young YR / CR 2 republicans

now main 12 23

this is backup (shd i make a tag?)

see ny YR club AZholes

poso? bannon don jr

merri ok

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J Oliver Conroy @ The Guardian: College Republicans are fighting and the far right is benefiting: ‘It looks very childish’

Tensions in the national party are trickling down to US college campuses, where a newer student group is rapidly outflanking longstanding moderate rivals

When the Utah county clerk’s office announced last month that it was hiring Kai Schwemmer – an undergraduate at Brigham Young University and a rightwing influencer – to help reach younger voters, an uproar ensued.

An energetic and fast-talking 23-year-old, Schwemmer is a rising star of campus organizing at the College Republicans of America (CRA). He is also a prolific livestreamer with a record of provocation – which returned to haunt him when more than 80 prominent women in Utah signed a letter protesting against his hiring.

Drawing on reporting earlier this year by the Guardian, critics noted that Schwemmer, who had been appointed as chief deputy clerk, had made remarks suggesting women are unsuited to public office, criticizing universal suffrage and endorsing “family voting”, a concept sometimes associated with Christian nationalists. In 2022, he attended a conference organized by Nick Fuentes, an antisemitic far-right pundit, and appeared in a supportive documentary about him.

White nationalist Nick Fuentes is exposing a civil war among US Republicans: ‘We look like clowns’

In March, Schwemmer was also named political director of the CRA, the country’s fastest-growing national federation of college Republicans. When critics raised similar concerns, Martin Bertao, the group’s president, responded: “I would like to apologize… to absolutely NOBODY,” adding that the “CRA will never back down to the WOKE mob!”

The controversies dogging Schwemmer, and the CRA’s cavalier response, are illustrative of the extent to which parts of the college Republican movement – not to be confused with, though also not unlike, the scandal-plagued Young Republicans – have been won over by a hard right that views moderate Republicans with scorn, apes Donald Trump’s confrontational style, and has ties to extremists.

Republican student groups have long acted as a talent pipeline to the national party and helped turn out voters. But ideological, personal and financial disputes in recent years have split the movement into three main national college Republican groups. Since its founding just three years ago, the CRA has grown rapidly, outflanking and displacing two more established – and more moderate – rivals in part thanks to its radical posture.

No one is getting recognition [from the RNC] because of this infighting

Chaston Atkins

The CRA is “more ideologically aligned with the next generation of Americans” than other college Republican groups, said Bertao, who is an undergraduate at the University of California, Berkeley.

Each of the three groups views itself as the movement’s true voice – but none are officially recognized by the Republican National Committee.

“As of right now, no one is getting recognition because of this infighting,” said Chaston Atkins, the chair of the Georgia Association of College Republicans, which has made a deliberate choice not to affiliate with any of the national groups. “It looks very childish.”

The factional fighting mirrors tensions in the national party between Reaganite conservatives and those who have embraced Trump’s rightwing populism. At the same time, the sidelining of moderate college Republicans raises questions about the future of a right whose rising leaders tend to be arch-conservative young men, nursed on the far-right internet, who often think that Trump is not radical enough.

The college Republican movement in the United States is more than a century old, and made up of campus clubs that often join state and national federations.

While these clubs and federations hold little political influence in and of themselves, many prominent politicians and activists on the right – including Grover Norquist, Karl Rove, Paul Ryan, Reince Priebus, Roger Stone, Paul Manafort and Kevin McCarthy – had their first taste of power as student politickers in the college Republican movement.

After Charlie Kirk, the far-right organizer and influencer, was killed last year, a groundswell of students rushed to join campus conservative organizations, though the long-term staying power of that groundswell is difficult to gauge.

The organization Kirk founded, Turning Point USA (TPUSA), which is now run by his wife, Erika Kirk, has an overlapping but different niche than traditional college Republican organizations. TPUSA, Atkins said, increasingly caters to previously apolitical young people from conservative Christian backgrounds who wish to see their values better reflected in society, whereas born political animals tend to gravitate to the college Republicans.

View image in fullscreen

Erika Kirk takes the stage during AmericaFest, the first Turning Point USA summit since the death of Charlie Kirk, in Phoenix, Arizona, on 18 December 2025. Photograph: Cheney Orr/Reuters

When Trump first ran for president, in 2016, many college Republican groups were embarrassed to be too closely associated with a candidate viewed as a loose cannon. As Trump remade the Republican party in his own image, that changed – and the CRA emerged as an upstart ready to most zealously embrace the Maga zeitgeist.

Founded in 2023, the CRA leaped to endorse Trump soon after he announced his 2024 re-election campaign, Bertao said, in contrast to the more center-right National Federation of College Republicans (NFCR), which initially favored Nikki Haley and waited until a month before the general election to endorse Trump.

Bertao also criticized a third group – the country’s oldest, the College Republican National Committee (CRNC) – for having put out a statement urging Americans to respect the verdict when Trump was convicted of fraud in New York.

The NFCR and the CRNC did not respond to queries.

The CRA now claims to represent 350 college chapters nationwide, and continues to grow. Earlier this month it admitted the College Republican Federation of Alabama, which represents six chapters in that state. Its leadership has also increasingly cultivated ties with rightwing nationalist parties in Europe.

Schwemmer told the Guardian that many of his most controversial remarks were made in jest, taken out of context, or interpreted uncharitably. Regarding his attendance at a conference organized by Fuentes, he said: “I’ve been to libertarian conferences and events that leftwing people have put on, and I’ve entirely disagreed with what they’ve had to say.”

Salisbury University in Maryland postponed a speaking event featuring Jared Taylor on 6 March 2026 after backlash and cited safety concerns. Photograph: Baltimore Sun/TNS

This year several local college Republican clubs affiliated with the CRA have gotten into hot water.

In March, a college Republican club at the University of Florida sparked outrage when someone allegedly tied to the club was photographed making a Hitler salute. Soon after, the CRA announced that it was accepting the club as a member.

Earlier that month, the club hosted James Fishback, a long-shot and fiercely anti-Zionist Republican primary candidate for governor who has built a small but dedicated following among college-aged young people with humor that winks at the antisemitism and racism of the online far right.

The CRA and a lawyer representing the club in Florida have said that the person photographed was merely someone who had attended a club event, and held no leadership role.

The same month, a CRA club at Georgetown University wrote on social media that Muslims “have no place in American society. Their religion is incompatible with our Christian Nation.” After a backlash from other campus groups as well as some of its own members, the group deleted the message.

“We affirm the First Amendment rights of all Americans and we are called to love everyone,” a spokesperson for the club at Georgetown told a campus newspaper. “Our properly articulated position is that sharia law is incompatible with Western civilization and American society as it seeks to oppress women and persecute religious minorities.” The CRA told the Guardian that the club’s “actions and sentiment were not wrong; Islam is not compatible with the West”.

And in April, a CRA club at Salisbury University in Maryland invited the writer Jared Taylor to speak with students.

Taylor is a self-described “white advocate” whom critics have accused of promoting white supremacy, a label he rejects. According to a New York Times reporter present, Colin McEvers, the college Republican who organized the event with Taylor, introduced him as someone who could help “save our country, to keep it from becoming a non-English-speaking hellscape where white people are spit at, despised and persecuted”.

We view our role as supporting the Republican party and supporting the administration

Martin Bertao, CRA president

The CRA said that it did not endorse or sanction the Maryland event. It has also said that “[a]ny sort of bigotry and hatred is wrong and should be widely condemned.”

The CRA also said that it allows individual chapters to “decide on who to bring as speakers because of how different every state and campus is. However, when chapters go away from the main beliefs of our organization, we do intervene and draw clear lines.”

Bertao disputed, in part, the idea that the CRA is more radical than other college Republican organizations. “We don’t necessarily take policy perspective positions,” he said. “We view our role as supporting the Republican party and supporting the administration.”

Yet the CRA’s close mirroring of Trump might come to pose problems for the organization. Recent polling has shown that younger Republican voters are, compared with older ones, less supportive of American intervention abroad, less supportive of Israel, and less in lockstep with Trump.

The CRA’s own website seems to indicate a possible mismatch with a president currently at war with Iran; its mission statement calls for “a conservative movement that prioritizes the needs of the American people … and adheres to non-interventionist policies”.

That dynamic can be seen with Fishback, the Florida candidate for governor; although he trails the Trump-endorsed candidate, Byron Donalds, by a huge margin, polling shows that he is vastly more popular with likely Republican voters aged 18 to 34.

a man holds a microphone View

James Fishback speaks to the Republican assembly of Sumpter county in Wildwood, Florida. Photograph: Dave Decker/Zuma Press Wire/Shutterstock

At the same time, survey data does not yield much evidence that younger Republicans, on the whole, hold more radical views than older Republicans on hot-button cultural issues such as abortion or same-sex marriage, Melissa Deckman, the CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), said. She suspects that the radical turn of some college Republicans says more about the views of conservative elites – and aspiring elites on campuses – and their desire to secure influence within the movement.

More hardline views are pushing to the fore, she speculated, as “the activist class within the GOP [struggles] over the direction of their party”.

Asked if the CRA’s membership or mission might conflict with its pro-Trump stance, Schwemmer disagreed: “I think all of us are grateful for the revolution that occurred in conservative politics in 2016, even if we since have disagreed with many of the things the president has done.”

College conservative groups tend to mirror “some of the larger fractiousness on the right”, said Matthew Dallek, a political historian at George Washington University. Historically, insurgent factions periodically emerge to challenge establishments they perceive as having sold out to the political center, displacing them before eventually facing similar rebellions.

Amy Binder, a sociologist at Johns Hopkins who has co-written two books about political organizing on campuses, noted that when she worked on the first – published in 2013 during the Obama administration – she observed two distinct styles of campus conservatism.

Conservatives at smaller, elite schools tended to emphasize the idea of civil discourse and intellectual persuasion and avoid sharp elbows that might rub their peers – and possible fellow future leaders of industry – the wrong way. In contrast, conservatives at big state schools tended to lean into provocation, with stunts such as “affirmative action bake sales” – where baked goods are priced differently according to the buyers’ ethnicity – that might offend people on large, diverse campuses but also impress rightwing political organizations scouting brash young talent.

“They didn’t care if they set off their liberal classmates,” Binder said. “In fact, they thought that was great.” To attract media attention, their attitude was “go big or go home”.

By the time she co-wrote her second book – published in 2022, as the “woke” backlash was gathering steam – the second style had come into its own, and was by far the dominant strain. “Anything that was more civil was really disparaged as being establishment – boring, out of fashion.”

‘Very Republican, very patriotic’: right-leaning civic centers now offer courses at US public colleges

For its part, the Utah county clerk’s office backtracked, partly, in its hiring of Schwemmer; after a furor, the office announced that his job would be adjusted to a more junior role.

Radicalism currently has the upper hand in many quarters, but the future is difficult to predict, noted Atkins, the college Republican in Georgia. Clubs at many schools often have just a handful of members, meaning they may change affiliations quickly because of political winds or the views of a determined faction among the leadership. Similarly, he feels that the CRA has tied itself too closely to the personhood of an unpopular second-term president who will soon diminish in influence.

For those reasons, he cautioned against extrapolating too much from the momentum of the CRA or any other group or faction. “It can change in the blink of an eye,” he said.

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odd at long absence?

AN 3 26

Kai Schwemmer, political director of College Republicans of America (CRA), was attempting damage control when he stated that he was "not a groyper" — a reference to followers of white nationalist Nick Fuentes.

Schwemmer drew criticism from Jewish groups for streams on Cozy.tv, a platform founded by Fuentes — and Anti-Defamation League (ADL) CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, in a March 13 post on X, formerly Twitter, warned, "Appointing Kai Schwemmer, a longtime ally of white supremacist Nick Fuentes, as political director signals the College Republicans of America is normalizing antisemitism and white supremacy, full stop. Fuentes holds strong influence over his fans, the 'Groyper Army,' and regularly jokes about the Holocaust. Schwemmer has appeared at Fuentes' conferences, streams on his platform and has spread conspiracy theories about 'Zionists' in America."

CRA President Martin Bertao is doubling down on his decision to hire Schwemmer as political director, writing that he will "apologize…. to absolutely NOBODY."

In an article published on March 30, however, The Guardian's Jason Wilson stresses that Schwemmer has become a liability for Republicans on college campuses.

"The newly appointed College Republicans of America Political Director Kai Schwemmer has made racist, antisemitic, homophobic and sexist statements while espousing extremist right-wing views on abortion, a Guardian review of livestream recordings can reveal," Wilson reports. "Schwemmer said he would accept a world in which slavery was legal if abortion was criminalized, describes himself as 'very much an anti-universal-suffrage guy' and accepts a supporter's description of him as 'our Mormon Nick Fuentes' — referring to the white nationalist influencer whose platform he streamed on for years. The comments were made after Schwemmer's return from a two-year Mormon mission to Argentina, a period he recently claimed had seen him undergo a 'process of growth' that led him to abandon previous racist beliefs."

Wilson adds, "Schwemmer had previously expressed extremist and bigoted views. The streams, many of which are not publicly available but remain accessible behind a paywall on Schwemmer's Gumroad page, also contain previously unreported material from his earlier broadcasts. In one, he walks a user through a sequence of antisemitic leading questions on the Omegle platform before directing her to Fuentes' streaming site. In others, he claims gay men are 'weaponizing' gyms 'to give you AIDS' and celebrates a DNA test he says proved 'I'm 0% Jewish.'"

Jeff Tischauser, a senior researcher for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), is skeptical about claims that Schwemmer is distancing himself from Fuentes and the groyper movement.

Tischauser told The Guardian, "Any time someone claims they have left the movement, you need to watch them closely to see if their actions match their rhetoric, and if they are being sincere. It does not seem like Kai Schwemmer is being sincere."

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College Republican Group Names Groyper Kai Schwemmer As Political Director | People For

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A Politico article about a leaked group chat of Young Republican leaders from across the country making racist, homophobic and misogynistic comments includes two people from Arizona, one of whom has documented ties to the white nationalist groyper movement.

The group chat of top officials in Young Republican Federation chapters from across the country, dubbed “RESTOREYR,” was leaked to Politico, which reported on a litany of comments made by participants. Offensive comments included making racist remarks about Black people, talking about putting Democrats in gas chambers, forcibly raping their enemies and more. The chat includes more than 250 slurs and one person saying “I love Hitler,” according to Politico.

One of the members of the chat was Arizona Young Republican Chairman Luke Mosiman, 25, who was alleged to have made racially charged comments about Black people and even floated an idea of linking their opponents in an election over control of the Young Republican National Federation to white supremacist groups — before saying it could backfire because it could result in the Young Republicans they needed to win the elections instead backing their opponent.

The Young Republican National Federation released a statement following the Politico report condemning the comments and calling for those involved to resign “from all positions within their state and local Young Republican organizations.”

In Kansas, the chairman of the state’s Republican Party announced that their Young Republicans chapter, which was involved in the chat leaks, was shut down. And he Arizona Republican Party came out strongly against the “disturbing language” used by Young Republican leaders in a statement released shortly after the story was published Tuesday

IFrame Content

But Mosiman and the Arizona Young Republicans resisted the call that he and Rachel Hope, whose comments in the group chat were also mentioned in Politico’s story, resign. In a written statement released late Wednesday, the group instead cast Mosiman and Hope, who is the organization’s events chair, as victims, saying they “firmly reject any involvement in the ongoing political witch hunt targeting fellow Young Republican members.”

Their statement called it “disheartening” to “witness the double standard” displayed by their opponents within the conservative movement. They also lashed out at critics, saying some have failed to condemn violent texts by Virginia Democratic Attorney General candidate Jay Jones or social media posts celebrating the death of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, who was killed last month.

However, the group did condemn “Nazi ideology,” though its statement fell short of acknowledging what was said or apologizing for it.

“We express our sincere regret and unequivocally condemn any rhetoric that could be interpreted as sympathetic to Nazi ideology,” the statement says. The lengthy statement also says that the group has concerns over the way the messages were obtained and their validity.

Far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos has claimed online, posting a sworn affidavit, that the chats were leaked by Gavin Wax, a staffer in Trump’s State Department who formerly led the New York Young Republican club, whose own problematic chats were revealed in 2023.

Mosiman has been viewed by some as a rising star in Arizona conservative politics, but he also has close ties with the far-right and had courted controversy long before the group chat.

Hitler’s birthday

In April 2022, U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar was listed as a “special guest” at an event in Tempe scheduled for April 20, a date that is revered by white supremacists and neo-Nazis because it is Adolf Hitler’s birthday.

The event had been organized by the American Populist Union, a white nationalist group that is closely aligned with groypers, the name for a group of young, male white nationalists who strive for their ideas to become a part of the Republican mainstream and are largely followers of white nationalist Nick Fuentes. In 2021, Gosar was the first elected official to speak at Fuentes’ America First Political Action Conference.

After the Mirror reported on Gosar’s promotion and anticipated attendance at the event and spurred national media coverage, Gosar pulled out. His office said he was never planning to attend, even though he promoted it on his social media accounts.

Mosiman attended, and was later featured in photos posted by APU and in. Mosiman also follows a number of accounts connected to the groyper movement on his X account.

“Like it or not, Nick Fuentes is becoming a force in the GOP, you all need to understand that,” Mosiman said in a March 2021 tweet. “Stop acting like it’s a few nut cases, it’s not. Ignoring it isn’t working.”

Mosiman went on to say that he wasn’t a Fuentes supporter but he had watched his “Afpac speech” and it “was not bad.”

In that 2021 AFPAC speech, Fuentes called the Jan. 6 insurrection, where seven people died, “lighthearted mischief” and stressed white nationalist talking points. Mosiman was also photographed in September 2021 protesting U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly by the groyper-aligned Arizona College Republicans United. The photograph was posted in Instagram with the caption “CRU executed a protest with Groypers against Senator Mark Kelly.”

Far-right YouTuber John Doyle, one of the featured speakers at the April 2022 APU event, organized a “Stop the Steal” rally in Michigan with Fuentes and has posted highly misogynistic content, such as saying that women shouldn’t be allowed to vote. Doyle, along with other members of APU, were also in attendance at the first 76Fest, which one of its organizers dubbed “Hitler Youth, without the Hitler.”

Mosiman also promoted an event in December 2021 that he called “one of the most based events of the year” which was being put on by Republicans for National Renewal, which has ties to ethno-nationalism, and co-hosted by APU.

That event brought local politicians face to face with a host of far-right extremists, including a number of prominent groypers.

APU has denied ties to white nationalism or knowledge of the significance of the date of its 4/20 event.

TPUSA and Arizona lawmakers

But Mosiman’s involvement in Arizona politics goes beyond the groyper movement.

Online, Mosiman often interacted with many local politicians, and in recent years started coming to the defense of conservative youth organization Turning Point USA.

“I used to be not a huge fan of TPUSA, but after seeing hard working and effective conservatives like (Austin Smith) and (Tyler Bowyer), I changed my mind,” Mosiman wrote on X in 2022, referring to two of the Arizona-based group’s leaders.

Both Smith and Bowyer are listed as members of the advisory team for the Arizona Young Republicans chapter that Mosiman leads. TPUSA did not respond to a request for comment for this story. Neither did Nancy Cottle, Republican state Rep. Matt Gress and GOP state Sen. Jake Hoffman, who were also listed as advisory board members.

The website for the Arizona Young Republicans went offline on Wednesday, but archived snapshots were still online.

“Without a doubt, Turning Point Action had the most meaningful grassroots impact on Arizona,” Mosiman wrote on X on Nov. 11, 2024, shortly after last year’s election. “Hats off to (Tyler Bowyer) and his phenomenal staff.”

Bowyer is the Chief Operating Officer of Turning Point Action, the political action arm of Turning Point USA.

TPUSA has long been a target of the groyper movement ,but in recent years has seen itself move farther to the right and courting controversy for hiring racists.

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proud boys stabbing?

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an 12 23

the New York Young Republican Club recently held its annual gala in New York's financial district, and former President Donald Trump gave the keynote address with some of the global far right's most notorious political figures in attendance.

According to Talking Points Memo (TPM), the gala's attendees included not just American far-right politicians like Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado), Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) and Paul Gosar (R-Arizona), but also European right-wing extremists like Austrian politician Gerald Grosz and European Parliament member Susanna Ceccardi, who is from Italy's far-right Lega party. German politician Maximilian Krah — whose party, Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) has been criticized as a "neo-Nazi party" — was also at the event.

"Donald Trump rubbing elbows with Nazi-linked groups might be surprising if Trump’s last month wasn’t defined by him parroting Hitler and Mussolini, and promising to rule as a dictator so he can rip away Americans’ freedoms and round up millions of Americans into detention camps," said Ammar Moussa, who is the rapid response director for President Joe Biden's reelection campaign.

"The American people rejected Trump and his MAGA attacks on democracy in 2020, and it’s why he’s going to lose again next November," Moussa added.

Gerald Grosz was initially a member of Austria's far-right Freedom Party, which was founded by Anton Reinthaller — a former Nazi Party leader and SS officer. Grosz and his colleague Jorg Haider, who was the son of a Nazi stormtrooper who praised Adolf Hitler's regime, eventually joined a Freedom Party offshoot. While they all come from different countries, TPM described Grosz, Ceccardi and Krah as comrades-in-arms in movements that are "staunchly nationalist and anti-immigrant" in nature.

Prior to Trump's speech, he was introduced as the "45th, 46th and 47th presidents of the United States," which alludes to Trump's baseless conspiracy theory that he was the rightful winner of the 2020 presidential election. Trump doubled down on his "dictator" comments during his speech, repeating that if elected to another term he would assume dictatorial powers on day one of his administration to build a border wall and "drill drill drill."

The New York Young Republican Club's flirting with global far-right figures is in line with how international political scholars have described the modern GOP. In 2019, Harvard University political scientist Pippa Norris surveyed roughly 2,000 political experts around the globe on the authoritarian leanings of various modern far-right parties. She found that the American Republican Party has more in common with authoritarian, fascist-adjacent parties like Turkey's AKP and Hungary's Fidesz than with their counterparts in G7 countries like the Tories in the UK and the conservatives in Canada.

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Far-right U.S., European figures to gather at NYC gala

2022

far-right U.S., European figures to gather at NYC gala

By Joseph Konig Manhattan

Dec. 08, 2022

Some of the most conservative and controversial Republicans in the United States are gathering at an unlikely destination this weekend – Manhattan.

With some prominent Democrats and other critics raising concerns, the New York Young Republican Club is holding its annual gala on Saturday, featuring Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Donald Trump Jr., former Trump advisor Steve Bannon and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani. The guest list also includes far-right operative Jack Posobiec, members of an Austrian political party founded by a Nazi SS officer, and a number of U.S. and European right-wing activists, commentators and politicians.

What You Need To Know

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Donald Trump Jr. and other right-wing activists, commentators and politicians are attending a gala hosted by a Republican club in Manhattan Saturday

Among the headliners is Jack Posobiec, a far-right operative who the Southern Poverty Law Center has identified as working with white nationalists and neo-Nazis

Members of an Austrian political party founded by a Nazi SS officer will also be in attendance

Event organizers are keeping the location secret and coordinating with the NYPD over concerns there will be protests

“It’s sort of an iconic event in a way that it brings all these people together, they’re able to communicate, they’re able to, you know, network, share experiences, contact with each other,” club president Gavin Wax said. “It’s sort of like a coming together of the minds and sort of an event of the year is how we like to push it, both for the club and for the movement at large.”

A City Hall spokesperson said in a statement that city officials are “monitoring the event for any alarming activity.” Wax said he is coordinating with the NYPD and event security in expectation of protests.

Ten members of the far-right Proud Boys group were arrested in Manhattan in 2018 following an attack on protestors outside the Metropolitan Republican Club. Wax was in attendance that night and witnessed the violence, later writing an article for a conservative website titled "We Are All Proud Boys Now."

Greene and Posobiec are headlining the event, which Wax says will be held in Midtown. Organizers are not revealing the precise location out of security concerns. The club’s invitationdescribes Greene as “a wife, mother and Christian nationalist patriot.” Posobiec, a former Navy officer-turned-conspiracy theorist, is one of the most prolific spreaders of misinformation in the country, critics said.

"I think you can safely argue that no single person is more responsible for spreading politically charged disinformation during the Trump era than Jack Posobiec," Southern Poverty Law Center senior investigative reporter Michael Edison Hayden told NY1. "He is unequivocally an extremist who has demonstrable ties to neo-Nazis, white nationalists and anti-government extremists."

Posobiec could not be reached for comment.

“We reject the framing and the accusations of the SPLC,” Wax said. “These are all sort of baseless accusations that are thrown ad nauseam at anyone who even dares to veer just slightly right of center.”

Among his long, well-documented – by researchers and journalists, including the SPLC – history of collaboration with white nationalists and antisemites, Posobiec notably worked with two Washington, D.C., brothers the SPLC identifies as neo-Nazis and whothe FBI alleged had ties to the man accused of killing 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018.

“There should be no legitimizing white supremacists or people who are associated with neo-Nazis, period,” Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine said, citing rising numbers of antiseimitic incidents in the city. “This is a toxic environment where antisemitism is being mainstreamed. And it’s outrageous that the New York Young Republican Club is contributing to that.”

Along with Greene, three incoming Republican congressmen, Dutchess County legislator Ben Geller, incoming upstate Assemblyman Brian Maher, 2022 New York gubernatorial candidate Andrew Giuliani, and a spate of Trump administration officials are featured guests. The younger Giuliani will serve as toastmaster, according to the gala invitation.

George Santos, an incoming member of Congress who will represent parts of Queens and Nassau counties, is listed as a guest. Santos, who attended the Jan. 6 rally near the U.S. Capitol, did not return requests for comment.

Representatives for state Republican Party chair Nick Langworthy and City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli did not respond to requests for comment.

An alliance with a party founded by Nazis

At least half a dozen European political figures will be in attendance, including two leading members of the Freedom Party of Austria, a far-right party founded by an SS officer in the aftermath of World War II as a political home for Austrian Nazis after the Nazi Party was banned.

“Historically, the Freedom Party can be described as a kind of a successor of the Nazi Party,” said Bernhard Weidinger, a visiting Fulbright Fellow at Northwestern University and a researcher tracking right-wing extremism at the Documentation Center of Austrian Resistance in Vienna. “They’re certainly not a neo-Nazi party right now. But they are a far-right party. And they have a long history of both racism and antisemitism, of xenophobia, of a systematic vilification of asylum seekers and refugees and other minorities.”

Both Austrian Jewish leaders and the government of Israel refuse to work with Freedom Party ministers when they are part of governing coalitions, which they have been on and off for the past two decades, Weidinger said.

Wax, who is Jewish, said he did not believe the Freedom Party holds bigoted views and pointed to their willingness to forge ties with the club, which has numerous Jewish members in leadership, as evidence of their modern-day tolerance.

“I think a lot of the same accusations that are leveled at them now could be leveled at the Republican Party, and those are usually baseless,” Wax said. “I think the German angle, the Austrian angle adds to the attacks, obviously, because, you know, you go back far enough, everyone in those countries were affiliated with Nazis at some point in history.”

Rep. Jerry Nadler, who in January will represent the neighborhood where the gala is being held, denounced the gathering.

“Antisemitic and far-right extremists have become central figures in the GOP. Even the former president is dining with known racists and antisemites,” Nadler said in a statement. “The event’s headliners have built brands on the backs of hatred and bigotry. The New York Young Republican Club–and national Republicans–should be ashamed. It’s dangerous and disgraceful, and New Yorkers deserve far better than this.”

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splc

december 11, 2022

Hannah Gais and Michael Edison Hayden

A collection of radical right figures including white nationalists and ultranationalist European leaders gathered in Manhattan for the New York Young Republican Club’s (NYYRC) annual gala Saturday night, where that group’s president declared “total war” on perceived enemies.

“We want to cross the Rubicon. We want total war. We must be prepared to do battle in every arena. In the media. In the courtroom. At the ballot box. And in the streets,” NYYRC president Gavin Wax declared to a room full of supporters at 583 Park Ave., an event venue on New York’s Upper East Side.

“This is the only language the left understands. The language of pure and unadulterated power,” Wax added.

The white nationalists of VDARE snap a selfie with Steve Bannon at the NYYRC gala on Dec. 10. From left to right: Peter Brimelow, Steve Bannon, Lydia Brimelow. (Photo by Michael Edison Hayden)

At the five-hour event, which Hatewatch reporters attended, white nationalists Peter and Lydia Brimelow of VDARE hobnobbed with Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser and White House official. Donald Trump Jr. was also in attendance.

Republicans publicly lauded members in attendance from an Austrian political party founded by World War II-era Nazi party members. Racist political operative Jack Posobiec shared jokes across a table with Josh Hammer, the opinion editor of Newsweek. Multiple recently elected GOP congresspeople applauded Marjorie Taylor Greene, who told the NYYRC crowd in the event’s closing remarks that the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol would have succeeded if she had planned it and that the insurrectionists would have been armed.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene talks with guests at the NYYRC gala on Dec. 10, 2022 in Manhattan. (Photo by Michael Edison Hayden)

“Then Jan. 6 happened. And next thing you know, I organized the whole thing, along with Steve Bannon,” Greene said, referring to allegations that she had led reconnaissance tours of the Capitol for soon-to-be insurrectionists in the days prior to the violence.

“I will tell you something, if Steve Bannon and I organized that, we would have won,” she said, as attendees erupted in cheers and applause. “Not to mention, it would’ve been armed.”

WHITE NATIONALISTS AND NEOFASCISTS IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

Republican speakers repeatedly voiced an anti-democracy, authoritarian ideology, and extremists in the audience cheered wildly. White nationalists such as the Brimelows of VDARE and leaders from extreme far-right European parties like Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland, AfD), whom German officials placed under surveillance for their ties to extremism, and Austrian Freedom Party (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ), ate and drank in the same room as newly elected Republican congresspeople, such as Long Island and Queens-based George Santos, Georgia-based Mike Collins and Florida-based Cory Mills.

• MORE NYYRC: Hungarian ambassador attends controversial Republican gathering

Hatewatch reached out to Santos and Mills by email before the event about their willingness to appear in a global collection of radical right, anti-democracy activists. They did not reply. Hatewatch reached out to Collins on Sunday morning but had not received a response at press time.

A STEVE BANNON SELFIE FOR VDARE

Bannon, the former Trump adviser, physically embraced the white nationalist Brimelows at NYYRC, spoke to the couple for several minutes and took a selfie with them. VDARE traffics in the great replacement conspiracy theory and has published defenses of writing a terrorist who gunned down 24 people in an El Paso Wal-Mart in 2019 allegedly authored. Peter Brimelow attended the white supremacist American Renaissance conference in November, whose host has portrayed Black people as being subhuman. The Brimelows publish writing authored by Jason Kessler, who helped organize the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

When Hatewatch attempted to speak to Lydia Brimelow after her conversation with Bannon to inquire about it, she walked away. Hatewatch did not get close enough to Bannon to ask him about the encounter with Peter and Lydia Brimelow.

‘PIZZAGATE’ JACK DESCENDS ON NEW YORK CITY

Jack and Tanya Posobiec arrive in New York City by train before the NYYRC meeting in Midtown on Dec. 10. (Photo by Michael Edison Hayden)

Posobiec, a radical right political operative, resides with his wife Tanya Posobiec in Hanover, Maryland. The couple took Amtrak Northeast Regional train 88 into New York’s Penn Station Moynihan Hall on Saturday afternoon to get to the NYYRC gala. Train 88 pulled in at around 3:45 p.m., and a Hatewatch reporter observed Posobiec and his wife deboard and enter New York City.

“Antifa, don’t even think about it tonight,” Posobiec posted to Twitter three hours later, at 6:39 p.m., with the location of the tweet marked Manhattan, New York.

NYYRC gave Posobiec a speaking slot and an Allen W. Dulles award, named after the former head of the CIA. NYYRC said in its December bulletin that the award is given to “an individual who embodies the virulent anti-Marxist spirit of [Dulles].”

Like the Brimelows, Posobiec has a well-documented history of radical-right activism. He to the antigovernment Oath Keepers, fraternized with the Proud Boys, and at least twice, filmed propaganda videos with. He is primarily known for pushing the, which falsely suggested that Democrats ran a pedophile dungeon in the basement of a Washington, D.C., pizzeria.

Hatewatch spoke with Posobiec around midnight at the NYYRC event and asked him about his involvement in pushing the #StoptheSteal hashtag onto Twitter during the runup to the 2020 election. Although “Stop the Steal” became synonymous with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol building, Posobiec started tweeting the hashtag from his over-1-million-follower account as early as Sept. 7, 2020, two full months before anyone tallied any votes.

While responding to Hatewatch at NYYRC, Posobiec first attempted to associate the hashtag with Roger Stone and then with Ali Alexander, two of his collaborators. Then he called it “a meme.” He never explained why he abruptly started posting the hashtag in September 2020.

While answering questions, Posobiec grew testy with a Hatewatch reporter and described SPLC as a “domestic terror organization.” Posobiec called that reporter a “scumbag” and a “troll.” After Posobiec’s speaking tone became palpably agitated, a crowd formed and NYYRC executive secretary Viswanag “Vish” Burra escorted both Hatewatch reporters to the exit, physically shoving one of them.

NEWSWEEK FLAUNTS ITS RADICAL-RIGHT CREDENTIALS

Newsweek editor Josh Hammer (in suspenders) texts from table #6, near the front of the stage, at the NYYRC gala on Dec. 10. (Photo by Michael Edison Hayden)

Starting in May 2020, after editor Nancy Cooper and chief content officer Dayan Candappa brought political activist Josh Hammer to run *Newsweek*’s opinion section, the 90-year-old publication has emerged as a hub for opinion pieces authored by radical right activists. Newsweek has published the extremist Posobiec as well as 2020 election-lie pusher Raheem Kassam in recent years, and Hammer has also hosted both of them on his Newsweek-branded podcast. The three men sat together talking and laughing at table #6 during the NYYRC event, near the stage.

Newsweek contributor and disinformation peddler Raheem Kassam texts a selfie to someone at the NYYRC event on Dec. 10. Kassam sat at table #6 with Newsweek editor Josh Hammer and fellow Newsweek contributor Jack Posobiec. (Photo by Michael Edison Hayden)

When QAnon influencer-turned-congressperson Marjorie Taylor Greene took the stage, Hammer stood up and applauded. When she endorsed former President Trump as her 2024 presidential candidate of choice, Posobiec turned to Hammer and grinned. In January, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis invited Hammer on a tour of his office, and the Florida-based Newsweek editor has since hyped DeSantis as a potential presidential candidate.

“You gonna go up there, Josh?” Posobiec chided Hammer about Greene’s endorsement of Trump, eliciting laughter from the table.

A Hatewatch reporter approached Hammer after Greene’s speech, made an introduction and asked if he knew Peter Brimelow of VDARE.

“He’s right here, right now?” Hammer asked with excitement.

“I didn’t even know he was here!” Hammer said of the infamous white nationalist publisher. “I’m going to say ‘Hi.’ ”

The Hatewatch reporter asked Hammer how he got his job at Newsweek, and the opinion editor abruptly stopped talking. He asked the reporter to identify himself again. When the reporter did, Hammer’s expression slackened. He quickly claimed he did not know Peter Brimelow and left.

‘WHAT’S RACIST ABOUT PROJECT VERITAS?’

Multiple figures associated with Project Veritas, the hard-right propaganda group that engages in sting operations, attended the NYYRC gala. The group’s founder James O’Keefe and Project Veritas board member Matthew Tyrmand hobnobbed with NYYRC guests Saturday.

Legal trouble has entangled Project Veritas in recent months. Former associates sued Project Veritas in August, citing the creation of a “highly sexualized” work environment, which they claim included substance abuse and unpaid labor. (The group has denied these allegations.) In September, a jury in a civil case found that Project Veritas had “violated wiretapping laws and fraudulently misrepresented itself” during a sting operation targeting a group called Democracy Partners. The FBI raided O’Keefe’s home in November 2021 as part of an investigation into the alleged theft of a diary belonging to President Joe Biden’s daughter Ashley. (The group has claimed that they acted lawfully in obtaining the diary.)

Outside of the building on 583 Park Ave., O’Keefe argued with antifascist protesters, according to footage reviewed by Hatewatch. A different, self-described “independent video journalist” posted a series of clips to Twitter at 8:15 p.m., showing O’Keefe asking antifascist protesters on the corner of Park Avenue and 62nd Street, “What’s racist about Project Veritas?”

The same social media user posted a video to Twitter at 9:12 p.m. In it, O’Keefe could be seen standing on the street outside the venue alongside several other men, including Newsweek’s Hammer.

“Would you like to make a tax-deductible donation to Project Veritas?” O’Keefe asked the protesters.

Rudy Giuliani (center) chats with guests alongside radical right activist Lucian Wintrich (left) at the NYYRC gala on Dec. 10. (Photo by Michael Edison Hayden)

Hatewatch observed Project Veritas’s Tyrmand sitting at table #4, the one closest to the center of the stage, alongside Trump-world power players Steve Bannon and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani. A recent *New York Times* report named Tyrmand and Bannon as key U.S. figures in an effort to depict Brazil’s November presidential elections as being fraudulent, after voters in that country pushed hard-right favorite Jair Bolsonaro out of office. Tyrmand, who is known for his ties to the global radical right, took the stage and lauded the ultranationalist European leaders in attendance.

“This is an all-star room, and I urge all of you to meet everybody here and continue to spend time together, getting to know each other, so we can fight the battle, arm in arm,” Tyrmand said of the European extremists, including the contingents from Austria and Germany.

ALMOST MIDNIGHT

Donald Trump Jr. addresses the NYYRC gala on Dec. 10 in Manhattan. (Photo by Michael Edison Hayden)

Speakers including Trump Jr. and Greene sought to downplay the Republicans’ failure to secure a so-called “red wave” victory in the 2022 midterms by attacking such familiar right-wing targets as Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden and LGBTQ+ people.

“The party is in a pretty good spot, but America may not be getting it. We have a party right now that is actually delivering for the American people. But what we don’t have [is] our same people in Washington, who can make those things happen,” Donald Trump Jr. told the crowd after he came on stage.

Greene suggested eliminating Democrat members of House committees in her closing speech, as a way of shifting the tide of power in Washington. She also told the audience it was “almost midnight,” meaning they risked losing their country to perceived enemies.

Greene praised a Project Veritas video focused on LGBTQ+ education published by the group, saying it shows that teachers “pass around dildos, butt plugs and lube.” (The school issued a statement claiming “[Project] Veritas deceptively edited the video with malicious intent.”)

Greene expressed her gratitude to Project Veritas for their work.

“Thank you very much. We appreciate that,” she said to scattered applause.

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aDAM KLASFELD / October 19, 2018

MANHATTAN (CN) – New York City police arrested two members of the far-right Proud Boys on Friday, a week after videos captured members of the group beating up protesters outside the official Manhattan club of the Republican Party.

Proud Boy Geoffrey Young, 38, was released on his own recognizance after being arraigned on two misdemeanor counts of riot in the second degree and attempted assault in the third degree.

A New York City police detective said that surveillance video caught Young punching and putting one person in a headlock, while kicking another person in the stomach.

A witness recorded Young kicking a third person three times in the head, police say.

The New York Daily News reported that police also arrested Jay Kinsman, who has not yet been arraigned, on Friday.

The arrests fall a full week after video captured the NYPD standing by as Proud Boy members attacked protesters outside the Upper East Side’s Manhattan Republican Club, which invited the group’s leader Gavin McInnes to reenact the samurai sword assassination of a Japanese socialist.

After that event, video captured Proud Boys participating in violence, but the NYPD arrested only three anti-fascist protesters that night.

New York City Public Advocate Letitia James, the Democratic nominee for state attorney general, pushed for police action the day after the violence.

"I am disturbed and disgusted by the videos I’ve seen of members of the neo-fascist, white supremacist Proud Boys group engaging in hate-fueled mob violence on the streets of New York City," James tweeted on Oct. 13. "New York will not become the next Charlottesville, and we refuse to let the actions of a hateful few define our city."

Legal Aid attorney Rebecca Kavanagh argued that the charges show the NYPD continues to treat the group with kid gloves.

“Why when video shows #ProudBoys stomping on person lying on ground in the fetal position is #NYPD planning only to charge them w/ Riot & Attempted Assault?” Kavanagh tweeted two days before the charges became public. “Riot is a Misdemeanor & I guarantee my clients would be charged w/ Gang Assault.”

The Daily News reported that police are looking for seven more Proud Boys and three anti-fascist protesters, widely known as Antifa.

In a press conference on Thursday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio suggested that both sides are complicating the investigation.

“You’ve got two factions, if you will, that unfortunately both seem to engage in violence at times and don’t want to cooperate with the police,” de Blasio told reporters. “That makes this more complicated.”

Governor Andrew Cuomo refused to draw equivalencies between the groups.

“The Proud Boys are a hate group,” Cuomo told WCBS this morning. “They are a white supremacist group, anti-women group and there was violence after they brought the Proud Boys and they brought them to the Republican headquarters.”

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nation mag

no lnx pix

POLITICS / AUGUST 29, 2023

The War Within the Young Republican Party

At the Young Republican National Convention, far-right figures made few inroads—but they did read my Nation investigation.

AMANDA MOORE

Gavin Wax, president of the New York Young Republican Club, speaks to members of the media during a rally outside the New York County Criminal Court in New York City on Monday, March 20, 2023.

On August 19, The Nation released my article to subscribers detailing some of what I saw during my 11 months undercover in far-right circles. By chance, the article’s publication coincided with the Young Republican National Convention in Dallas, Tex., an event I had long planned to cover. I knew that Gavin Wax, one of the figures mentioned in the piece, would also be there in his role as the president of the New York Young Republican Club.

During the convention, my investigation was only available to subscribers—it wasn’t pushed in front of the hard paywall until Tuesday, August 22, so I figured no one would read it at the Omni Dallas Hotel. After all, how many subscribers to The Nation could possibly be at a Young Republican event?

Read the Article that Enraged the Right

Undercover With the New Alt-Right

AMANDA MOORE

On Saturday morning, Wax greeted me with an over-the-top hello and a joke about the far right taking over. I had written about Wax twice before, and one of those times he worked to mass report both my Twitter account and my editor’s in retaliation for my coverage of him. I assumed his sarcastic acknowledgment was related to my prior work. By that night, things changed.

Saturday evening was the National Awards Gala. After the event, I ran into Wax in the hallway. The NYYRC and New York State Young Republican Club had won an award for outstanding recruitment, which Wax was holding. Wax and Chelsea Hall, the NYYRC’s communications director, announced that Wax had won an award, and told me I should write about that next time. Not realizing they had read the undercover piece, I was confused. I congratulated Wax on doing such a good job. “He did do a good job,” Hall yelled, and I promised to mention the award next time I wrote about him. (Promise kept.)

I made my way over to a group of Young Republicans who were aware that I was a journalist. NYYRC Vice President Nathan Berger walked up to us, and aggressively asked who I was and why I was there. At that moment, I couldn’t place his face, though I was pretty sure he was a member of NYYRC.

“Do you know Gavin Wax? I’m a journalist, and I write about him,” I said, then told Berger he looked familiar. He assured me that I didn’t. Someone asked what club he was from, and when he said New York, one gestured to me and said that he must know who I was.

Berger snapped that he did not know me, then immediately announced that I had just written a piece for The Nation, and everyone should read it.

“Sounds like you know who she is!” someone replied to Berger.

Uncomfortable with Berger’s temper and bizarre confrontation style, we made our way downstairs, where we ran into Wax and Hall. Wax began yelling at the person next to me, screaming that I was antifa and demanding to know why he was talking to me. This was a Young Republican event, he said, and I was not a Republican. “Did you know that she’s antifa?” he asked.

The YR being yelled at told Wax that he didn’t know who he was, but his angry, loud demeanor did not make him seem particularly credible. Wax announced that I was secretly recording everything everyone said to me, and it dawned on me that I probably should record this interaction. When I pulled out my phone, Hall pointed out what I was doing.

“Yeah, I know that she’s recording,” Wax replied. “And I love that you admitted that you committed multiple felonies in Florida.”

When I countered that the places were public—or at least not venues where you’d have an expectation of privacy—Wax smirked. “OK, you can argue that in court. I cannot wait for the arrest warrants.” He turned back to the YR who was talking to me. “But anyway! Good luck, she’s recording everything you’re doing, and have the best time here.”

While Wax was happy to cause a scene, most of the YRs just avoided me, though a few were willing to talk. Wax is brash and aggressive on Twitter, and he will leverage his followers against outspoken YRs whom he considers RINOs. At YRNC, that brutish, Trumpian approach to politics was not the norm. Multiple people who heard Wax confront me apologized for his behavior later.

As with the larger GOP, Donald Trump has divided the YRNF. On August 19, the YRs voted on their new national leadership. There were two coalitions to choose from: the more moderate Grow YR and Ascend, who largely represented the MAGA wing of the YRs. (A representative from Ascend told me the group does not want to make YRNF a MAGA populist organization, though nearly every person I talked to supporting Grow disagreed.)

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Grow’s candidate for national chair was Hayden Padgett of the Texas Young Republicans. In 2020, Padgett released a video saying that George Floyd was murdered and that Black lives matter. Padgett’s message in the 2020 video was not an endorsement of the Black Lives Matter protest movement but of the idea that everyone is created equally and in God’s image.

Some of his detractors spent a year and half using the video to discredit him, even buying the URL www.haydenpadgett.com and redirecting it to a clip of him acknowledging anti-Black racism.

But the campaign didn’t work, and Padgett won with overwhelming support, pulling in 575 votes to his opponent’s 127. As it turns out, the Trumpian wing of YRNF does not have the same pull within the organization that they have on social media.

Kari Lake was the keynote speaker for the awards gala, and there had been rumors of a walkout. And when she went up to speak, a few people did leave the room. Some YRs complained about her lies over the election. One person said they didn’t want to hear about Ukraine, saying that Ukrainian immigrants in their district were reliable Republican voters and that the US was right to defend the country’s sovereignty.

The last day of the convention, the Texas YRs de-federated the Dallas Young Republicans, removing the chapter from Texas Young Republican Federation and stripping them of the right to use the Texas Young Republican name. The Dallas YRs have a reputation for being “based,” which in this context means they embody some of the worst characteristics of Trumpian politics. The group’s chair, for instance, has an event next month featuring John Doyle, who planned a Stop the Steal rally with Nick Fuentes and is a proud Christian nationalist.

“The Dallas YRs were removed, because they have refused to engage with the parent organization for a very long time,” said Matt Wiltshire, the YRNF’s finance director. “They don’t talk to us or communicate. They have not cared about rules for years. They allow expelled Texas YRs to attend their events.” (Dallas YRs have since spent their time on Twitter, insisting they quit before they were voted out.)

The Texas YRs also voted to separate themselves from the Republican Party of Texas, due to their strained relationship with Matt Rinaldi, the Texas GOP chairman. In the lead-up to the election, Rinaldi refused to endorse Padgett, a fellow Texan who was almost unanimously supported by the Texas YRs, or even to remain uninvolved. Instead, Rinaldi endorsed Padgett’s more MAGA opponent, whose brand of Republicanism was more in line with his own.

“Rinaldi came to the convention not to spend time with the Texas YRs, but to go to the New York State Young Republican meeting,” Wiltshire explained. The meeting had “people who have been cruel to many members of our organization,” and Rinadli went “in order to disparage the Texas YRs and Hayden.”

Just before the cote, a representative from Ascend had told me, “Even though it’s the last thing we want, I assume there will be splinter organizations. This could be the last large YRNF convention ever.” This may already be playing out.

On Sunday, the Rockwall County YRs voted to leave the Texas Young Republican Federation, citing TYRF’s decision to end their partnership with the Republican Party of Texas. Like Dallas, Rockwall has a reputation for being a based club, one that is not in lockstep with TYRF’s leadership. In their release, they wrote that they “are proud to form a coalition with the Dallas Young Republicans.”

While the MAGA populists might often be the loudest voices from YRNF, they appear to be losing the internal struggle for power. Much like within the GOP, the rift over is likely to grow wider and deeper in the lead-up to the 2024 election.

Amanda Moore is a writer and researcher who focuses on far-right extremism.

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an 12 22

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia has found herself in yet another controversy — this time, for her comments at the New York Young Republicans Club’s 110th Annual Gala on Saturday, December 10. The far-right MAGA Republican, during her speech, drew applause when she told the crowd that if she and Steve Bannon had organized the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building, “we would have won” because “it would’ve been armed.”

Hannah Gais and Michael Edison Hayden of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) attended that event and described what they observed during an appearance on the Daily Beast’s “Fever Dreams” podcast. Members of the SPLC are likely to encounter hostility at a MAGA event, and Gais and Hayden told “Fever Dreams” host Will Sommer that while they were honest about who they were, they didn’t go out of their way to draw attention to it.

In addition to Greene, attendees at the event included Donald Trump, Jr. and former One America News(OAN) host Jack Posobiec(known for promoting the Pizzagate conspiracy theory). Hayden recalled that the SPLC members agreed “that we would not lie about who we were” but were careful what they said at their table “because that’s the kind of place where we could have gotten busted and thrown out very, very easily.”

“We kept our heads down there…. (and) just took photographs and things,” Hayden told Sommer. Hayden also said of the rhetoric at the event, “The guardrails are completely off.”

Describing the speeches, Hayden explained, “Every single thing referred to this war that they believe that they’re in. I have to repeatedly say thatwe are not in their war, they are at war with us. And I think it’s really important to understand that there are people in this country who get together and plot in private and give each other awards who believe that they’re at war with us. So, for that sense, I felt it was very important to document it and to inform the public that it’s happened.”

According to Hayden, him and Gais spent about four hours mingling with the guests and were “very well behaved.” But when they spoke toPosobiec, the Pizzagate conspiracy theorist “started to get agitated” and “started to call me a scumbag and a troll.” And Hayden recalls that when Vish Burra, secretary of the New York Young Republicans Club, “started to push me out,” he “agreed to leave.”

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MTG had to go harder rt (with young ppl?) b/c groyper spat?

an 12 22

Christian nationalist U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene‘s remarks at the New YorkYoung Republican Club’s Saturday night gala have elicited massive response – and condemnation – from many after she insisted had she been “in charge” of the January 6, 2021 insurrection the rioters “would’ve been armed” and they “would have won.”

“I want to tell you something, if Steve Bannon and I had organized that, we would have won. Not to mention, we would’ve been armed,” Greene, a Republican from Georgia, told the group (video below). Some of the rioters and attendees were armed.

In addition to Greene and Bannon, Donald Trump, Jr. and far-right agitator Jack Posobiec were also in attendance, as was disgraced former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani.

The Southern Poverty Law Center described the New York Young Republican Club’s gala attendees as a “collection of radical right figures including white nationalists and ultranationalist European leaders” and noted the “group’s president declared ‘total war’ on perceived enemies.”

Some are questioning how Greene can retain her congressional seat given the oath of office she swore to, which in part reads: “I, __, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

Former Democratic U.S. Senator from California Barbara Boxer tweeted: “If you’re in Congress and swore to protect the Constitution & you’re asked if you had anything to do with 1/6 insurrection, you say something like: I would NEVER partake in violence against America. You wouldn’t say something like: if I did it I would’ve been armed!”

U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX) quoting Greene, tweeted that winning is “overturning an election,” and “Being armed = using force to do it.”

Congresswoman Greene “represents today’s Republican party and defines a coup as ‘winning,'” she stressed.

“This is un-American and dangerous,” Escobar added. “And Republican silence is complicity.”

Veteran journalist and SiriusXM Progress host Michelangelo Signorile called Greene’s remarks, “Treason out loud.”

“Marjorie Taylor Greene tells extremist confab that if she organized Jan 6 ‘we would’ve won’ and ‘we would’ve been armed.’ Take it as a plan for the next assault on democracy, which Trump is right now inciting,” he warned.

Gun violence prevention activist Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action observed this is a “Member of Congress fantasizing about killing her colleagues.”

Former Obama White House Senior Advisor David Axelrod, now the director of the non-partisan University of Chicago Institute of Politics, quoted Greene and called her one of House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy’s “new top apparatchiks.”

Watch the video via Kyle Mazza below or at this link.

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https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/02/everyone-has-a-right-to-free-speech-even-milo/515565/

UC Campuses Support Free Speech. Trump is Wrong to Threaten UC Berkeley.

Posted on February 2, 2017 by Dennis SILVERMAN

UC Campuses Support Free Speech. Trump is Wrong to Threaten UC Berkeley.

Most, if not all, UC campuses have been afflicted with their Young Republicans provocatively inviting racist, misogynist, and anti-Muslim provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos to speak on their campuses, sometimes for a second time. Rightly, his talks invite counter-protesters, executing their right of free speech, just as Mr. Yiannopoulos does, but not in hateful ways against society. The University of California supports free speech, even when it is offensive, and writes to students and faculty about this, as do the separate Campus Chancellors. Yet the Young Republicans gain their desired outcomes when some radical protestors resort to violence and force the Campuses to cancel the talks, often just hours before the talks, and to insure the safety of all involved. It is not even clear whether the violent protesters are even students.

For the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, to threaten UC Berkeley with loss of Federal Funds because some demonstrators became violent, shows not only that he needed to be correctly briefed on what happened, but also shows that he has no knowledge yet of federal funding to higher education, but also of the administrative processes of funding, of the laws and contracts of federal funding, or of the Congressional approval required for funding.

Here is what Trump tweeted: “If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view – NO FEDERAL FUNDS?”

There are so many lines of counters that I want to make to this that I will just list them for now and save myself a lot of additional explaining, perhaps for later, unless today brings yet another crises.

First of all, the greatest attacker of free speech and freedom of the Press in this country is President Trump himself, often through tweets, and employing his loyal henchmen, called communicators, or press secretaries, or whatever, and all of these people are supported by, wait-for-it, FEDERAL FUNDS, that’s right, our federal taxes. Except of course, not by Trump himself, who brags about being so smart that hasn’t paid federal income taxes in 18 years. I guess this means that when he cuts off FEDERAL FUNDS he is dictatorially cutting off OUR federal funding, chosen through our Congressmen and administrative reviews, without consulting with us through an election or any other process.

In front pages, TV news shows, late night shows, and TV comedy shows for weeks, and throughout Trump’s campaign, he has attacked demonstrators exercising their free speech rights, and the press, and even has urged his supporters to attack demonstrators, which they have. If anybody has encouraged violence in this country to oppose free speech and a free press, it is Trump himself.

In a picture of the demonstrators at UC Berkeley, all are marching peacefully, except a handful at the front are in black and masked, and may have caused the problem. Just as Trump called off travel from seven countries because he had a paranoid fear of one violent actor, UC Berkeley called off the talk for public safety after some attacks on property, but not people, actually did break out. Again, UC Berkeley did not call off the talk because they feared free speech, even by the most vicious alt-right speaker that could be found.

UC Berkeley has the highest admission standards among UC campuses. The students who go there have to be the most dedicatedly studious, and smartest. They will contribute greatly to research, to California professionals in medicine, law, the sciences, our social efforts, engineering, our creative cyber and computer industries, and so on. We are very proud of them and their dedication to helping and advancing society. Trump owes them an apology if he thinks that they were responsible for the violence that called off the talk.

Speaking as a UC Irvine faculty member, we are also insulted by Trump’s assertion that the University itself, or its administrators, or its faculty interfered with the exercise of free speech. This blog would not exist without free speech. It is in the interests of free speech that I now have to daily counter Trump and his henchmen’s assaults on free speech, a free Press, and on the Constitution, which Trump swore on a stack of Bibles to uphold.

I understand that the Republican right wing and Fox News has an ongoing dodge that campuses do not employ or allow right wing teachers or speakers. I now can counter that our own Business School Professor, Peter Navarro, is now the head of Trump’s National Trade Council. While Trump and Navarro complain of foreign countries’ Currency manipulations, Navarro or Trump themselves, by a simple comment or tweet, have now been able to do that on a daily basis. So there, Fox News.

As Trump well knows, even the hint that he might cut off FEDERAL FUNDS to a University, even only in a tweet, will challenge the future of the University. There are also a thousand Universities left to threaten. Most of the FEDERAL FUNDS going to the University are in fact Pell Grants and other student support. This will immediately discourage undergraduates from applying there. Trump has therefore also threatened peer reviewed research funding, and graduate students will be afraid to go there to pursue their Ph. D.s there. The University would have trouble recruiting new faculty and keeping present faculty if their funding is threatened just because of where they go. There are ten UC campuses, many of which have had or had to call of Yiannopoulos’s talks, to whom this could also be applied. And, there are many Universities around the country who may be visited by this scourge. Is each University now to be at the hands of its Young Republicans, who can threaten to invite Yiannopoulos? Would they demand that the University hire right-wing faculty who the YRs have to approve of? Doesn’t that in itself violate free speech. I can see Universities all over the country now having to lawyer-up for this.

Young Republicans have often been the source of Republican Leaders. Why would they want to invite the most racist, misogynistic, and anti-Muslim speaker, under their sponsorship and pay, when Trump is trying to say that he and his followers are not those things, and responsible Republicans are denying them as well? Why would Trump want to back such a speaker, by threatening the FEDERAL FUNDS to one of the Nation’s greatest and most helpful Universities, especially to the economy, which Trump is pledged to advance?

I have saved the zinger for last. Milo Yiannopoulos is an editor for Breitbart News. Why would former Breitbart CEO Steve Bannon, now Trump’s Chief Strategist and member of the National Security Council, want to influence Trump to make such a strong defense of Yiannopoulos, such as to destroy America’s most prestigious public University? What happened to “Make America Great Again”. Trump has started an avalanche, which he would never stop, and which he might double down on, as usual.

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[edit] Notable CRs

Notable College Republicans have included prominent Republican strategist Lee Atwater, Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, North Carolina Congressman Patrick McHenry, conservative activist Morton Blackwell, lobbyist Jack Abramoff, former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore, McCain Campaign Manager Rick Davis, lobbyist and McCain advisor Charles R. Black, Jr., Texas Republican Party Chairman Emeritus Tom Pauken, New York political consultant Roger Stone and Canadian political consultant Joshua Workman. California Republican State Chairman Ron Nehring was President of the College Republicans at Stony Brook University. Former First Lady and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was elected president of her College Republican chapter at Wellesley College in her freshman year due before switching parties due to the war in Vietnam. President Calvin Coolidge is the only College Republican ever to be elected President of the United States. Karl Rove, a Senior Bush Advisor and currently a contributor on Fox News is probably one of the most famous College Republicans. [5]

Modern history

In 1967, Morton Blackwell, then a field representative for the CRNC to Kentucky, developed many of the principles now used by the College Republicans. As the college organizer supporting Louie Nunn's campaign for Governor of Kentucky, Blackwell organized approximately 5,000 college student volunteers who dropped 93,000 pieces of literature, posted 20,000 flyers, mailed 15,000 hand-addressed and signed postcards to friends of known student supporters of Nunn, and processed over 8,000 absentee ballots.[2] On election day, Nunn became the first Republican Governor of Kentucky. The New York Times and Louie Nunn himself credited the efforts of Blackwell's volunteers.

In 1970, the Young Republican National Federation was permanently spun off from the College Republicans in 1970 to prevent counter-productive infighting among the two groups.[2] In 1972 the Republican National Committee made the College Republican National Committee an auxiliary arm of the RNC.[2]

In 1973, Karl Rove ran for chair of the College Republicans. He challenged the front-runner’s delegates, throwing the national convention into disarray, after which both he and his opponent, Robert Edgeworth, claimed victory. The dispute was resolved when Rove was selected through the direct order of the chairman of the Republican National Committee, who at the time was George H W Bush.[7]

"College Republicans are a vital force in conservative politics. You are the vanguard of the Republican Party. I know that the strength of young people's support for our Party will ensure the continued success of Republican goals as you begin to assume leadership roles in the Party and in our Nation."

—Ronald Reagan to the College Republican National Committee, June 2, 1987[2]

By 1980, only 250 active College Republican chapters remained. By the US Presidential election in 1980, that number had increased to 1,000 active clubs, helping Reagan win 98 of 105 mock elections and recruiting thousands of voters. This success led to $290,000 in financial assistance from the RNC, mainly to implement Jack Abramoff's field representative program.[2] Abramoff's fund-raising efforts brought in an additional $1,160,000 during the next two years. By 1983, only 10% of the CRNC's budget came from the RNC.[2]

Prompted by the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, the CRNC officially left the control of the RNC by reforming as a 527 group, allowing it to operate independently and raise unlimited amount of money for issue-advocacy work. As a 527 group, the organization is prohibited from coordinating directly with a particular campaign and its recent focus has turned towards developing volunteers and other support activities rather than outright campaigning. The shift has allowed the CRNC to vastly expand its fundraising efforts. During its first two years, the CRNC raised $17.3 million, most going to pay fundraising costs and other administrative costs, while leaving more than $2 million to expand the field representative program and to improve pay for the full-time positions.[8]

The CRNC was criticized for its relationship with Response Dynamics, a Virginia-based direct mail company. [9] The relationship became an issue during the 2005 election for National Chairman, which was won by former CRNC Treasurer, Paul Gourley, whose signature was on the questionable fundraising letters.[10]

Morgan Wilkins, a CRNC field representative for election 2006 was placed on probation by the CRNC after suggesting several controversial events might be held on the University of Michigan -- Ann Arbor Campus, to that school's student newspaper, the Michigan Daily. The events included, "Catch an Illegal Immigrant Day" and "Fun with Guns Day," where students were to shoot cardboard cutouts of prominent Democrats.[11] This incident ultimately became a major news story on several national media outlets.[12][13] Several sources, including the Michigan Daily incorrectly identified Ms. Wilkins as an employee of the Republican National Committee, rather than the CRNC, eliciting an outcry from Democratic National Committee Chairman, Howard Dean.[14] In return, GOP Chairman Ken Mehlman condemned Wilkins' activities, as well as Governor Dean.[15] Keith Olbermann named Wilkins his "Worst Person in the World."[16] She was suspended for the incident, and later fired by the CRNC for later creating a Facebook group in which she promised to make out with individuals who signed up volunteers for get out the vote efforts.[17

Charles R. Black, Jr.

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This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2008)

(Find sources: Charles R. Black, Jr. – news, books, scholar)

Charles R. Black, Jr.

Born

United States

Occupation

Chief Presidential campaign adviser for Senator John McCain

Charles R. Black, Jr. (born 1947), is a former chief lobbyist for BKSH & Associates, a lobbying firm associated with Burson-Marsteller. Black also worked for Ronald Reagan's two Presidential campaigns in 1976 and 1980 and he was a senior political adviser to the 1992 re-election campaign of George H.W. Bush. He served as chief campaign adviser for Senator John McCain in the 2008 Presidential election.

Contents

[hide]

1 Education

2 Political career

3 Lobbying activity

4 References

5 External links

[edit] Education

Black earned a BA in Political Science from the University of Florida in 1969 and later a JD from American University's law school.

[edit] Political career

Black says that he fell in love in politics when he worked on the presidential campaign of Republican Barry Goldwater as a high school student in 1964.[1]

In 1972 he contended with Karl Rove for the leadership of the College Republicans, in a contest so heated that then Republican National Committee (RNC) head George H.W. Bush was forced to intervene.[2]

In the same year, he served as political director for the first senatorial campaign of Jesse Helms, during which he designed a strategy that labeled Helms’ Democratic opponent as too liberal for North Carolina, employing a slogan declaring Helms to be "One of Us."[3] In 1996, with Harvey Gantt running against Helms, Black told the New York Times that, at the beginning of the race, “everybody knew he was too conservative, he’d never run for office, and couldn’t win. But it was a good conservative cause, so I went down and worked on his campaign for the last six months. And lo and behold, we did win.”[1][4]

In 1975, Black co-founded the National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC) with Terry Dolan and Roger Stone.[1]

Black went on to work for a succession of Republican presidential campaigns from 1976 to 1992, including those of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. His first hire on the Reagan campaign was Lee Atwater, whom he met during the course of his work with the RNC in 1972. He re-emerged as an advisor to George W. Bush's campaigns in 2000 and 2004 and has been quoted in news stories as an unofficial White House spokesman.[citation needed]

A colleague of Black's, Republican media consultant Roger Ailes, attested to his reputation for toughness: "Charlie's the kind of guy who if he came home and found somebody making out with his wife on a rainy day, he'd break the guy's umbrella and ask him to leave, then have him killed a year later. Lee Atwater would blow the house up."[5]

On June 23, 2008 he said in a magazine interview that a terrorist attack on the United States would help his candidate, Senator John McCain.[6]

[edit] Lobbying activity

Black was a founding partner in lobbying powerhouse Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly, and its successor BKSH & Associates. During his time there, Black and his partners the firm did work acted as registered foreign agents for a number of controversial regimes and oppositional figures, including Jonas Savimbi, the Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, Nigerian General Ibrahim Babangida, Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the countries of Kenya and Equatorial Guinea, among others.[7]

According to Black, the United States State Department urged him to work with Seko in holding a democratic election. Mobutu cancelled the election results and Black's firm again terminated their relationship. [8]

Black has also been criticized for work he did for Jonas Savimbi of Angola, who paid his firm some $5 million to lobby to generate favorable U.S. media coverage and political support in Washington. In a 1990 interview, Black defended his work for Savimbi, saying, "Now when you're in a war, trying to manage a war, when the enemy ... is no more than a couple of hours away from you at any given time, you might not run your territory according to New Hampshire town meeting rules."[9]

Black and his firm were also early supporters of Iraqi politician Ahmed Chalabi as early as 1999,[3] and received $200,000 to $300,000 from the U.S. government to provide consulting services to Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress. Black proved highly useful to Chalabi, providing the Iraqi exile with access to high-powered officials in Washington. Black says the firm did "standard kinds of public relations and public affairs, setting up seminars, helping them get speeches covered by the press, press conferences" and says his company can take pride in what they accomplished: "The whole thing was very successful. The INC became not only well-known, but I think the message got out there strongly."[10]

[edit] References

^ a b c Pensito Review, 10 Thing to Know About Charlie Black

^ Muriel Kane, Blackwater PR firm aided Chalabi; Works to polish AT&T's image, The Raw Story October 23, 2007

^ a b Nikola Kozloff, Charlie Black's Play Book

^ Helms' "Hands" anti-affirmative action campaign ad on YouTube, item KIyewCdXMzk

^ Robin Toner, "Washington at Work; The New Spokesman for the Republicans: a Tough Player in a Rough Arena", New York Times July 31, 1990

^ The evolution of John McCain - Jun. 23, 2008

^ Shear, Michael D.; Birnbaum, Jeffrey H. (May 22, 2008). "McCain Adviser's Work As Lobbyist Criticized". The Washington Post: pp. A01. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/21/AR2008052103006.html. Retrieved 2008-08-08.

^ Marc Ambinder (May 17, 2008) - Charlie Black On His Lobbying Career

^ On the town with Jonas Savimbi - huge U.S. lobbying expenditures by Angola | Common Cause Magazine | Find Articles at BNET.com

^ Adam Roston, Chalabi's Lobby The Nation April 3 2008

[edit] External links

http://www.nndb.com/people/400/000130010/

Sourcewatch Wiki on Black

Bksh – ata – Timmons – ussen va – nam – engler

Charlie Black

Chairman

Mr. Black is Chairman of Prime Policy Group, and was the founder of the firm’s predecessor, BKSH & Associates Worldwide. Mr. Black is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading public affairs professionals.

He is best known as one of America’s foremost Republican political strategists. He served as senior advisor to Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush and was a principal public spokesman for President Bush in the 1992 presidential campaign. During 1990, Mr. Black served as chief spokesman for the Republican National Committee. He served on President George W. Bush’s 2000 and 2004 campaigns as a volunteer political advisor and surrogate spokesman. Most recently he served as the senior political advisor to Senator John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign.

An attorney with more than 30 years of experience in government, public affairs and politics, Mr. Black has managed the successful elections of more than ten members of the U.S. Senate and more than a dozen members of Congress. He served as political director of the Republican National Committee under Chairman Bill Brock.

Mr. Black acts as a principal legislative and public affairs advisor to several Fortune 500 companies and trade associations, while leading Prime Policy Group client teams in various public policy disciplines. He frequently appears as a guest on national network and cable television news shows to represent the Republican viewpoint.

Currently, Mr. Black serves on the boards of directors of the Fund for American Studies and the U.S. Air Force Academy Foundation.

A native of North Carolina, Mr. Black is a member of the North Carolina Bar. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Florida and a Juris Doctorate from The American University.

William E. Timmons, Jr.

Mr. Timmons joins Prime Policy Group from its predecessor firm Timmons and Company, a well-known and widely respected lobby firm founded in 1975. From 2000 through 2009 Mr. Timmons was an integral part of Timmons and Company, which is widely credited with pioneering the concept and industry standard for Washington DC lobbying and representation. He served initially as Director of Research and then as Vice President and a member of the corporate Board of Directors where he served as its Secretary. For 34 years Timmons and Company represented many blue ribbon organizations in their federal government relations activities.

Before joining Timmons and Company, Mr. Timmons served as Vice President for the State Affairs Company, a corporation focused on politics and public affairs in all fifty states. While at the State Affairs Company, he managed projects for over 30 separate clients including Fortune 100 corporations, trade associations and coalitions.

Previously, Mr. Timmons was Policy Director of the National Policy Forum, a public policy organization founded by then Chairman of the Republican National Committee Haley Barbour. In that capacity, he was responsible for legal, regulatory and government reform issues and several of his articles were published in the Forum’s journal, Common Sense.

Mr. Timmons also worked for the American Trucking Associations as a Congressional and Executive Branch Representative and as Special Assistant to the Vice President of Legislative Affairs.

He has worked for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Republican National Committee, two Members of Congress, and has participated in every Republican National Convention since 1984; including serving as a senior speechwriter at the last four Conventions.

Mr. Timmons received his B.A. in Broadcast Journalism from the University of South Carolina and his M.A. in Government from The American University. He resides in Washington D.C. with his wife Cheryl and daughter Grace.

Nixon Dirty Trickster on McCain Team

He Worked to Deport John Lennon

By Jon Wiener

The nation

September 15, 2008

Jon Wiener: Freedom of Information wish list: What did Treasury do with the TARP money? Who authorized torture? Plus, warrantless wiretap targets, FEMA's Katrina records and White House e-mail.

The man John McCain appointed to head his transition team, William E. Timmons, played a central role in the Nixon Administration's campaign to deport John Lennon in 1972.

Timmons is known today mostly as a lobbyist for the oil companies, but in 1972 he worked in the Nixon White House as Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs. Strom Thurmond, the segregationist senator from South Carolina, sent a letter to Timmons in February, 1972, as the Nixon White House was gearing up for the President's re-election campaign. The letter informed Timmons that Lennon and his friends were "strong advocates" of a program to "dump Nixon," and that Lennon was planning "to hold rock concerts in various primary election states." The purpose of the concerts was political: "to stimulate 18-year-old registration" and to urge people to demonstrate against Nixon at the Republican National Convention. Thurmond's memo to Timmons concluded, "if Lennon's visa is terminated it would be a strategy counter-measure."

At the time--spring of 1972--the war in Vietnam was going strong, Lennon was living in New York City and had become a prominent antiwar voice, singing Give Peace a Chance and Imagine at antiwar rallies and concerts.

Timmons wrote back to Thurmond a few weeks later. The "Dear Strom" letter reported that "the Immigration and Naturalization Service has served notice" on Lennon "that he is to leave this country no later than March 15." It was signed by Timmons "with warm regards."

The information Thurmond sent to Timmons was correct--it came from the staff of the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, of which Thurmond was a member. Lennon and his new friends Jerry Rubin and Rennie Davis, who four years earlier had organized the 1968 antiwar protests at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, were planning a concert tour to mobilize young people to vote in the upcoming election. Of course registering young people to vote was not a crime--but the Republicans were concerned about the "youth vote," since 1972 was going to be the first election in which 18-year-olds had the right to vote, and it was widely assumed young people were mostly antiwar and thus anti-Nixon.

Nixon's effort to deport Lennon never succeeded. In the end, Lennon stayed in the United States while Nixon left the White House, resigning in the Watergate affair. But Lennon did curtail his antiwar organizing during the 1972 campaign, on the advice of his immigration lawyer, Leon Wildes, who told him not to do anything to further antagonize the Nixon people.

Timmons left the White House shortly after Nixon's resignation and founded his own lobbying firm. In 2008 he was registered to represent the American Petroleum Institute, Visa USA, Anheuser-Busch and Freddie Mac. He's also worked with virtually every Republican presidential campaign, starting with Bob Dole.

McCain's selection of Timmons ties the candidate to Nixon's dirty tricks and enemies list. Nixon's campaign to deport John Lennon was an example of White House abuse of power--the use of the power of the president to punish those who criticized him or opposed his policies.

The Thurmond-Timmons documents were first published in Rolling Stone, July 31, 1975.

The story of Nixon's effort to deport Lennon was told in the 2006 documentary The US vs. John Lennon and in the book Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon FBI Files

William Timmons

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

William E. Timmons, Sr.

Born

1930

Chattanooga, Tennesse

Alma mater

Georgetown University

Occupation

Lobbyist

William E. Timmons (born 1930) is a United States lobbyist in Washington, D.C. who has worked for all of the Republican presidents of the United States since Richard Nixon, as well as Jimmy Carter. John McCain's presidential campaign asked Timmons to conduct a study in preparation for the presidential transition in case McCain won the election.[1]

Timmons is the Chairman Emeritus of lobbying firm Timmons and Company, which he founded in 1975 after leaving the administration of President Gerald Ford.[2]

Timmons served in the US Air Force during the Korean War, and was an aide to Senator Alexander Wiley, administrative assistant to Rep. Bill Brock, and the Assistant for Legislative Affairs to both Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. He held official commissions from Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Ronald Reagan.[3]

Contents

[hide]

1 Personal

2 Convention and campaign management

3 Serving the presidents

3.1 Richard Nixon

3.2 Gerald Ford

3.3 Jimmy Carter

3.4 Ronald Reagan

4 Lobbying

5 See also

6 References

7 External links

[edit] Personal

Timmons graduated from Georgetown University. He has three children and nine grandchildren. He is a 33rd degree Freemason, past officer of the Sons of the American Revolution, and is an active member of the Society of the Cincinnati and various state and county historical organizations. He has served on boards or advisory commissions for Georgetown University's Business School, the International College at the University of South Carolina, Parent's Council of Texas Christian University, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.[3]

[edit] Convention and campaign management

Timmons was the national convention manager for Nixon in 1968 and 1972, Ford in 1976, Reagan in 1980 and 1984. He also was a convention advisor to George H.W. Bush in 1988, and George W. Bush in 2000. Timmons was campaign manager for Rep. Bill Brock in 1962, 1964, and 1968. He received the National Young Republican of the Year award in 1965, and was head of congressional relations for the Nixon–Agnew campaign in 1968. In 1980 Timmons was the national political director for the Reagan–Bush campaign.[dubious – discuss]

As Republican National Committee manager, Timmons organized "with extraordinary precision" the 1972 convention to re-elect Nixon, marking a "sea change" in the design and execution of conventions as massive media events, according to Republican convention veteran Bill Greener; "Since then, the move toward planning conventions as TV events continues," he said.[4]

Career political consultant F. Clifton White said "Timmons had been one of the young recruits who worked with me on the Goldwater campaign, and he already signed up to work for Reagan as political director. I had a great deal of respect for him because he had beaten me in 1968 when I backed Reagan and he was Nixon’s floor manager. Timmons showed me what he was capable of doing that year, and I regarded him as one of the best convention men in the country".[5]

[edit] Serving the presidents

[edit] Richard Nixon

Timmons was the Assistant for Legislative Affairs for Richard Nixon during both of his terms.

The Chicago Tribune reported "In the opinion of several White House insiders, the youngest and least publicized of the President's top assistants is probably the one most responsible for Nixon's strategy, tactics and successes in dealing with a Democratic-controlled Congress. He is William Timmons, 39."[6] While attending a Washington party during the Nixon presidency, a hostess introduced Timmons as "the man who gets President Nixon's bills passed by Congress." Timmons smiled faintly and replied, "I'm glad I don't get paid on a commission basis."[7]

According to the writers of the 1982 publication "Who Runs Washington", Timmons was "a loyalist who did all an honest man could for Nixon".[8] Richard O. Jones, writing in 1999, commented that Nixon and Timmons were not very close and that, unlike his predecessor Harlow, Timmons did not "have the ear" of the President.[9] According to Rowland Evans Jr. and Robert D. Novak, neither Nixon nor John Mitchell had full confidence in Timmons' ability to handle Congress.[10] Therefore, in December 1970, Nixon, while praising Timmons in public, appointed Clark MacGregor to oversee Timmons and, more generally, all Congressional liaison, without informing Timmons beforehand.[10]

The Strom Thurmond memo of February 7, 1972, recommending deportation of John Lennon, was addressed to Timmons in his role as assistant to President Nixon.[11] The attached file from the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee associated Lennon with the Chicago Seven and noted that "This group has been strong advocates of the program to 'dump Nixon'."[11] Thurmond told Timmons that "many headaches would be avoided if appropriate action were taken."[12] Timmons responded to Thurmond on March 6, 1972, indicating that the Immigration and Naturalization Service had served a deportation notice on Lennon.[13] The Nixon administration's failed attempt to deport Lennon before the 1972 US presidential election campaign season[12][14] was illustrated by these memos, which were published in facsimile in 1975 and 2000.[11][15]

Nixon opposed interpreting Title IX as applying to sports, and Timmons supported him in this view, endorsing the weakest enforcement of Title IX, advising "[Let's] ban the babes!"[16]

During the Watergate Scandal, after the October 1973 "Saturday night massacre" in which Nixon fired attorney general Elliot Richardson and deputy attorney general William Ruckleshaus and ordered Robert Bork to remove special prosecutor Archibald Cox, Nixon asked Timmons to assess the reaction of Congress. After checking, Timmons wrote the first memo to Nixon assessing his likelihood of being impeached; he reported confidentially, "There is not sufficient support in the House to impeach the President, or in the Senate to convict him."[17] As Nixon was struggling to remain in office, in early 1974, Timmons advised him to take advantage of the budget process "when there is strong congressional interest in pork projects. These hometown goodies are most important to many.... This is not the time to save nickels and dimes!"[18] Timmons would eventually advise the president to resign. He believed "it was time for the President to pack it in" and that "a moment of principle had come that would let the President resign with honor-this decision would undermine all future Presidents’ authority and thus, in defense of future Presidents, Richard Nixon should, at this moment, resign. (After lunch, Timmons would speak to General Alexander Haig in San Clemente and ask that this advice be brought, in his name, immediately to the President.)"[19]

[edit] Gerald Ford

Timmons continued as Assistant for Legislative Affairs for the Ford administration after Nixon resigned.[20] Ford said "Timmons and I were ideologically in the same spectrum, and I liked him on a very personal basis, always trusted him. Bill’s a pro. He did a great job for Nixon, and under the toughest of circumstances." [17] Timmons, who had the biggest office suite in the West Wing (other than the president's offices), and his team were offered to stay on as long as they liked.[21]

In 1974 Ford's advisors thought that Ronald Reagan would never challenge Ford, and Timmons disagreed with them. During the last week of the congressional campaign in Los Angeles, Timmons arranged two secret meetings between Ford and Reagan, and the relationship between the two men became warmer. [22]

[edit] Jimmy Carter

On April 19, 1978, President Carter reappointed Timmons to the Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations.[23]

[edit] Ronald Reagan

Timmons was a key advisor to Reagan in his campaign against Carter for the 1980 presidential election. His major campaign theme was that Jimmy Carter was "dumb, dangerous, and deceptive," and he was one of two advisors who opposed Reagan engaging in a debate with Carter.[24]

Timmons handled congressional relations for the Reagan transition team. With James Baker, on the Legislative Strategy Group, he worked on lobbying for public and congressional support for the president's domestic and economic policies.[25]

In 1986 Reagan named Timmons to the US–Japan Advisory Commission. Both countries named members (roughly 12 in total) to study relationships between the two countries and make recommendations. The panel was nicknamed "Wise Men". The Wall Street Journal reported "Three years ago William Timmons was already one of the savviest, best-connected Republican lobbyists that American blue-chip companies could hire. Then President Regan made him a Wise Man."[26]

[edit] Lobbying

Main article: Timmons & Company

After Timmons left the Ford White House, he formed Timmons & Company in 1975.[27] Nicknamed the "Rain Maker" for his ability to influence on Capitol Hill, Timmons had clout.

According to a 1978 Time Magazine article, Timmons was among a small group of lobbyists leading opposition to a 1978 bill that would have required lobbyists "to reveal who pays them, who they represent, and what issues they have sought to shape." Time Magazine reported that the lobbyists were able to "kill" the bill, which stalled in Senator Abraham Ribicoff's Governmental Affairs Committee.[28]

In 1979, Chrysler Corporation hired lobbyist Tommy Boggs to influence Democrats, and Timmons, "a man skilled in gaining Republican sympathy for corporate causes," in their work to secure loan guarantees.[29]

According to United Nations reports, in early 1992 (just after the Gulf War) Timmons joined with entrepreneur Samir Vincent and public relations consultant John Venners in attempts to get a petroleum deal with Saddam Hussein in Iraq, which was under UN sanctions at the time.[30]

Timmons and seven employees of Timmons and Company were listed as lobbyists for Bristol-Myers Squibb with "revolving door" connections to government in 2001 by Public Citizen;[31] they listed the same eight in 2002 and 2003.[32]

In 2008, the Obama campaign, which itself had an umpaid advisor from Timmons & Co. (later hired as an employee),[33] referred to Timmons as "one of Washington’s most famous and powerful lobbyists" when Timmons was tapped for planning help by the McCain campaign.[34] Time Magazine reported that Timmons's lobbying registrations "include work on a number of issues that have become flashpoints in the presidential campaign. He has registered to work on bills that deal with the regulations of troubled mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, a bill to provide farm subsidies and bills that regulate domestic oil-drilling."[1]

[edit] See also

Lobbying in the United States

[edit] References

^ a b "McCain Taps Lobbyist for Transition - TIME". 2008-09-12. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1840722,00.html. Retrieved 2008-10-14.

^ Salant, Jonathan D; Timothy J. Burger (2008-09-23). "McCain Transition Head Lobbied for Freddie Mac Before Takeover". Bloomberg L.P.. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aQIOOr9klOnE&refer=home. Retrieved 2008-10-15.

^ a b Who's Who in America 1995, Volume 2, Marquis Who's Who publisher, 1994, New Providence, NJ. Page 3690.

^ Costas Panagopoulos (2007). Rewiring Politics. LSU Press. p. 6. ISBN 9780807132067. http://books.google.com/books?id=7DG8EbswxBoC&pg=PA6&dq=bill+timmons+convention+television&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES&ei=d11pSfaTFJeOkAS5pNB0.

^ F. Clifton Whiten with Jerome Tuccille (1994). Politics as a Noble Calling: The Memoirs of F. Clifton White. Jameson Books. p. 5. ISBN 9780915463640. http://books.google.com/books?id=b9SoAAAACAAJ&dq=intitle:%22Politics+as+a+Noble+Calling%22&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES&ei=NlKGSZu-H5LElQTWu93EBg.

^ William Edwards (1970). The Chicago Tribune.

^ Bill Connely (1973). Richmond Times Dispatch.

^ Michael Kilian and Arnold Sawislak (1982). Who Runs Washington. St. Martin's Press. p. 156. ISBN 9780312870249. http://books.google.com/books?id=Q1dlGwAACAAJ&dq=intitle:%22Who+Runs+Washington%22&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES&ei=YU2GSYjAJ4L4lQTguoGXBg.

^ Charles O. Jones (1999). Separate but Equal Branches: Congress and the Presidency. Chatham House Publishers, New York. p. 146–147. ISBN 1889119156.

^ a b Rowland Evans Jr., Robert D. Novak (1971). Nixon in the White House: The Frustration of Power. Random House, New York. p. 376–377. ISBN 0394462734.

^ a b c Jon Wiener (2000). Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon FBI Files. University of California Press. pp. 2–5, 34. ISBN 9780520222465. http://books.google.com/books?id=FPPj3e_cQIcC&pg=PA3&dq=%22William+Timmons%22+Lennon&ei=4u5iSevJPJqEkgTRzbmUBg#PPA5,M1. "...when Nixon was facing reelection, and when the 'clever Beatle' was living in New York and joining up with the antiwar movement. The Nixon administration learned that he and some radical friends were talking about organizing a national concert tour to coincide with the 1972 election campaign, a tour that would combine rock music and radical politics, during which Lennon would urge young people to register to vote, and vote against the war, which meant, of course, against Nixon. The administration learned about Lennon's idea from an unlikely source: Senator Strom Thurmond. Early in 1972 he sent a secret memo to John Mitchell and the White House [Timmons] reporting on Lennon's plans and suggesting that deportation 'would be a strategy counter-measure'."

^ a b Larry Kane (2005). Lennon Revealed. Running Press. p. 122. ISBN 9780762423644. http://books.google.com/books?id=wGBEpc7qCmwC&pg=PA122&dq=%22William+Timmons%22+Lennon+election+1972&ei=sGh5ScGzAZX8ygS3kO2oBg. "The assistant to the President [Timmons] wrote back in March and assured Senator Thurmond that the government had issued direct orders to rescind John's visa."

^ Andrew Gumbel (February 5, 2000). "The Ballard of John & (Yoko) J Edgar". The Independent (London). http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20000205/ai_n14287311. "The veteran South Carolina senator Strom Thurmond sent a confidential memo to the White House warning of Lennon's political leanings and adding: "If Lennon's visa is terminated it would be a strategy counter-measure." A few weeks later a reply came from William E Timmons, a presidential aide: "I thought you would be interested in learning that the Immigration and Naturalization Service has served notice on him that he is to leave this country no later than March 15.""

^ Leon Wildes (Spring 1998). "Not Just Any Immigration Case". Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. http://www.cardozo.yu.edu/life/spring1998/john.lennon/. "A memo dated February 4, 1972, was forwarded to former Attorney General John Mitchell and Bill Timmons of the White House by Sen. Strom Thurmond, describing Lennon as a threat to the US government and the reelection campaign of Richard Nixon because of Lennon's affiliations with members of the Radical Left, which was then trying to stimulate voter registration of 18-year-olds. The presidential election in 1972 was the first one in which 18-year-olds could vote, making 18- to 20-year-olds a very important constituency. I also uncovered a memo in which Marks is advised by Washington to deny all applications, to revoke the Lennons' voluntary departure privilege, and to schedule the deportation hearing for March 16, 1972--strong evidence of prejudgment of the case for political purposes."

^ Another copy of Thurmond's memo, addressed to attorney general John Mitchell, with handwritten note "I also sent Bill Timmons a copy of the memorandums", had been made public in 1975: Chet Flippo (July 31, 1975). "Lennon's Lawsuit: Memo from Thurmond". Rolling Stone (192): 16.

^ Dean J. Kotlowski (2001). Nixon's Civil Rights. Harvard University Press. p. 253. ISBN 9780674006232. http://books.google.com/books?id=MSR4Dp61XOoC&pg=PA253&dq=%22William+Timmons%22+President-Ford&as_brr=3&ei=KWt5SYf3HKSsyASZ8uznAg#PPA253,M1.

^ a b James M. Cannon (1998). Time and Chance: Gerald Ford's Appointment with History. University of Michigan Press. pp. 100,226. ISBN 9780472084821. http://books.google.com/books?id=iYOhN17-rDkC&pg=PA224&dq=bill-timmons&lr=&as_brr=3&as_pt=ALLTYPES&ei=SBh4SZalOYfEkATeo_zkBg#PPA226,M1.

^ John A. Farrell (2002). Tip O'Neill and the Democratic Century. Back Bay. p. 368. ISBN 9780316185707. http://books.google.com/books?id=48a3xetWaTEC&pg=PA368&dq=timmons+%22pork+projects%22&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES&ei=Sjx0SZCrFYbokATjtJWjDg.

^ Theodore H. White (1975). Breach of Faith: The Fall of Richard Nixon. Harvard University Press. p. 6.

^ Shirley Anne Warshaw (1996). Powersharing. SUNY Press. p. 137. ISBN 9780791428696. http://books.google.com/books?id=Oh_QnhG7q24C&pg=PA137&dq=%22William+Timmons%22+%22President+Ford%22&as_brr=3&ei=_m55SfKNO4LeyAS904jtBQ.

^ Robert T. Hartman (1980). Palace Politics: An Inside Account of the Ford Years. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 170, 209, 281. ISBN 9780070269514. http://books.google.com/books?id=cut4AAAAMAAJ&q=timmons++stay+intitle:%22Palace+Politics%22&dq=timmons++stay+intitle:%22Palace+Politics%22&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES&ei=906GSdeiNo_GlQTKkvC8Bg&pgis=1.

^ Rowland Evans and Robert Novak (1981). The Reagan Revolution: An Inside Look at the Transformation of the U. S. Government. Dutton. p. 44. ISBN 9780525189701. http://books.google.com/books?id=YKd4AAAAMAAJ&q=intitle:%22The+Reagan+Revolution%22+timmons&dq=intitle:%22The+Reagan+Revolution%22+timmons&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES&ei=IVWGScP2EojClQSD_IWFBg&pgis=1.

^ "Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations Appointment of Nine Members.". The American Presidency Project. April 19, 1978. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=30681.

^ Elizabeth Drew (1981). Portrait of an Election: The 1980 Presidential Campaign. Simon and Schuster. pp. 197 and 311. ISBN 9780671430344. http://books.google.com/books?id=HkqPAAAAIAAJ&q=timmons+dumb+dangerous+deceptive+inauthor:elizabeth+inauthor:drew&dq=timmons+dumb+dangerous+deceptive+inauthor:elizabeth+inauthor:drew&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES&ei=aqB-SdG3BoS6lATHzsjeBg&pgis=1.

^ Paul Kengor and Peter Schweizer (2005). The Reagan Presidency. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 159–160. ISBN 9780742534155. http://books.google.com/books?id=MlDV8NMjKuYC&pg=PA159&dq=timmons+reagan&lr=&as_brr=3&as_pt=ALLTYPES&ei=0GV5Sdv3GJm8zgS3qZy0Bg#PPA160,M1.

^ . Wall Street Journal. 1986. pp. 1.

^ Gordon Adams (1982). The Politics of Defense Contracting. Transaction Publishers. p. 146. ISBN 9780878710126. http://books.google.com/books?id=R5T1rEmAdvIC&pg=PA146&dq=%22William+Timmons%22+nixon&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=_PJiSZeGEILKlQTDt5yPCA#PPA146,M1.

^ "The Swarming Lobbyists", Time, August 7, 1978; reprinted in Byron W. Daynes and Raymond Tatalovich, ed (1980). Contemporary Readings in American Government. D. C. Heath. p. 120. ISBN 9780669011630. http://books.google.com/books?id=5y4eAAAAMAAJ&q=timmons+intitle:%22Readings+in+American+Government%22&dq=timmons+intitle:%22Readings+in+American+Government%22&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES&ei=QHyGSc2vLJeOkAS_h-HTDg&pgis=1. "But in these five instances, and others like them, the force that proved decisive in blocking passage this year arose out of a dramatic new development in Washington: the startling increase in the influence of special-interest lobbyists. ... The lobbyists have grown so able and strong that last week a mere handful of them was able to kill another bill, one of particular significance to them. It would have required the lobbyists to reveal who pays them, who they represent and what issues they have sought to shape. The bill, which finally passed the House in April, came up last week before Senator Abraham Ribicoff's Governmental Affairs Committee—and was promptly consigned to either imminent death or limbo by the lobbyists. Leading the assault against it were such diverse persuaders as William Timmons, the former Capitol Hill liaison man for the Nixon and Ford Administrations, Freelancers Maurice Rosenblatt and William Bonsib, and Diane Rennert of the Association of American Publishers. In a multiple assault, they first threw their weight behind a much milder version of the bill, which was substituted for Ribicoff's stiff version. Despite telephone calls from the President, even the soft bill was then stalled indefinitely in committee, since no sponsor was willing to lead a drive to get it approved by the full Senate. Declared triumphant Lobbyist Rennert: 'It's dead, dead, dead'."

^ Robert B. Reich and John D. Donahue (1985). New Deals: The Chrysler Revival and the American System. Times Books. pp. 113, 149. ISBN 9780812911800. http://books.google.com/books?id=VPq1AAAAIAAJ&q=tommy-boggs's+william-timmons+1979+bailout&dq=tommy-boggs's+william-timmons+1979+bailout&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES&ei=w5qCSbzWK4jClQSD_IWFBg&pgis=1.

^ Jeffrey A. Meyer and Mark G. Califano (2006). Good Intentions Corrupted: The Oil-for-Food Program and the Threat to the U.N.. PublicAffairs. ISBN 9781586484729. http://books.google.com/books?id=AYHoTJyVOcUC&pg=PA7&dq=%22William+Timmons%22+hussein+%22Samir+Vincent%22&ei=PBxcSauoDoX-kwTLlYlZ#PPA7,M1.

^ "Bristol-Myers Squibb Lobbyists in 2001, With Revolving Door Connections". Public Citizen. http://www.citizen.org/congress/reform/drug_patents/bmsg/articles.cfm?ID=6491. Retrieved 12 January 2008.

^ "The Other Drug War 2003: Drug Companies Deploy an Army of 675 Lobbyist to Protect Profits". Public Citizen. June 23, 2003. http://www.citizen.org/congress/reform/drug_industry/contribution/articles.cfm?ID=9922. Retrieved 15 January 2008.

^ http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/08/20/1278270.aspx?p=1

^ "Obama Press Call: Campaign Memo and Conference Call on a McCain Lobbyist-Run White House". Obama campaign memos. 2008Central.net. September 14, 2008. http://2008central.net/2008/09/14/obama-press-call-campaign-memo-and-conference-call-on-a-mccain-lobbyist-run-white-house/.

Board of Directors

Terry T. Campo, Esq.

Terry T. Campo is the Illinois Policy Institute Vice-Chairman of the Board and a partner in the Washington, DC-based law firm, Farrell & Campo, specializing in energy, environmental and transportation regulation. A native of Springfield , IL , Campo was a Republican candidate for Congress in the 20th District in IL in 1994 and

served as National Chairman of the Young Republicans from 1989 to 1991.

Following his term as Young Republican Chairman, Campo was the Treasurer for the youth division of the International Young Democrat(ic) Union, an organization founded by Margaret Thatcher, Helmut Kohl and George H.W. Bush to train young political leaders in Eastern Europe .

Mr. Campo held political posts in the Reagan Administration, where he served as the General Counsel and Director of Legislative Affairs for the independent federal agency, ACTION, and later as its White House Liaison and Representative to the President's Council on Private Sector Initiatives. Prior to becoming General Counsel of the independent agency, Campo also served as a political appointee as the Special Assistant and chief of staff for the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Energy, where he served as the principal counsel to the 1987 Energy Security Study.

From 1983 to 1985, Campo served as a Counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, where his principal client was Sen. Charles Grassley's (R-IA), and later as the General Counsel to its Subcommittee on Administrative Practice and Procedure.

Mr. Campo is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Springfield and Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago . He now resides in Arlington, VA.

fromDennis Delaney

todwdelaney@gmail.com

dateSat, Jan 31, 2009 at 5:20 PM

subjectcampo

mailed-bygmail.com

hide details Jan 31

Terry Campo, a lawyer and former chairman of the National Young Republicans organization,

See also "nick campo"

Kararo-Leonard Rosemarie Janet Leonard and Craig Kent Kararo, both of Springfield, were united in marriage at 3 p.m. Sept. 28. The Rev. Neal Dee performed the ceremony at the Vistation BVM Church in Illiopolis. The bridegroom's parents are Mr. and Mrs. Lee Kararo, 2101 Grant.

Serving as maid of honor was Judith A. Leonard, with Brenda J. Johnson, Launa K. Prior and Tamra Holland serving as bridesmaids. Flower girl was Anna Leonard.

Best man was Terry Campo , and serving as groomsmen were James Bechtel, Lewis Petzing and

Al Greco.

Ronald and Stephen Leonard served as ushers, with Christopher Cravens serving as ringbearer.

The reception was held at the Fiesta Hall after the ceremony in Illiopolis.

The bride, a graduate of St. John's Hospital School of Nursing, is employed in the orthopedic department at St. John's Hospital. The bridegroom, a graduate of Sangamon State University, is employed by the department of public aid.

The couple will reside in Springfield.

OBITUARIES

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Saturday, January 22, 2005

Dominic A. Campo

PLEASANT PLAINS - Dominic A. Campo, 82, of Pleasant Plains died Thursday, Jan. 20, 2005, at Memorial Medical Center.

He was born Jan. 17, 1923, in Springfield, the son of Carlo C. and Myrtle Beck Evans Campo.

Mr. Campo was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II and a retired cement contractor. He was a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars, Elks Club and Knights of Columbus.

Survivors: two sons, Carl (wife, Cynthia) Campo of Branson, Mo., and Terry Campo of Arlington, Va.; three sisters, Rose Saladino and Carrie Dinora,both of Springfield, and Mary Merritt of Kokomo, Ind.; brother, Frank Campo of Scottsdale, Ariz.; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.

Services: 1 p.m. Monday, Staab Funeral Home, the Rev. Richard Chiola officiating. Burial: Calvary Cemetery.

Self-appointed 'Obama Truth Squad' cranks up the rhetoric

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Thursday, August 26, 2004

GREG BLANKENSHIP, 36, executive director of the Illinois Policy Institute, a think tank Blankenship started when he moved back to his native Springfield in early 2002.

Van Winkle, a native of Little Rock, Ark., who now lives in Oak Park, also publishes a Web log at www.chicagoreport.net. He said he considers himself a "Republican, generally. I'm not what you would consider a conservative - more of a kind of moderate to libertarian Republican."

For example, he said, "I don't take a hard stand on abortion. I believe that there is kind of a compromise position and we need to have a dialogue about it."

He says he wouldn't vote for Obama but could vote for Keyes. He also could vote for the Libertarian Senate candidate, JERRY KOHN.

He said that without having a strong political agenda, he wanted to avoid letting Obama have a "free ride."

Blankenship agreed.

"The fawning media coverage over Obama, treating him like a rock star - it's kind of turned us off. We decided we'd examine his record if no one in the press would."

Blankenship said his institute has a board of directors and a fund-raiser, and he works with organizations around the country.

A Lanphier High grad, Blankenship has a political science degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has a master's in the same field from Loyola University in Chicago.

He's a cousin of TERRY CAMPO ,

a former Springfield lawyer who ran for the GOP nomination for the U.S. House in the old 20th Congressional District.

Blankenship worked for the Center for Security Policy, a think tank in Washington, D.C., and was in the Air National Guard for a decade, including six years in Illinois and four based in Baltimore. He worked for MCI as a government markets spokesman and for Winstar Communications.

Changes in the communications industry led to him doing free-lance work as of 2001.

On the Web site of the Richmond, Calif.-based State Policy Network, the Illinois group, which is a member, is described as "the only free market think tank" in Springfield.

"For me, it's a five- to 10-year commitment to build this organization," Blankenship said. "We're trying to bring some free market ideas to the state of Illinois that are being used in a lot of states around the country. I'm trying to promote things like health savings accounts and using market forces to deliver ... better government services in a more cost-efficient manner."

Health savings accounts allow tax-free placement of money into an account that builds like an individual retirement account if it is not used for health purposes.

He said his think tank stresses setting priorities and delivering services. "Privatization is not a bad word," said Blankenship, who also hosts a weekly conference call for "free market activists or conservative activists around the state." He said it's like meetings in Washington run by GROVER NORQUIST of Americans for Tax Reform.

He said his organization has raised about $40,000 this year. JOHN COX, who has run for U.S. Senate in Illinois, gave at least $2,000 to help with start-up costs, according to Blankenship. He said he doesn't plan on paying himself more than $3,000 per month until the organization is "rolling," and corporate sponsors also are being sought, with AT&T among contributors.

Blankenship said the truth squad is something he is doing personally, and it is not connected to the Illinois Policy Institute.

"In no way does AT&T condone, endorse or agree with the attacks being launched against Mr. Obama by this truth squad organization," said BRENDAN REILLY, vice president of public relations for the five-state AT&T region.

Anyway, the "truth squad" releases are generally short - almost one-liners - with a bit of backup. They are sometimes over the top, rhetorically.

"Barack Fact: Small businesses DO pay bribes," one says. The quote picked up on a statement from Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention that among the simple dreams of Americans are that "we can ... start our own business without paying a bribe."

The explanation of the "fact" is that Illinois has a high fee to form a type of small business, a limited-liability company.

Obama voted against the final version of a bill in 2003 - SB1903 - that increased the LLC fee from $400 to $500. Van Winkle said he wasn't linking Obama specifically to that fee, but wanted to show that he thinks Obama's rhetoric doesn't acknowledge the overtaxation of businesses.

Another "Barack Fact" is that "Obama drives up health insurance premiums: harms lower income employees." The backup here is that Obama campaigns that he worked in the legislature to "force insurance companies to cover mental illness and routine mammograms."

The "truth squad" report quotes "The Cost of Health Insurance Mandates," put out by the National Center of Policy Analysis, finding that a 1990 survey by economist OLIVIA MITCHELL found that "the cost of mandated benefits is usually borne by employees in the form of reduced wages, reduced work hours or loss of employment."

Still another "Barack Fact" is that "Obama voted against death sentences for gang members who kill first responders." Cited was HB1812, anti-gang legislation from 2001.

In response to such things, there is an Obama campaign-generated site called www.justthefactsaboutobama.com, featuring Obama positions. It lists, for example, bills that he supported to increase penalties for gang activities, and says of HB1812 that it was vetoed by then-Gov. GEORGE RYAN, who said at the time it "duplicates existing statutes, sweeps more broadly than is necessary and raises constitutional concerns."

Blankenship also said he doubts he ever would vote for Obama, and while he believes Keyes' views are more in line with the country (something others might question), "I don't think the Keyes style is necessarily the right style for Illinois."

ROBERT GIBBS, spokesman for Obama, noted that on the Obama Truth Squad Web site, buttons and T-shirts that say "Abort Obama" are for sale. Some items also say "Vote Kohn" and "Vote Keyes."

"I don't think that many people would believe that that's a genuine part of political discourse," Gibbs said. "The people of Illinois want their public officials to attack problems, not attack each other."

Blankenship said that Van Winkle was doing the marketing. He added that the "abort" line is merely a play on words - something to be expected in "today's discourse... Abort doesn't necessarily mean abortion."

Van Winkle said the slogan was his idea, but he regrets it, calling it "entirely inappropriate." He intended to remove it from the site some time ago and said he would do so "immediately."

He said he didn't know abortion would become a central theme of the U.S. Senate campaign, but Keyes has stressed it. And, Van Winkle added, while not a single item with the "abort Obama" slogan was sold, that's not the reason he's pulling the ads.

Reply Forward

Reply |Dennis Delaney

show details Mar 25

saladino and dinora have a brother, terry campo

(Jim Coffey – moore)

And see dale Patterson, tony campo, pete campo

TITLE: WEDDINGS

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Sunday, May 17, 1998

Ward-Oldridge Angela Helen Oldridge and Scot Alan Ward, both of Athens, were married at 5 p.m. Jan. 17 at West Side Christian Church by the Rev. Vaughn Beeman.

The bride is the daughter of Marie McGrew and Tom Oldridge, both of Springfield. The groom is the son of Marcia and Jim Cass and Niles and Wanda Ward, all of Springfield.

Serving as maid of honor was Cindy Wooden. Courtney Oldridge, Penny Sommer, Mandy Wooden, Heather Kadyk, Jenae Hampton, Jenny Minor, Amy Weder, Amy Drone and Kelly Holdman were bridesmaids. Flower girls were Mykensie Ward and Faydra Sommer.

Best man was Jeff Kadyk. Trevor Oldridge, Scott Cox, Dale Patterson , Tony Fodor, Don Strode, Brian Sommer, Jim Coffey, Tony Campo and Ed Kunz were groomsmen. Ringbearer was Pete Campo.

A reception was held at Sherman Activity Center.

The bride is a graduate of Lanphier High School. She is self-employed in the house cleaning business. The groom is also a graduate of Lanphier High School.

He is employed as a correctional officer in Logan County.

Steve Schmidt –

ROVE – COLL REPUBLICANS

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

For the football player, see Steve Schmidt (Canadian football).

Steve Schmidt (born 1970) is an American campaign strategist and public relations worker for the U.S. Republican Party. He specializes in political "message development and strategy".[1] Schmidt was the senior campaign strategist and advisor to the 2008 presidential campaign of Senator John McCain.[2]

Contents

[hide]

1 Early life and education

2 Career

2.1 Early campaigns

2.2 Washington, D.C.

2.3 California

2.4 2008 McCain presidential campaign

2.4.1 Press commentary

2.4.2 Stance on gay rights

2.5 Sarah Palin "catastrophic" comment

3 References

4 External links

[edit] Early life and education

Schmidt's father was a business executive with Verizon; his mother was a teacher.[3] He grew up in North Plainfield, New Jersey, and was an Eagle Scout, a tight end on the high school football team,[4] a two-year member of the National Honor Society, and senior class vice president. In 1988, he was one of two graduating seniors voted "most likely to succeed" by his classmates at North Plainfield High School.[5] He first handed out campaign materials for Democrat Bill Bradley's 1978 Senate campaign.[6]

Schmidt attended the University of Delaware from 1988 through the spring of 1993, majoring in political science.[3] He left three credits short of graduating because he couldn't pass a math course; Schmidt has said that he has been diagnosed with a learning disability that makes higher math difficult for him.[4] He joined the Delta Tau Delta fraternity,[5] was a member of the campus Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program, and did field work for Republican candidates in Delaware, sometimes wearing campaign buttons to class.[3]

[edit] Career

[edit] Early campaigns

In 1995, Steve Schmidt managed Will T. Scott's unsuccessful campaign for attorney general of Kentucky (Scott is now Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of Kentucky). This Kentucky campaign's advertising strategy was featured in the second edition of George Magazine, published by John F. Kennedy, Jr. Later, in 1998, Schmidt ran Tim Leslie's unsuccessful race for lieutenant governor of California.[7] That year he was also the Communications Director for the unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign of Matt Fong.[8] In 1999, he was the communications director for Lamar Alexander's presidential run, leaving in June when the campaign reduced its senior staff.[9]

[edit] Washington, D.C.

By late 2000, Schmidt was communications director of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.[10][11] In 2001, he was the spokesman of the National Republican Congressional Committee,[12] becoming the Communications Director by 2002. He left the NRCC in early 2003 to work for the lobbying firm Direct Impact Company.[13]

Schmidt joined the Bush administration as a Deputy Assistant to the President and Counselor to Vice President Dick Cheney. In 2004, he was a member of the senior strategic planning group, led by White House adviser Karl Rove, that ran President George W. Bush's re-election campaign; Schmidt oversaw the reelection "war room".[7] In 2005 and 2006, he was the White House strategist in charge of the U.S. Supreme Court nominations of Samuel A. Alito[14] and Chief Justice John Roberts.[7]

[edit] California

In 2006, Schmidt left the White House to become the campaign manager in the re-election campaign for California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.[14] From there, he became a partner in Mercury Public Affairs, part of Fleishman-Hillard International Communications, in charge of Mercury's operations in California.[15]

[edit] 2008 McCain presidential campaign

See also: John McCain presidential campaign, 2008

On July 2, 2008, Schmidt was appointed to head up day to day operations of the McCain campaign in response to concerns that the campaign lacked coordination and a clear message. Rick Davis retained the formal title of "campaign manager".[16][17]

[edit] Press commentary

The New York Times described Schmidt's management as having transformed the McCain campaign into an "an elbows-out, risk-taking, disciplined machine," crediting him with aggressive responses to press criticism and creative methods of manipulating the news cycle.[18]

Time's Michael Scherer, in an opinion piece from September 15, 2008 relating to Schmidt's involvement with John McCain's presidential campaign stated that Schmidt, the "lord of outrage, has a long and prosperous career ahead of him."[19]

[edit] Stance on gay rights

Schmidt voiced his support for gay rights at meeting of the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay Republican group. Schmidt, when referring to the group, said "I just wanted to take a second to come by and pay my respect and the campaign's respect to your organization and to your group. Your organization is an important one in the fabric of our party." [20]

Schmidt referred in positive terms to his lesbian sister and her life partner:

“

On a personal level, my sister and her partner are an important part of my life and our children's life. I admire your group and your organization and I encourage you to keep fighting for what you believe in because the day is going to come.[20]

”

[edit] Sarah Palin "catastrophic" comment

In a CNN interview with John King, when asked about the debut of Sarah Palin's upcoming book release, he stated

"... I think she has many talents ... but my honest view is that she would not be a winning candidate for the Republican Party in 2012 and, in fact, were she the nominee, we could have a catastrophic election result.[21]"

The comments have received considerable media coverage.

[edit] References

^ Chris Cillizza (December 20, 2006). "McCain Hires Another Bush Insider". Washington Post. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2006/12/mccain_hires_another_bushie.html.

^ Halloran, Liz (1 August 2008). "Republicans Press Celebrity Attack on Obama". US News and World Report. http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/campaign-2008/2008/08/01/republicans-press-celebrity-attack-on-obama.html. Retrieved 2008-08-08.

^ a b c Chris Barrish (September 15, 2008). "Another kingmaker has links to Delaware: McCain strategist was a student at UD". The News Journal. http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080915/NEWS02/809150337.

^ a b Lois Romano (August 21, 2008). "The Silver Bullet: Steve Schmidt Makes Sure His Candidate Knows Exactly What He Is Shooting For". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/20/AR2008082003960_pf.html.

^ a b "University of Delaware Delt plays pivotal role on McCain campaign staff". Home News Tribune and the Courier News. September 7, 2008. http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080907/NEWS/809070313/1098/POLITICS.

^ Marinucci, Carla (February 12, 2006). "Governor's team adds former Rove protege: Political 'artillery shell' joins re-election effort". San Francisco Chronicle.

^ a b c Dan Morain and Bob Drogin (October 6, 2008). "Steve Schmidt: The driving force behind John McCain". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-schmidt6-2008oct06,0,7177006,full.story.

^ Chris Cillizza (September 7, 2008). "Sunday Reading: Steve Schmidt Examined". Washington Post. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/09/sunday_reading_steve_schmidt_e.html.

^ David Firestone (June 4, 1999). "Alexander Cuts Staff And Travel". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D03E3DD1639F937A35755C0A96F958260.

^ "Steve Schmidt biography". July 4, 2008. http://rncnyc2004.blogspot.com/2008/07/steve-schmidt-biography.html. Retrieved 2008-10-08.

^ Steve Lilienthal (November 27, 2000). "Republican congressional exec quits for private work". PR Week USA. http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/113798/.

^ Philip Shenon (March 29, 2001). "While Senate Debates, It's Fund-Raising as Usual". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E07E5D9173FF93AA15750C0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all.

^ "National Republican Congressional Committee - People & Organizations: Party Lines". Campaigns & Elections magazine. May 2003. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2519/is_5_24/ai_102660514.

^ a b Marinucci, Carla (February 12, 2006). "Governor's team adds former Rove protege". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/02/12/BAGTNH78UU1.DTL.

^ Jonathan Martin and Mike Allen (July 3, 2008 url=http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=E5FAF286-3048-5C12-0066483BBF8FB520). "A dose of discipline for McCain's campaign". The Politico.

^ Dan Balz and Michael D. Shear (2008-07-02). ""McCain Puts New Strategist Atop Campaign"". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/02/AR2008070203038.html. Retrieved 2008-07-02.

^ Martin, Jonathan (2008-07-02). "Schmidt takes control of day-to-day operation". Politico.com. http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0708/Schmidt_takes_control_of_daytoday_operation.html. Retrieved 2008-09-07.

^ Rutenberg, Jim; Adam Nagourney (2008-09-06). "An Adviser Molds a Tighter, More Aggressive McCain Campaign". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/us/politics/07schmidt.html. Retrieved 2008-09-17.

^ Scherer, Michael (September 15, 2008). "McCain's Outraged and Outrageous Campaign". Time.com. http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1841131,00.html. Retrieved 2008-09-16.

^ a b Eleveld, Kerry (September 4, 2008). "McCain's Top Strategist Addresses Log Cabin Republicans". advocate.com. http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid60725.asp. Retrieved 2008-09-29.

^ http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/02/mccain-manager-predicts-palin-could-prove-catastrophic/

[edit] External links

Bio at Mercury Public Affairs

McCain Orders Shake-Up of His Campaign, New York Times, July 3, 2008

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Schmidt"

Steve Schmidt

Gender: Male

Other Muckety maps showing Steve Schmidt:

Dick Cheney in support of gay marriage

George W. Bush signs on with Speakers Bureau

Steve Schmidt personal relations:

Matthew S. David - protege

Danny Diaz - protege

Brian Jones - protege

Katie Levinson - protege

Kevin Madden - protege

Matthew McDonald - protege

Angela Schmidt - spouse

Other current Steve Schmidt relationships:

Mercury Public Affairs - partner

Steve Schmidt past relationships:

1998 Matt Fong Senate campaign - communications director

2000 Lamar Alexander presidential campaign - communications director

2004 George W. Bush presidential campaign - media strategist

2006 Arnold Schwarzenegger (CA) gubernatorial campaign - campaign manager

2008 John McCain presidential campaign - senior adviser

George W. Bush - deputy assistant to the president

Richard B. Cheney - counselor

Karl Rove's breakfast club - participant

National Republican Congressional Committee - communications director

Republican National Congressional Campaign Committee - spokesman

Steve Schmidt connections, once removed:

Steve Schmidt is connected to ...

Freedom's Watch >> through Matthew S. David >> Map it!

Republican National Committee >> through Danny Diaz >> Map it!

Thomas Doherty >> through Mercury Public Affairs >> Map it!

Kirill Goncharenko >> through Mercury Public Affairs >> Map it!

Brian Jones >> through Mercury Public Affairs >> Map it!

John Lonergan >> through Mercury Public Affairs >> Map it!

Kieran Mahoney >> through Mercury Public Affairs >> Map it!

Michael McKeon >> through Mercury Public Affairs >> Map it!

Adam Mendelsohn >> through Mercury Public Affairs >> Map it!

Terry Nelson >> through Mercury Public Affairs >> Map it!

Greg Strimple >> through Mercury Public Affairs >> Map it!

Fleishman-Hillard Inc. >> through Mercury Public Affairs >> Map it!

Food Allergy Project >> through Mercury Public Affairs >> Map it!

Heart Rhythm Society >> through Mercury Public Affairs >> Map it!

Imation Corporation >> through Mercury Public Affairs >> Map it!

InsCap Management LLC >> through Mercury Public Affairs >> Map it!

Land O'Lakes >> through Mercury Public Affairs >> Map it!

National Children's Museum >> through Mercury Public Affairs >> Map it!

RSM McGladrey, Inc. >> through Mercury Public Affairs >> Map it!

SBM Enterprises >> through Mercury Public Affairs >> Map it!

Other Muckety maps showing Karl Rove's breakfast club:

Karl Rove to be interviewed in U.S. attorney firings probe

Karl Rove's breakfast club past relationships:

Dan Bartlett - participant

Kenneth B. Mehlman - participant

Karl Rove - host

Steve Schmidt - participant

Nicolle Devenish Wallace - participant

Emil jones hired by mercury PR –

terry nelson and steve schmidt –

crosslink – omnicom – fleishman hilliard

BY RICH MILLER | THU - OCT - 08 - 09 | COMMENTS | RELATED : CAMPAIGN

* From a press release…

Mercury Public Affairs today announced that Emil Jones, Jr., former Illinois State Senate President and one of the state’s most influential political leaders, has joined the firm’s Chicago office. At Mercury, Jones joins a bi-partisan team of leading public affairs strategists who specialize in designing and executing winning public policy campaigns. [...]

Mercury Public Affairs is a premier, bi-partisan, full-service public affairs consultancy that counsels leading global Fortune 500 corporations, non-profit organizations, and trade and advocacy coalitions, offering a sophisticated suite of services that includes campaign management, strategic communications, grassroots outreach, litigation and crisis communications, advocacy advertising, and state and federal government affairs.

Crisis communications? Yeah, he’s good at that. “I’ve got to get me some food stamps,” Jones once cracked when some members of his chamber tried to block a pay raise.

Yep. Crisis communications.

More likely is that he’s now Mercury’s lobbyist in Springfield and DC.

* Go read Bernie’s column today for a few hardy chuckles. Springfield Ald. Frank Edwards has dropped out of the governor’s race. Yeah, he was actually running. We did a brief post on the campaign a few months ago.

Just about every sentence in Bernie’s piece made me laugh…

Edwards, who bought a used firetruck and embellished it with his “Had Enough?” slogan, says it’s been fun.

Just last weekend, he said, he had a great time cooking fish in Bond County. [...]

His campaign probably cost less than $10,000, he said, including $5,000 for the firetruck. Campaign signs are being removed from the truck, which could still be used for parades or to loan out to groups for events such as homecoming celebrations, Edwards said.

Edwards has been talked about in the past as a possible candidate for mayor. He said his future political moves are not yet decided.

“You never know what will happen,” Edwards said.

Never say “never,” Frank. For instance, when you decided to run for governor I and pretty much everyone else knew you wouldn’t make it. But, I’m glad you enjoyed cooking fish in Bond County. You’re the next Raymond Poe for sure.

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wordslinger Today 10:37 AM

Emil should at least be able to bring in some Exelon business to cover his nut. After that, it's gravy.

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Small_Town_Liberal Today 10:45 AM

I remember listening to Amanda Vinicky's NPR piece on the pay raise situation. Every lawmaker kept saying how the raises were a bad idea, then she played the clip of Jones saying "I need a payraise". I couldn't stop laughing.

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OriginalBill Today 10:56 AM

1 person liked this.

C'mon Emil! How much is enough?

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Rich Miller Today 10:56 AM in reply to OriginalBill

It's Amorica, baby. There's never enough.

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wordslinger Today 11:19 AM in reply to OriginalBill

Bill, I just noticed the picture you're using. Well-done and hilarious. Couldn't you find one with Todd, too?

By the way, why the "Original?" Is there another House of Pancakes on the blog I missed?

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OriginalBill Today 11:39 AM in reply to wordslinger

Thanks. I couldn't find one with the 3 all-stars together. Somebody grabbed "Bill" as soon as Rich put up the new site. I was thinking of "Shell Bill" but that was too close to the truth.

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louisgatsaves Today 11:14 AM

I saw one of his bumper stickers in Lake County last weekend. So THAT's who he was!

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Ghost Today 11:28 AM

So now Emil will be competing with Cobb for buisness.... i would pay big monmey to get a Cobb backed canidate on one side and an Emil backed entity on the other of a policy debate.

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0neMan Today 11:56 AM

I think a crisis communications firm of Emil, Bill Bevers and Bill Black would not only be bi-partisan but highly entertaining...

Who We Are

Mercury Public Affairs specializes in high-value public affairs at the intersection of business, government, politics, and media. Core capabilities include public affairs campaign management, grassroots coalition building and management, public opinion research, advocacy advertising, crisis management and political consulting. In addition, Mercury owns Crosslink Strategy Group, a leading national grassroots consultancy and manages IGR Group, a leading, national bi-partisan government relations firm.

Mercury's political division has been involved in winning national, international, state and local political campaigns. Our corporate division provides counsel to some of America's leading companies. Mercury and its operating units have offices in Washington, New York City, Albany, NY, Austin, TX, Sacramento, CA, Los Angeles, CA, St. Louis, MO and Minneapolis, MN.

Mercury Public Affairs is a part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC), a leading global advertising, marketing and corporate communications company.

Our Network

IGR Group (International Government Relations Group)

IGR Group is a national, bi-partisan government relations firm focused on delivering measurable business value at the intersection of government and business.

Our team of political experts, policy specialists, and skilled professionals have served as strategists, appointed officials and elected leaders at all levels of government, giving them unique insight into how leaders think and make critical decisions. IGR Group is backed by the network of Mercury Public Affairs. As the government relations and lobbying arm for the one of the nation’s leading public affairs firms, IGR Group adds significant weight to the public affairs and government relations services the Mercury Public Affairs network provides in capitals around the country.

*Crosslink Strategy Group

In order to encourage decision makers and elected officials to support and advance an issue, it is necessary to communicate public awareness and support. This allows an elected official to feel comfortable in being an advocate and provides political explanation and cover. We provide this service on a regular basis. We do this work through our sister organization - Crosslink Strategy Group.

We identify, recruit, educate and mobilize the appropriate forces in lawmakers' home states and districts - transforming those resources into persuasive communications. We have a strong presence across the country, featuring the most current and extensive national network of top-notch field operatives in the industry. With over 250 operatives in all 50 states, we can always tap the right people for any project.

Terry Nelson

Partner

Terry Nelson is a Partner of Mercury Public Affairs and runs our Washington, D.C. office.

Terry Nelson has consistently demonstrated high levels of success in both the strategic and tactical areas of campaigns. He has played a senior role in the last three elections and was named one of "Politics Fabulous Fifty" -- a listing of the fifty most influential political operatives in Washington. He is currently serving as a senior strategist for Senator John McCain's presidential election campaign.

This background provides him with a unique, effective approach to achieving goals, seizing opportunities and solving problems for his clients in the public policy arena.

Terry founded Crosslink Strategy Group in 2005. Crosslink provides winning public affairs strategies to its clients, focusing on grassroots activation, coalition development, and campaign management.

Prior to founding Crosslink, Terry served as the National Political Director for Bush-Cheney 2004 where he was responsible for the grassroots effort, turning out the vote, coalition outreach and paid voter contact mail and phones. This effort produced a historic increase in turnout for President Bush.

Prior to his role in the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign he was the Deputy Chief of Staff and Executive Director of Political Operations at the Republican National Committee (RNC). While there, he helped craft the historic takeover of the U.S. Senate and gains in the U.S. House in 2002 and was responsible for television, voter contact , mail and phones, and get-out-the-vote programs.

He also served as Political Director of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) in 2000. In this role he directed a $55 million political program to retain the Republican majority in the House when many political analysts and media pundits predicted a return to the minority.

Terry graduated from the University of Iowa. He lives in Falls Church, Virginia with his wife, Marcie, and their three children.

Steve Schmidt is a Partner of Mercury Public Affairs and leads the firm's operations in California.

Recognized as one of the top political strategists in the country, Mr. Schmidt provides high-level counsel to political candidates, elected officials, and major corporations and organizations, including Fortune 500 companies, Hollywood studios and professional sports teams. He most recently served as a Senior Advisor to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign. Prior to joining Mercury, Mr. Schmidt served as Campaign Manager for the re-election of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006. Before the Schwarzenegger campaign, Mr. Schmidt served as a member of the White House senior staff as Deputy Assistant to the President and Counselor to the Vice President. He was also one of the top strategists on President Bush's 2004 re-election and was a member of the senior strategic planning group that directed the campaign.

Full Bio

Stephen E. Schmidt

Partner

Steve Schmidt is a Partner of Mercury Public Affairs and leads the firm's operation in California.

Prior to joining Mercury, Mr. Schmidt served as Campaign Manager for the re-election of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006. Schwarzenegger's landslide victory was described by The New York Times as "particularly remarkable given that the Governor appeared to be all but finished just six months ago." The Los Angeles Times commended Mr. Schmidt as having "ran a nearly flawless campaign" and overseen a re-election that "ran against a political tide that swamped other Republicans across the nation."

Before the Schwarzenegger campaign, Mr. Schmidt served as a member of the White House senior staff as Deputy Assistant to the President and Counselor to the Vice President. In that position, Mr. Schmidt advised on a wide range of issues and worked at the intersection of public communications, policy development, legislative advocacy and political strategy.

During his tenure at the White House, Mr. Schmidt played a leading role in the confirmations of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. Mr. Schmidt directed strategic communications for the nomination of Chief Justice Roberts and led the nomination team for Justice Alito. Prior to Justice Alito's nomination, Mr. Schmidt served in Baghdad, where he performed a month-long assessment of media relations in the war zone at the behest of U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad.

Mr. Schmidt served as one of the top strategists on President Bush's 2004 re-election and was a member of the senior strategic planning group that directed the campaign. Mr. Schmidt was responsible for directing and implementing the campaign's daily tactical and strategic communications effort, overseeing rapid response, regional media, research, e-campaign, and television and radio operations. Mr. Schmidt served as a national spokesman in print, radio and television, appearing on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, as well as national networks and local affiliates across the country.

Prior to the President's re-election campaign, Mr. Schmidt worked on Capitol Hill as the Communications Director for the National Republican Congressional Committee where he served as chief communications and media strategist for the U.S. House of Representatives Republican majority during the historic 2002 midterm elections. Described as a "damage-control master", Mr. Schmidt has served on dozens of campaigns at the national, state and local levels

Terry Nelson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

For the football player, see Terry Nelson (American football). For the musician, see Terry Nelson (musician).

Terry A. Nelson is a consultant and Republican strategist in the United States. He was the political director of the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign. In early 2006, Nelson was hired as a "senior adviser" to Senator John McCain; in December 2006 McCain's presidential exploratory committee said that Nelson was McCain's pick to be his national campaign manager, should McCain choose to turn his exploring into a full-blown run for the White House.

Contents

[hide]

1 Personal

2 Politics and political campaigns

2.1 State and regional

2.2 National positions at NRCC

2.3 Presidential campaigns

3 Consulting

3.1 Dawson McCarthy Nelson Media

3.2 Crosslink Strategy Group and Mercury Public Affairs

3.3 Akerman Senterfitt

3.4 2006 Tennessee Senate election

4 References

5 External links

[edit] Personal

Nelson is a native of Marshalltown, Iowa. [1] He graduated in 1994 from the University of Iowa with a B.S. in Political Science.

Nelson, his wife Marci, and their three children live in Falls Church, Virginia.[2]

[edit] Politics and political campaigns

[edit] State and regional

Nelson managed the 1992 campaign of U.S. Representative Jim Nussle, two years before graduating from college,[3] and Nussle's 1994 campaign. From 1995 to 1996 he was a field representative for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). In 1997, he became the majority staff director of the Republican caucus in the Iowa state senate.

[edit] National positions at NRCC

In 2000, Nelson became the political director of the NRCC.[1][4]

From January 2002 [5] to July 2003, Nelson was deputy chief of staff of the Republican National Committee (RNC). In that position, he has been mentioned in two criminal cases:

Nelson was the superior of James Tobin, the New England political director for the RNC, who was convicted in late 2005 for his role in a scheme to jam phone lines in New Hampshire in November 2002 to block Democratic get-out-the-vote efforts. Nelson was on the government's witness list to testify at Tobin's trial, [6] but he was never called to testify at the trial.[7]

As of 2006, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and two others face criminal charges of violating a Texas law that prohibits the use of corporate money to fund candidates. The indictment charges they wrote a check to the RNC from a PAC controlled by DeLay and had the RNC send the same amount of money to the candidates, in order to get around that law. According to the indictment, the request and proposal to do this was made to Nelson in September 2002, and the check and list of candidates to be funded was given to Nelson two days later.[8]

[edit] Presidential campaigns

In July 2003, Nelson became the political director of the Bush-Cheney 2004 presidential campaign, a position he held for the next year and a half.

In early 2006, Nelson was hired as a "senior adviser" to John McCain's Straight Talk America political action committee[1]. In late 2005, Nelson had told the National Journal that he wouldn't make a decision about which Republican campaign to join until 2007 at the earliest, saying "I'm currently enjoying my private life and don't have immediate plans to change that." [9]

In December 2006, McCain's presidential exploratory committee said that Nelson was McCain's pick to be his national campaign manager, should McCain choose to turn his exploring into a full-blown run for the White House.[10]

On July 10, 2007, Nelson resigned as national campaign manager for Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign. [1] The sudden departure of both Nelson and longtime McCain adviser John Weaver came after months of increasing campaign problems. McCain, after first insisting that neither man had been fired, called their departure "a consensus decision." [11]

[edit] Consulting

[edit] Dawson McCarthy Nelson Media

In 2001, Nelson co-founded the Republican media shop Dawson McCarthy Nelson Media (DMNM), a communication and advertising firm that develops strategy, messages, and advertising for Republican candidates.[12] One of the firm's clients was Americans for Job Security (AJS), a Virginia-based group that the American Insurance Association helped launch. AJS takes out attack ads against liberal and moderate candidates nationwide without disclosing its political contributions or expenditures.[3]

[edit] Crosslink Strategy Group and Mercury Public Affairs

In 2005, Nelson and his partners at DMNM started another firm, Crosslink Strategy Group, to create grassroots campaigns for corporations and interest groups. The firm’s website says it can teach clients how to "increase your PAC fundraising" and ensure "compliance with campaign finance laws." One of the employees of the firm is Chris LaCivita, who helped design Swift Boat Veterans for Truth's anti-Kerry ads.[3]

Working Families for Wal-Mart, a group with significant funding from Wal-Mart, has employed the Crosslink firm. In April 2006, temporary workers hired by Crosslink were signing up shoppers to become members of the "Working Families" group, a campaign intended to eventually go nationwide. [13]

In May 2006, Crosslinks Strategy Group became an operating unit of Mercury Public Affairs, with Nelson becoming a partner[14] and running the firm's Washington, D.C. office.[15] The firm describes itself as "a full-service strategic communications firm" whose political division "has been involved in successful political campaigns in over thirty states". It is part of the Omnicom Group, a global advertising, marketing and corporate communications company.[16]

In October 2006, Wal-Mart publicly ended its contract with Crosslink Strategy, after significant controversy erupted regarding Nelson's involvement with an allegedly racist campaign ad mocking Democrat Harold Ford of Tennessee. [17]

[edit] Akerman Senterfitt

In March 2005, the Florida law firm Akerman Senterfitt announced that Nelson had been hired "as a consultant in the firm’s emerging Government Relations Practice".[18] As of September 2006, the firm's website (www.akerman.com) no longer listed him as a member of the firm. [19]

[edit] 2006 Tennessee Senate election

In September 2006, the Washington Post reported that the Republican National Committee had hired Nelson to run an ad campaign to attack Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate seats in the November general election, featuring negative information that researchers had or would dig up on Democrats.[20]

In October 2006, Nelson was revealed as the second producer, with lead producer Scott Howell, of the attack ad used against Democratic candidate Harold Ford Jr. in which a white woman said that she had met Ford at a Playboy party. The ad concluded with the woman speaking to the camera and saying with a wink, "Harold, call me." It was criticized as racist by the NAACP and others.[21]

Coverage of the controversy characterized Nelson's partner Howell as a "protegé" of Karl Rove. After Jesse Jackson and others called on Walmart to fire Nelson, Walmart asked for and received Nelson's resignation. [22]

[edit] References

^ a b c Chris Cillizza and Zachary A. Goldfarb, "McCain Camp Hires 'Best Bricklayer,'", Washington Post, March 19, 2006

^ "About Us", Crosslink Strategy Group, accessed September 11, 2006

^ a b c Andrew Wheat, "DeLay’s Beautiful Laundrette', October 21, 2005] Texas Observer

^ Iowa Caucuses 2008 - Leadership and Supporters, George Washington University Democracy in Action project, accessed September 11, 2006

^ "RNC Continues Grassroots and Outreach Efforts; Announces New Staff and Initiatives", Republican National Committee press release, January 17, 2002

^ "Witness List for the Prosecution from the Trial of James Tobin, 11-29-2005", document copy at TPMMuckracker.com

^ Paul Kiel, Terry Nelson got around", TPMMuckracker.com, March 20, 2006

^ "Indictment of Tom DeLay on Money Laundering Charges, 10-03-2005", document at TPMMuckraker.com

^ "Hotline Clip-N-Save: The Bush Team In '08...", National Journal, December 6, 2005

^ "McCain Picks Campaign Chief", ABC News (blog), December 7, 2006

^ "McCain Campaign Drops Top Aides; New Doubts Rise". New York Times. 2007-07-11. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/us/politics/11mccain.html?ex=1341806400&en=3ce688a3bc3f3938&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=print. Retrieved 2007-07-11.

^ "http://www.cfboard.state.mn.us/NewsRelease/pawlentyfindings.htm", State of Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, October 10, 2002

^ Marilyn Geewax, Shoppers Become Unwitting Warriors In PR Battle", Cox News Service, April 4, 2006

^ "Former Bush-Cheney Political Director Terry Nelson Joins Mercury Public Affairs as Washington, D.C., Partner", press release, May 4, 2006

^ "Terry Nelson, Partner", Mercury Public Affairs website, accessed September 11, 2006

^ "Who We Are", Mercury Public Affairs website, accessed September 11, 2006

^ New York Times, October 28, 2006, "Wal-Mart Dismisses Adviser Who Created G.O.P. Ad"

^ "Two Major Bush Cheney '04 Advisors Add Significant Presence to Akerman Senterfitt's Washington, D.C. Office: Mark Wallace and Terry Nelson To Strengthen Firm's Government Relations Practice", Akerman Senterfitt press release, March 7, 2005

^ Search of attorneys and consultants at Akerman Senterfitt, accessed September 11, 2006

^ Jim VandeHei and Chris Cillizza, "In a Pivotal Year, GOP Plans to Get Personal: Millions to Go to Digging Up Dirt on Democrats", Washington Post, September 10, 2006

^ "Rove Protégé Behind Racy Tennessee Ad", CBS News, October 26, 2006

^ "GOP consultant cuts ties with Wal-Mart", AP story, October 28, 2006

[edit] External links

Profile in Campaigns & Elections, June, 2002.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Nelson"

Terry Nelson Got Around

By Paul Kiel - March 20, 2006, 6:10PM

Below we noted that John McCain's new "senior aide" Terry Nelson played a central role in the money laundering scheme for which Tom DeLay is being prosecuted in Texas.

But 2002 was a busy year for Terry Nelson.

He was deputy chief of staff of the Republican National Committee, where in addition to being in a position to funnel money back to Texas congressional candidates, he was the superior of one James Tobin, the New England political director for the RNC. Tobin, you'll remember, was convicted late last year for his role in a scheme to jam the phone lines for Democratic get-out-the-vote efforts.

Maybe Nelson had nothing to do with it. But if he didn't, it makes you wonder why he was on the government's witness list to testify at Tobin's trial. He was never called, so it's not clear what he knows, but clearly he knows enough that the government thought he might be helpful for their case.

Wal-Mart Dismisses Adviser Who Created G.O.P. Ad

SAVE

By MICHAEL BARBARO

Published: October 28, 2006

After infuriating Canada’s ambassador to the United States and raising the ire of the N.A.A.C.P., a Republican television commercial mocking Representative Harold E. Ford Jr. of Tennessee has become a political liability for an unlikely third party: Wal-Mart Stores.

Skip to next paragraph

Multimedia

Under pressure from black leaders and union groups, Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer, said last night that it had cut ties with a prominent Republican strategist who helped create the provocative advertisement.

The strategist, Terry Nelson, was hired by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in 2005 to help burnish its image after a wave of attacks from organized labor and liberal groups.

After Mr. Nelson’s affiliation with the Republican commercial became public this week, the Rev. Jesse Jackson demanded that Wal-Mart fire Mr. Nelson and a union group threatened to run advertisements in Tennessee linking the retailer to it.

In the commercial, which was financed by the Republican National Committee, actors in mock interviews spoke sarcastically about Mr. Ford and his candidacy for the Senate seat in Tennessee.

In a scene that black leaders say has racist overtones, a white actress says she met Mr. Ford, who is black, at a “Playboy party.”

“Harold, call me,” she says coyly.

Canadian officials objected this week to a separate scene in which an actor says, “Canada can take care of North Korea. They’re not busy.”

The aside is a perceived slight to a country that has troops in Afghanistan as part of NATO forces, and on Wednesday, Michael Wilson, Canada’s ambassador to the United States, contacted the White House to complain.

A statement from the Rev. Jesse Jackson, distributed by the group WakeUpWal-Mart.com, which is backed by unions, said, “Wal-Mart has the responsibility to dismiss Terry Nelson, with explanation, and apologize to Harold Ford Jr. Even though the Republican Party pulled the ad, if you throw ink on a suit, you leave a stain. They threw ink on Harold Ford Jr., and many people believed it to be true, resulting in a negative impact.”

Wal-Mart said in a statement that Mr. Nelson’s Washington consulting firm, Crosslink Strategy Group, “sent a letter to Wal-Mart ending its working relationship with our company.”

“We believe this is the right course of action,” Wal-Mart said.

A person familiar with the letter said it made clear that the decision to end the relationship was based on requests from Wal-Mart. The person, not authorized to speak publicly, did so on condition of anonymity.

Mr. Nelson did not respond to several telephone and e-mail messages.

Wal-Mart’s relationship with Mr. Nelson threatened to set back the retailer’s extensive efforts to reach out to African-Americans, who account for a large number of its employees and customers.

Over the past year, H. Lee Scott Jr., the chief executive, has met with members of the Congressional Black Caucus and appeared on the Rev. Al Sharpton’s radio show.

The commercial has created a public relations problem for Republicans less than two weeks before Election Day.

Mr. Nelson has worked for various Republican leaders, including President Bush and Senator John McCain of Arizona.

As a founder of Crosslink Strategy Group, he also consults for corporations.

Mr. Nelson has helped recruit Wal-Mart’s suppliers to join an advocacy group that trumpets its accomplishments and has overseen a program to register Wal-Mart employees to vote in Nov. 7 elections in part as a reaction to Democratic attacks against the company.

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 26, 2006

Rove Protégé Behind Racy Tennessee Ad

Controversial RNC Ad Against Harold Ford Jr. Produced By Rove Consultant

By Sean Alfano

(CBS/AP) A protégé of White House political guru Karl Rove produced the controversial Republican National Committee ad targeting Tennessee Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Harold Ford Jr., that some have called racist, CBS News has learned.

The ad, in which a white woman with blonde hair and bare shoulders looks into the camera and whispers, "Harold, call me," and then winks, was produced by Scott Howell, the former political director for Rove's consulting firm in Texas.

The RNC ad doesn't mention that "Harold" is black, but the NAACP and others have complained the commercial makes an implicit appeal to deep-seated racial fears about black men and white women.

The race between Ford Jr. and Republican Bob Corker is among the most competitive and nasty U.S. Senate races in the nation. But it didn't just happen with a racially-charged ad from Republicans, reports CBS News national correspondent Byron Pitts.

The Democrats struck first weeks ago by playing the class card in an add which states that Corker's "personal income grew by 40 percent to $11 million."

Howell is no stranger to controversy. He was media consultant for Sen. Saxby Chambliss when his campaign ran an ad showing a picture of then-Democratic Sen. Max Cleland, who lost his legs in the Vietnam War, alongside Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.

He also produced an ad for Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn that accused Democrat Brad Carson of being soft on welfare while showing two black hands counting cash.

Howell also worked for Republican Jerry Kilgore in last year's Virginia gubernatorial race when Kilgore ran an ad saying that Gov. Tim Kaine wouldn't have used the death penalty against Hitler.

Race was always an element of the Tennessee contest as Ford seeks to become the first black man elected to the Senate from the South since Reconstruction. The issue slammed into the public consciousness this week with the latest ad.

"I've not met any observer who didn't immediately say, 'Oh my gosh!' It was a race card," said Vanderbilt University professor John Geer, an expert on political attack ads.

The goal of the ad is to persuade people who don't like Ford — and who might have been thinking about sitting at home this election — to vote, reports CBS News correspondent Gloria Borger.

The RNC has taken the ad off the air after a five-day run. However it was still appearing on at least one TV station in Chattanooga — WRCB-TV — as of Wednesday. The station was still airing the ad because it did not want to run the GOP's replacement commercial. The new ad says Ford "voted to recognize gay marriage" and "wants to give the abortion pill to our schoolchildren," reports the Nashville Tennessean.

Hilary Shelton, director of Washington bureau of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the ad plays off fears some people still have about interracial couples.

"In a Southern state like Tennessee, some stereotypes still exist," he said. "There's very clearly some racial subtext in an ad like that."

The RNC, which paid for the ad, denied that it had any racial subtext. Party chairman Ken Mehlman said it was produced by an independent organization, in accordance with campaign finance law, "without the knowledge, the participation, the advice, the approval or the involvement of either the national party or the campaign."

"We essentially write a check to an independent entity and they do what they want with it," Mehlman said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Independent expenditure groups, Borger explains, spend their own money at the end of a campaign and place these ads.

Mehlman's dismissal of claims the GOP is playing the race card comes as the party chairman pushes the candidacy of three black Republicans in contests farther north — gubernatorial candidates Kenneth Blackwell in Ohio and Lynn Swann in Pennsylvania, and Senate candidate Michael Steele in Maryland.

Mehlman also has made an effort in this election cycle to attract African-Americans to the GOP, speaking to various black groups around the country.

In the ad, the woman brags, "I met Harold at the Playboy party!" — an apparent reference to Ford's attendance at a Playboy Super Bowl party in Jacksonville, Fla., last year.

"I was there. I like football, and I like girls," Ford said Tuesday.

"When I saw it after it had been up, my reaction was not that I thought that this ad was racist," Mehlman said. But he added: "I have heard from people who I respect who raised concerns about it from that perspective."

Corker called the ad tacky and said it should be taken off the air.

Under the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act passed by Congress in 2002, political parties can pay for "independent expenditure" advertisements against opponents that do not count against legal spending limits on campaigns. But the party is not allowed to play any role in creating the ad or deciding how and when it will be used.

Democratic National Committee general counsel Joe Sandler said that Mehlman did have power to pull the ad from the airwaves, even if he had no control over the content, because the RNC is responsible for the advertisement.

"He could take it down with a phone call," Sandler said.

Ford has clashed with Republicans over ads earlier this year.

Ford has accused the RNC of using a "dark, shadowy figure" to represent him in a TV ad. He told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that the ad "injects a little race in this thing, the way they have me pictured."

He also suggested that the Tennessee Republican Party used a darkened black-and-white image of him on a fundraising letter. Ford is light-skinned.

An independent group briefly aired a radio ad that had the most explicit attack.

The ad, paid for a group identified as Tennesseans for Truth and aired on a small station near Nashville, criticized Ford's membership in the Congressional Black Caucus, which the ad said "represents the interests of black people above all others."

Both Republican and Democratic officials have said they did not know who was behind Tennesseans for Truth.

The RNC ad is "breaking new ground and, frankly, breaking new lows," Geer said. It makes the 1988 "Willie Horton" ad — a good example of using implicit racial messages — look tame by comparison, Geer said.

The "Willie Horton" ad aired during the presidential campaign and accused Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis of being soft on crime. The ad showed a photo of convicted criminal Willie Horton, a black man. George H.W. Bush defeated Dukakis.

Nelson - wilkinson

fromDennis Delaney

todwdelaney@gmail.com

dateSat, Apr 5, 2008 at 3:00 PM

subjectJIM WILKINSON - TERRY NELSON

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show details 4/5/08

CLIENT PROFILE: The NRCC does battle for the life of the party - With its slim majority threatened on the Hill, the National Republican Congressional Committee is shifting into high gear. Steve Lilienthal reports on the people behind the attacks

STEVE LILIENTHAL

October 16, 2000

The vitriolic tone that marked the impeachment process on Capitol Hill is alive and well. And the National Republican Congressional Committee's communications division, under the leadership of Jim Wilkinson, the alternately confident and self-effacing 30-year-old director of marketing and communications, has done its part to keep it that way. It is Wilkinson's mission to communicate the GOP message as his party fights to maintain its majority status.

Wilkinson, a Naval Reserve public affairs officer, does his job with such intensity, it sometimes sounds as if North Vietnam's Gen. Giap, not House Majority Leader Dick Armey, was his former boss.

'When fighting the opponent, it's about wearing them down. The objective is not to beat your opponent but to make your opponent quit,' says Wilkinson.

When he took over in January, the GOP's chances of holding its majority in the House were generally discounted. But by mid-October, conventional wisdom held that the Republicans at least had a fighting chance.

Undoubtedly, two Democratic House members crossing ranks to join the GOP and the surprise defeat of Democratic New York Rep. Michael Forbes by an unknown in the primary have helped to drive that perception. But Wilkinson and the NRCC gets some credit too.

Former US Rep. Bill Paxon, who chaired the NRCC when the party seized control of the House back from the Democrats in 1994, speaks highly of the plan that Wilkinson put together: 'It was the most impressive communications plan for a committee that I've ever seen.'

Wilkinson says the plan was distinguished by its objectives for both the department and its staff members. Speaking of his staff, Wilkinson says 'they have to understand how their small part of the mission fits into the larger one.'

The front lines

The division does the usual dissemination of information to the DC press corps and the political press in congressional districts, concentrating on those three dozen or so that the NRCC considers crucial to determining control.

But Wilkinson is determined to beat the Democrats - and his nemesis, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) - to the punch.

'Wilkinson's team monitors what's said in the districts and figures out what needs to be seen and how it accrues to the benefit of the campaign in DC,' Paxon says. 'They also watch what the Democrats are doing and how they need to translate it to the district.' News analyst John Holly regularly monitors the news in key campaigns so he can report about it before the daily morning staff meeting.

Wilkinson handles some press calls, but press secretary Marit Babin estimates she spends three-quarters of her time on the phone talking to reporters both in DC and the congressional districts.

Other key team members include policy analyst Brad Bennett, who communicates the latest line on issues and how candidates should handle them. Carl Forti books GOP legislators on talk radio and updates the Web site. Recently his time has been spent serving as the liaison between NRCC researchers and media producers.

The attention paid to individual districts is important because the NRCC does not see this as a year in which there is a 'nationalization' of issues as in 1994. Each race is a contest unto itself, with its own set of issues.

Repairing internal rifts

There were two areas Wilkinson thought were important when he joined the NRCC after running the 'War Room' as Armey's press secretary during the 1999 budget negotiations: morale and internal communications.

Wilkinson takes pride in following the lead set forth by another newcomer, NRCC executive director Dan Matoon, in fostering a cooperative spirit.

He cites Eisenhower's leadership during World War II as a model, based on the former president's ability to get 'type A' personalities, such as General Patton and British Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery, to work together.

Wilkinson says the communications division and the political division 'did not speak to each other' outside formal meetings. 'It was like the Italians and Germans in World War II - allies but non-communicative.' So Wilkinson forged a closer working relationship with Terry Nelson, the NRCC's political director.

'I see our role as selling success and Terry Nelson is the one who creates that success,' says Wilkinson. 'I went to Terry Nelson, closed the door and said, 'Let's start over and build up.''

Now he and Nelson meet three or four times a week and have a regular morning briefing of through the political division to learn the latest goings on in campaigns.

Thus, NRCC political aide Dan Flynn came to Wilkinson when he wanted to draw attention to the 'desperation' in Democratic tactics. Wilkinson aide Tracy Young came up with the title for a series of e-mails called 'Desperate Democrats Do Desperate Things.'

The communications director e-mails these messages not just to the press but also to key Democrats and allies on K Street. So when the DCCC criticized former New Jersey Rep. Dick Zimmer for his record on breast cancer research, the NRCC took off. Zimmer's three sisters all had breast cancer and the DCCC singled out votes that were either procedural or involved larger issues, according to The Newark Star-Ledger.

The NRCC made sure the e-mail missive was sent out on a Sunday night announcing 'the desperate Dems are at it again' and including the Star-Ledger article in which Zimmer called the mailer 'A cheap shot.' The e-mail also recited past DCCC blunders in the district.

'We wanted Democrats to wake every day and get a reason why they would lose. Through the history of warfare, people under pressure are more likely to make bad decisions,' Wilkinson says.

Wilkinson's visualizations of demoralized Democratic Party officials and lobbyists may be driving himself and his division forward. He sees the angry e-mails he has received as proof that his missives are taking their toll. But whether the NRCC's work is breaking the Democratic will to fight is debatable.

Democratic fund-raiser Mike Fraioli says, 'I think they're wasting their time. I can't imagine what it is that they would possibly be sending that would change people's minds. I'd say the same thing if the Democrats were doing it.'

Roll Call political columnist Dr. Stuart Rothenberg says both the NRCC and its rival can be 'so intent on getting the message out that they both sound dopey at times.' Rothenberg insists the K Street crowd is smart enough to separate the spin from the realpolitik. Washington Post national political reporter Mike Allen does credit the NRCC with trying to be straight-shooters. 'Even if a story is not what they might dream of, they give you the facts that you need and don't dodge anything.'

Despite his warlike tactics, Wilkinson becomes guarded when it comes to predicting the results of the election this fall. 'If we lose, it won't be because we didn't get our message out,' he insists.

NRCC

PR staff: Director of marketing and comms, Jim Wilkinson; assistant to the director of marketing and comms, Tracy Young; deputy director of comms, Carl Forti; press secretary, Marit Babin; assistant to the press secretary, Lori Martin; policy analyst, Brad Bennett; videographer, Kevin Barbour; director of news analysis, Josh Holly; comms staff assistant, Ryika Hooshangi Comms division budget: over dollars 1 million

fromDennis Delaney

todwdelaney@gmail.com

dateMon, Feb 5, 2007 at 12:35 PM

subjectmccain hires swiftboaters - kent on il finance

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hide details 2/5/07

terry nelson – swift boats

February 4, 2007

McCain's Advisers Once Made Ads That Drew His Ire

By JIM RUTENBERG

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 — Senator John McCain , intent on succeeding where his freewheeling presidential campaign of 2000 failed, is assembling a team of political bruisers for 2008. And it includes advisers who once sought to skewer him and whose work he has criticized as stepping over the line in the past.

In 2000, Mr. McCain, Republican of Arizona, said the advertisements run against him by George W. Bush, then the governor of Texas, distorted his record. But he has hired three members of the team that made those commercials — Mark McKinnon, Russell Schriefer and Stuart Stevens — to work on his presidential campaign.

In 2004, Mr. McCain said the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth advertisement asserting that Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts had not properly earned his medals from the Vietnam War was "dishonest and dishonorable." Nonetheless, he has hired the firm that made the spots, Stevens Reed Curcio & Potholm, which worked on his 2000 campaign, to work for him again this year.

In October, Mr. McCain's top adviser expressed public displeasure with an advertisement against former Representative Harold E. Ford Jr., Democrat of Tennessee, that some saw as having racist overtones for suggesting a flirtation between Mr. Ford, who is black, and a young, bare-shouldered white woman, played by a blond actress.

The Republican committee that sponsored the spot had as its leader Terry Nelson, a former Bush campaign strategist whom Mr. McCain hired as an adviser last spring. In December, just weeks after the Ford controversy broke, Mr. McCain elevated Mr. Nelson to the position of national campaign manager.

Taken together, the moves provide the strongest indication yet that Mr. McCain intends to run a far tougher campaign than the one he ran in the 2000 primary. And they come as he transitions from being a onetime maverick to a candidate seeking to gather his party around him and create an air of inevitability about his prospects for winning nomination.

As Mr. McCain assembles his team, he is also making it that much harder for his Republican challengers by scooping up a significant circle of the party's top talent.

In recent years, Mr. McCain has made a concerted effort to mend fences with Mr. Bush and reassure the Republican base that he is a reliable conservative. But his moves have focused new attention on the extent to which he may risk sacrificing the image he has long cultivated of being his own man, driven by principle rather than partisan politics.

Mr. McCain's advisers said he was not changing. But they were unapologetic about putting together a group dedicated to doing what it takes to reach the White House and employing lessons from his defeat at the hands of Mr. Bush in 2000.

"This is about winning at the end of the day," said John Weaver, Mr. McCain's longtime senior strategist. "I don't want to be in a knife fight ever again, but if I am, we're going to win it."

Mr. McCain's representatives said he would not provide an interview.

Seven years ago, Mr. McCain charmed the news media and the public with his Straight Talk Express bus tour. He had a lean operation befitting an upstart candidacy, and he regularly spoke out against attack advertising, a quaint notion in retrospect.

In the end, he ran his share of confrontational advertisements, once even leveling the ultimate Republican-to-Republican insult: that Mr. Bush was as dishonest as Bill Clinton. But he was perceived as having been knocked back on his heels by the rougher, tougher Bush campaign.

Now Mr. McCain is building a larger organization, bringing together the heart of the bare-knuckled Bush crew once overseen by Karl Rove while keeping most of the advisers who ran his shoestring effort of 2000.

"It's like an all-star World Wrestling Federation cage match, except that instead of fighting one another, all of the brawlers are on the same team," said Steve McMahon, a strategist for the Democratic National Committee. "There are very few people who play this game at the highest level, and on the Republican side these guys are among the best."

Mr. McCain has also hired Brian Jones, an adviser to Mr. Bush's 2004 campaign; Fred Davis, a media consultant for Mr. Bush in 2004; and Steve Schmidt, who oversaw Mr. Bush's 2004 war room, exploiting any tidbit that could help paint Mr. Kerry as a "flip-flopper."

The hires are another signal that the 2008 primary campaign could be a combative one all around.

On the Democratic side, John Edwards , the former senator from North Carolina, has wasted no time attacking Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's position on Iraq. And Mrs. Clinton's team includes strategists who invented the concept of the modern campaign war room for her husband 15 years ago. But Senator Barack Obama of Illinois drew cheers at a party gathering on Friday when he warned his fellow candidates against attacking one another.

Mitt Romney, a Republican and the former governor of Massachusetts, has hired Alex Castellanos, a onetime Bush strategist who also famously produced the 1990 commercial for Jesse Helms, the former North Carolina senator, in which a pair of white hands crumpled a rejection letter as a narrator said, "You needed that job and you were the best qualified, but it had to go to a minority because of a racial quota."

Given Mr. McCain's history with some of the people on his team, the evolution of his staff may present an early challenge: How does he stay true to the "Straight Talk" spirit of his 2000 campaign, which helped him win the stature he has now, while also engaging in the political brinkmanship it can take to win?

The Democratic National Committee is already criticizing Mr. McCain for his hires, issuing a statement this week calling them "a testament to how far he's gone down the do-anything-to-win path."

Tony Fabrizio, a Republican pollster who is not yet allied with a candidate, said Mr. McCain was running the risk of looking "politically expedient" and of blunting his brand as "Senator Straight Talk." He said the risk was highlighted by Mr. McCain's recent suggestions that he may not use the campaign finance system he has long championed.

In 2000, Mr. McCain received money from the system, which gives public financing to candidates who agree to strict spending limits. Mr. Weaver, the senior strategist, said Mr. McCain was keeping his options open because others, including Mrs. Clinton, were planning to work around the system.

As Mr. McCain's aides often point out, for all its appeal, the McCain 2000 campaign was a losing one. And they said it would be unfair to suggest that because Mr. McCain was augmenting his team he was somehow preparing to change who he was.

"There are no negotiations regarding his principles," Mr. Weaver said.

In an interview on Friday, Mr. Jones, the campaign communications director, said Mr. McCain was not allowing his distaste over the Swift Boat commercials to interfere with his relationship with Stevens Reed Curcio & Potholm, with whom Mr. McCain has his own decade-long association. In addition, he said, Mr. McCain hired Mr. Nelson because of his breadth of experience in national campaigns. "The campaign," Mr. Jones said, "is not going to let past contests on the battlefield limit how it's going to go after talent."

Presidential politics are rich in fungible allegiances. James A. Baker III ran the primary campaigns of Gerald Ford and the elder George Bush against Ronald Reagan, only to become Mr. Reagan's chief of staff. This year, David Axelrod is serving as a senior strategist for Mr. Obama; he was a senior strategist to Mr. Edwards in his 2004 campaign.

"You could dissect any campaign this way: this guy did this ad this one time," said Mr. Schriefer, the former Bush media strategist, who will run Mr. McCain's advertising team. "There's a tremendous history of foes becoming allies."

Mr. McKinnon, who led Mr. Bush's advertising group in 2004, said he saw no inconsistency in working for Mr. McCain. Mr. Bush was right for 2000, he said, and Mr. McCain is right for 2008. "At the end of the day, the campaign will be won or lost on the character of the candidate and his or her core message," Mr. McKinnon said. "Of course, I believe that will be John McCain."

Asked if the senator would avoid the attacks he criticized in 2000, Mr. Jones said that while Mr. McCain had yet to declare his candidacy, any campaign he ran would be "consistent with his beliefs and values."

By admin - Posted on March 8th, 2005

Tagged: Republican Party

Two Major Bush-Cheney '04 Advisors Add Significant Presence to Akerman Senterfitt's Washington, D.C. Office

Mark Wallace and Terry Nelson to Strengthen Firm's Government

Relations Practice

WASHINGTON, March 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Mark Wallace, National Deputy Campaign Manager of the Bush-Cheney '04 Presidential Campaign

, and Terry Nelson, the campaign's National Political Director,

both have joined the Akerman Senterfitt law firm's Washington, D.C. office, underscoring the firm's stated goal of becoming the full-service law firm of choice for its Florida and national clients. Wallace, who focuses his practice on federal and state government relations and legislative affairs, defending civil and criminal investigations, and commercial litigation, will serve as Of Counsel while Nelson, regarded as one of the top political advisors in the Republican Party, will join as a consultant in the firm's emerging Government Relations Practice."Mark and Terry's arrival adds significantly to our Washington presence," said J. Thomas Cardwell, Chairman of Akerman Senterfitt. "Mark is a highly skilled attorney who has developed strong government experience and Bush administration relationships.

During Terry's career, he has earned a number of senior level roles in Republican politics throughout the country. Their outstanding credentials put Akerman Senterfitt in a unique position to serve the specific needs of our national as well as our Florida clients."

As the Bush-Cheney '04 Deputy Campaign Manager and in addition to his day- to-day responsibilities in the management of the national campaign,

Wallace was the campaign's lead liaison to the Republican National Convention in New York City. He further served as the campaign's representative on the Bush- Cheney '04 Debate Negotiations Team, and at each of the three Presidential and one Vice-Presidential debates. Wallace also oversaw and managed the extensive team of lawyers representing Bush-Cheney '04 nationwide in the run-up and including Election Day. Also, he was an advisor to the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign in Florida and served on Florida Governor Jeb Bush's 1994 campaign, and as an advisor to his 1998 and 2002 campaigns.

Wallace's Bush administration experience includes serving as the United States

Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) first Principal Legal

Advisor to the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and as the first Principal Legal Advisor to the Bureau of Immigration and Citizenship Services. Prior to his service with DHS, Mark was the General Counsel of the Immigration and Naturalization

Service as it transitioned into the DHS. Wallace previously served as the General Counsel of the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), where he was the principal attorney that oversaw the FEMA-led New York/World Trade Center recovery effort in the aftermath of September 11th.

Wallace has strong ties to Florida. He was a longtime partner in the Miami commercial litigation law firm of Stack Fernandez Anderson Harris & Wallace P.A. He served as general counsel to several Florida community organizations, including Florida's first charter school, The Liberty City Charter School. Wallace graduated, with honors, from the University of Miami School of Law in 1992, and earned a bachelor's degree, with honors, from the University of Miami in 1989.

In addition to joining Akerman Senterfitt, Nelson has founded and is the managing partner of Crosslink Strategy Group, a firm that specializes in strategic public affairs campaigns for corporations, coalition groups and grassroots leaders. As National Political Director of Bush-Cheney '04, Nelson is widely credited with designing and building the largest, most effective Republican grassroots campaign ever devised. In addition, he directed the campaign's coalition activities and its paid mail and phone voter contact programs.

Cited twice by Roll Call newspaper as one of the "50 Most Influential Operatives in Politics,"

Nelson served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Executive Director of Political Operations at the Republican National Committee. In that role he worked with candidates and party organizations across the county to help elect a Republican majority in the U.S. Senate and retain a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

During the 2000 presidential campaign, Nelson was the National Political Director of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). His work included candidate recruitment, support, research, strategy and tactics.

With more than 375 attorneys, Akerman Senterfitt has offices in Orlando, Miami, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, West Palm Beach, Tallahassee and Washington, D.C. The firm represents private and public companies, governmental entities, educational establishments and high net-worth individuals in a wide range of practice areas. Please visit our website at http://www.akerman.com/ .

Source: Akerman Senterfitt

terry nelson – swift boats – bob perry - delay

fromDennis Delaney

todwdelaney@gmail.com

dateMon, Feb 5, 2007 at 12:35 PM

subjectmccain hires swiftboaters - kent on il finance

mailed-bygmail.com

hide details 2/5/07

February 4, 2007

McCain's Advisers Once Made Ads That Drew His Ire

By JIM RUTENBERG

As Mr. McCain assembles his team, he is also making it that much harder for his Republican challengers by scooping up a significant circle of the party's top talent.

"This is about winning at the end of the day," said John Weaver, Mr. McCain's longtime senior strategist. "I don't want to be in a knife fight ever again, but if I am, we're going to win it."

Mr. McCain's representatives said he would not provide an interview.

The hires are another signal that the 2008 primary campaign could be a combative one all around.

The Democratic National Committee is already criticizing Mr. McCain for his hires, issuing a statement this week calling them "a testament to how far he's gone down the do-anything-to-win path."

"There are no negotiations regarding his principles," Mr. Weaver said.

Bob J. Perry

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

This article is about a Houston builder and Republican supporter. For other uses of the name, see Bob Perry (disambiguation).

Bobby Jack Perry (a.k.a. Bob J. Perry) (born October 30, 1932), is a Houston, Texas homebuilder and major contributor to a number of 527 groups, such as the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth and the Economic Freedom Fund.

Contents

[hide]

1 Personal life

2 Career

3 Political donations

3.1 527 groups

3.2 Other

4 Memberships

5 References

6 Further reading

7 External links

[edit] Personal life

Perry was born in a one-room house in rural Bosque County, northwest of Waco. He attended Baylor University in Waco, where his father, W.C. Perry, completed a public school teaching career as vice president of student affairs. Perry graduated from Baylor in 1954 with a major in history.[1]

He and his wife, Doylene, have been married since 1961. They have four grown children. [2] She is a professor at San Jacinto College.

[edit] Career

Upon graduation, Perry followed in his father's footsteps by teaching high school. In 1968, at 36, he started his homebuilding business in Houston.

Perry's company, Perry Homes, is a construction company that has built developments comparable to those of the company Toll Brothers. In 2003, the privately held company ranked as the nation's 42nd largest home builder with $420 million in revenue.[2]

[edit] Political donations

[edit] 527 groups

In the 2004 election cycle, Perry gave $4.45 million to Swift Vets and POWs for Truth (formerly Swift Boat Veterans for Truth), a 527 group; he was the largest single donor.[3]

In that cycle, Perry also donated $3 million to Progress for America Voter Fund. In all, he donated almost $8.1 million to 527 groups in 2003-2004.[3]

In mid-2006, Perry donated $5,000,000 to found a new 527 group, the Economic Freedom Fund. The $5 million makes the group one of the top ten in the 2006 election cycle.[4] He also appears to be the sole donor to Americans for Honesty on Issues. These groups have primarily paid for negative advertisements targeting Democratic Party candidates in the 2006 United States general election.

[edit] Other

Perry contributed $46,000 to George W. Bush’s 1994 and 1998 campaigns for Texas Governor. He was the largest individual contributor to the Texas Republican Party during the 2002 election cycle (calendar 2001 and 2002) giving $905,000.[5]

Perry gave $165,000 in the 2002 election cycle to Tom DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority political action committee (TRMPAC) giving $165,000 in the 2002 election cycle. In October 2002 Perry and his wife contributed $95,000 to DeLay's Americans for a Republican Majority political action committee (ARMPAC).[6] They also contributed $10,000 to DeLay's legal defense fund.[7]

In 2006, Perry was the largest political donor in Texas. His donations included nearly $400,000 to the campaign of GOP Governor Rick Perry (no relation).[8]

In March 2007, Perry was listed as a member of Mitt Romney's "Texas Leadership Team", indicating his commitment to contribute to and raise money for Romney's presidential campaign.[8] In December 2007, he donated $200,000 to the Club for Growth for advertisements against Mike Huckabee in the Republican primary.[9] In 2008, he donated another $400,000 to the Club for Growth, which used most of it for its campaign against Mark Udall, the Democratic nominee in the 2008 Colorado election for U.S. Senate.[10]

[edit] Memberships

Perry is reportedly a member of the Council for National Policy, joining the CNP Board of Governors in 1982, and serving as vice president of the organization's Executive Committee from 1984-85, as well as being a member of that committee in 1988. He also reportedly was a member of the Board of Directors of the Houston, Texas Chamber of Commerce; on the executive board of the Boy Scouts of America; a former citizen member of the state banking board of Texas; and a member the Heritage Club.[11]

[edit] References

^ "'Swift Boat' backer is major political financier: Texan has deep pockets for conservative causes", Associated Press, August 27, 2004

^ a b Laylan Copelin, "AAS: Texas donor supported swift boat ads: Unassuming home builder getting more notoriety for latest donation than for record amounts in 2002", Austin American-Statesman, August 28, 2004

^ a b Paul Kiel, "Swift Boat Redux: Wealthy GOP Donor Drops $5 Mil for New Group", TPMMuckracker.com, September 14, 2006

^ 527 Committee Activity: Top 50 Federally Focused Organizations, opensecrets.com, accessed September 15, 2006

^ "Bob Perry - The Man Behind Swift Boat Veterans for Truth", Texans for Public Justice, accessed September 15, 2006

^ campaignmoney.com

^ Suzanne Gamboa, Associated Press, May 1, 2006

^ a b Chris Cillizza and Matthew Mosk, "'Swift Boat' Figure Joins Romney", Washington Post, March 16, 2007

^ "Huckabee foes open their wallets for attack ads". Los Angeles Times. January 1, 2008. http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-money1jan01,1,10456.story?coll=la-politics-campaign.

^ Greg Sargent and Eric Kleefeld, "Swift Boat Vet Financier Dumping Huge Money Into Key Senate Race", talkingpointsmemo.com, August 12, 2008

^ "The Council for National Policy: Selected Member Biographies", seekgod.ca, "an independent Christian research and apologetics ministry", accessed September 15, 2006

[edit] Further reading

"The Quiet Republican: Backer of Anti-Kerry Veterans Groups Eschews the Limelight," Kristen Hays, the Associated Press, August 29, 2004.

"The Public's Right To 'No'," Andrew Wheat, The Texas Observer, April 7, 2006. Article on check given by Perry to Bill Ceverha of Texans for a Republican Majority.

Chart: "Ceverha Patrons Beecherl & Perry Gave $1.9 Million To the Politicians Who Appointed Texas' Ethics Czars," The Texas Observer, April 7, 2006. Shows donations by Bob Perry and Louis A. Beecherl Jr.

[edit] External links

Website for the Perry Homes company

NPR story involving Bob Perry

Swift Vets and POWs for Truth

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Jump to: navigation, search

Swift Vets and POWs for Truth official logo

Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, formerly known as the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT), was a political group (527 group) of American Swift boat veterans and former prisoners of war of the Vietnam War, formed during the 2004 presidential election campaign for the purpose of opposing John Kerry's candidacy for the presidency. The campaign engendered the widely-used pejorative political term "swiftboating." The group disbanded and ceased operations on May 31, 2008. [1]

Connections with Republicans

SBVT characterized itself as a non-partisan group both in the legal sense and in spirit, yet several prominent individuals who assisted SBVT also have had close ties to the Republican Party. According to information released by the IRS on February 22, 2005, more than half of the group's reported contributions came from just three sources, all prominent Texas Republican donors: Houston builder Bob J. Perry, a longtime supporter of George W. Bush, donated $4.45 million, Harold Simmons' Contrans donated $3 million, and T. Boone Pickens, Jr. donated $2 million. Other major contributors included Bush fundraiser Carl Lindner ($300,000), Robert Lindner ($260,000), GOP contributor Aubrey McClendon ($250,000), George Matthews Jr. ($250,000), and Crow Holdings ($100,000).[75][76][77]

The initial communications consultant for SBVT was Merrie Spaeth, a Reagan administration press officer and a volunteer consultant to Ken Starr in the Clinton impeachment; she was also a spokesperson for "Republicans for Clean Air," a 527 group opposing John McCain's 2000 presidential campaign and funded by Bush supporters who also helped fund SBVT.[78][79] John E. O'Neill — the primary author of Unfit for Command and a key player in the formation of SBVT — donated over $14,000 to Republican candidates. He co-operated with the Nixon White House in opposing Kerry in 1971, and seconded Nixon's nomination at the 1972 Republican national convention.[80][81]

Retired Admiral William Schachte, a principal source for the SBVT allegations about Kerry's first Purple Heart, has donated to both of Bush’s presidential campaigns. Schachte was also a lobbyist for FastShip, a firm that recently announced it was receiving $40 million in federal funding for one of its projects. In addition, Schachte's lobbying firm associate, David Norcross, was chairman of the 2004 Republican convention.[82] Chris LaCivita, Political Director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2002,[83] works as a private contractor providing media advice for SBVT.[84]

The SBVT postal address was registered to Susan Arceneaux, treasurer of the Majority Leader's Fund, a PAC closely tied to the former Congressional leader, Republican

Dick Armey.[85]

Republican activist Sam Fox's donation of $50,000 to SBVT during the 2004 campaign[86] caused a controversy when Bush nominated him to the position of ambassador to Belgium. Because the Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee indicated that they would not support his nomination, Bush withdrew the nomination; he appointed Fox to the position on April 4, 2007, while Congress was in recess.[87][88]

These ties, along with others (see below), led to suggestions in the popular press that SBVT was a front group for Republicans.[56][89][90]

[edit] Connections with the Bush campaign

The Bush campaign became part of the general SBVT controversy when McCain condemned the first SBVT ad, and said, "I hope that the president will also condemn it." The Bush campaign did not condemn SBVT or the SBVT ads. The campaign did not endorse the group either, stating "We have not and we will not question Senator Kerry's service in Vietnam."[91] Kerry was dismissive of this statement, saying, "Of course, the President keeps telling people he would never question my service to our country. Instead, he watches as a Republican-funded attack group does just that."[92] Kerry also alleged that SBVT was "a front for the Bush campaign. And the fact that the President won’t denounce what they’re up to tells you everything you need to know — he wants them to do his dirty work".[93] When pressed on the issue, President Bush called for an end to all 527 group political advertisements, and challenged Kerry to do the same.[94]

Critics and the Kerry campaign pointed to several specific connections between SBVT and the Bush campaign. The Kerry campaign asserted that Bush campaign headquarters in Florida distributed fliers promoting SBVT events, a charge the Bush campaign denied.[95] Kenneth Cordier, former vice-chair of Veterans for Bush/Cheney (in 2000) and volunteer member of the Bush campaign veterans steering committee, appeared in the second SBVT advertisement. The Bush campaign asked him to resign and stated that it had been unaware of his SBVT involvement.[96]

On August 25, 2004, Benjamin Ginsberg, the top election lawyer to the Bush campaign on campaign finance law, also resigned after it was learned that SBVT was one of his clients. Ginsberg stated that he was withdrawing to avoid being a distraction to the campaign. He declared that he had acted "in a manner that is fully appropriate and legal,"[84] arguing that it was not uncommon or illegal for lawyers to represent campaigns or political parties while also representing 527 groups. He also maintained that he did not disclose to the Bush campaign that he was simultaneously representing the SBVT group. After leaving the Bush campaign, Ginsberg retained his status as counsel to SBVT.

In January 2005, Governor Jeb Bush, the President's brother and Florida chairman for his 2004 campaign,[97] sent a letter to SBVT member and former POW Bud Day, thanking him for his "personal support of my brother in his re-election." In addition, Governor Bush said of the SBVT:

"As someone who truly understands the risk of standing up for something, I simply cannot express in words how much I value their willingness to stand up against John Kerry."[74][98]

Nelson – Wallace – akerman – saathoff –

Gibson/crosslink

Akerman – saathoff – Orlando – FTL

Saathoff runs akerman PAC – nelson/Wallace

Terry Nelson= kjell – RNC

*See also Gibson and Wallace at crosslink/wal mart

OrlandoSentinel.com: Orange County News

www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-locr - [Cached]

Published on: 6/1/2003 Last Visited: 6/2/2003

Now southeast Orlando residents are worried about another deal in the works involving Dyer and his law-school roommate, Dwight Saathoff.

...

But Dyer said it wasn't his old ties to Saathoff that swayed him to move the project forward, but rather the developer of the project himself.

...

That's when Saathoff, an attorney with Akerman Senterfitt who represents many of the region's largest developers, started discussing numbers.

One of the most influential lawyers in Central Florida, Saathoff has been doing business in the region for more than a decade.

Among his clients is Pulte Home Corp., which wants to build 300 condominiums on land that a powerful neighborhood group in southeast Orlando wants to use for a park.

...

During several meetings with city attorneys beginning in late April, Saathoff hammered out the incentive agreement on Veranda Park, a proposed $120 million urban village in MetroWest that would include 500 condos, a movie theater, shops and office space on Hiawassee Road.

He negotiated incentives worth almost $4 million in property-tax rebates and fee credits during the next 10 years, contingent on the success of the project.

Now he's negotiating the proposal for Pulte Lake George, the condo development that would be built in the middle of the Conway community, adjacent to overcrowded Lake George Elementary School and bustling Barber Park.

...

Saathoff, who heads Akerman Senterfitt's political-action committee, represents a long list of developers, including Black Amber Development of Horizons West; Emerson International of Eagle Creek in southeast Orange County; and Transeastern Homes, which owns enough land to build at least 4,000 homes in Central Florida and plans to buy more.

Frequents City Hall

Saathoff is a frequent presence at Orange County Commission meetings, as well as at City Hall.

A staunch Republican, Saathoff donated $100 to Dyer's mayoral campaign earlier this year, and his law firm donated $250. However, he has represented Azzouz for 14 months -- long before Dyer, a Democrat, even considered running in the nonpartisan race.

"It would be different if all of a sudden Dyer wins and my firm puts me in charge of Veranda," said Saathoff, who also hosted one of Dyer's campaign fund-raisers.

By admin - Posted on March 8th, 2005

Tagged: Republican Party

Two Major Bush-Cheney '04 Advisors Add Significant Presence to Akerman Senterfitt's Washington, D.C. Office

Mark Wallace and Terry Nelson to Strengthen Firm's Government

Relations Practice

WASHINGTON, March 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Mark Wallace, National Deputy Campaign Manager of the Bush-Cheney '04 Presidential Campaign

, and Terry Nelson, the campaign's National Political Director,

As the Bush-Cheney '04 Deputy Campaign Manager and in addition to his day- to-day responsibilities in the management of the national campaign,

Wallace's Bush administration experience includes serving as the United States

Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) first Principal Legal

Cited twice by Roll Call newspaper as one of the "50 Most Influential Operatives in Politics,"

Source: Akerman Senterfitt

Mark Wallace (politician)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Mark D. Wallace is an American politician and lawyer who has frequently been in the news for his role as leader of the team coaching Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin for interviews and debates. Wallace currently serves as the Executive Director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI),[1] an advocacy group that seeks to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

A Miami lawyer and veteran of three of Jeb Bush's campaigns for Florida governor[2], Wallace "played a key role working for the Bush legal team in the decisive Florida recount in 2000", according to The Daily Telegraph'.[3] In 2004, Wallace served as George W. Bush's deputy campaign manager.

Mark Wallace held several different positions under the Bush Administration, including jobs at the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. In 2005, Wallace was married to White House Communications Director, Nicolle Devenish.[4], who now uses her married name Nicolle Wallace.

In 2006, Bush's ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, recruited Wallace as the U.S. representative for U.N. management and reform. Wallace and Bolton made public many internal UN investigations that had traditionally been confidential, citing the need for openness. After Bolton's departure, Wallace was described as a "crusader" who sought an investigation of the UN's Development Program, charging that it had served as "a large source of hard currency" for the North Korean government.[5]

Mark and Nicolle Wallace were both enlisted to work with Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

[6]. Mark Wallace in particular was active in helping her to prepare for the October 2, 2008 Vice-Presidential debate.[7][8] The New York Times said that Ms. Palin's debate performance against Democrat Joe Biden "exceeded expectations in this highly anticipated face-off, though those expectations were low after she had stumbled in recent television interviews." [9]

[edit] References

^ "Leadership | UANI"

^ USA Today (March 21, 2004) "Tight, small circle leads Bush push"

^ Telegraph (September 27, 2008) "Vice-presidential debate: Sarah Palin relies on Bush veterans for her big day"

^ NYTimes (September 5, 2005) "White House Enacts a Plan to Ease Political Damage"

^ Washington Post (July 31, 2007) "U.S. Crusader Odd Man Out at U.N."

^ Chicago Tribune (September 11, 2008) "Veterans of Bush team prep Sarah Palin for interviews"

^ Washington Post (September 21, 2008) "Steering the McCain Campaign, a Lot of Old Bush Hands"

^ [1] ABC News (September 30, 2008) "Palin seeks serenity in Sedona"]

^ NY Times (October 3, 2008) "Cordial but pointed, Palin and Biden face off"

Posted 3/21/2004 7:32 PM Updated 3/23/2004 4:38 PM

USA today

Tight, small circle leads Bush push

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush entrusts adviser Karl Rove to oversee his bare-knuckle bid for a second term. Yet Rove is but one of a small group of counselors helping to guide the most expensive, and possibly the most corporate-like, presidential campaign in history.

Karl Rove talks with President Bush daily about his reelection campaign.

By Luis M. Alvarez, AP

Aides emphasize Bush's hands-on role in the $170 million campaign. For instance, it was his decision to mount an early attack on his presumptive Democratic rival, John Kerry, and to air television commercials naming Kerry. The president also keeps close tabs on fund raising.

Bush and Rove talk daily about the campaign and stay in close touch with those running the Bush-Cheney effort from a nondescript office building across the Potomac River in Arlington, Va. There, Bush seeks political advice from campaign chairman Marc Racicot, a former Montana governor who served as Republican National Committee chairman, and campaign manager Ken Mehlman, Bush's former White House political director.

Mehlman is a Rove protege, and the two came to the White House with Bush from Texas. It was Rove who masterminded Bush's 1996 gubernatorial race in Texas and his 2000 presidential campaign, and Rove's stamp is clearly on the daily operations of both the White House and the campaign.

Among other members of Bush's brain trust are Vice President Dick Cheney; a brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; longtime adviser Karen Hughes; and Ohio Rep. Rob Portman, a longtime Bush family friend.

Hughes left her job as White House counselor in 2002 to spend more time with her family in Austin, Texas, but remains one of Bush's most trusted advisers. She has become more active on the campaign trail in recent weeks, giving speeches and making campaign appearances.

Portman, the only alumnus of the first Bush administration serving in Congress, is actively involved in Bush's strategy in industrial battleground states like his own.

"We've never had such a comprehensive grass-roots operation," Portman said in an interview. "It's all about getting the vote out."

Bush's inner circle includes some of his biggest fund-raisers.

Topping the list is Mercer Reynolds, an Ohio financier who was a partner with Bush in the Texas Rangers baseball team. Reynolds gave up a prized job as ambassador to Switzerland last year to become national finance chairman of the Bush-Cheney campaign. He has been involved in every Republican presidential campaign since Ronald Reagan's in 1980.

Bush also is close to Bradford Freeman, a Los Angeles banker who is his California finance chairman and a longtime friend.

Still, it is Rove who will likely be toasted if Republicans win in November — and blamed if they don't. Little escapes his attention on either the president's domestic or international agenda.

Rove won plaudits after Bush led his party to victory in the midterm congressional elections in 2002. But his political skills came under question among some restive Republicans as Democratic candidates pounded Bush for three months while the president tried to remain above the fray.

Now, with Bush aggressively striking back at Kerry, Republicans are resting easier — and back on the same page of the Rove playbook.

Rove has boasted to conservative activists of the campaign's rapid response once it learned that Kerry was to give a speech in West Virginia, a battleground state. The Bush team rolled out a broadcast ad within 24 hours, dispatched volunteers to hand out pro-Bush material in the state, and made GOP officials available to local media outlets.

Other key players in Bush's re-election effort are:

• Mark Wallace, deputy campaign manager. A former legal adviser in the Department of Homeland Security, he worked on Bush's 2000 campaign and on Jeb Bush's three gubernatorial campaigns.

• Terry Nelson, political director. He's a former RNC official, former political director of the National Republican Congressional Committee and former campaign manager for Rep. Jim Nussle, R-Iowa.

• Matthew Dowd, chief political strategist. He was Bush's pollster in the 2000 campaign. He worked for two Democrats — Lloyd Bentsen and the late Texas Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock — before joining Bush's team.

• Jack Oliver, deputy national finance chairman. He's was deputy chairman of the RNC and was finance director of Bush's 2000 campaign.

• Mark McKinnon, Bush's ad maker. The one-time, singer-songwriter and former Democrat is based in Austin, Texas, and did the ads for Bush's 2000 campaign.

• Dan Bartlett, the White House communications director, and Nicolle Devenish, his counterpart at the campaign.

Other advisers deeply involved in certain aspects of the campaign include Mary Matalin, a former top aide to Cheney, and Cheney family members, Devenish said

Duane R. Gibson

Alaska – don young – ted stevens

Usrep Don young= randy delay – zeman – landfills – garbage – huizenga – (that’s why young pushes fla highway interchange)

“abramoff deputy” mo dot contract - greenberg

From SourceWatch

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Duane R. Gibson, "a solo lobbyist and veteran of the Greenberg Traurig lobby operation," Judy Sarasohn wrote in the September 15, 2004, Washington Post, was "affiliating" with The Livingston Group as a consultant.

Earlier, Gibson was a senior staffer for Represenatative Don Young (R-Alaska), who chaired the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Gibson also worked for Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). [1]

Contents

[hide]

* 1 2000 Florida Recount

* 2 More on the Abramoff Connection

* 3 Fundraising with Abramoff

* 4 "GovBizAdvantage"

* 5 Events

* 6 SourceWatch Resources

* 7 External links

* 7.1 Articles & Commentary

[edit]

2000 Florida Recount

"Four of Abramoff’s colleagues—all of whom have left Greenberg in the wake of investigations surrounding Abramoff’s activities—were foot soldiers in the Florida recount. Two of them bragged of their recount work on their official online Greenberg biographies, which have since been removed," John Byrne reported in the May 5, 2005, Raw Story.

"Shawn Vasell noted that he was a 'team leader' in Broward and Duval counties in his bio; Duane Gibson was photographed in the acclaimed Brooks Brothers riot of Republican operatives outside the Miami-Dade County polling headquarters; Todd Boulanger boasted of being on the Broward and Duval recount team in his profile. Also on the ground was former DeLay deputy chief of staff Tony Rudy," Byrne wrote.

Newsweek reported in the December 4, 2000, issue "on how the 'spontaneous' demonstrations in Florida were led by senior Republican 'operatives.' They were summoned from all over by e-mail from the Bush campaign, provided with plane tickets and hotel rooms. These election 'observers' were handed placards to wave, T shirts to wear (SORE-LOSERMAN) and led in chants. ... One of the shock troops was Duane Gibson, who had his trip to Miami paid for by the Bush team and is an aide to Alaska GOP Congressman Don Young. He told Newsweek he was angered by what he saw outside the canvassing board's ballot-counting room. 'I thought, My gosh, they're taking those ballots to a closed area and they're not going to let us see them.' He insisted the angry demonstrations were 'spontaneous.'"

[edit]

More on the Abramoff Connection

"Also, registered as a lobbyist for the [Missouri] Highway Commission was Abramoff deputy Duane Gibson, who aided Abramoff's Greenberg-funded efforts to stop the 2000 Florida recount and assisted in unreported fundraising events at Abramoff's DC restaurants held on behalf of GOP luminaries including DeLay, Blunt, and [Eric] Cantor." [2]

Duane Gibson worked on the Agua Caliente Band of the Cahuilla Master Plan for their Tribal elections in 2002, in order to help get candidates Candace C. Patencio and Virginia Siva elected to the Tribal Board. Gibson was working for Jack Abramoff and with Michael Scanlon on this project. (p.53)

[edit]

Fundraising with Abramoff

On June 3, 2003, Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert’s political action committee held "a $1,500-a-plate lunch at [Abramoff's restaurant] Signatures at which Hastert [was] the featured speaker. Abramoff and two other members of his staff may have been in attendance, as Hastert’s PAC records contributions of $6,250 from the lobbyist and six other members of his firm"--Todd A. Boulanger, Duane R. Gibson, Kevin A. Ring, Shawn Vasell, Neil G. Volz and Padgett Wilson--"shortly thereafter–including a $500 contribution from Boulanger," John Byrne reported in The Raw Story, March 29, 2005.

[edit]

"GovBizAdvantage"

"Duane Gibson, a former counsel to the House Resources Committee when Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) was chairman, named his firm GovBizAdvantage because as he navigates the 'maze of government,' he said, he tries to keep always in mind the specific business needs of his clients," Jim Snyder wrote May 4, 2005, in The Hill.

GOVBIZ Advantage is a registered lobbyist [3] for the Alaska Federation of Natives as well as a registered lobbyist for the developers of the controversial Pebble Mine Project in Southwestern Alaska, Northern Dynasty Mines. Pebble, if developed would be the largest open pit gold mine in North America. [4]

[edit]

Events

National Republican Congressional Committee "GOP Calendar of Events": July 27, 2005: "The Honorable Bob Livingston, The Honorable Andy Ireland, Duane R. Gibson, Bernie Robinson, Joan Galvin, Roger France, Allen Martin Cordially invite you to a fundraising reception with Congressman Richard Pombo." Note that all of the hosts are members of The Livingston Group.

[edit]

SourceWatch Resources

* "Team Abramoff"

[edit]

External links

* Corporate Overview includes link to Gibson's profile.

[edit]

Articles & Commentary

* Al Kamen, "Miami 'Riot' Squad: Where Are They Now?" Washington Post, January 24, 2005.

* Jonathan E. Kaplan, "The lobbyist and the lobsterman," The Hill, March 15, 2005.

* John Byrne, "Stacking the deck: How GOP lawmakers teamed with a top lobbyist to crush a rival’s casino bid, raking in donations in the process," The Raw Story (Beware of This page catch), March 29, 2005.

* John Byrne, "New ties link House GOP leadership with lobbyist Abramoff," The Raw Story (Beware of This page catch), March 29, 2005.

* John Byrne, "Bush Florida 2000 recount committee still owes lobbyist's former firm $314k. White House directs queries to RNC," The Raw Story, May 5, 2005.

* "Alaska Miner's Association 2005 Convention Schedule," Alaska Journal of Commerce, October 30, 2005. Coffee break sponsored by Duane R. Gibson.

* Jeff Mazur, "Missouri Contract Followed Abramoff From Firm to Firm," Fired Up Missouri, November 22, 2005.

* "Kenai River Classic" Guest -Greenberg Traurig, 2003.

* "Kenai River Classic" Guest - With Mel Goodweather with the "Livingston Group", 2005.

fromDennis Delaney

todwdelaney@gmail.com

dateSat, Apr 5, 2008 at 3:11 PM

subject DUANE GIBSON - MO - BLUNT - ABRAMOFF - FL-2000

mailed-bygmail.com

hide details 4/5/08

Images are not displayed.

Display images below - Always display images from dwdelaney@gmail.com

Gibson - abramoff

Missouri Contract Followed Abramoff From Firm to Firm

Submitted by Jeff Mazur on Tue, 11/22/2005 - 5:59pm.

Blunt-Kinder Administration

Government For Sale--Special Interests

National Politics

Roy Blunt

Just how much of Missouri's money did Jack Abramoff get, and did he earn it? Did Casino Jack take the state for a ride as he did his other clients, whom he bilked out of more than $80 million?

These are questions that the Matt Blunt administration should be examining as details of indicted Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff's intimate involvement with a contract to lobby for Missouri's Highway and Transportation Commission continue to emerge.

As previously reported on Fired Up Missouri, lobbyist disclosure documents filed with the Secretary of the U.S. Senate link Jack Abramoff and several close associates with a $120,000 contract to lobby Congress on behalf of Missouri's Highway and Transportation Commission. Previous reports, however, actually understate the connection between the Highway Commission lobbying contract and Team Abramoff.

Previous posts here fleshed out the contractual relationship between the Highway Commission and Cassidy & Associates using disclosure reports filed by Cassidy while the firm employed Abramoff. However, additional disclosure reports associated with the Highway Commission lobbying contract indicate that the lucrative state deal followed Abramoff as he moved between powerful DC lobby shops.

Lobbying disclosure forms show that prior to being held by Cassidy & Associates during Abramoff's tenure, the Missouri Highway commission contracted with DC law firm Greenberg Traurig to work Capitol Hill for transportation funding.

The contract between Greenberg and Missouri, according to filings, took effect in March of 2003 while Abramoff was the the firm's biggest lobbying rainmaker.

The contract between Missouri and Greenberg Traurig existed until it was terminated on March 24, 2004.

Not coincidentally, March 24, 2004 is the same day that Cassidy & Associates publicly announced its hiring of Jack Abramoff. Just weeks later, Cassidy would file paperwork with the United States Senate formalizing its role as lobbyist for the Missouri Highway Commission.

To be clear, though Abramoff's name does not appear on the disclosure documents filed regarding the Greenberg Traurig contract, several familiar names regularly recognized as members of 'Team Abramoff' do appear. Most prominently, Fired Up fan-favorite Todd Boulanger is listed as the contact on the Greenberg contract (Boulanger would also be listed as the disclosure contact on the Cassidy lobbyist registration).

Also, registered as a lobbyist for the Highway Commission was Abramoff deputy Duane Gibson, who aided Abramoff's Greenberg-funded efforts to stop the 2000 Florida recount and assisted in unreported fundraising events at Abramoff's DC restaurants held on behalf of GOP luminaries including DeLay, Blunt, and Cantor.

The portrait painted by these disclosures of the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission's Congressional lobbyist is unambiguously clear. Given the timing of these contracts, and the backgrounds of the individuals who were handling them it is impossible to imagine a scenario under which Jack Abramoff was not the driving force behind them. What remains unknown is whether the Missouri Highway Commission and taxpayers --like the Agua Caliente, Louisiana Coushatta and Mississippi Choctaw-- were taken by Abramoff for all they're worth.

And Governor Blunt shouldn't rest until we find out.

Karl Rove

Gender: Male

Muckety news stories featuring Karl Rove:

Edward Gillespie takes Karl Rove role in the White House

Edward W. Gillespie, counselor to President Bush, is no stranger to controversy.

May 21, 2008

A kinder, gentler Rove?

Meet the new Karl Rove.

April 4, 2008

Karl Rove crosses over to the Mac side

Casting directors looking to fill the part of Karl Rove in a movie account of the second Bush presidency might turn to John Hodgman, the actor who plays PC in the Apple Inc. commercials.

March 27, 2008

Other Muckety maps showing Karl Rove:

Karl Rove loves Mac

Dick Cheney signs book deal with Threshold Editions

David Plouffe to pen first inside account of Obama campaign

Columnist Robert Novak retires after 'dire' prognosis

McCain top bundlers

Karl Rove to be interviewed in U.S. attorney firings probe

Karl Rove personal relations:

Robert B. Barnett - attorney

Bob Perry - friend

Other current Karl Rove relationships:

Apple Inc. - product user

Fox News - commentator

Newsweek - columnist

Threshold Editions - signed book contract

Wall Street Journal - columnist

Karl Rove past relationships:

Kirk Blalock - aide

College Republican National Committee - national chairman & executive director

Matthew Cooper - source

George W. Bush administration - political strategist

J. Timothy Griffin - assistant

Henry Hager - staffer

Chris Henick - aide

Karl Rove & Company - founder

Karl Rove's breakfast club - host

Robert D. Novak (deceased) - source

Susan Ralston - aide

Campo – blankenship

Campo fam= tony, nino, peter, terry, nick, tyler

Terry= YR prez,

Nick= county jail, carlock

nino= soccer, county jail, roman cultural,

peter= public works, parking, downtown maint, blago fundraiser at 364 KC, 2002

tyler= schaive, greenville,

tony= loami vfd/pd, jim coffey, dale patterson, real estate, catteau, pawnee

chrissy =armstead – kc 364 – isfm

frank= aarp, jobs, nelson

LINK - Blankenship – terry campo prez YR’s –

(Greg blankenship is a cousin of terry campo)

*Greg blankenship= Illinois policy Inst – dc address, chi, IPI= $1M budget

*(greg blankenship friends with Bill cellini jr. – doc)

*Greg was Ssgt, ING, when at 96’ san diego conv.

*[at san diego R’ convention in 1996]

*Many events filmed by saltz for afl-cio “independent media center” at 96’ convention were norquist events

*Afl-cio Internship set-up in 96, sent me to san diego, pennel apt. jobs, etc.

*Suspect YR’s heavily involved in harassment, ie schweska llcc YR prez and see schweska SPD timeline and “retirement” see also oberweiss and UIS, but see, reinhart and coll dems/blago

Note: campo and YR’s, see also rove and kjellander, and kent gray in IL.

Roman Cultural Society elects slate of officers

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Thursday, April 10, 2008

Section: LOCAL

Page: 9

Dave White has been elected the 50th president of the Roman Cultural Society.

Other officers are Ted Schrock, first vice president; Jim Sodaro, second vice president; Jeff DeMarco, treasurer; Vic Pambianco, secretary; Mike Benson, sergeant-at-arms; and Vince Salvo, parliamentarian. Board members are Steve Dove, Paul Palazolo, Nino Campo , Bob Egizii, Joe Inendino Jr. and Dennis Albanese.

Alderman uses free pass to park closer to office

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Sunday, August 19, 2007

Author/Byline: SARAH ANTONACCI STAFF WRITER

Section: LOCAL

Page: 4

Ward 8 Ald. Kris Theilen has an assigned parking space in a ramp a couple of blocks from his office at Fifth and Monroe streets.

Instead of parking there, though, Theilen puts his "official city business" pink sheet on the front dashboard of his blue pickup and parks at a meter on Fifth Street, usually between Monroe Street and Capitol Avenue.

That lets him leave his car about a block nearer to his office building. And he doesn't have to plug the meter.

"I spend my entire lunch hour doing city business," Theilen said recently. If he parks closer to his workplace - he is an information service specialist for the Illinois Department of Public Health in the Ridgely Building - it leaves him more time to do city business at lunch, he said.

"They've gone through this time and time again," he said. "I was told you're not supposed to park at any meter" that does not allow two hours of parking. "Other than that, it's acceptable."

However, Pete Campo , who heads the parking program for the city Department of Public Works, said aldermen are supposed to use their passes only for what the passes specify: "official city business."

Examples might include "business at the mayor's office or ... coming in to see Mike Norris for a public works event, or something," Campo said.

"We ask them not to use it for work and just use them for official business, but we can't watch every one of them. We like for them to use them for official city business."

Theilen said City Council Coordinator Joe Davis advised him it was OK to use his aldermanic parking pass to park at work.

Davis said last week that it's "been a common practice of aldermen to use it for other than what Campo says. What the official rules are, I can't say. I know it's been a practice."

Theilen, who makes $53,700 a year in his state job, said that if Davis tells him he shouldn't use his parking pass to park closer to work, he'll go back to using the parking garage at Sixth Street and Capitol Avenue where he has an assigned space.

"I don't see where this is a story," he said when questioned by a reporter.

"I'm doing what I was told I should do. If the council coordinator checks and says I'm not supposed to use it, fine. I'll go back to parking at one of the garages.

"I can tell you that I have received parking tickets in the past."

WEDDINGS

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Sunday, September 26, 2004

Campo -Chastain

Elizabeth Christine Chastain and Nino Campo , both of Springfield, were married at 6 p.m. May 8, 2004, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception by the Rev. Peter Harmon.

The bride is the daughter of Charles and Deborah Chastain of Springfield. The groom is the son of Kevin and Betty Hill, Anthony Campo and Julie Altig, all of Springfield.

Serving as maid of honor was Dana Dyas. Bridesmaids were Lacy Bach, Shelley Bedolli and Celia Callarman.

Best man was Tyler Campo . Groomsmen were Kevin James, Larry Gunville and Chad Schaive. Ushers were Michael and Stephen Hill.

A reception was held at the Hilton Springfield.

The bride is a 1999 graduate of Lincoln Land Community College, a 2002 graduate of Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and is attending SIU School of Medicine.

The groom is a 1999 graduate of Lincoln Land Community College and a 2003 graduate of the University of Illinois at Springfield. He is employed by the Sangamon County Department of Corrections.

The couple lives in Springfield.

TITLE: WEDDINGS

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Sunday, May 17, 1998

Ward-Oldridge Angela Helen Oldridge and Scot Alan Ward, both of Athens, were married at 5 p.m. Jan. 17 at West Side Christian Church by the Rev. Vaughn Beeman.

The bride is the daughter of Marie McGrew and Tom Oldridge, both of Springfield. The groom is the son of Marcia and Jim Cass and Niles and Wanda Ward, all of Springfield.

Best man was Jeff Kadyk. Trevor Oldridge, Scott Cox,

*Dale Patterson, Tony Fodor, Don Strode, Brian Sommer,

*Jim Coffey,

*Tony Campo and Ed Kunz were groomsmen. Ringbearer was Pete Campo .

A reception was held at Sherman Activity Center.

The bride is a graduate of Lanphier High School. She is self-employed in the house cleaning business. The groom is also a graduate of Lanphier High School. He is employed as a correctional officer in Logan County.

TITLE: WEDDINGS (from KC’s 364 armstead - ISFM)

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Sunday, November 30, 1997

Armstead-Eder Jennifer Margaret Eder and John Allen Armstead, both of Springfield, were married at 3 p.m. Sept. 20 at St. John's Lutheran Church in Chatham by the Rev. Glenn Strohschein.

The bride is the daughter of Frank Eder Jr. and Mr. and Mrs. James Fagan, all of Mason City. The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas L. Armstead of Springfield.

Serving as matron of honor was Rebecca Poelker. Bridesmaids were Karrie Griffin, Chrissy Campo , Dawn Sanders and Elizabeth Fagan.

Best man was Michael Armstead. Groomsmen were Mike George, Eric Beckwith, Mark Sanders and John Thomas Armstead. Ushers were Wes Eder and Tim Schlosser.

A reception was held at the Eagles Club.

The bride is a graduate of Illini Central High School, attended the College of St. Francis and is also a graduate of the University of Illinois at Springfield. She is employed by the state. The groom is a graduate of Griffin High School.

*He is employed by George Alarm Co.

The couple will reside in Springfield.

SANGAMON COUNTY BOARD

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Wednesday, November 1, 2006

Author/Byline: JOHN REYNOLDS STAFF WRITER

Section: SPECIAL

Page: 11A

The retirement of two long-serving Republican members of the Sangamon County Board and the decision of a one-term Democrat to not seek reelection so he can run for a higher office means there will be some new faces on the board after the election.

Dan Vaughn, who represents the Sherman area, and Dick Bond, who represents west and northwest Springfield, decided not to run for re-election so they could spend more time with their families. Vaughn has been on the board about 16 years, and Bond was first elected 14 years ago.

Democrat Sam Cahnman, who represents sections of downtown Springfield, was first elected to the board four years ago. Instead of running for reelection, he is challenging incumbent Republican Raymond Poe in the 99th Illinois House race.

Cahnman won his county board seat by beating incumbent Republican Bradley Jones. Jones is trying to regain his seat in the 18th county board district. He faces against Democrat Dave Kamper.

The 29-member Sangamon County Board is made up of 25 Republicans and four Democrats. This year, 15 seats are up for re-election. Of those 15, 12 are held by Republicans, and three are held by Democrats. In three of the 15 districts, only one candidate is on the ballot.

How the upcoming election affects the overwhelmingly Republican Sangamon County Board remains to be seen.

Sangamon County Board member Doris Turner of Springfield, the Democratic floor leader, is optimistic.

"(Democrats) are significantly in the minority on the county board, but I think that we really have a lot of good opportunities in the upcoming election," Turner said. "We were able to recruit some good candidates and the candidates have been working very hard. A county board race is basically a shoe leather race, just going door-to-door, knocking on doors and talking to people. That is what the candidates have been doing."

Turner, who represents portions of Springfield's east side, is not up for re-election this year. She said she believes the Democrats have an "excellent" chance of hanging onto Cahnman's seat and she is "very confident" that Tyrone Pace, the Democratic incumbent in the district 20 race, will be reelected.

The board's Republican leader, Andy Van Meter, said he believes his party has fielded a "great team" of candidates, and hopes they can pick up two more seats.

"With both the state and city governments run by Democrats, I hope the upcoming election will be an opportunity to demonstrate to the public that a Republican government can deliver good service and good value for them," Van Meter said.

Candidates running for the board:

* District 2: Democrat Dave Fuchs, 942 W. Fisher Road in Cantrall, is running against Republican Todd P. Smith, 1100 Old Tipton School Road in Sherman. This is the district currently represented by Vaughn, and includes Sherman and Williamsville.

* District 3: Republican David Mendenhall, 1021 Mecla Road in Buffalo, is running unopposed. District 3 includes Mechanicsburg and far eastern Sangamon County.

* District 4: Republican incumbent Andy Goleman, 1248 E. Divernon Road in Divernon, is running against Democrat Pete Campo , 3612 Hoylake Drive. District 4 includes Divernon, Pawnee and the Cotton Hill area.

WEDDINGS

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Sunday, June 18, 2006

Campo -Spoor

Angela Leigh Spoor and Anthony Paul Campo , both of Loami, were married at 3 p.m. March 25, 2006, at Loami Christian Church by the Rev. Gary W. Sproat.

The bride is the daughter of Ronnie and Janet Spoor of Pleasant Plains. The groom is the son of Pete and Jeanne Campo of Springfield and Mary Desecki of Sherman.

Serving as matron of honor was Crystal Sweeny. Bridesmaids were Michele Moss, Laura Manka and Monique Borders. Flower girls were Arika and Cara Spoor.

Best man was Peter Campo . Groomsmen were Troy Snider, Will Smock, Scot Ward and Chris Schmulbach.

A reception was held at the Knights of Columbus in New Berlin.

The bride is a graduate of New Berlin High School and the University of Illinois. She is employed by the state Department of Human Services. The groom is a graduate of New Berlin High School and Lincoln Tech. He is self-employed.

The couple resides in Loami.

Need directions? Ask a street sweeper

(hiring teenagers for summer jobs, maint. Downtown)

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Sunday, June 26, 2005

Author/Byline: DANIEL PIKE STAFF WRITER

Section: CITY/STATE

Page: 13

Mario Austin didn't intend to spend the summer giving directions to tourists.

Austin, 17, thought his job description was limited to maintenance and litter removal. But that changed on his first day at work, when Austin learned he was one of five city-employed teenagers who would act as combination street sweepers and city guides.

It's easy to point out the major sights, such as the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum or the Old State Capitol, said Austin, who just graduated from Southeast High School. But sometimes out-of-towners toss curveballs.

"Someone asked me where the Z Bistro restaurant was," Austin said last week. "I had no idea." (It's at 220 S. Sixth St.)

The new city guides are part of a larger summer crew traditionally hired by the public works department to help keep the downtown area clean, said Ernie Slottag, spokesman for Mayor Tim Davlin.

With the opening of the presidential museum expected to draw more visitors downtown this summer, the city thought someone should be on the streets to disseminate information quickly, Slottag said.

"We want them to be able answer questions on the spot, instead of saying, 'I'll go check,'" he said. "I think people want to know right away."

The teenagers began their guide duties in the past few weeks, after orientations with public works personnel and the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau. Guiding actually is a side gig - they don't openly offer assistance to tourists, but rather wait to be approached while doing cleanup work.

"We're more downtown maintenance than downtown guides," said 17-year-old Chris Lipscomb, also from SEHS.

They work an area bounded by Second, Ninth, Cook and Madison streets, said Pete Campo , division manager for motor vehicle parking and the guides' supervisor. They'll be on the streets until late August.

Lipscomb and Austin were part of a crew that spent a recent morning sprucing up shrubbery outside the Municipal Center complex. As they did that, Austin said two fellow city guides were downtown with brooms and dustpans, collecting trash - mainly cigarette butts - and fielding queries from tourists.

But right now, there's not much to indicate to tourists that the sweepers are available to answer questions. They don't yet have the "City Guide" T-shirts that are supposed to be on the way. Their only official markings are on City Water, Light and Power caps they recently started wearing.

"At first, (visitors) didn't know about us," Austin said. "When we got the hats, they started to realize."

Kim Rosendahl, director of tourism for the convention and visitors bureau, said it's the first time the city has used young people specifically to answer visitors' questions. In the past, the bureau has hired "summer ambassadors," but those workers mainly gathered survey information at historic sites.

Although it's not exactly the job Austin expected, he doesn't mind helping folks find their way.

"The first couple of times I was like, 'This is OK,'" he said with a shrug. "But it's growing on me."

Caption: Caleb Bridges, 20, cleans the area around the Lincoln Library on Saturday. Bridges applied through the city for a summer job and was hired to be a street sweeper and city guide.

PERSONNEL FILE

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Sunday, January 9, 2005

Section: MARKETPLACE

Page: 51

GERARDO CAMPOS has been appointed store manager of the Chatham Ace Hardware, 1200 N. Main St., which is scheduled to open in March. Campos , who has been employed by Ace Hardware since June 2001, will oversee the staff and manage the day-to-day business.

Back to work at any age

(see nelson at aarp and dept of aging and see msi at aging)

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Thursday, July 11, 2002

Author/Byline: DIANE SCHLINDWEIN CORRESPONDENT

Section: SPECIAL

Page: 4A

Shortly after her 81st birthday last year, Helen Stefancic of Springfield left nearly a lifetime of factory work behind when she had open-heart surgery. However, following a few months of recovery Stefancic was eager to get back to work.

"I don't have any hobbies, and frankly I was just bored. They wanted me to come back to the factory in Lincoln," Stefancic says. "I've been working on an assembly line since I was 15. But at my age, it was time to try something different."

Stefancic wondered who else would hire a woman in her 80s, especially one who needed to learn new skills. Then a friend directed her to the local AARP Foundations and Senior Community Service Employment Program.

Karen Lentsch, director of the AARP employment program for Sangamon and Macon counties, says she and her staff were pleased to help Stefancic. While many seniors are looking forward to a retirement filled with golf, gardening and travel, Lentsch says some individuals find themselves ready and willing to enter or re-enter the work force. They simply need training and help finding a job.

Lentsch says that thanks to the AARP program, at any given time about 50 people age 55 or over are in training somewhere in her two counties. The program is subsidized by the Department of Labor, so while they are in training, workers are paid minimum wages for 20 hours a week through the Title V portion of the Older Americans Act.

"We're a non-for-profit agency that offers training through 30 different agencies. We were never about free help. We're about training," Lentsch says. "To be part of my program you have to be a worker." Last fiscal year the local program had a 41.5 percent permanent placement success rate.

Other than qualifying financially as "low income" there really is no typical trainee, Lentsch says. While many people think of AARP trainees as empty-nesters, Lentsch says some of her clients still have children living at home.

"If they are 55, even if it is their 55th birthday, we can help them," she says. "Over half of my trainees have school-age children. Of course, I do have quite a few who have to supplement their Social Security."

Some of the people Lentsch serves are widows who find themselves not only alone, but with no job training. Many are embarrassed to admit they are struggling financially.

"So many of the women feel like they are betraying their late husbands by coming in for training," she says, noting that many people are not financially prepared for retirement. "Of course they're not! Who knew that the average car would cost $17,000? Who ever thought that one medical prescription would cost over $100?"

Lentsch says one of the most important aspects of her job is simply paying attention. "I know how to listen right, and I can match the person with the training program. After their training is complete - when I give them a job referral -I'm about 70 percent sure that they have a good chance on keeping the job."

"The idea is to set people up to succeed, not fail," says Frank Campo , employment specialist and safety coordinator for the local AARP employment office.

"I tell them it is their job to find a job, and it is our job to help them find a job."

Lentsch says the success of her clients speaks for itself. Lee Cox, who is the office manager for Airport Mini Storage, thanks the AARP program for finding his job. "I was 62 when I first went to AARP, and I'm 64 now," he says, adding that now he tries to hire other workers through AARP. "If I need help, I go talk to Karen and she takes good care of me."

Campo says Stefancic is another good example of a trainee who has succeeded through their program. Steve and Karen Jeffers, who own two Springfield McDonald's restaurants, trained and hired Stefancic to work in the Ninth and North Grand store. She now works more than 20 hours a week making salads and parfaits, and acting as a hostess for the restaurant.

"We are so happy to have Helen working for us," says Karen Jeffers. "She is a hard worker and really a sweet person. She asked the people who work with her to call her Grandma Helen."

Stefancic attests that her life is definitely better, thanks to her training and new job. "I didn't tell them where I wanted to train. I just wanted a job," Stefancic says. "But I am so happy with my work here at McDonald's. I think any time you work for a family-owned business, they are good to you. This place is just wonderful. The people are nice. I just love it here!"

Finding people jobs is fulfilling work in itself, Campo says. "This is probably the most rewarding job that I have ever held," he says. "When I look back at the people I've helped - well, I feel good knowing that I was able to help them change their lives for the better."

For more information on the AARP Foundations and Senior Community Service Employment Program, call 544-5776.

Caption: Helen Stefancic, 81, works at the McDonald's on Ninth Street and North Grand Avenue several days a week.

Blagojevich starting downstate push with fund-raiser

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Sunday, January 6, 2002

Section: EDITORIAL

Page: 13

The New Year's holiday is past, and so is the lull in the political season. Campaign advertising should start to drown out other messages, and candidates will be criss-crossing the state in a dash toward the March 19 primary.

Among those candidates is U.S. Rep. ROD BLAGOJEVICH, D-Chicago. He has more than $4 million in his campaign fund - far more than any of his rivals - and he will try to supplement that with a fund-raiser in Springfield on Tuesday. The $10 ticket price for the event, from 5-7:30 p.m. at Knights of Columbus Council 364, 2200 S. Meadowbrook Road, should help draw a crowd.

TODD RENFROW, a former Sangamon County Democratic chairman who now works for the secretary of state, is organizing the event.

Others involved include PETE CAMPO of Loami and PAT DAVIS of Greenview.

Renfrow said he's known Blagojevich since the congressman's days in the Illinois House. Renfrow also is close to JOHN GIANULIS, head of the downstate Democratic County Chairmen's Association, which has endorsed Blagojevich.

The Sangamon County Democratic Party and its current leader, BOB WESLEY, have endorsed Blagojevich, though some party activists, including Renfrow friend TIM McANARNEY, have been working for PAUL VALLAS for governor.

Vallas plays down the value of the endorsement by the Gianulis group, especially because proxy voting was allowed for Democratic county chairmen who didn't make the meeting.

Renfrow said he has nothing against Vallas but thinks Blagojevich is "very talented."

Blagojevich also plans to open a Springfield office soon, said spokeswoman AMANDA CRUMLEY.

WEDDINGS

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Sunday, November 25, 2001

Cummings-Catteau

Stephanie M. Catteau of Pawnee and Todd W. Cummings of Loami were married at 3 p.m. Oct. 27 at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Pawnee by the Rev. Roger Simpson.

The bride is the daughter of Michael and Melinda Catteau of Pawnee. The groom is the son of William and Kathy Cummings of Loami.

Serving as matron of honor was Rhonda Horn. Serving as maid of honor was Shelly Catteau. Bridesmaids were Keri Lederbrand, Connie Higgason, Amy Henry and Amanda Catteau. Flower girl was Hannah Lederbrand.

Best man was Darrin Cummings. Groomsmen were Brian Sullivan, Matt Cloyd, T.C. Roesch, Tony Campo and Scott Smith. Ringbearers were Mitchell Horn and Cameron Cummings. Ushers were Michael Cal and Kelly Horn. Junior attendants were Reeve Catteau and Brady Cummings.

A reception was held at Northfield Center.

The couple will reside in Pawnee.

Catteau Jr., Michael A.

View/Sign Guest Book

PAWNEE - Michael "Big Cat" August Catteau Jr., 35, of Pawnee died at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 8, 2009, in Warren County.

Visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday, April 12, 2009, at Staab Funeral Home, with a prayer service at 7 p.m. Additional visitation will be held from 8:30 to 9:15 a.m. Monday, April 13, 2009, at Staab Funeral Home, followed by funeral mass at 10 a.m. at St. Rita's Catholic Church in Kincaid, with the Rev. Daniel Willenborg officiating. Burial will be at Calvary Cemetery in Pawnee.

Memorials may be made to the Christian Care Program at St. John's Hospital.

UIS soccer team turns to SCI stars

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Friday, April 21, 2000

Author/Byline: RON DICKERSON STAFF WRITER

Section: SPORTS

Page: 43

When this year's recruits for the University of Illinois at Springfield soccer team step onto Kiwanis Field, three will be remembered for their play on the 1998 NJCAA title-contending Bulldogs of Springfield College in Illinois.

Midfielder Ryan Speckhart, who played at Quincy University last season, Melvin Koon and Eddie Kingston, who walked away from an NCAA Division I scholarship with St. John's University, each played an integral part on the SCI team that placed fifth in the NJCAA tournament.

Thursday, UIS announced those players and four others will play for the Prairie Stars this season.

Two other members of the '98 SCIteam already are with UIS: defender Jeff Ambrose; and midfielder Rene Troppa, who rejected an NCAA Division I scholarship to the University of Wisconsin to stay in Springfield.

"It's like putting the band back together," former SCI coach Tom Noonan said.

Another local college player headed to UIS is Hamilton Michelon, who played for Lincoln Land Community College the last two years. The midfielder is from Brazil.

The other recruits are John Milkovic, a defender from College of DuPage, Justin Deckard, a goalkeeper from Lewis & Clark who was instrumental in ending Lincoln Land's season last year in the NJCAA Region 24 tournament, and forward Matt Blackwell, from Tyler (Texas) Community College.

"We didn't bring in a lot of recruits, but we brought in quality," UIS coach Aydin Gonulsen said. "Combined with what we have coming back, we have what it takes to have another very good season.

"Our goal is to win the national title. We've been knocking on the door, but there is just one team out there that is always so much better: Lindsey Wilson.

"I imagine they're still the team to beat."

The Prairie Stars lost NAIA Region 7 player of the year in goalie Rob Fox from last season's team. Also gone is four-year starter Oscar Valdez in the backfield and midfielders Ercan Uzel, Ali Yigit and Hakan Aydogdu.

"That's a lot of talent and experience we lost," Gonulsen said. "How do you replace a goalie like Rob Fox? That was our No. 1 need as I assessed it. I'd like to get a backup now. But Deckard is a very good athlete and is a strong punter.

"Milkovic was a first-team All-American at DuPage. He's a strong kid with a nice touch. He can play defensive half or center-midfield or stopperback."

Gonulsen likes Michelon's poise and leadership.

"He's very experienced," Gonulsen said. "He's not quick, but he positions himself well and anticipates so well. He's the kind of player who'll play big in big games."

Kingston scored a school-record 41 goals in two years with SCI, while Koon had 17 last year with the Bulldogs.

The complementary styles of Kingston and Koon have developed dating back to their childhood days in Liberia. Kingston is a crafty creator, while Koon is technically superior with a better shot.

"Kingston is dangerous," Noonan said. "He's great at taking two or three players on, drawing the defense to him, then beating them on the dribble. He's the rare player in the sense that teams have to defend him.

"Koon isn't as crafty as Eddie, but he's strong in the air and he has a great shot. It's a strong shot. His acceptance of the ball is fantastic, and he's a left-sided player, who is hard to find, especially one as good as he is.

"I think those two are telepathically connected. They read each other so well."

Kingston spent one year at St. John's as the Red Storm went 16-6-2 and lost to Penn State 2-1 in triple overtime in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. It was the ninth consecutive tournament appearance for the Red Storm.

"It didn't work out at St. John's," Kingston said. "I just wanted to get out of there. I was uncomfortable with the style of play. We played a more defensive style of soccer. We didn't score many goals."

Kingston did not enjoy playing on Astroturf and did not click with St. John's coach Dave Masur.

"We didn't communicate well," said Kingston, who scored three goals for the Red Storm. "I didn't know my role. I was always guessing.

"I got my release after the season and called Tom (Noonan). He's become a mentor to me. I found it pretty appealing to rejoin many of my SCI teammates at UIS. So, I'm back for my last year of college soccer."

The recruits join returning Prairie Stars Brian Bauer and Bektas Bilgilisoy in the middle, strikers Piper Lee and Flavius Ardelean, and defenders Gerardo Campos and Ahmet Hayat. Also returning are Ambrose and Troppa, Gabe Teeter, Ismail Yakici and Muzaffer Tabag.

Lee led the Prairie Stars with 21 goals last year.

"We won't have the numbers," Gonulsen said, "but we have enough to be very, very, good."

TITLE: POLICE BEAT

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Saturday, June 21, 1997

Edition: M1.

Section: LOCAL

Page: 7

o An angry motorist allegedly drove to a Springfield car dealership and hit an employee with a stick.

Police said Anthony P. Campo , 29, of Loami arrived about 9:45 a.m. Friday at Landmark Ford, 1800 S. Dirksen Parkway. He allegedly got out of his car and began yelling for a 35-year-old employee.

When the man approached to speak to Campo , Campo allegedly struck the victim with a 2-foot brown stick. The blow raised a welt on the victim's elbow, but he did not require medical treatment, police said.

Campo allegedly drove away from the car lot but later called police and made arrangements to turn himself in at a retail store in the 1200 block of South Dirksen. He was arrested on suspicion of aggravated battery.

Police said the alleged attack stemmed from a personal matter between the two men.

Campo appeared Friday afternoon in Sangamon County court and was released on his own recognizance

Blankenship – terry campo prez YR’s –

Greg blankenship= Illinois policy Inst – dc address, chi

Greg blankenship is a cousin of terry campo

(greg blankenship friends with Bill cellini jr. – doc)

Greg was Ssgt, ING, when at 96’ san diego conv.

[at san diego R’ convention in 1996]

Many events filmed by saltz for afl-cio “independent media center” at 96 convention Were norquist events

Afl-cio Internship set-up in 96, sent me to san diego

Suspect YR’s heavily involved in harassment, ie schweska llcc YR prez and see schweska SPD timeline and “retirement”

OBITUARIES

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Thursday, March 9, 2006

Section: LOCAL

Page: 28

Richard T. Blankenship

SPRINGFIELD - Richard "Dick" Tony Blankenship, 66, of Springfield died Monday, March 6, 2006, at Passavant Area Hospital in Jacksonville.

He was born July 29, 1939, in Quincy, the son of Kenneth Floyd and Ruth Edwards Blankenship. He married Margaret Ann "Peg" Robb in 1963 in Murphysboro.

Mr. Blankenship was a veteran of the U.S. Army National Guard.

He worked for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

Survivors: wife, Margaret; son, Greg Blankenship of Springfield; daughter, Kara (husband, Aaron) Walz of Champaign; four grandchildren; stepmother, Mae Blankenship of Springfield; brother, Mike (wife, Laura) Blankenship of Las Vegas; and three sisters, Trish (husband, Dave) O'Shea, Kathy (husband, Randy) Herr and Mary (husband, Don) Chance, all of Springfield.

Cremation was accorded by the Cremation Tribute Center.

TITLE: WEDDINGS

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Sunday, October 29, 1989

Gross--Hutchinson Dorothy Ann Hutchinson and Jason Jeffrey Gross, both of Springfield, were united in marriage at 4 p.m. Sept. 23 at Washington Park. The Rev. Donald McPeek officiated.

The bride is the daughter of Mrs. B.D. Hutchinson of Godrey. Her father is deceased. The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Gross of Springfield.

Maid of honor was Shelley Hutchinson, with Amy Gross, Bernadette Bonner and Laura Dickinson serving as bridesmaids. Flower girl was Miranda Jones.

Best man was Keith Ramey. Other members of the groom's wedding party were Bill Cellini Jr., Mark Schaffer, Greg Blankenship , Chris Pemberton, John and Joshua Wisely.

A reception was held at 624 West.

The bride is administrative director/director of public relations for the Illinois Association of Community Mental Health Agencies. The groom is manager of Dick Blick Art Supplies in Decatur.

The couple will live in Springfield.

Bernard Schoenburg: Policy institute has new top staffer

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Sunday, April 12, 2009

Author/Byline: THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER

Section: opinions

An Illinois-based free-market think tank founded in 2002 has a new top Springfield staffer and now has a budget of more than $1 million annually.

The Illinois Policy Institute also has been doing its best to be a player in state government, as it opposes tax increases that have been proposed by Gov. PAT QUINN.

It's new Springfield-based executive vice president is KRISTINA RASMUSSEN, 25, who has moved to Illinois after working 3½ years for the National Taxpayers Union in Washington, D.C., where she was director of government affairs.

"We're an organization that supports the ideas behind limited government and liberty, and, for example, how Illinois can balance its budget without relying on a tax hike," Rasmussen said. "We provide the good ideas that legislators can choose to run with, if they so desire."

On its Web site, www.illinoispolicyinstitute.org, among solutions to a budget hole in the billions are establishing the need for a three-fifths majority of the General Assembly to pass tax increases, creating an independent commission of business leaders to make specific recommendations to consolidate or eliminate duplicative, outdated or ineffective programs and calling on the legislature to vote the full package up or down at one time, and calling for lawmakers to offset the expense of any new spending program by eliminating an existing program.

And while Quinn says that 5 million people would get tax relief even with the higher base income-tax rate he wants because of a tripling of the personal exemption to $6,000, the institute has countered with calculations for families without a lot of kids. For example, the institute says, a couple earning more than $28,000 annually would pay higher taxes, and a household of four with income over $56,000 would pay higher taxes.

MARCELYN LOVE, spokeswoman for the governor's office of Management and Budget, calls the institute's calculations incorrect, and provides it's own at a Web site, www.budget

.illinois.gov/taxcalculator.htm. At that site, the couple would pay $34 less under Quinn's plan, and the family of four would pay $67 less.

"The governor believes the current tax system is outdated," Love said. "He wants to reform the tax code in a way that helps families and accounts for the rate of inflation."

Rasmussen notes that the administration's calculator bases the tax on adjusted gross income estimated to be 92 percent of income, which she said could wrongly show lower taxes for some.

"We think that this is somewhat misleading because adjusted gross income will be different for everybody, depending on their income sources as well as the deductions and credits they choose to take," she said. "We thought the fairest number to use would just be 100 percent of income."

Rasmussen, who is not related to the namesake of a national polling company, is a Minnesota native with a political science degree from what was then Randolph-Macon Woman's College, and is now Randolph College, Lynchburg, Va., and has a master's from the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University, Washington, D.C. Her husband, HENRIK RASMUSSEN, is originally from Denmark, and while he made the move to Springfield as well, he remains a public affairs consultant with a Washington, D.C., firm, helping companies interested in doing business in Europe.

The Illinois Policy Institute's chairman and CEO is now JOHN TILLMAN, who is among staffers based in Chicago. In Springfield, Rasmussen is joined by COLLIN HITT, director of education policy.

In addition to government budgeting and taxes, Rasmussen said another key issue is transparency. It wants all state expenditures to be online, for example.

Rasmussen said the 2009 budget for the institute is more than $1 million - but the source of that money isn't something the organization is transparent about. "That's something actually we don't disclose because some of our donors are concerned that they could face political repercussions if their support became known," she said. "Their right to privacy is protected by nonprofit law. We do respect that."

She pointed out that government money is from taxpayers, while institute money is from private sources.

The institute was started in 2002 by GREG BLANKENSHIP , 41, a Springfield native who had been in Washington, D.C., but returned to Illinois' capital city to get the think tank going. He had been president of the organization, and according to the institute's tax-exempt filing with the Internal Revenue Service for 2007, he was paid $72,666 that year. Rasmussen declined to say what she is paid now.

In November, Blankenship filed paperwork to incorporate a different group, the Illinois Alliance for Growth. That group's mission, as told on its Web site, www.all4growth.org, is to protect taxpayers from higher taxes and hold government at the state and federal levels accountable. It does this through advocacy of lower taxes and more open, transparent government."

Blankenship said his new group, unlike the institute, is allowed to lobby. Back in 2007, Blankenship hosted a speech by GROVER NORQUIST, president of Washington, D.C.-based Americans for Tax Reform, in Springfield.

"Grover for years has been whispering in my ear" to start the kind of group that can lobby, Blankenship said. "You can be much more aggressive."

Blankenship said he got some startup money from the National Taxpayers Union for the new group.

"We've doubled the size of limited-government groups in Springfield," Blankenship said. "There are two now."

Rasmussen said a lot of people asked why she moved from the nation's capital to Springfield.

"I am loving it," she said. "Traffic; there is none. People are very friendly. I feel like the small businesses I patronize, you get to meet the owners and establish a relationship. And people are just a little more open, a little more friendly. I'm from the Midwest, so I love being kind of back in this smaller-town culture.

"D.C. is a very hectic, fast-paced, transitory culture," she said. So Springfield is "very attractive to me."

She said that as a private citizen, she called her new legislators - state Sen. LARRY BOMKE, R-Springfield, and state Rep. RICH BRAUER, R-Petersburg, and was called back.

"They spent time speaking with me," she said. "And I thought it was so refreshing. ... I haven't always gotten that where I lived."

She doesn't claim a political party, saying she is "committed to ideas," but did say it would be awkward to vote in a primary here.

"It's the first time I've ever lived in a state where they have a closed primary," she said, and the voter has to ask for a certain party's ballot, making that party choice part of the public record.

Sowing the Seeds of GOP Domination - Conservative Norquist Cultivates Grass Roots Beyond the Beltway

Washington Post - Monday, January 12, 2004

Author/Byline: Laura Blumenfeld, Washington Post Staff Writer

Edition: F

Section: A Section

Page: A1

In a noisy corner of Harry's Tap Room, two men huddled over a map of the United States. They spoke in quiet voices:

"Tennessee will be run by Steve."

"West Virginia -- we have three people."

"North Dakota is tough. You talked to Michigan?"

Diners brushed past the men unaware, as Ken Mehlman and Grover Norquist hopscotched across state lines, refining what Norquist calls, with a wink, "our secret plan to seize power." Mehlman, the Bush-Cheney campaign manager, and Norquist, gardener of the conservative grass roots, were discussing a new tactic for the 2004 election: The campaign would activate the conservative base as it never had before.

Norquist, 47, is known for his weekly strategy sessions of conservatives, a Washington institution. But quietly, for the past five years, he also has been building a network of "mini-Grover" franchises. He has crisscrossed the country, hand-picking leaders, organizing meetings of right-wing advocates in 37 states. The network will meet its first test in the presidential race. On this evening at Harry's, several blocks from campaign headquarters in Arlington, Norquist presented his master contact list to Mehlman, mapped out and bound in a book.

"Fabulous, Grover. Awesome," Mehlman said, scanning the book like a hungry man reading a menu. "We're going to take that energy and harness it."

The binder was Norquist's gift to the presidential race. His aspirations, though, extend far beyond the White House. Congress, governorships, state legislatures, the media, the courts -- Norquist has a programming plan, and it is all Republican, all the time. Norquist closes his letters, "Onward." He takes the mission so seriously, he has named a successor in his will. Socially, he is often introduced as the head of the vast right-wing conspiracy. He accepts the title with a faint blush.

"He is an impresario of the center-right," the president's strategist, Karl Rove, said in an interview. Rove said Norquist's activists helped President Bush push trade promotion, tax cuts, judicial nominees and tort reform, among other items. "They've been out there slogging for us in the trenches."

They gather every Wednesday morning in a boardroom of Americans for Tax Reform. Norquist is president of the anti-tax group. The shades are down, the lights are weak, yet an incandescent assuredness infuses the room. A hundred and twenty people mill around, eating bagels, distributing talking points, exchanging business cards and tips. They are lobbyists, analysts, senior White House and Hill staffers, advocates for property rights, gun ownership and traditional values. There are never enough chairs. The air is as warm as a hatchery.

"Guys, could you all please be seated," Norquist said on a recent Wednesday. " 'Cause as usual, we have a fun-filled, action-packed, spine-tingling agenda."

The sessions are by invitation only, and off the record. A Washington Post reporter was allowed access on the condition that no participant would be quoted without permission.

One week, Norquist called on Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) to speak. "Thank you all," Frist said, rising. He smiled at men with American flags on their lapels, at women who have driven around tornadoes to attend meetings. He addressed them in a manner a man might use with his guard dog, mixing appreciation, condescension and a note of fear. Ever since the conservative base turned on George H.W. Bush and he was defeated for reelection in 1992, the Republican leadership has been wary of its bite.

"I understand that it takes all of you to get this far," Frist said. A member asked Frist about passing legislation with a 51-seat majority.

"I'm in the business of recruitment," Frist said, of the 2004 Senate elections. "I need to net up three folks."

In the meantime, Norquist offered to lobby senators on specific issues: "Let us know about votes. We'll see if we can get you three more good guys."

Political pressure is the intended outcome of every meeting. Although members represent disparate causes, Norquist said, "they play nicely together." He calls it the "leave us alone" coalition. Unlike groups on the left, which fight among themselves for government aid, he said, the right unites over its disdain for government.

Norquist sits in the middle of the table, ticking down a list of presenters. His features are pointy and directional, giving him a look of forward momentum. His eyebrows appear to be blown back by a headwind. In rapid succession, people take the microphone and make their appeal.

On the estate tax: "Let's team up," urged Richard Patten, executive director of the American Family Business Institute. "We can amplify our separate armies and kill the death tax."

On judicial nominees: "Blast-fax your media list," said Kerri Houston, vice president of policy at Frontiers of Freedom. "If this thing doesn't blow a hole through the Beltway, we're in big trouble."

After a presentation by Matt Schlapp, the White House director for political affairs, David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, exclaimed, "This is an administration that cares not just about the president, but about all the other races. I've never seen such coordination."

Coordination, though, assumes cooperation. For those who do not cooperate, Norquist plays enforcer. Democrats are "bad guys," but errant Republicans are "evil." When the House voted to pass school vouchers in September, Norquist growled, "Who voted wrong on that?" A Hill staff member distributed the Republican blacklist. On the Internet access tax vote, he targeted two Republican senators from Tennessee and Ohio: "We're trying to get [Lamar] Alexander and [George] Voinovich to behave. Any advice appreciated."

When Alabama Gov. Bob Riley (R) tried to pass a state tax increase, Norquist helped defeat it. "We're going to keep him on life support," he said. "We'll put him in a freezer, as an example." He gave the Alabama state party chairman an award for opposing the hike. Instead of a plaque, Norquist sent him a sword with a steel blade. Even presidents have felt his wrath. Norquist first organized the Wednesday meetings in 1993 to galvanize opposition to Bill Clinton's health care plan. He keeps a rubber stamp by his desk, "Find Him and Kill Him." Near it, he has taped a yellowing scrap on which he had written: "Oct. 12, 1987. Bush: 'I won't raise your taxes, period.' " Norquist still condemns the first President Bush for breaking that promise.

He criticized George W. Bush's policies as well, when Bush was governor of Texas. But since Bush has become president, Norquist has muted his disapproval. Paul Weyrich, another conservative leader, said the younger Bush has earned the base's respect: "I have worked with administrations going back to Nixon. These people are more responsive than any other White House."

Liberals offer less favorable interpretations of Norquist's support for the administration. "He's a crass hypocrite," said Leon Wieseltier, an editor at the New Republic. "He won't attack the president because it would be imprudent to be intellectually honest with the king. He's a Washington grotesque -- a man who has created a successful character in a tacky sitcom, and he doesn't want to hurt his ratings."

Norquist treats speakers from the White House deferentially. Although political candidates are put on the spot -- "What's your stand on guns and babies [abortion]?" -- Cabinet members and other senior officials are not. After introducing Daniel Sutherland, the Department of Homeland Security's officer of civil rights and civil liberties, Norquist cocked his head: "Explain to us, are we for this or against this?"

When Joshua B. Bolten, director of the Office of Management and Budget, came, Norquist asked, "For those of us on the outside, when someone sticks a mike in our face and says, 'Spending is up! You guys on the right are failing,' what are the talking points?"

Bolten rattled off the budget statistics that he could use.

Yet under Bush, the largest budget surplus in history has become the largest deficit in history. In the past, Norquist has said he wants to shrink government "down to the size where you could drown it in a bathtub." Now, glancing up at Bolten, Norquist ventured politely: "Is there a single agency you want to get rid of? It would be really helpful for us to say, 'This administration wants to get rid of . . . ' "

Norquist's conversion from ideological outsider to member of the establishment reflects a broader transformation in the movement. One Wednesday morning, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, Norquist's comrade in the Republican revolution of 1994, walked into the boardroom. He smiled at Norquist, his tongue resting on his lip, like a boy who was about to misbehave.

"Health," Gingrich began his pitch, "is one of the great opportunities for conservatism."

Congress was voting on the Medicare bill that week. For the next 15 minutes, Gingrich tried to convince the audience that the proposal, the greatest entitlement expansion in a generation, was good for the conservative cause. The reception was mixed.

"Be positive. Let the other side be nasty," Gingrich said, a shade pinker than when he had entered the room. His message: If you want to hold on to power, you cannot be purists. "The best way to beat Hillary [Clinton] is to build our base. Shrink hers." He licked his bottom lip: "Then we can crush her."

While he spoke, three groups circulated petitions opposing the Medicare proposition. Others grumbled that Gingrich was taking this view because his new Center for Health Transformation was funded by health care companies.

Some conservatives have stopped attending the meetings because, they say, the institution has "gone Beltway." Now that Republicans are in power, the emphasis has shifted from ideology to lobbying for rich clients, they say. At one session, former representative Bob Livingston (R-La.) promoted a telecom client. At another, former Oklahoma governor Frank Keating (R) talked to the audience as president of the American Council of Life Insurers. One coalition dropout dismissed Norquist as a "homo economicus" -- driven by market forces rather than by social issues.

And yet Norquist's bachelor townhouse bears evidence of a man whose ideological core is hard. The art in his living room is early Ronald Reagan. His Costco-brand shirts hang in a closet under a picture of former Senate leader Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.) signing a no-tax pledge.

He is often described as an eccentric. For a bedside table, Norquist uses a giant green canister for Kraft parmesan cheese. He displays what he hopes will be the world's largest collection of airsickness bags. At staff meetings, employees say, he holds court while variously sitting on a giant red plastic ball, eating tuna from a can, rubbing his feet against a massager and sniffing hand lotion as he kneads it into his fingers. He excuses himself to go to "the ladies room."

His manner is charming, though bitterness creeps into his voice when he talks about classmates at Harvard, where he attended college ('78) and business school ('81). As a Republican, Norquist felt isolated among the students, whom he calls "Bolsheviks." At a reunion in the early 1990s, he said, he told a classmate: "For 40 years we fought a two-front war against the Soviet Union and state-ism. Now we can turn all our time and energy to crushing you. With the Soviet Union, it was just business. With you, it's personal."

He leaves the impression that perhaps some of the 18 hours a day he devotes to establishing a permanent Republican majority has to do with punishing college tormenters. As for being socially awkward, his mother had advised him when he was growing up in Weston, Mass., to "dance with the wallflowers." If you do, she said, you will be at the center of things.

That is how Norquist spends his days -- dancing with wallflowers. He cultivates state legislators, whom others overlook, working them like a farm team for Congress. He organizes events to bring nontraditional groups into the Republican tent: Indians, gays, single women. Some conservatives have attacked him for his outreach to Arab and Muslim Americans, charging that he has embraced radicals with ties to terrorism. Administration officials, including Rove, have said there is no truth to the allegations.

Other conservatives offered reasons of their own for avoiding him. One called his meeting "a freak show" that is "intellectually insulting." Another said he "represents a rare level of vitriol and suspicion." Many dismiss him as a media creation, a showman who is better at generating press than political results. None would speak for the record. His friends said this was proof that his detractors speak out of jealousy.

"He's the engine that empowers us all," said Gary Maloney, a Republican consultant and friend. "I call him up and say, 'What should I think?' "

Now he's focusing on the "mini-Grover" state coalition meetings and their role in the presidential campaign. In Maine, organizers bake cranberry muffins. In Hawaii, members fly in from all the islands. In Texas, participants are so boisterous they limit meetings to a single issue. A precursor of the group in New Mexico had to be shut down after it was taken over by conspiracy theorists who believed black helicopters from the United Nations were moving people around at night.

Norquist issued meeting guidelines, including: "No gossiping. No whining. No rambling discourses or philosophical discussions. We know we are hard core." Whether they are religious activists, home-schoolers or business advocates, participants find a place where they can joke about being "extremists" and "rabid right-wingers." Greg Blankenship , leader of the Illinois group, said it was a relief in his liberal state to assemble with like-minded conservatives: "I guess you could say I live in enemy-occupied territory."

The gatherings in one New England state are so effective, they place stories in the local media four or five times a week. "No one knows it's the coalition doing it because there is no publicity of the meetings," the leader wrote in an internal memo. "I don't know how much longer we can operate below the radar."

During a monthly conference call with the state meeting leaders, Norquist asked the Vermont representative for dirt on the former governor, Howard Dean, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. "It would be extremely helpful for you to get the information out," Norquist said. "So people around the country have talking points on Dean."

Democrats used to anger him, Norquist said. He's past angry now. "Do you get mad at cancer? We'll defeat and crush their institutions, and the trial lawyers will go sell pizza. We're not going to hang them. Most of the people on the left will be happy in Grover's world. I feel about the left the way [Donald H.] Rumsfeld felt about the Iraqis."

And after Norquist purges the United States, there is the rest of the world. He says this with the confidence of a man who uses a black laundry marker as a pen. He has helped start Wednesday meetings in Canada, New Zealand, England and Japan. He has learned to be patient: "I now understand you can't just explain to the idiots how to do it and to see it your way, because they're too foolish to see it."

Norquist knows he will survive politically, as sure as he outlived Reagan and Gingrich. He will always be relevant, he said, because he embodies the issue that unifies Republicans: lower taxes.

The plan -- The Plan -- in all its detail turns round in his head when he climbs into bed at midnight. "You're Bush and you're trying to get reelected," Norquist said he was thinking. "What should you do?" A framed copy of Bush's '02 State of the Union address hangs across from his bed. A Bush-Cheney '04 contribution envelope lies next to him, along with a black machete from Malawi.

As he goes to sleep, he rehearses lines for speeches and opinion columns. Lately, he has been working on an article about the presidential race: "A cornered rat fights. The left is playing for its life, and will fight harder than anyone on the right sees. . . . " The words keep marching -- onward -- until he loses consciousness.

CAMPO HEAD OF DELEGATES FOR FORBES CAMPAIGN

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Thursday, December 28, 1995

Author/Byline: BERNARD SCHOENBURG STAFF WRITER

Edition: M1,M2

Section: LOCAL

Page: 3

Springfield lawyer Terry Campo is leading a central Illinois slate of delegate candidates supporting Malcolm "Steve" Forbes Jr. as the Republican

candidate for president.

Campo, a Springfield lawyer who unsuccessfully sought the GOP nomination in the 20th Congressional District in 1994, said Wednesday he likes Forbes' message. "He's the only candidate that's really gaining ground" in the GOP field, Campo said.

Even if U.S. Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas, now considered the front-runner, gets the nomination, Campo said, a strong Forbes showing could influence the debate.

Forbes is pushing a flat-rate income tax, and Campo said Forbes could lead the country in "major, fundamental changes." "Even my friends who are working for Dole, a lot of them seriously question whether he can win," Campo said.

Campo is being paid as a consultant to the Forbes campaign, organizing slates of delegate candidates in four congressional districts. Campo said it was his own decision to become one of the candidates.

Larry Horist of Chicago, Illinois coordinator of Forbes for President, said all 59 elective delegate slots and at least 52 alternate slots have been filled.

Forbes is president of Forbes Inc., which publishes Forbes magazine.

In the 20th Congressional District, Campo, former national chairman of Young Republicans, is joined on the delegate slate by Carol A. Dart of Springfield, a business and public affairs consultant, and Robert J. Walters of Bethalto, a former member of the Illinois House who is president of the Southwestern Illinois Industrial Association.

In the 18th Congressional District, Forbes delegate candidates are Andrew N. Dowling of Springfield, an Ameritech Cellular Communications executive and past president of CrimeStoppers of Sangamon and Menard counties; John G. Sohn of Peoria, vice president and general council of CILCORP; Laura Otten of Washington, a Tazewell County assistant state's attorney; and Greg Blankenship of Springfield, a staff sergeant in the Illinois Air National Guard.

Candidates for alternates *at the San Diego convention from the 20th are Mark Pettyjohn of Rochester, owner of Travelers' Insurance of Central Illinois; Scott A. Sabin of Springfield, lawyer and vice chairman of the Springfield Community Relations Commission; and Jeffrey A. Weenes of Peoria, marketing manager of the Westfall Co., an insurance firm.

Alternate delegate candidates from the 18th for Forbes are Byron Farrell of Godfrey, president of Helmcamp Inc., a construction company, and former national chairman of the Associated General Contractors of America; Charles Barenfanger of Vandalia, president of Barenfanger Inc., a construction and railroad management company; and Amy Peterson, a paralegal in Springfield.

Policy group plans luncheon / Head of Americans for Tax Reform to be speaker at fundraiser

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Author/Byline: BERNARD SCHOENBURG POLITICAL WRITER

Section: CITY/STATE

Page: 6

Grover Norquist, president of Washington, D.C.-based Americans for Tax Reform, will be here next week to speak at a luncheon hosted by the Springfield-based Illinois Policy Institute.

Norquist, an early booster of George W. Bush for president, is considered a leading proponent of tax limitation and one of the most influential organizers of the modern conservative movement.

"I don't want to abolish" government, he once said. "I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub."

The $100-per-person luncheon at noon Monday at The Inn at 835 will mark the five-year anniversary of the institute. It also is a fundraiser for the group, said Greg Blankenship , its president and founder.

Norquist will speak on the continuing need for fiscal responsibility in Illinois.

"We wanted to have Grover in because he has probably been our most outspoken supporter both in the state of Illinois and in Washington as we have developed this organization," Blankenship said.

Blankenship said his group, which he defined as "center-right" politically, shares many beliefs with Norquist's organization, including opposition to increased taxes.

"The one thing that we really agree on is that we just want government to leave us alone," Blankenship said.

He said Norquist's group helped the Springfield-based institute begin a weekly conference call with activists from around the state, including "home-schoolers to gun-rights advocates to social conservatives" as well as anti-tax conservatives.

"I've been hosting that call for five years," Blankenship said. "Once or twice a year, Grover will join us and find out what's going on in the state."

The institute has three full-time employees - Blankenship and Collin Hitt, director of education and policy reform, in Springfield, plus John Tillman, who lives in suburban Chicago, as chairman and CEO.

Abdul-Hakim Shabazz, a radio talk-show host in Indianapolis who had a similar job in Springfield, is a visiting fellow working in the area of legal reform.

Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform is a coalition of taxpayer groups, individuals and businesses opposed to higher taxes at all levels, according to the organization's Web site. ATR seeks to have candidates sign a taxpayer-protection pledge to oppose all tax increases.

However, ATR also has been accused of serving as a conduit between disgraced former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff and various grassroots lobbying efforts.

Abramoff, a longtime friend and political ally of Norquist, pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy, mail fraud and tax evasion. Norquist has denied any wrongdoing.

Norquist serves on the board of the National Rifle Association, is a contributing editor of American Spectator magazine and is on the board of directors of the American Conservative Union.

Tickets to the Monday luncheon can be obtained by calling Blankenship at 544-4759. The event is expected to last 90 minutes.

Norquist's 'liberty agenda' / National anti-tax crusader addresses Springfield luncheon

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Author/Byline: BERNARD SCHOENBURG POLITICAL WRITER

Section: NEWS

Page: 1

National anti-tax activist Grover Norquist told a Springfield audience Monday that there is a battle going on between liberty and more government spending and intrusion.

Norquist, president of the Washington-based Americans for Tax Reform, told a $100-a-plate luncheon for the Illinois Policy Institute, a Springfield-based think tank, that in the struggle over the role of government in America, he's part of the "center-right" coalition that has a "liberty agenda" of being left alone.

That coalition, he said, takes in "the Reagan Republican Party," including some independents and Democrats; taxpayers who don't want higher taxes; businesspeople who don't like regulation; believers in Second Amendment gun rights; and "people who want to ... transmit their faith to their children without the state throwing prophylactics at their kids in school."

Different members of the coalition may have different interests, he said, but "we agree that everybody should be free."

On the other side, Norquist said, is the "takings coalition - people who view the proper role of government as taking things from some people and giving them to others."

They include, he said, "the trial lawyers, the labor unions, the big-city political machines, the two wings of the dependency movement - those people who are locked into welfare dependency (and) those people who make $90,000 a year managing the dependency of other people, making sure none of them get jobs and become Republicans."

Norquist, speaking to about 50 people at The Inn at 835, said his organization believes politicians should take anti-tax pledges.

"If we do our job correctly and put our foot on the air hose, and if we say no new taxes ... then everybody on the takings coalition sitting around that table begins to look at each other like the second-to-the-last scene in the lifeboat movies; they're wondering who they're going to throw overboard or who they're going to eat, because the left is not made up of friends and allies. It is made up of competing parasites.

"... And the takings coalition, when they get hungry, can be very desperate and very mean and very powerful and hurt people who get in between them and your money."

Norquist said there are strong spending pressures on politicians in Washington and Springfield, and groups that fight tax increases, such as the Illinois Policy Institute, need to provide the "exoskeletons" to "not bend when that pressure comes."

Since it began in the mid-1980s, the anti-tax movement has been fortified, Norquist said, by the explosion in the number of people who own stock, through mutual funds, 401(k) plans, Individual Retirement Accounts and other financial instruments. Now, he said, when politicians talk of taxing corporations, "It's a little easier to say to people, 'They're taxing your retirement. They're taxing you.' "

Norquist, who is a Republican, said his favorite Democratic candidate for president is Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York.

"She frightens every part of the leave-us-alone coalition," Norquist said.

But he also said that in order to beat well-financed candidates John Edwards and Barack Obama, Clinton will have to use a figurative "baseball bat" - which he thinks she will do.

"She'll look mean and mean-spirited and left wing when she's finished taking care of those two guys ... which is how she wanted to not start the presidential race," Norquist said.

He didn't name a favorite GOP candidate, saying they are "all generally moving in the right direction" on taxes, and "the one of them that most looks and sounds like (Ronald) Reagan, that doesn't have a glass jaw, and when you shake him, any skeletons that come out are non-threatening skeletons - that's the one I want."

Norquist said his group favors "a single rate that taxes income one time," such as a flat-rate income tax or a retail sales tax.

He also told reporters that government should be more transparent and that he likes a trend in some areas of putting budgets and contracts on the Internet in ways that the public can search and find specific expenditures.

On health care, Norquist thinks many states, including Illinois, could cut costs by removing requirements that specific types of treatments be covered. That would allow consumers more choice of the coverage they want. He said he doesn't think Americans want a system like Canada's, where he said care is nationalized but rationed, so people have to wait for certain procedures.

"People don't flee the United States and go to Canada to get health care," he said. "It goes the other way."

Asked about Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Norquist said he'd heard of "his drive this past year to dramatically increase taxes," which he said would be "pushing Illinois even further in a direction that's been harmful."

Blagojevich this spring unsuccessfully sought a gross-receipts tax on business to increase health-care spending.

"You can reform government or you can pay for what you've been doing without additional thought, and he seems to be in the second category," said Norquist, who thinks politicians should re-examine if existing programs are needed before adding new ones.

Illinois House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, at the invitation of Illinois Family Institute president and founder Greg Blankenship , introduced Norquist, calling him one of the architects of the "very, very successful Republican revolution" of 1994.

Caption: Grover Norquist, left, speaks with Zakary Davis after addressing an Illinois Policy Institute luncheon Monday.

Groups: Budget full of 'wasteful spending'

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Thursday, April 10, 2008

Author/Byline: GATEHOUSE NEWS SERVICE

Section: LOCAL

Page: 10

Illinois' state budget for the current fiscal year is loaded with hundreds of millions of dollars in "wasteful spending," two organizations said in releasing the 2008 Illinois Piglet Book on Wednesday.

"Constantly, we are told we are in a crisis," said Greg Blankenship , director of the Illinois Policy Institute, which issued the report along with Citizens Against Government Waste.

Yet at the same time, state government somehow manages to find money for pork-barrel projects, Blankenship said at a state Capitol news conference.

State officials should fund true priorities, such as a capital program, before they set aside money for other types of items, such as $550,000 for the conservation of pheasants, he added.

The report identifies $686 million in wasteful spending, singling out such expenditures as:

* $1 million for the Illinois film office in Chicago.

* $40,000 for the Springfield Figure Skating Club.

* $35,000 for the Prairie Aviation Museum for a display gallery in Bloomington.

* $156,000 to refurnish cabins at the Touch of Nature Environmental Center at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.

fromDennis Delaney

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dateSat, Jan 31, 2009 at 5:20 PM

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Terry Campo, a lawyer and former chairman of the National Young Republicans organization,