spotter]

if they'd done it in Washington instead of NH, how big of tape mittens would they have worn for the jamming?

[foraker]

If I've said it before, I'll say it again, you can't really blame the Republicans as being the sole reason why a Democrat didn't get elected. If the Dems had fielded an inspiring candidate with great ideas, they wouldn't need phone banks to 'get out the vote'. In the last few years, the Dems have lost any ability to inspire anyone. At the same time, the Republicans have managed to wield cohesiveness by having a message, by staying on message, and taking the initiative. Whether you like their message is another matter entirely.

[cj001f]

If I've said it before, I'll say it again, you can't really blame the Republicans as being the sole reason why a Democrat didn't get elected. If the Dems had fielded an inspiring candidate with great ideas, they wouldn't need phone banks to 'get out the vote'. In the last few years, the Dems have lost any ability to inspire anyone. At the same time, the Republicans have managed to wield cohesiveness by having a message, by staying on message, and taking the initiative. Whether you like their message is another matter entirely.

 

And I'll say it again:

 

The biggest difference between an inspiring canidate and an uninspiring canidate is marketing and political positioning

[DirtyHarry]

the Republicans have managed to wield cohesiveness by having a message,

 

I don't think the platform, Jesus hates the gays - so you should too, should be considered a "message."

[foraker]

I'm not saying they have a message I like, simply that they've been doing a much better job of organizing, marketing, positioning, and attacking the left. The Dems have missed too many opportunities to attack the Republicans and dozens of domestic issues that it makes me think they lack the will to fight.

[catbirdseat]

Dick Nixon was known for his dirty tricks, but he has been greatly surpassed of late.

[Dechristo]

The introduction of dirty tricks in politics wasn't seen until the latter half of the twentieth century in the U.S.

[DirtyHarry]

The introduction of dirty tricks in politics wasn't seen until the latter half of the twentieth century in the U.S.

 

 

Ever hear of Tammany Hall?

[catbirdseat]

That was local politics. It didn't happen on a national scale.

[Dechristo]

It's a troll...

 

dirty politics, usually consisting of opponent assisination, was popular through the depths of antiquity.

[DirtyHarry]

Bullshit. You don't think the Irish vote in Boston, New York, or chicago at the turn of the century had national significance?

 

National politics begins at a local scale.

[kix]

love being irish

[catbirdseat]

All I can say is that Carl Rove is a rare genius- evil genius, that is. He's the Lex Luthor of politics. He's so smart that had he applied that intelligence to technology, we'd have fusion energy by now. Chances are though, he would have gotten together with Edward Teller and designed the next doomsday bomb.