Mitt Romney Mormon-Gate Watch: Who Did it?
Posted by Flap in Mitt Romney, President 2008
Republican presidential hopeful, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, speaks during a town hall-style meeting in Henderson, Nev., Saturday, Nov. 17, 2007.
Remember the Flap and Scandal about someone or some campaign either conducting anti-Mormon and anti-Romney “PUSH POLLS” or represented telephone calls as polls.
Now, the Attorney General of New Hampshire is investigating the matter since it is illegal in New Hampshire to conduct such surveys over the telephone without disclosing the identity on whose behalf the call is made or who the phone survey/caller is opposing.
Deputy Attorney General Bud Fitch said New Hampshire has never prosecuted a case involving such calls but was moving forward. He cautioned against expecting an immediate resolution.
“Generally, these investigations can take at least several days and sometimes several weeks,†Fitch said.
Among the questions the caller asked was whether the person receiving the call knew Romney was a Mormon, that he received military deferments when he served as a Mormon missionary in France, that his five sons did not serve in the military, that Romney’s faith did not accept blacks as bishops into the 1970s and that Mormons believe the Book of Mormon is superior to the Bible.
“It started out like all the other calls. … Then all of the sudden it got very unsettling and very negative,†said Anne Baker, an independent voter who was called in Hollis, N.H.
Who is behind the telephone calls/polls?
There are a number of theories:
Roger Stone, a long time GOP political consultant points to Mitt Romney.
Just as Bobby Kennedy was behind anti-Catholic calls and literature to Catholic Households in The 1960 Democratic Party. I smell a dirty trick. I suspect a pro-Romney motive to inoculate against future use of the religious issue and to breed sympathy for Romney.
No respectable Republican polling firm like Tarrance would be involved with this.
PS- a 20-minute call is the work of an amateur. The long call is designed to get ALL the negatives out, to put them off limits for future attacks.
STONE
Soren Dayton, a GOP consultant also points to Romney.
To prove a crime, you need means, motive, and opportunity. The Romney campaign has the motive. They have the means financially, intellectually, and logistically. And there is lots of circumstantial evidence linking the Romney campaign and his supporters to the people that used the weapon. Opportunity? Well, that’s self-evident, if it happens.
There’s a case here. More facts are necessary, but there’s a real case.
Mitt Romney’s campaign has denied involvement.
Erick Erickson from Redstate thinks it is a friend of a campaign including Romney’s.
Friends can be so well intentioned, yet so dumb sometimes. I’m talking about these anti-Mormon phone calls in New Hampshire and Iowa. I suspect close friends of one of the candidates are behind the calls. It would not surprise me if a friend of Mitt Romney’s, thinking it’d do some good, was behind the calls. That’s not to say it was a Romney friend, but I think that is just as plausible as a Huck friend, McCain friend, Rudy friend, or Thompson friend.
Jim Geraghty at National Review Online says someone with DEEP Pockets.
First, it’s both Iowa and New Hampshire, no? So that would boost the cost even higher, and make the likelihood of a bunch of renegade supporters of anybody less likely. On the other hand, I find a hard time buying the idea that any campaign would consider playing this card worth the risks. If and when the New Hampshire Attorney General names someone, I suspect we’ll find somebody with deep pockets, a relatively new desire to play in the political game, and little concern about long-term relationships in the GOP.
So, who dunnit?
Flap bets that it is either a LEFTY or LIBERTARIAN based 527 group with stealth/unreported donors. Either of these groups have an incentive to smear the GOP.
Will those responsible be “OUTED” prior to the New Hampshire primary?
Only if Western Wats’ folks are called before a Grand Jury and squeal who hired them or someone who made the calls is paid or threatened with criminal prosecution to RAT OUT the donors.
Stay tuned…..
Previous:
Push Polls Highlighting Mitt Romney as a Mormon Being Conducted in Iowa and New Hampshire – Part Two
Push Polls Highlighting Mitt Romney as a Mormon Being Conducted in Iowa and New Hampshire
Why Mitt Romney Did NOT Receive the Right to Life Endorsement
Mitt Romney Slip Sliding Away to Mike Huckabee in Iowa
California Republican Assembly Endorses Mitt Romney
Mike Huckabee a Threat to Mitt Romney in Iowa?
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