Mitt Romney Video Watch: Romney Denies Involvement with Mormon-Gate

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4MyGSAU0Zw&eurl=http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/22/the-romney-mystery-recipients-of-anti-mormon-calls-are-romney-staffers/[/youtube]

Video is NOW available with Mitt Romney’s comments about the Mormon-Gate Flap. Above Romney compares the notion that his campaign is somehow involved with the 9/11 Truther Conpiracy folks.

What Romney does not comment upon are the facts that paid campaign staffers either LIED or were disingenuous about “SPIKING” this story with the MSM, including the Salt Lake Tribune.

When news broke about alleged push-poll calls in Iowa and New Hampshire critical of Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith, the presidential candidate’s campaign referred reporters to a few voters who had received the calls.

But the campaign didn’t disclose that those offended voters were also on Romney’s payroll.

That information, first reported Wednesday on political blogs, provided fuel to critics’ speculation that Romney’s campaign was behind the controversial phone survey in a ploy to cast a rival Republican, Sen. John McCain, in a bad light while making Romney the sympathetic victim.

Romney spokesman Kevin Madden acknowledged Wednesday he referred reporters to recipients of the calls, reportedly made by Orem-based Western Wats, without disclosing they were paid grass-roots organizers for the campaign.

The MONEY QUOTES from the PAID Romney campaign workers:

Marshan Roth – Fairfield, Iowa:

“It was sick,” she said Friday, describing questions about Mormons performing baptisms for the dead and holding up the Book of Mormon as more important than the Bible. “If you didn’t know enough about McCain, you’d think he was the white knight coming in on his charger saving the world and that Mitt Romney was tantamount to the devil.”

From the Salt Lake Tribune:

When asked if she was a Romney supporter, Roth said she was leaning toward backing him, but not sure.

Roth didn’t disclose, nor did the campaign, that she has received $3,000 since April from the Romney camp as a grass-roots field organizer.

Roth did not return a call Wednesday for comment.

Rose Kramer – Dubuque, Iowa:

said Wednesday she didn’t mention she was a paid Romney staffer in her earlier interview with The Tribune because “you didn’t ask.”

But she says the fact that she or other staffers provided quotes about the poll shouldn’t give credence to charges the Romney campaign is behind the poll.

“It’s a lot of baloney,” Kramer said of the allegations.

While Mark Blumenthal over at Pollster.com says this contact of paid Romney staffers by Mormon-Gate pollsters is within “reality”, it seems to Flap this is “too cute by half,” i.e. too much of a coincidence.

It is OBVIOUS that the Romney campaign attempted to use the Mormon-Gate for their own political advantage, while either casting aspersions or trashing another GOP candidate.

Mitt Romney should answer why?

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