Carpenter, Amanda cnn

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">incubator baby --> never trumper? Bulwark</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 7 222 no lnx twt</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In

the 2022 midterms, two statewide races in Pennsylvania that are being

closely watched are the U.S. Senate race — which finds Republican

nominee Mehmet Oz, a.k.a. Dr. Oz, up against Democratic Lt. Gov John

Fetterman — and a gubernatorial race in which Democratic State Attorney

General Josh Shapiro is hoping to defeat far-right State Sen. Doug

Mastriano, a “Stop the Steal” conspiracy theorist, Christian nationalist

and QAnon ally who is even to the right of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. Shapiro has been warning that <b>Mastriano’s views go way beyond conservatism; he is against democracy itself </b>— a view that Never Trump conservative Amanda Carpenter obviously shares.

In

an article published by The Bulwark on July 5, Carpenter lays out some

of the ways in which Mastriano’s platform is overtly anti-democracy.

“By

now, political junkies are familiar with the rucksack of

election-denying baggage that Pennsylvania GOP gubernatorial candidate

Doug Mastriano schleps around,” Carpenter explains. “He organized a faux

post-election legal hearing for Rudy Giuliani in Gettysburg; he asked

Congress to deny Pennsylvania’s electors; he spent thousands of campaign

funds busing people to the Capitol on Jan. 6th; he was filmed crossing

police barricades; some of his supporters were arrested for their

activities that day, and he visited Arizona to observe its disastrous

Cyber Ninjas audit in hopes of replicating it in Pennsylvania.”

Carpenter

continues, “Those are only the highlights of what Mastriano has done in

the past. But what about the future? People like Mastriano are never

going to let Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss go. If anything, Trump’s

‘Stop the Steal’ lies provide a pretext for actions intended to ensure

MAGA types win in future elections.”

The Never Trumper goes on to cite<b> specific elements of the “election takeover plan” that Mastriano has in mind for Pennsylvania.
</b>
Carpenter

warns, “His platform includes the following: loosening restrictions on

poll watchers to make it easier to challenge votes; repealing

vote-by-mail laws; appointing a fellow 2020 election-denier to be

secretary of state who could enable him to decertify every voting

machine ‘with a stroke of a pen’; forcing all Pennsylvania voters to

re-register; and defunding the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.”

As a Pennsylvania state senator, Carpenter observes, Mastriano has “promoted legislation to<b>

ban dropboxes and private funding for elections, as well as to

eliminate ‘no excuse’ mail-in voting and the permanent absentee voter

list.”</b>

“Mastriano’s potential powers as governor far exceed

that of a state senator when it comes to controlling Pennsylvania’s

elections,” Carpenter notes. “Unlike many other states where the

secretary of state is an elected position, in Pennsylvania, the governor

gets to make an appointment for the position. Mastriano already has his

pick in mind, and although he hasn’t provided a name, he has teased

that with this appointment and his powers, he could ‘decertify every

machine in the state with a stroke of a pen via the secretary of

state.’”

Carpenter points out that Mastriano’s proposal to “reset

the voter rolls and force all of Pennsylvania’s 9 million voters to

submit new voter applications to re-register to vote” would violate

“federal voting laws.”

“But that doesn’t deter Mastriano from

campaigning on it and may not prevent Gov. Mastriano from trying it —

and creating a massive tangle of legal problems in the face of looming

election deadlines,” Carpenter observes. “Where would those legal

challenges be decided? Most likely, in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

And for that, Mastriano has another idea in mind in case things don’t go

his way. If the state’s highest court doesn’t do as he pleases, he

thinks it should be defunded — which is something he’s called for after

the 2020 election.”

A USA Today/Suffolk poll released in mid-June

showed Shapiro leading Mastriano by only 4%, which is within the poll’s

margin of error.
<b>
“Only a few months ago, Mastriano was

considered a longshot to win the nomination, but under the radar, he

cultivated a devoted grass roots following, largely propelled by social

media, and overtook his opponents in the primary by an overwhelming

margin,</b>” Carpenter notes. “He ended up winning by a walloping 24

points. Mastriano did it all by riding on Trump’s lies about the 2020

election. Why? Because he sees a path for Republicans like him to win,

no matter what, up ahead. Don’t be surprised if he ends up doing exactly

what he said. He’s not hiding his plan, after all. He’s campaigning on

it!”
</font></div><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">amanda c</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.<b>thebulwark.</b>com/dinesh-dsouzas-2000-mules-is-a-hilarious-mockumentary/</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">di<span style="font-variant-ligatures: none;">nesh D’Souza’s </span><i style="font-variant-ligatures: none; box-sizing: border-box;">2000 Mules</i><span style="font-variant-ligatures: none;"> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: none;">is</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: none;"> </span><i style="font-variant-ligatures: none; box-sizing: border-box;">Plandemic</i><span style="font-variant-ligatures: none;"> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: none;">for election truthers. For the non-insane, it’s a hilarious mockumentary. Not that D’Souza cares what the non-insane think: He has discovered that there are enough suckers out there to keep him laughing all the way to the bank.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Released by the Salem Media Group,</b><i style="box-sizing: border-box;"><b> </b>2000 Mules</i> aspires to be a work of serious investigative reporting which will rock the foundations of American democracy. In reality, <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">2000 Mules </i>is an investigative documentary in roughly the same way <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Reno 911</i> was a hard-hitting look at real-life police work. Though that doesn’t mean that D’Souza’s cash-grab won’t further pollute the political system. For instance, Kari Lake, who can’t wait to get elected governor of Arizona so she can <a href="https://www.thebulwark.com/the-truth-according-to-kari-lake/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-decoration-color: rgb(208, 2, 27); transition: all 0.15s ease 0s;">jail her political opponents</a>, is <a href="https://twitter.com/KariLake/status/1524157792826761216" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-decoration-color: rgb(208, 2, 27); transition: all 0.15s ease 0s;">championing the film</a>—which ends with a plea for law enforcement to take up D’Souza’s cause.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Here’s the elevator pitch for <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">2000 Mules:</i> D’Souza’s buddies at <b>True the Vote spent $2 million on cellphone geotracking data</b>—which he describes as “digital DNA”—that they say proves “mules” were paid to illegally “traffick” thousands of ballots from non-profit “stash houses” into drop-off ballot boxes.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>All D’Souza really has—if the cellphone data is real and is really what he represents it as being—is some evidence that some people made frequent trips in areas around ballot drop-off boxes which, by design, were usually placed in heavily-traveled areas for convenience.</b> Putting that aside, who are these mules? Who paid them? Where is the evidence of people making repeated trips to illegally stuff drop-boxes with ballots? What non-profits were involved? These questions are not even asked, let alone answered, in the movie. The theory of the case relies almost entirely on digital maps with dots and squiggles, supposedly demonstrating the questionable movement of the “mules.” Boom-Diggity. All that’s left is for the FBI to take it from here. Or something.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">2000 Mules</i> doesn’t survive the most basic fact-checks to support its most important claims. See them <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/11/2000-mules-offers-least-convincing-election-fraud-theory-yet/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-decoration-color: rgb(208, 2, 27); transition: all 0.15s ease 0s;">here</a>, <a href="https://www.ajc.com/politics/what-2000-mules-leaves-out-from-ballot-harvesting-claims/FFMNUU56RVBRNOLZKWHUREQPEU/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-decoration-color: rgb(208, 2, 27); transition: all 0.15s ease 0s;">here</a>, <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2022/05/08/2000-mules-fact-check/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-decoration-color: rgb(208, 2, 27); transition: all 0.15s ease 0s;">here</a>, and <a href="https://www.politifact.com/article/2022/may/04/faulty-premise-2000-mules-trailer-about-voting-mai/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-decoration-color: rgb(208, 2, 27); transition: all 0.15s ease 0s;">here</a>.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> But, let’s stipulate that the film’s purpose isn’t really to present </span><i style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;">facts</i><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. Because if it were true that D’Souza had rock-solid evidence of widespread voter fraud in his possession, would a true patriot like him be selling that evidence for $29.99 per download? </span><i style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;">Bwahahaha</i><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. (In defense of D’Souza, that $29.99 was only the premium VOD price. This week he dropped it to $19.99 to buy or just $14.99 to rent. <b>Or you can get the movie free by purchasing an annual subscription to his Rumble channel!</b>)</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It’s better to view the film as a performance piece, a comedic triumph where the joke is on the rubes gullible enough to give D’Souza their money.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">some quick backstory: The people behind True the Vote—Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips–have been unsuccessfully hunting the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/02/voter-fraud-loch-ness-monster-republicans-trump-benjamin-ginsberg" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-decoration-color: rgb(208, 2, 27); transition: all 0.15s ease 0s;">Loch Ness Monster of voter fraud</a> for <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">many</i> years.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> After the 2016 election, Phillips claimed he “verified” that more than 3 million votes were illegally cast by “non-citizens.”</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Piggybacking on Phillips, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/gregg-phillips-trump-voter-fraud/515046/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-decoration-color: rgb(208, 2, 27); transition: all 0.15s ease 0s;">Trump launched a “Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity” to pursue this and other claims</a>. Chaired by Vice President Mike Pence and former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the commission ultimately found no evidence of widespread voter fraud and disbanded without ever producing a report. (Since producing such a report would contradict Trump’s kooky allies.)</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">After the 2020 election, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/true-vote-lawsuit-fraud-eshelman/2021/02/15/a7017adc-6724-11eb-886d-5264d4ceb46d_story.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-decoration-color: rgb(208, 2, 27); transition: all 0.15s ease 0s;">True the Vote sought $7 million</a> to chase down new voter fraud stories and shop them to GOP consultants in hopes of getting some courtroom or member of Congress to take them seriously. But even in the cluster that was the Kraken #StopTheSteal show, they had no takers. It was such a disaster that one of True the Vote’s biggest donors, who gifted the organization $2.5 million, took the group to court to get <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/true-vote-lawsuit-fraud-eshelman/2021/02/15/a7017adc-6724-11eb-886d-5264d4ceb46d_story.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-decoration-color: rgb(208, 2, 27); transition: all 0.15s ease 0s;">his money back</a>, citing their failed efforts.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">All of which goes to say that True the Vote’s tall tales are too dumb even for its biggest supporters to go along with anymore. D’Souza, however, is happy to scrape up the bullshit and repackage it for the direct-to-consumer market.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>some of the film’s funniest moments come when D’Souza summons his fellow Salem Media Group talkers—Dennis Prager, Eric Metaxes, Seb Gorka, and Charlie Kirk—for a meeting of the minds to discuss their thoughts about election fraud before and after viewing D’Souza’s movie</b>.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The “before” meeting amounts to an assortment of pronouncements about how none of these very fine people believe that Biden won. They cite the massive turnout in the election, GOP success down-ballot, Trump’s ability to draw large crowds, and apparent popularity in the face of withering media coverage</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Kirk offers that “millions of Americans know something went wrong, and they have little pieces, and no one’s really put it together.” Prager, somewhat of an outlier in the group, says he wants someone to “show me the proof” of fraud. Which sets the stage for D’Souza to helpfully put the pieces together.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The movie draws heavy suspicions about people who dropped off ballots early in the morning, wore gloves to drop off ballots, and took photos of drop boxes. All this is drummed up as proof of nefarious activity captured on surveillance video. Coupled with the True the Vote’s geotracking data, the viewer is led to believe these were the “mules” making repeat trips to unnamed non-profit offices to collect ballots and “traffick” them to drop boxes. One problem: They have no video showing these individuals making repeat trips to said non-profits or drop locations, or evidence they were paid to do so. Also, one of the so-called “mules” presented in the film has already been investigated by <a href="https://www.ajc.com/politics/what-2000-mules-leaves-out-from-ballot-harvesting-claims/FFMNUU56RVBRNOLZKWHUREQPEU/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-decoration-color: rgb(208, 2, 27); transition: all 0.15s ease 0s;">Georgia</a> officials and no evidence of wrongdoing was found.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>No matter. Engelbrecht and Phillips make their presentation to the group and the guys jump on the clips accordingly. What Salem wants, Salem gets.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Questioning why someone would drop off ballots late at night or early in the morning is a common refrain, even though drop boxes were implemented precisely so voters could drop off their ballots any time they chose. For this, these unnamed individuals are depicted as dangerous people. Phillips described them as “not grandma out walking her dog.” They have “bad backgrounds, bad reputations, we’ve had encounters with several who are not terribly positive.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“Violent guys?” D’Souza asked.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“Can be,” Phillips replied. “They are interested in one thing, that’s money.”</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But even the Salem hosts seem wise to the game and acknowledge that D’Souza hasn’t, and won’t be able to prove anything.<b> Gorka sums it up with this non sequitur: “It’s the perfect crime because it cannot be curated after it’s committed.”</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Kirk says: “I don’t think we will ever know the full story and what makes this crime so compelling and uniqu</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">e is that once the ballot enters the system it’s really hard to reverse engineer it. But when you have the cell phone geolocation data and then the <b>actual footage </b>. . . it explains the sudden spike of Biden support that we saw late at night.”</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At this point, all that’s left is for law enforcement to intervene. “There’s an easy way to bust it,” D’Souza says. “Law enforcement has to step in . . . go interview the mules. Who paid you? Where did you get the money?”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Which satisfies Prager enough to bellow:</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“They have ruined election day in the United States of America. That’s provable, and that is enough for me to fight the left with every fiber in my body!” This counts as a conversion. But, considering the fact Prager is someone who also believes the “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSpwSEVpk3I" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-decoration-color: rgb(208, 2, 27); transition: all 0.15s ease 0s;">left is destroying Western civilization</a>,”</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> it’s not like he needed any pretext from D’Souza to declare total war on the Democrats. That’s just a regular day at the office for the old man.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">the Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnYWx2Ozahk" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-decoration-color: rgb(208, 2, 27); transition: all 0.15s ease 0s;">reviewed</a><i style="box-sizing: border-box;"> 2000 Mules</i> and said, “my problem with the documentary” is that “there are dots that need filling in.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">” He said:</span></font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 15px 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px; border-left: 5px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); font-variant-ligatures: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">You can question all the ballot harvesting; you can take for granted that all the geolocation data that they’re using is actually true . . . that does not mean all those ballots are illegal votes. . . . . What you need is actual evidence of people going to multiple drop boxes that isn’t just the cell phone data moving past the drop boxes. . . I guess what I would say is an answer that’s gonna make nobody happ<b>y. I think that the data is really interesting. I think that it’s really suspicious for sure, I don’t think it’s just positive that this alone shifted the election . </b>. . I think the conclusion of the film is not justified by the premises of the film itself. There are a bunch of dots that need to be connected. <b>Maybe they will be connected, but they haven’t been connected in the film.</b></font></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">But I suspect that D’Souza is delighted with even the critical reviews. A hate watch is still a watch. All the people talking and writing about </span><i style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;">2000 Mules</i><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> means more relevance and more downloads and more income. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Despite being released only on “non-cancelable” platforms, D’Souza says the film has <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/2000-mules-becomes-most-successful-160000389.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-decoration-color: rgb(208, 2, 27); transition: all 0.15s ease 0s;">grossed $10 million</a>.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">What burns D’Souza are the people who won’t give him attention—especially those at <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/dinesh-dsouza-claims-tucker-carlson-and-newsmax-wont-promote-his-batshit-movie" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-decoration-color: rgb(208, 2, 27); transition: all 0.15s ease 0s;">Fox News and Newsmax</a>. And why shouldn’t he be? The movie’s storyline, complete with a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/30/us/tucker-carlson-gop-republican-party.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-decoration-color: rgb(208, 2, 27); transition: all 0.15s ease 0s;">brown menace</a> subplot, is tailor-made for their audiences.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">At one point in the film, a woman, who keeps her identity hidden, says she worked as a “mule” in Yuma County, Arizona, on behalf of an organization that collected ballots from Hispanic people who were unable for various reasons to get to the polls. “Most of the Hispanics that live in the town are not well educated as far as the law . . . I call it the Mexican mafia, seriously because they work like that.”</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">How could Fox and Newsmax resist this premium content? </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Probably because the executives at these infotainment companies are wary of <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trial-date-set-defamation-suit-against-fox-news-over-us-election-claims-2022-04-12/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-decoration-color: rgb(208, 2, 27); transition: all 0.15s ease 0s;">fighting another round of lawsuits</a> for <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21039760/dominion-suit-oan-23431510r.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-decoration-color: rgb(208, 2, 27); transition: all 0.15s ease 0s;">pushing bogus election claims</a></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. Dinesh D’Souza is </span><a href="https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/what-does-judgment-proof-mean.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-decoration-color: rgb(208, 2, 27); transition: all 0.15s ease 0s;">judgment proof</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. Fox and Newsmax aren’t.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Donald Trump is mad about the Fox blackout, too. He gave the film <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/opinion/glitz-glamour-and-election-fraud-sights-and-sounds-from-the-mar-a-lago-premiere-of-dinesh-dsouzas-loony-2020-film/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-decoration-color: rgb(208, 2, 27); transition: all 0.15s ease 0s;">a glitzy premiere at Mar-a-Lago</a>, and still, no love from Tucker Carlson. Waaaah.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Fox News is no longer Fox News,” Trump posted on his Truth Social account. “They won’t even show or discuss the greatest & most impactful documentary of our time, ‘2000 Mules.’<b> The Radical Left Democrats are thrilled – They don’t want the TRUTH to get out.”</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In a way, the pairing of <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">2000 Mules</i> and Truth Social is perfect: A pretend social media company doing PR for a fake documentary, with both siphoning off dollars from gullible superfans.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 30px; font-variant-ligatures: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It would be funny if these people weren’t also the past and possible future of the United States government.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/04/trump-slammed-by-former-ted-cruz-aide-for-his-firehose-of-falsehoods-as-we-tally-the-sick-and-the-dead/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2020/04/trump-slammed-by-former-ted-cruz-aide-for-his-firehose-of-falsehoods-as-we-tally-the-sick-and-the-dead/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">cruz staffer</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx many twt</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div><b>How ‘Kremlin-friendly’ MAGA Republicans — and Tulsi Gabbard — became propaganda for Russia’s Ukraine invasion</b></div><div>
</div><div>Alex Henderson March 14, 2022</div><div>   </div><div>Some conservative Republicans have been unwavering in their disdain for Russian President Vladimir Putin, including Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah. But in MAGA World, Putin has a long list of apologists — even as thousands of people die during Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. And Never Trump conservative <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Amanda Carpenter, in an article published by <b>The Bulwark on March 14, takes a look at some of the “Kremlin-friendly” talking points coming from America’s far right.</b></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“During the Cold War,” Carpenter explains, “the Soviet Union invested heavily in its global disinformation and propaganda efforts. And back in 2016, the Russians had to go to the trouble of creating a troll farm to push their divisive messages to the American audience. But today, they needn’t go to such lengths: Plenty of prominent right-wing media figures in the United States are pushing out Vladimir Putin’s propaganda for him.”</span></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The media figures and politicians that Carpenter slams as “Kremlin-friendly” in her article include Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, the Daily Wire’s Candace Owens, former President Donald Trump, “War Room” host Steve Bannon and Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina. Carpenter notes that these are the sort of MAGA Republicans Cheney has dubbed “the Putin wing of the GOP.”</span></div><div>
</div><div><b>“It’s all the same people: fringe internet figures, Fox News hosts, Steve Bannon and his acolytes, Marjorie Tayor Greene caucus members, and the millions of people who love them,”</b> Carpenter observes. “Most of these people claim to be free-thinking contrarians, but their accusations, questions, and conclusions about the United States, Russia and Ukraine always seem to go one way: <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The United States and Ukraine are somehow wrong, and the Russians have their reasons for waging war. If you don’t believe that, it’s only because all the Democrats are lying to you. Well, all the Democrats except for 2022 CPAC special guest Tulsi Gabbard, anyway.”</span></div><div>
</div><div><b>Carpenter notes that Carlson’s commentary on Fox News has been “so Kremlin-friendly” that according to a Kremlin memo obtained by Mother Jones, Kremlin officials have asked government-run media outlets to feature more clips of him.</b></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Mother Jones’ David Corn reported, “On March 3, as Russian military forces bombed Ukrainian cities as part of Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of his neighbor, the Kremlin sent out talking points to state-friendly media outlets with a request: Use more Tucker Carlson.”</span></div><div>
</div><div><b>Carlson has promoted the conspiracy theory that the Ukrainian government is manufacturing bioweapons in laboratories and that Putin is merely protecting Russia’s safety by invading Ukraine.</b></div><div>
</div><div>Carpenter comments, “One could have guessed that the same people who blamed Dr. Fauci for the coronavirus might try to find some other government bureaucrats to blame for Putin’s war. This time<b>, according to Carlson, ‘Dangerous biological agents remain, thanks to the Biden Administration, unsecured in a chaotic war zone’</b>…. This is the big story in their minds. Not the Russian invasion and the unfolding humanitarian disaster, but the Russian disinformation about bioweapons, which provides a cudgel for whacking the Biden Administration — no matter how bogus the claims.”</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 920</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>
</div><div>Amanda Carpenter is not a liberal. She not even a moderate. She’s worked for two of the most right wing Republican Senators and at several far right wing publications. Now a CNN conservative contributor, Carpenter is also anti-Trump. And she’s warning about how she thinks President Donald Trump is already rigging the election.</div><div>
</div><div>Wednesday evening she posted a Twitter thread in response to Attorney General Bill Barr’s disastrous and disturbing CNN interview. One part of his comments, she says, that <b>“set off alarm bells” for her was Barr’s odd insistence that a foreign government could send thousands of fake ballots to rig the election – and that he refused to offer and evidence, other than what he says is “logic.”</b></div><div>
</div><div>More than anything in the interview, this set off alarm bells in my mind. Loud ones. https://t.co/BhCHfmbNb9</div><div>
</div><div>— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) September 2, 2020</div><div>
</div><div>Here’s Barr making the strange claim to Wolf Blitzer. Notice how Blitzer seems stunned and for a moment speechless when Barr says “logic.”</div><div>
</div><div>Attorney General Barr says he doesn’t have evidence that foreign countries could successfully interfere in the election with fake ballots. He says he’s “basing it on logic.”</div><div>
</div><div>Wolf: Pardon?</div><div>
</div><div>Barr: “Logic.” pic.twitter.com/FzzIRL2PrK</div><div>
</div><div>— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) September 2, 2020</div><div>
</div><div>Carpenter, who by the way was a senior staffer for Senator Ted Cruz and Senator Jim DeMint, goes on to explain her reasoning.</div><div>
</div><div><b>Basically, she’s saying Trump is going full-force against mail-in ballots, while the Trump administration lays the groundwork to blame China for rigging the election against him.</b> Carpenter explains how:</div><div>
</div><div>“Let me tell you why. Trump has said the election will be rigged. He has cast aspersions over mail-in ballots. And now the AG is suggesting foreign interference w mail in ballots. While the Admin refuses to provide oral briefings about election interference to Congress.”</div><div>
</div><div>Yes, the Trump administration has notified Congress it will no longer provide them with in-person intelligence briefings. Only written information.</div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>“That means whatever written story about election interference that goes to Congress is the story,” she continues. “No pushback. And print material leaks. They will set the narrative. Barr and others are saying don’t worry about Russia. It’s China that’s the problem.</b>”</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">China allegedly is in favor of a Biden presidency over as Trump presidency.</span></div><div>
</div><div><b>“You don’t need a crystal ball to see it. Blame China for rigging mail-in ballots,” she warns.</b></div><div>
</div><div>So whattya think Trump and friends are angling to do here. You don’t need a crystal ball to see it. Blame China for rigging mail-in ballots somehow against Trump. Keep your eyes open people.</div><div>
</div><div>— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) September 2, 2020</div><div>
</div><div>“This isn’t a cover-up. It’s what’s ahead.”</div><div>
</div><div>I saw this coming over the weekend when we got the news oral intel briefings were donezo. Here was my reaction. This isn’t a cover-up. It’s what’s ahead https://t.co/JKbUt5VlTp</div><div>
</div><div>— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) September 2, 2020</div><div>
</div><div>By the way, CNN Anchor and Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto seems to agree with Carpenter:</div><div>
</div><div>...</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">pr gals so presumably her wikifluff:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Amanda B. Carpenter</b> is an American author, political advisor, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speechwriter" title="Speechwriter" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">speechwriter</a>. She previously worked as a columnist for <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Times" title="The Washington Times" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">The Washington Times</a></i>, and is the author of<i>The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy's Dossier on Hillary Rodham Clinton</i>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 7px; display: table; zoom: 1; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);"><div id="toctitle" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><h2 style="margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border: none; display: inline; line-height: 1.3; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Contents</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></h2> <span class="toctoggle" style="user-select: none;"> [<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#" class="internal" id="togglelink" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">hide</a>] </span></div><ul style="line-height: 1.6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#Life_and_career" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Life and career</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#References" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#Bibliography" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Bibliography</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#External_links" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></font></a></li></ul></div><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Life_and_career">Life and career</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">[</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Amanda_Carpenter&action=edit&section=1&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Life and career" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;">]</span></span></font></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Amanda Beth Carpenter<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#cite_note-2" style="text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[2]</a></sup> was born in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montrose,Michigan" title="Montrose, Michigan" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Montrose, Michigan</a>, and raised there by her mother Lisa.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">After graduating from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_State_University" title="Ball State University" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Ball State University</a> wit</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">h <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_of_Arts" title="Bachelor of Arts" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">B.A.</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_Studies" title="Communication Studies" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Communication Studies</a></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> in 2005,</span><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[3]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Carpenter worked as a Congressional correspondent for </span><i style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Events" title="Human Events" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Human Events</a></i><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> from 2005-2007 before going to </span><i style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Townhall.com" title="Townhall.com" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Townhall.com</a></i><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> to become their national political reporter.</span><sup id="cite_ref-ToownhallBio_4-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#cite_note-ToownhallBio-4" style="text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[4]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On March 1, 2009, Carpenter took a position with <i>The Washington Times</i>,<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[5]</a></sup> where she wrote a daily column called the Hot Button, that covered political and cultural issues, as well other news articles.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#cite_note-6" style="text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[6]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Carpenter is also known as a blogger, author, and commentator. She has made numerous media appearances, including segments on the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC" title="BBC" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">BBC</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">; </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_News" title="Fox News" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Fox News</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">'s </span><i style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_O%27Reilly_Factor" title="The O'Reilly Factor" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">The O'Reilly Factor</a></i><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, </span><i style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Eye_w/Greg_Gutfeld" title="Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld</a></i><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, </span><i style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannity%26_Colmes" title="Hannity & Colmes" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Hannity & Colmes</a></i><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, and </span><i style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Story(2000_TV_series)" title="The Big Story (2000 TV series)" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">The Big Story</a></i><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">; </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSNBC" title="MSNBC" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">MSNBC</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">’s </span><i style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tucker(television_program)" title="Tucker (television program)" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Tucker</a></i><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">; </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PBS" title="PBS" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">PBS</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">'s </span><i style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">To the Contrary</i><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> and </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNN" title="CNN" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">CNN</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">'s </span><i style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_King_Live" title="Larry King Live" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Larry King Live</a></i><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> and </span><i style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliable_Sources" title="Reliable Sources" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Reliable Sources</a></i><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span><sup id="cite_ref-GlamourBio_1-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#cite_note-GlamourBio-1" style="text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[1]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Her book </span><i style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy's Dossier on Hillary Rodham Clinton</i><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> was published in 2006, and she later wrote about the 2008 presidential election for </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><i>Glamour </i>magazine</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">'s blog "Glamocracy".</span><sup id="cite_ref-GlamourBio_1-2" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#cite_note-GlamourBio-1" style="text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[1]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">On January 25, 2010, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">it was announced t</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">hat Carpenter was leaving </span><i style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Washington Times</i><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> and joining then Senator </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_DeMint" title="Jim DeMint" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Jim DeMint</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">'s staff as senior communications advisor and </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speechwriter" title="Speechwriter" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">speechwriter</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span><sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#cite_note-7" style="text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[7]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#cite_note-8" style="text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[8]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> On January 22, 2013, Carpenter announced on her Twitter account that she was now working in that same capacity for Senator </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Cruz" title="Ted Cruz" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Ted Cruz</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span><sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[9]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2014, the Capitol Hill publication <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roll_Call" title="Roll Call" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Roll Call</a> reported that Amanda Carpenter had surpassed 50,000 Twitter followers, far more than other congressional staffers. <sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#cite_note-10" style="text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[10]</a></sup></font></p><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="References">References</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">[</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Amanda_Carpenter&action=edit&section=2&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: References" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;">]</span></span></font></h2><div class="reflist columns references-column-count references-column-count-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.3em; column-count: 1; list-style-type: decimal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><ol class="references" style="line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 3.2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: inherit;"><li id="cite_note-GlamourBio-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; -webkit-column-break-inside: avoid; page-break-inside: avoid;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-cite-backlink" style="-webkit-user-select: none;">^ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#cite_ref-GlamourBio_1-0" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important; -webkit-user-select: none;">Jump up to:</span><sup style="line-height: 1;"><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#cite_ref-GlamourBio_1-1" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><sup style="line-height: 1;"><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#cite_ref-GlamourBio_1-2" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><sup style="line-height: 1;"><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><span id="CITEREF" class="citation" style="word-wrap: break-word;"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.glamour.com/sex-love-life/blogs/glamocracy/2007/12/bio-2.html" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) 100% 50% no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" base64="base64" pd94bwwgdmvyc2lvbj0ims4wiiblbmnvzgluzz0ivvrgltgipz48c3znihhtbg5zpsjodhrwoi8vd3d3lnczlm9yzy8ymdawl3n2zyigd2lkdgg9ijewiibozwlnahq9ijewij48zyb0cmfuc2zvcm09inryyw5zbgf0zsgtodi2ljqyosatnjk4ljc5mskipjxyzwn0ihdpzhropsi1ljk4miigagvpz2h0psi1ljk4miiged0iodi2ljkyosiget0inzayljmwosigzmlsbd0ii2zmziigc3ryb2tlpsijmdzjii8="PD94bWwgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4wIiBlbmNvZGluZz0iVVRGLTgiPz48c3ZnIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyIgd2lkdGg9IjEwIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjEwIj48ZyB0cmFuc2Zvcm09InRyYW5zbGF0ZSgtODI2LjQyOSAtNjk4Ljc5MSkiPjxyZWN0IHdpZHRoPSI1Ljk4MiIgaGVpZ2h0PSI1Ljk4MiIgeD0iODI2LjkyOSIgeT0iNzAyLjMwOSIgZmlsbD0iI2ZmZiIgc3Ryb2tlPSIjMDZjIi8" pgc="PGc" phbhdgggzd0ittgzms4xotqgnjk4ljc5mwg1ljiznhy1ljm5mwwtms41nzegms41ndutms4zms0xljmxltiunzi1idiunzi1ltiunjg5ltiunjg5idiuoda4ltiuoda4lteumzexlteumzexeiigzmlsbd0iiza2ziivpjxwyxroigq9ik04mzuundi0idy5os43otvsljaymia0ljg4ns0xljgxny0xljgxny0yljg4msayljg4ms0xljiyoc0xljiyocayljg4ms0yljg4ms0xljg1ms0xljg1mxoiigzpbgw9iinmzmyilz48l2c="PHBhdGggZD0iTTgzMS4xOTQgNjk4Ljc5MWg1LjIzNHY1LjM5MWwtMS41NzEgMS41NDUtMS4zMS0xLjMxLTIuNzI1IDIuNzI1LTIuNjg5LTIuNjg5IDIuODA4LTIuODA4LTEuMzExLTEuMzExeiIgZmlsbD0iIzA2ZiIvPjxwYXRoIGQ9Ik04MzUuNDI0IDY5OS43OTVsLjAyMiA0Ljg4NS0xLjgxNy0xLjgxNy0yLjg4MSAyLjg4MS0xLjIyOC0xLjIyOCAyLjg4MS0yLjg4MS0xLjg1MS0xLjg1MXoiIGZpbGw9IiNmZmYiLz48L2c" pc9npjwvc3znpg="=" xmlns:data="data">"Glamocracy"</a>, <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glamour(magazine)" title="Glamour (magazine)" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Glamour</a></i>, December 10, 2007 (updated August 20, 2008)<span class="reference-accessdate">, retrieved April 10, 2010</span></span><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAmanda+Carpenter&rft.atitle=Glamocracy&rft.date=December+10%2C+2007+%28updated+August+20%2C+2008%29&rft.genre=article&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.glamour.com%2Fsex-love-life%2Fblogs%2Fglamocracy%2F2007%2F12%2Fbio-2.html&rft.jtitle=Glamour&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal" class="Z3988" /></span></font></li><li id="cite_note-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; -webkit-column-break-inside: avoid; page-break-inside: avoid;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-cite-backlink" style="-webkit-user-select: none;"><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#cite_ref-2" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important; -webkit-user-select: none;">Jump up</span>^{</a></b></span> }<span class="reference-text"><span id="CITEREFCarpenter2010" class="citation" style="word-wrap: break-word;">Carpenter, Amanda (April 9, 2010), <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://twitter.com/amandacarpenter/status/11899956203" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) 100% 50% no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" base64="base64" pd94bwwgdmvyc2lvbj0ims4wiiblbmnvzgluzz0ivvrgltgipz48c3znihhtbg5zpsjodhrwoi8vd3d3lnczlm9yzy8ymdawl3n2zyigd2lkdgg9ijewiibozwlnahq9ijewij48zyb0cmfuc2zvcm09inryyw5zbgf0zsgtodi2ljqyosatnjk4ljc5mskipjxyzwn0ihdpzhropsi1ljk4miigagvpz2h0psi1ljk4miiged0iodi2ljkyosiget0inzayljmwosigzmlsbd0ii2zmziigc3ryb2tlpsijmdzjii8="PD94bWwgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4wIiBlbmNvZGluZz0iVVRGLTgiPz48c3ZnIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyIgd2lkdGg9IjEwIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjEwIj48ZyB0cmFuc2Zvcm09InRyYW5zbGF0ZSgtODI2LjQyOSAtNjk4Ljc5MSkiPjxyZWN0IHdpZHRoPSI1Ljk4MiIgaGVpZ2h0PSI1Ljk4MiIgeD0iODI2LjkyOSIgeT0iNzAyLjMwOSIgZmlsbD0iI2ZmZiIgc3Ryb2tlPSIjMDZjIi8" pgc="PGc" phbhdgggzd0ittgzms4xotqgnjk4ljc5mwg1ljiznhy1ljm5mwwtms41nzegms41ndutms4zms0xljmxltiunzi1idiunzi1ltiunjg5ltiunjg5idiuoda4ltiuoda4lteumzexlteumzexeiigzmlsbd0iiza2ziivpjxwyxroigq9ik04mzuundi0idy5os43otvsljaymia0ljg4ns0xljgxny0xljgxny0yljg4msayljg4ms0xljiyoc0xljiyocayljg4ms0yljg4ms0xljg1ms0xljg1mxoiigzpbgw9iinmzmyilz48l2c="PHBhdGggZD0iTTgzMS4xOTQgNjk4Ljc5MWg1LjIzNHY1LjM5MWwtMS41NzEgMS41NDUtMS4zMS0xLjMxLTIuNzI1IDIuNzI1LTIuNjg5LTIuNjg5IDIuODA4LTIuODA4LTEuMzExLTEuMzExeiIgZmlsbD0iIzA2ZiIvPjxwYXRoIGQ9Ik04MzUuNDI0IDY5OS43OTVsLjAyMiA0Ljg4NS0xLjgxNy0xLjgxNy0yLjg4MSAyLjg4MS0xLjIyOC0xLjIyOCAyLjg4MS0yLjg4MS0xLjg1MS0xLjg1MXoiIGZpbGw9IiNmZmYiLz48L2c" pc9npjwvc3znpg="=" xmlns:data="data">"My middle name is Beth."</a>, <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter" title="Twitter" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Twitter</a></i><span class="reference-accessdate">, retrieved April 10, 2010</span></span><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAmanda+Carpenter&rft.atitle=My+middle+name+is+Beth.&rft.au=Carpenter%2C+Amanda&rft.aufirst=Amanda&rft.aulast=Carpenter&rft.date=April+9%2C+2010&rft.genre=article&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Famandacarpenter%2Fstatus%2F11899956203&rft.jtitle=Twitter&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal" class="Z3988" /></span></font></li><li id="cite_note-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; -webkit-column-break-inside: avoid; page-break-inside: avoid;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-cite-backlink" style="-webkit-user-select: none;"><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#cite_ref-3" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important; -webkit-user-select: none;">Jump up</span>^{</a></b></span> }<span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/amanda-carpenter/5/37a/40b" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) 100% 50% no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" base64="base64" pd94bwwgdmvyc2lvbj0ims4wiiblbmnvzgluzz0ivvrgltgipz48c3znihhtbg5zpsjodhrwoi8vd3d3lnczlm9yzy8ymdawl3n2zyigd2lkdgg9ijewiibozwlnahq9ijewij48zyb0cmfuc2zvcm09inryyw5zbgf0zsgtodi2ljqyosatnjk4ljc5mskipjxyzwn0ihdpzhropsi1ljk4miigagvpz2h0psi1ljk4miiged0iodi2ljkyosiget0inzayljmwosigzmlsbd0ii2zmziigc3ryb2tlpsijmdzjii8="PD94bWwgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4wIiBlbmNvZGluZz0iVVRGLTgiPz48c3ZnIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyIgd2lkdGg9IjEwIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjEwIj48ZyB0cmFuc2Zvcm09InRyYW5zbGF0ZSgtODI2LjQyOSAtNjk4Ljc5MSkiPjxyZWN0IHdpZHRoPSI1Ljk4MiIgaGVpZ2h0PSI1Ljk4MiIgeD0iODI2LjkyOSIgeT0iNzAyLjMwOSIgZmlsbD0iI2ZmZiIgc3Ryb2tlPSIjMDZjIi8" pgc="PGc" phbhdgggzd0ittgzms4xotqgnjk4ljc5mwg1ljiznhy1ljm5mwwtms41nzegms41ndutms4zms0xljmxltiunzi1idiunzi1ltiunjg5ltiunjg5idiuoda4ltiuoda4lteumzexlteumzexeiigzmlsbd0iiza2ziivpjxwyxroigq9ik04mzuundi0idy5os43otvsljaymia0ljg4ns0xljgxny0xljgxny0yljg4msayljg4ms0xljiyoc0xljiyocayljg4ms0yljg4ms0xljg1ms0xljg1mxoiigzpbgw9iinmzmyilz48l2c="PHBhdGggZD0iTTgzMS4xOTQgNjk4Ljc5MWg1LjIzNHY1LjM5MWwtMS41NzEgMS41NDUtMS4zMS0xLjMxLTIuNzI1IDIuNzI1LTIuNjg5LTIuNjg5IDIuODA4LTIuODA4LTEuMzExLTEuMzExeiIgZmlsbD0iIzA2ZiIvPjxwYXRoIGQ9Ik04MzUuNDI0IDY5OS43OTVsLjAyMiA0Ljg4NS0xLjgxNy0xLjgxNy0yLjg4MSAyLjg4MS0xLjIyOC0xLjIyOCAyLjg4MS0yLjg4MS0xLjg1MS0xLjg1MXoiIGZpbGw9IiNmZmYiLz48L2c" pc9npjwvc3znpg="=" xmlns:data="data">http://www.linkedin.com/pub/amanda-carpenter/5/37a/40b</a></span></font></li><li id="cite_note-ToownhallBio-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; -webkit-column-break-inside: avoid; page-break-inside: avoid;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-cite-backlink" style="-webkit-user-select: none;"><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#cite_ref-ToownhallBio_4-0" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important; -webkit-user-select: none;">Jump up</span>^{</a></b></span> }<span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://townhall.com/columnists/AmandaCarpenter?bio=t" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) 100% 50% no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" base64="base64" pd94bwwgdmvyc2lvbj0ims4wiiblbmnvzgluzz0ivvrgltgipz48c3znihhtbg5zpsjodhrwoi8vd3d3lnczlm9yzy8ymdawl3n2zyigd2lkdgg9ijewiibozwlnahq9ijewij48zyb0cmfuc2zvcm09inryyw5zbgf0zsgtodi2ljqyosatnjk4ljc5mskipjxyzwn0ihdpzhropsi1ljk4miigagvpz2h0psi1ljk4miiged0iodi2ljkyosiget0inzayljmwosigzmlsbd0ii2zmziigc3ryb2tlpsijmdzjii8="PD94bWwgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4wIiBlbmNvZGluZz0iVVRGLTgiPz48c3ZnIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyIgd2lkdGg9IjEwIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjEwIj48ZyB0cmFuc2Zvcm09InRyYW5zbGF0ZSgtODI2LjQyOSAtNjk4Ljc5MSkiPjxyZWN0IHdpZHRoPSI1Ljk4MiIgaGVpZ2h0PSI1Ljk4MiIgeD0iODI2LjkyOSIgeT0iNzAyLjMwOSIgZmlsbD0iI2ZmZiIgc3Ryb2tlPSIjMDZjIi8" pgc="PGc" phbhdgggzd0ittgzms4xotqgnjk4ljc5mwg1ljiznhy1ljm5mwwtms41nzegms41ndutms4zms0xljmxltiunzi1idiunzi1ltiunjg5ltiunjg5idiuoda4ltiuoda4lteumzexlteumzexeiigzmlsbd0iiza2ziivpjxwyxroigq9ik04mzuundi0idy5os43otvsljaymia0ljg4ns0xljgxny0xljgxny0yljg4msayljg4ms0xljiyoc0xljiyocayljg4ms0yljg4ms0xljg1ms0xljg1mxoiigzpbgw9iinmzmyilz48l2c="PHBhdGggZD0iTTgzMS4xOTQgNjk4Ljc5MWg1LjIzNHY1LjM5MWwtMS41NzEgMS41NDUtMS4zMS0xLjMxLTIuNzI1IDIuNzI1LTIuNjg5LTIuNjg5IDIuODA4LTIuODA4LTEuMzExLTEuMzExeiIgZmlsbD0iIzA2ZiIvPjxwYXRoIGQ9Ik04MzUuNDI0IDY5OS43OTVsLjAyMiA0Ljg4NS0xLjgxNy0xLjgxNy0yLjg4MSAyLjg4MS0xLjIyOC0xLjIyOCAyLjg4MS0yLjg4MS0xLjg1MS0xLjg1MXoiIGZpbGw9IiNmZmYiLz48L2c" pc9npjwvc3znpg="=" xmlns:data="data">"Amanda Carpenter: Columns, Opinion, Views, Issues"</a>, <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Townhall.com" title="Townhall.com" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Townhall.com</a></i>, retrieved April 10, 2010</span></font></li><li id="cite_note-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; -webkit-column-break-inside: avoid; page-break-inside: avoid;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-cite-backlink" style="-webkit-user-select: none;"><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#cite_ref-5" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important; -webkit-user-select: none;">Jump up</span>^{</a></b></span> }<span class="reference-text">Dornic, Matt (February 5, 2009), <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/the_revolving_door/townhalls_amanda_carpenter_to_washington_times__107889.asp" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) 100% 50% no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" base64="base64" pd94bwwgdmvyc2lvbj0ims4wiiblbmnvzgluzz0ivvrgltgipz48c3znihhtbg5zpsjodhrwoi8vd3d3lnczlm9yzy8ymdawl3n2zyigd2lkdgg9ijewiibozwlnahq9ijewij48zyb0cmfuc2zvcm09inryyw5zbgf0zsgtodi2ljqyosatnjk4ljc5mskipjxyzwn0ihdpzhropsi1ljk4miigagvpz2h0psi1ljk4miiged0iodi2ljkyosiget0inzayljmwosigzmlsbd0ii2zmziigc3ryb2tlpsijmdzjii8="PD94bWwgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4wIiBlbmNvZGluZz0iVVRGLTgiPz48c3ZnIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyIgd2lkdGg9IjEwIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjEwIj48ZyB0cmFuc2Zvcm09InRyYW5zbGF0ZSgtODI2LjQyOSAtNjk4Ljc5MSkiPjxyZWN0IHdpZHRoPSI1Ljk4MiIgaGVpZ2h0PSI1Ljk4MiIgeD0iODI2LjkyOSIgeT0iNzAyLjMwOSIgZmlsbD0iI2ZmZiIgc3Ryb2tlPSIjMDZjIi8" pgc="PGc" phbhdgggzd0ittgzms4xotqgnjk4ljc5mwg1ljiznhy1ljm5mwwtms41nzegms41ndutms4zms0xljmxltiunzi1idiunzi1ltiunjg5ltiunjg5idiuoda4ltiuoda4lteumzexlteumzexeiigzmlsbd0iiza2ziivpjxwyxroigq9ik04mzuundi0idy5os43otvsljaymia0ljg4ns0xljgxny0xljgxny0yljg4msayljg4ms0xljiyoc0xljiyocayljg4ms0yljg4ms0xljg1ms0xljg1mxoiigzpbgw9iinmzmyilz48l2c="PHBhdGggZD0iTTgzMS4xOTQgNjk4Ljc5MWg1LjIzNHY1LjM5MWwtMS41NzEgMS41NDUtMS4zMS0xLjMxLTIuNzI1IDIuNzI1LTIuNjg5LTIuNjg5IDIuODA4LTIuODA4LTEuMzExLTEuMzExeiIgZmlsbD0iIzA2ZiIvPjxwYXRoIGQ9Ik04MzUuNDI0IDY5OS43OTVsLjAyMiA0Ljg4NS0xLjgxNy0xLjgxNy0yLjg4MSAyLjg4MS0xLjIyOC0xLjIyOCAyLjg4MS0yLjg4MS0xLjg1MS0xLjg1MXoiIGZpbGw9IiNmZmYiLz48L2c" pc9npjwvc3znpg="=" xmlns:data="data">"Townhall's Amanda Carpenter to Washington Times "</a>, <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediabistro.com" title="Mediabistro.com" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Mediabistro.com</a></i>, retrieved April 10, 2010</span></font></li><li id="cite_note-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; -webkit-column-break-inside: avoid; page-break-inside: avoid;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-cite-backlink" style="-webkit-user-select: none;"><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#cite_ref-6" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important; -webkit-user-select: none;">Jump up</span>^{</a></b></span> }<span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/staff/amanda-carpenter/" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) 100% 50% no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" base64="base64" pd94bwwgdmvyc2lvbj0ims4wiiblbmnvzgluzz0ivvrgltgipz48c3znihhtbg5zpsjodhrwoi8vd3d3lnczlm9yzy8ymdawl3n2zyigd2lkdgg9ijewiibozwlnahq9ijewij48zyb0cmfuc2zvcm09inryyw5zbgf0zsgtodi2ljqyosatnjk4ljc5mskipjxyzwn0ihdpzhropsi1ljk4miigagvpz2h0psi1ljk4miiged0iodi2ljkyosiget0inzayljmwosigzmlsbd0ii2zmziigc3ryb2tlpsijmdzjii8="PD94bWwgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4wIiBlbmNvZGluZz0iVVRGLTgiPz48c3ZnIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyIgd2lkdGg9IjEwIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjEwIj48ZyB0cmFuc2Zvcm09InRyYW5zbGF0ZSgtODI2LjQyOSAtNjk4Ljc5MSkiPjxyZWN0IHdpZHRoPSI1Ljk4MiIgaGVpZ2h0PSI1Ljk4MiIgeD0iODI2LjkyOSIgeT0iNzAyLjMwOSIgZmlsbD0iI2ZmZiIgc3Ryb2tlPSIjMDZjIi8" pgc="PGc" phbhdgggzd0ittgzms4xotqgnjk4ljc5mwg1ljiznhy1ljm5mwwtms41nzegms41ndutms4zms0xljmxltiunzi1idiunzi1ltiunjg5ltiunjg5idiuoda4ltiuoda4lteumzexlteumzexeiigzmlsbd0iiza2ziivpjxwyxroigq9ik04mzuundi0idy5os43otvsljaymia0ljg4ns0xljgxny0xljgxny0yljg4msayljg4ms0xljiyoc0xljiyocayljg4ms0yljg4ms0xljg1ms0xljg1mxoiigzpbgw9iinmzmyilz48l2c="PHBhdGggZD0iTTgzMS4xOTQgNjk4Ljc5MWg1LjIzNHY1LjM5MWwtMS41NzEgMS41NDUtMS4zMS0xLjMxLTIuNzI1IDIuNzI1LTIuNjg5LTIuNjg5IDIuODA4LTIuODA4LTEuMzExLTEuMzExeiIgZmlsbD0iIzA2ZiIvPjxwYXRoIGQ9Ik04MzUuNDI0IDY5OS43OTVsLjAyMiA0Ljg4NS0xLjgxNy0xLjgxNy0yLjg4MSAyLjg4MS0xLjIyOC0xLjIyOCAyLjg4MS0yLjg4MS0xLjg1MS0xLjg1MXoiIGZpbGw9IiNmZmYiLz48L2c" pc9npjwvc3znpg="=" xmlns:data="data">"Amanda Carpenter"</a>, <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Times" title="The Washington Times" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">The Washington Times</a></i>, retrieved April 10, 2010</span></font></li><li id="cite_note-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; -webkit-column-break-inside: avoid; page-break-inside: avoid;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-cite-backlink" style="-webkit-user-select: none;"><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#cite_ref-7" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important; -webkit-user-select: none;">Jump up</span>^{</a></b></span> }<span class="reference-text">Weigel, David (January 25, 2010), <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://washingtonindependent.com/74713/demint-hires-amanda-carpenter" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) 100% 50% no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" base64="base64" pd94bwwgdmvyc2lvbj0ims4wiiblbmnvzgluzz0ivvrgltgipz48c3znihhtbg5zpsjodhrwoi8vd3d3lnczlm9yzy8ymdawl3n2zyigd2lkdgg9ijewiibozwlnahq9ijewij48zyb0cmfuc2zvcm09inryyw5zbgf0zsgtodi2ljqyosatnjk4ljc5mskipjxyzwn0ihdpzhropsi1ljk4miigagvpz2h0psi1ljk4miiged0iodi2ljkyosiget0inzayljmwosigzmlsbd0ii2zmziigc3ryb2tlpsijmdzjii8="PD94bWwgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4wIiBlbmNvZGluZz0iVVRGLTgiPz48c3ZnIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyIgd2lkdGg9IjEwIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjEwIj48ZyB0cmFuc2Zvcm09InRyYW5zbGF0ZSgtODI2LjQyOSAtNjk4Ljc5MSkiPjxyZWN0IHdpZHRoPSI1Ljk4MiIgaGVpZ2h0PSI1Ljk4MiIgeD0iODI2LjkyOSIgeT0iNzAyLjMwOSIgZmlsbD0iI2ZmZiIgc3Ryb2tlPSIjMDZjIi8" pgc="PGc" phbhdgggzd0ittgzms4xotqgnjk4ljc5mwg1ljiznhy1ljm5mwwtms41nzegms41ndutms4zms0xljmxltiunzi1idiunzi1ltiunjg5ltiunjg5idiuoda4ltiuoda4lteumzexlteumzexeiigzmlsbd0iiza2ziivpjxwyxroigq9ik04mzuundi0idy5os43otvsljaymia0ljg4ns0xljgxny0xljgxny0yljg4msayljg4ms0xljiyoc0xljiyocayljg4ms0yljg4ms0xljg1ms0xljg1mxoiigzpbgw9iinmzmyilz48l2c="PHBhdGggZD0iTTgzMS4xOTQgNjk4Ljc5MWg1LjIzNHY1LjM5MWwtMS41NzEgMS41NDUtMS4zMS0xLjMxLTIuNzI1IDIuNzI1LTIuNjg5LTIuNjg5IDIuODA4LTIuODA4LTEuMzExLTEuMzExeiIgZmlsbD0iIzA2ZiIvPjxwYXRoIGQ9Ik04MzUuNDI0IDY5OS43OTVsLjAyMiA0Ljg4NS0xLjgxNy0xLjgxNy0yLjg4MSAyLjg4MS0xLjIyOC0xLjIyOCAyLjg4MS0yLjg4MS0xLjg1MS0xLjg1MXoiIGZpbGw9IiNmZmYiLz48L2c" pc9npjwvc3znpg="=" xmlns:data="data">"DeMint Hires Amanda Carpenter"</a>, <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Independent" title="The Washington Independent" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">The Washington Independent</a></i>, retrieved April 10, 2010</span></font></li><li id="cite_note-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; -webkit-column-break-inside: avoid; page-break-inside: avoid;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-cite-backlink" style="-webkit-user-select: none;"><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#cite_ref-8" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important; -webkit-user-select: none;">Jump up</span>^{</a></b></span> }<span class="reference-text"><span id="CITEREFCarpenter2010" class="citation" style="word-wrap: break-word;">Carpenter, Amanda (January 25, 2010), <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://twitter.com/amandacarpenter/status/8205824118" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) 100% 50% no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" base64="base64" pd94bwwgdmvyc2lvbj0ims4wiiblbmnvzgluzz0ivvrgltgipz48c3znihhtbg5zpsjodhrwoi8vd3d3lnczlm9yzy8ymdawl3n2zyigd2lkdgg9ijewiibozwlnahq9ijewij48zyb0cmfuc2zvcm09inryyw5zbgf0zsgtodi2ljqyosatnjk4ljc5mskipjxyzwn0ihdpzhropsi1ljk4miigagvpz2h0psi1ljk4miiged0iodi2ljkyosiget0inzayljmwosigzmlsbd0ii2zmziigc3ryb2tlpsijmdzjii8="PD94bWwgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4wIiBlbmNvZGluZz0iVVRGLTgiPz48c3ZnIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyIgd2lkdGg9IjEwIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjEwIj48ZyB0cmFuc2Zvcm09InRyYW5zbGF0ZSgtODI2LjQyOSAtNjk4Ljc5MSkiPjxyZWN0IHdpZHRoPSI1Ljk4MiIgaGVpZ2h0PSI1Ljk4MiIgeD0iODI2LjkyOSIgeT0iNzAyLjMwOSIgZmlsbD0iI2ZmZiIgc3Ryb2tlPSIjMDZjIi8" pgc="PGc" phbhdgggzd0ittgzms4xotqgnjk4ljc5mwg1ljiznhy1ljm5mwwtms41nzegms41ndutms4zms0xljmxltiunzi1idiunzi1ltiunjg5ltiunjg5idiuoda4ltiuoda4lteumzexlteumzexeiigzmlsbd0iiza2ziivpjxwyxroigq9ik04mzuundi0idy5os43otvsljaymia0ljg4ns0xljgxny0xljgxny0yljg4msayljg4ms0xljiyoc0xljiyocayljg4ms0yljg4ms0xljg1ms0xljg1mxoiigzpbgw9iinmzmyilz48l2c="PHBhdGggZD0iTTgzMS4xOTQgNjk4Ljc5MWg1LjIzNHY1LjM5MWwtMS41NzEgMS41NDUtMS4zMS0xLjMxLTIuNzI1IDIuNzI1LTIuNjg5LTIuNjg5IDIuODA4LTIuODA4LTEuMzExLTEuMzExeiIgZmlsbD0iIzA2ZiIvPjxwYXRoIGQ9Ik04MzUuNDI0IDY5OS43OTVsLjAyMiA0Ljg4NS0xLjgxNy0xLjgxNy0yLjg4MSAyLjg4MS0xLjIyOC0xLjIyOCAyLjg4MS0yLjg4MS0xLjg1MS0xLjg1MXoiIGZpbGw9IiNmZmYiLz48L2c" pc9npjwvc3znpg="=" xmlns:data="data">"And the big news is..."</a>, <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter" title="Twitter" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Twitter</a></i><span class="reference-accessdate">, retrieved April 10, 2010</span></span><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAmanda+Carpenter&rft.atitle=And+the+big+news+is...&rft.au=Carpenter%2C+Amanda&rft.aufirst=Amanda&rft.aulast=Carpenter&rft.date=January+25%2C+2010&rft.genre=article&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Famandacarpenter%2Fstatus%2F8205824118&rft.jtitle=Twitter&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal" class="Z3988" /></span></font></li><li id="cite_note-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; -webkit-column-break-inside: avoid; page-break-inside: avoid;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-cite-backlink" style="-webkit-user-select: none;"><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#cite_ref-9" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important; -webkit-user-select: none;">Jump up</span>^{</a></b></span> }<span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://twitter.com/amandacarpenter/status/293728092650881025" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 16px; background: url(" http="http" upload.wikimedia.org="upload.wikimedia.org" wikipedia="wikipedia" en="en" lock_icon_blue.gif="Lock_icon_blue.gif" no-repeat="no-repeat">https://twitter.com/amandacarpenter/status/293728092650881025</a></span></font></li><li id="cite_note-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; -webkit-column-break-inside: avoid; page-break-inside: avoid;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-cite-backlink" style="-webkit-user-select: none;"><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Carpenter#cite_ref-10" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important; -webkit-user-select: none;">Jump up</span>^{</a></b></span> }<span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://blogs.rollcall.com/wgdb/ted-cruzs-twitter-hammer/" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) 100% 50% no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" base64="base64" pd94bwwgdmvyc2lvbj0ims4wiiblbmnvzgluzz0ivvrgltgipz48c3znihhtbg5zpsjodhrwoi8vd3d3lnczlm9yzy8ymdawl3n2zyigd2lkdgg9ijewiibozwlnahq9ijewij48zyb0cmfuc2zvcm09inryyw5zbgf0zsgtodi2ljqyosatnjk4ljc5mskipjxyzwn0ihdpzhropsi1ljk4miigagvpz2h0psi1ljk4miiged0iodi2ljkyosiget0inzayljmwosigzmlsbd0ii2zmziigc3ryb2tlpsijmdzjii8="PD94bWwgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4wIiBlbmNvZGluZz0iVVRGLTgiPz48c3ZnIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyIgd2lkdGg9IjEwIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjEwIj48ZyB0cmFuc2Zvcm09InRyYW5zbGF0ZSgtODI2LjQyOSAtNjk4Ljc5MSkiPjxyZWN0IHdpZHRoPSI1Ljk4MiIgaGVpZ2h0PSI1Ljk4MiIgeD0iODI2LjkyOSIgeT0iNzAyLjMwOSIgZmlsbD0iI2ZmZiIgc3Ryb2tlPSIjMDZjIi8" pgc="PGc" phbhdgggzd0ittgzms4xotqgnjk4ljc5mwg1ljiznhy1ljm5mwwtms41nzegms41ndutms4zms0xljmxltiunzi1idiunzi1ltiunjg5ltiunjg5idiuoda4ltiuoda4lteumzexlteumzexeiigzmlsbd0iiza2ziivpjxwyxroigq9ik04mzuundi0idy5os43otvsljaymia0ljg4ns0xljgxny0xljgxny0yljg4msayljg4ms0xljiyoc0xljiyocayljg4ms0yljg4ms0xljg1ms0xljg1mxoiigzpbgw9iinmzmyilz48l2c="PHBhdGggZD0iTTgzMS4xOTQgNjk4Ljc5MWg1LjIzNHY1LjM5MWwtMS41NzEgMS41NDUtMS4zMS0xLjMxLTIuNzI1IDIuNzI1LTIuNjg5LTIuNjg5IDIuODA4LTIuODA4LTEuMzExLTEuMzExeiIgZmlsbD0iIzA2ZiIvPjxwYXRoIGQ9Ik04MzUuNDI0IDY5OS43OTVsLjAyMiA0Ljg4NS0xLjgxNy0xLjgxNy0yLjg4MSAyLjg4MS0xLjIyOC0xLjIyOCAyLjg4MS0yLjg4MS0xLjg1MS0xLjg1MXoiIGZpbGw9IiNmZmYiLz48L2c" pc9npjwvc3znpg="=" xmlns:data="data">http://blogs.rollcall.com/wgdb/ted-cruzs-twitter-hammer/</a></span></font></li></ol></div><div class="noprint tright portal" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 0.5em 0px 0.5em 1em; line-height: 22.4px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><table style="line-height: 13.09px; max-width: 175px; background: rgb(249, 249, 249);"><tbody><tr valign="middle"><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:P_vip.svg" class="image" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><img alt="Portal icon" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/69/P_vip.svg/28px-P_vip.svg.png" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/69/P_vip.svg/41px-P_vip.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/69/P_vip.svg/55px-P_vip.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1911" data-file-height="1944" style="border: none; vertical-align: middle;" width="28" height="28" /></font></a></td><td style="padding: 0px 0.2em; vertical-align: middle; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Biography" title="Portal:Biography" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Biography portal</font></a></td></tr></tbody></table></div><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Bibliography">Bibliography</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">[</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Amanda_Carpenter&action=edit&section=3&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Bibliography" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;">]</span></span></font></h2><ul style="line-height: 22.4px; margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" png="png" base64="base64" ivborw0kggoaaaansuheugaaaauaaaanaqmaaabb8jblaaaablbmvex="iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAUAAAANAQMAAABb8jbLAAAABlBMVEX" auow5qsojaaaaaxrstlmaqobyzgaaabnjrefucb1jyeabbqw="AUow5QSOjAAAAAXRSTlMAQObYZgAAABNJREFUCB1jYEABBQw" wlcagqeagpidyt0ivcsaaaaasuvork5cyii="); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Carpenter, Amanda <i>The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy's Dossier on Hillary Rodham Clinton</i>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regnery_Publishing" title="Regnery Publishing" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Regnery Publishing</a>, 2006, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781596980143" class="internal mw-magiclink-isbn" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">ISBN 978-1-59698-014-3</a></font></li></ul><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="External_links">External links</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">[</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Amanda_Carpenter&action=edit&section=4&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: External links" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;">]</span></span></font></h2><ul style="line-height: 22.4px; margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" png="png" base64="base64" ivborw0kggoaaaansuheugaaaauaaaanaqmaaabb8jblaaaablbmvex="iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAUAAAANAQMAAABb8jbLAAAABlBMVEX" auow5qsojaaaaaxrstlmaqobyzgaaabnjrefucb1jyeabbqw="AUow5QSOjAAAAAXRSTlMAQObYZgAAABNJREFUCB1jYEABBQw" wlcagqeagpidyt0ivcsaaaaasuvork5cyii="); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.humanevents.com/rightangle/index.php?author=30" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) 100% 50% no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" base64="base64" pd94bwwgdmvyc2lvbj0ims4wiiblbmnvzgluzz0ivvrgltgipz48c3znihhtbg5zpsjodhrwoi8vd3d3lnczlm9yzy8ymdawl3n2zyigd2lkdgg9ijewiibozwlnahq9ijewij48zyb0cmfuc2zvcm09inryyw5zbgf0zsgtodi2ljqyosatnjk4ljc5mskipjxyzwn0ihdpzhropsi1ljk4miigagvpz2h0psi1ljk4miiged0iodi2ljkyosiget0inzayljmwosigzmlsbd0ii2zmziigc3ryb2tlpsijmdzjii8="PD94bWwgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4wIiBlbmNvZGluZz0iVVRGLTgiPz48c3ZnIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyIgd2lkdGg9IjEwIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjEwIj48ZyB0cmFuc2Zvcm09InRyYW5zbGF0ZSgtODI2LjQyOSAtNjk4Ljc5MSkiPjxyZWN0IHdpZHRoPSI1Ljk4MiIgaGVpZ2h0PSI1Ljk4MiIgeD0iODI2LjkyOSIgeT0iNzAyLjMwOSIgZmlsbD0iI2ZmZiIgc3Ryb2tlPSIjMDZjIi8" pgc="PGc" phbhdgggzd0ittgzms4xotqgnjk4ljc5mwg1ljiznhy1ljm5mwwtms41nzegms41ndutms4zms0xljmxltiunzi1idiunzi1ltiunjg5ltiunjg5idiuoda4ltiuoda4lteumzexlteumzexeiigzmlsbd0iiza2ziivpjxwyxroigq9ik04mzuundi0idy5os43otvsljaymia0ljg4ns0xljgxny0xljgxny0yljg4msayljg4ms0xljiyoc0xljiyocayljg4ms0yljg4ms0xljg1ms0xljg1mxoiigzpbgw9iinmzmyilz48l2c="PHBhdGggZD0iTTgzMS4xOTQgNjk4Ljc5MWg1LjIzNHY1LjM5MWwtMS41NzEgMS41NDUtMS4zMS0xLjMxLTIuNzI1IDIuNzI1LTIuNjg5LTIuNjg5IDIuODA4LTIuODA4LTEuMzExLTEuMzExeiIgZmlsbD0iIzA2ZiIvPjxwYXRoIGQ9Ik04MzUuNDI0IDY5OS43OTVsLjAyMiA0Ljg4NS0xLjgxNy0xLjgxNy0yLjg4MSAyLjg4MS0xLjIyOC0xLjIyOCAyLjg4MS0yLjg4MS0xLjg1MS0xLjg1MXoiIGZpbGw9IiNmZmYiLz48L2c" pc9npjwvc3znpg="=" xmlns:data="data"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Articles by Amanda Carpenter on HumanEvents.com</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/AmandaCarpenter" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) 100% 50% no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" base64="base64" pd94bwwgdmvyc2lvbj0ims4wiiblbmnvzgluzz0ivvrgltgipz48c3znihhtbg5zpsjodhrwoi8vd3d3lnczlm9yzy8ymdawl3n2zyigd2lkdgg9ijewiibozwlnahq9ijewij48zyb0cmfuc2zvcm09inryyw5zbgf0zsgtodi2ljqyosatnjk4ljc5mskipjxyzwn0ihdpzhropsi1ljk4miigagvpz2h0psi1ljk4miiged0iodi2ljkyosiget0inzayljmwosigzmlsbd0ii2zmziigc3ryb2tlpsijmdzjii8="PD94bWwgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4wIiBlbmNvZGluZz0iVVRGLTgiPz48c3ZnIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyIgd2lkdGg9IjEwIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjEwIj48ZyB0cmFuc2Zvcm09InRyYW5zbGF0ZSgtODI2LjQyOSAtNjk4Ljc5MSkiPjxyZWN0IHdpZHRoPSI1Ljk4MiIgaGVpZ2h0PSI1Ljk4MiIgeD0iODI2LjkyOSIgeT0iNzAyLjMwOSIgZmlsbD0iI2ZmZiIgc3Ryb2tlPSIjMDZjIi8" pgc="PGc" phbhdgggzd0ittgzms4xotqgnjk4ljc5mwg1ljiznhy1ljm5mwwtms41nzegms41ndutms4zms0xljmxltiunzi1idiunzi1ltiunjg5ltiunjg5idiuoda4ltiuoda4lteumzexlteumzexeiigzmlsbd0iiza2ziivpjxwyxroigq9ik04mzuundi0idy5os43otvsljaymia0ljg4ns0xljgxny0xljgxny0yljg4msayljg4ms0xljiyoc0xljiyocayljg4ms0yljg4ms0xljg1ms0xljg1mxoiigzpbgw9iinmzmyilz48l2c="PHBhdGggZD0iTTgzMS4xOTQgNjk4Ljc5MWg1LjIzNHY1LjM5MWwtMS41NzEgMS41NDUtMS4zMS0xLjMxLTIuNzI1IDIuNzI1LTIuNjg5LTIuNjg5IDIuODA4LTIuODA4LTEuMzExLTEuMzExeiIgZmlsbD0iIzA2ZiIvPjxwYXRoIGQ9Ik04MzUuNDI0IDY5OS43OTVsLjAyMiA0Ljg4NS0xLjgxNy0xLjgxNy0yLjg4MSAyLjg4MS0xLjIyOC0xLjIyOCAyLjg4MS0yLjg4MS0xLjg1MS0xLjg1MXoiIGZpbGw9IiNmZmYiLz48L2c" pc9npjwvc3znpg="=" xmlns:data="data"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Articles by Amanda Carpenter on TownHall.com</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://bloggingheads.tv/search/?participant1=Carpenter,%20Amanda" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) 100% 50% no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" base64="base64" pd94bwwgdmvyc2lvbj0ims4wiiblbmnvzgluzz0ivvrgltgipz48c3znihhtbg5zpsjodhrwoi8vd3d3lnczlm9yzy8ymdawl3n2zyigd2lkdgg9ijewiibozwlnahq9ijewij48zyb0cmfuc2zvcm09inryyw5zbgf0zsgtodi2ljqyosatnjk4ljc5mskipjxyzwn0ihdpzhropsi1ljk4miigagvpz2h0psi1ljk4miiged0iodi2ljkyosiget0inzayljmwosigzmlsbd0ii2zmziigc3ryb2tlpsijmdzjii8="PD94bWwgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4wIiBlbmNvZGluZz0iVVRGLTgiPz48c3ZnIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyIgd2lkdGg9IjEwIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjEwIj48ZyB0cmFuc2Zvcm09InRyYW5zbGF0ZSgtODI2LjQyOSAtNjk4Ljc5MSkiPjxyZWN0IHdpZHRoPSI1Ljk4MiIgaGVpZ2h0PSI1Ljk4MiIgeD0iODI2LjkyOSIgeT0iNzAyLjMwOSIgZmlsbD0iI2ZmZiIgc3Ryb2tlPSIjMDZjIi8" pgc="PGc" phbhdgggzd0ittgzms4xotqgnjk4ljc5mwg1ljiznhy1ljm5mwwtms41nzegms41ndutms4zms0xljmxltiunzi1idiunzi1ltiunjg5ltiunjg5idiuoda4ltiuoda4lteumzexlteumzexeiigzmlsbd0iiza2ziivpjxwyxroigq9ik04mzuundi0idy5os43otvsljaymia0ljg4ns0xljgxny0xljgxny0yljg4msayljg4ms0xljiyoc0xljiyocayljg4ms0yljg4ms0xljg1ms0xljg1mxoiigzpbgw9iinmzmyilz48l2c="PHBhdGggZD0iTTgzMS4xOTQgNjk4Ljc5MWg1LjIzNHY1LjM5MWwtMS41NzEgMS41NDUtMS4zMS0xLjMxLTIuNzI1IDIuNzI1LTIuNjg5LTIuNjg5IDIuODA4LTIuODA4LTEuMzExLTEuMzExeiIgZmlsbD0iIzA2ZiIvPjxwYXRoIGQ9Ik04MzUuNDI0IDY5OS43OTVsLjAyMiA0Ljg4NS0xLjgxNy0xLjgxNy0yLjg4MSAyLjg4MS0xLjIyOC0xLjIyOCAyLjg4MS0yLjg4MS0xLjg1MS0xLjg1MXoiIGZpbGw9IiNmZmYiLz48L2c" pc9npjwvc3znpg="=" xmlns:data="data">Video discussions that Carpenter has taken part in</a> on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloggingheads.tv" title="Bloggingheads.tv" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Bloggingheads.tv</a></font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=35059233" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) 100% 50% no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" base64="base64" pd94bwwgdmvyc2lvbj0ims4wiiblbmnvzgluzz0ivvrgltgipz48c3znihhtbg5zpsjodhrwoi8vd3d3lnczlm9yzy8ymdawl3n2zyigd2lkdgg9ijewiibozwlnahq9ijewij48zyb0cmfuc2zvcm09inryyw5zbgf0zsgtodi2ljqyosatnjk4ljc5mskipjxyzwn0ihdpzhropsi1ljk4miigagvpz2h0psi1ljk4miiged0iodi2ljkyosiget0inzayljmwosigzmlsbd0ii2zmziigc3ryb2tlpsijmdzjii8="PD94bWwgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4wIiBlbmNvZGluZz0iVVRGLTgiPz48c3ZnIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyIgd2lkdGg9IjEwIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjEwIj48ZyB0cmFuc2Zvcm09InRyYW5zbGF0ZSgtODI2LjQyOSAtNjk4Ljc5MSkiPjxyZWN0IHdpZHRoPSI1Ljk4MiIgaGVpZ2h0PSI1Ljk4MiIgeD0iODI2LjkyOSIgeT0iNzAyLjMwOSIgZmlsbD0iI2ZmZiIgc3Ryb2tlPSIjMDZjIi8" pgc="PGc" phbhdgggzd0ittgzms4xotqgnjk4ljc5mwg1ljiznhy1ljm5mwwtms41nzegms41ndutms4zms0xljmxltiunzi1idiunzi1ltiunjg5ltiunjg5idiuoda4ltiuoda4lteumzexlteumzexeiigzmlsbd0iiza2ziivpjxwyxroigq9ik04mzuundi0idy5os43otvsljaymia0ljg4ns0xljgxny0xljgxny0yljg4msayljg4ms0xljiyoc0xljiyocayljg4ms0yljg4ms0xljg1ms0xljg1mxoiigzpbgw9iinmzmyilz48l2c="PHBhdGggZD0iTTgzMS4xOTQgNjk4Ljc5MWg1LjIzNHY1LjM5MWwtMS41NzEgMS41NDUtMS4zMS0xLjMxLTIuNzI1IDIuNzI1LTIuNjg5LTIuNjg5IDIuODA4LTIuODA4LTEuMzExLTEuMzExeiIgZmlsbD0iIzA2ZiIvPjxwYXRoIGQ9Ik04MzUuNDI0IDY5OS43OTVsLjAyMiA0Ljg4NS0xLjgxNy0xLjgxNy0yLjg4MSAyLjg4MS0xLjIyOC0xLjIyOCAyLjg4MS0yLjg4MS0xLjg1MS0xLjg1MXoiIGZpbGw9IiNmZmYiLz48L2c" pc9npjwvc3znpg="=" xmlns:data="data">Amanda Carpenter</a> on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myspace" title="Myspace" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Myspace</a></font></li></ul></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">faculty leaderhip instbio</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Amanda Carpenter is Senior Communications Advisor and Speechwriter to Sen. Jim DeMint, South Carolina Republican. In 2011, she was named by the Washington Post as one of the “Top 10 Capitol Hill Staffers to watch.” In 2009, Politico named her as one of the top five "best new TV pundits." She is formerly a columnist, reporter and blogger for the Washington Times. Carpenter has also worked as <b>National Political Reporter for Townhall.com</b>, the leading online publication for news, opinion, and talk. Prior to that she was a Capitol Hill reporter for Human Events. She has made numerous television appearances that include segments on the Fox News, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, and other major talk radio outlets. She is a featured speaker for the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute and wrote for Glamour magazine's 2008 presidential politics blog, Glamocracy. She was honored with the Campus Leadership Program's Investigative Journalism Award in spring 2005. Carpenter graduated from Ball State University in 2005 and then interned with the Leadership Institute, teaching college students how to start their own conservative publications, that summer. - See more at: http://www.leadershipinstitute.org/training/Bio.cfm?SchoolID=17336&FacultyID=39213#sthash.R8KLZEfN.dpuf</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">roll call</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px;"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Just as there was a glimmer of hope late last month that House Republican leaders would try to pass an immigration overhaul this year, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Sen. Ted Cruz and his staff mobilized to extinguish it. It was a one-two punch that showcased the stature of one of the Texas Republican’s top aides.</span></font></b></p><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While Cruz countered House leaders’ rollout of their immigration principles on conservative outlets like Breitbart News, Amanda Carpenter, who helps formulate and amplify Cruz’s message as his senior communications adviser and speechwriter, slung slices of red meat on Twitter.</font></b></p><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Maybe after offering up amnesty for Obama, the Establishment GOP will start working on a global warming cap-and-tax bill for Obama. #WhyNot,” Carpenter <a href="https://twitter.com/amandacarpenter" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;">tweeted</a>. She continued in rapid fire, tweeting: “Want to know why conservatives aren’t, supposedly, pushing happy ideas? bc we keep having to kill terrible ones the establishment pushes!” and “Hey, remember when they promised to keep the focus on Obamacare. Dontcha kinda think amnesty distracts from that?”</font></p><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Soon after, Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, <a href="http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/boehner-sounds-doubtful-on-immigration-overhaul/" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;">began to express doubt that immigration reform could be done this year</a>.</font></p><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Carpenter’s acerbic wit has helped grow her Twitter presence to reach more than 50,000 people — far more followers than most congressional staffers and surpassing many of Cruz’s fellow senators.[// coulter? sp = standup?]</font></span></p><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Her unique position in the Twitterverse has provided another pipeline from Cruz to the conservative grass roots. And Carpenter doesn’t hold back — targeting the establishment and GOP leaders again and again, as well as President Barack Obama.</font></p><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span id="more-7439"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">She said in an interview last week that pushing aggressively for change makes the establishment uncomfortable.</font></span></p><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Washington is resistant to change,” Carpenter told CQ Roll Call. “The rise of the grass roots and the influence they have been able to wield in terms of phone calls, letters, emails. This is a relatively new thing that’s happening. We view it as a very positive thing. As Cruz likes to say, ‘Liberty is never more safe than when politicians are terrified.’ So I think people are trying to adapt to that.”</font></p><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Carpenter acknowledged she has more freedom on social media than is typical for staffers, “which I really enjoy.”</font></p><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But that freedom has provoked the quiet — and sometimes not so quiet — ire of fellow Republicans who contend that Cruz and his operation are merely seeking publicity for a possible 2016 presidential run at the expense of electing a Republican majority.</font></p><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Wall Street Journal editorial page recently called Cruz “the minority maker” and part of the GOP’s “kamikaze caucus” after <a title="GOP Split Laid Bare on Debt Limit Vote" href="http://blogs.rollcall.com/wgdb/gop-split-laid-bare-on-debt-limit-vote/" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;">he forced his fellow Republicans to back a procedural vote</a> to advance a bill to suspend the debt ceiling and avoid a default. Both Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Whip John Cornyn face tea party primary challengers <a href="http://atr.rollcall.com/mcconnell-cornyn-walk-plank-on-debt-limit-to-ire-of-conservatives/" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;">who were quick to use their “yes” votes as campaign fodder</a>.</font></p><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And Carpenter herself has been target of vitriol. Playboy magazine in 2009 singled her out among 10 GOP women in a crudely headlined article they subsequently took down, and in September a Sacramento County Democratic Party official resigned after a posting an offensive tweet about Carpenter’s children.</font></p><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">She makes no apologies for her vocal Twitter presence, though she said she doesn’t find herself antagonistic. She argues any tension has more to do with complacency among establishment Republicans than anything she says or does.</font></p><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“This office has allowed me to be fairly vocal on social media in a way that other offices don’t allow their staffs to do,” Carpenter told CQ Roll Call. “But this is the model. We want to be making our argument, making our case, pretty vocally and when we are not the popular voice in Washington it’s more important than ever for us to communicate what we are doing and why so people can understand it and it’s not viewed as ‘Oh, Cruz is just causing trouble.’ No, here is the explanation behind it.”</font></p><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">She said her boss is good at making his own case, “but it also helps to have other people amplifying that in real time when a vote is going down.”</font></p><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Carpenter’s Twitter presence helped boost Cruz’s lengthy <a title="Ted Cruz to House: ‘Stand Firm’ on Obamacare, ‘Republicans Will Win’" href="http://blogs.rollcall.com/wgdb/cruz-repeats-call-to-stand-firm-against-obamacare-on-shutdown-debt-limit/" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;">#MakeDCListen floor speech on Obamacare last year</a>. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">And she was active before, during and after the government shutdown, which many establishment Republicans blamed on Cruz.</span></font></p><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">She dismissed a common criticism of her boss — that Cruz values party purity over pragmatism.</font></p><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“This isn’t about purity, it’s not about making people look bad, it’s about how are we going to change Washington for the better,” Carpenter said. “You don’t do that by green-lighting the status quo and keep doing the things that we’ve done that have created a $17 trillion debt and a government that we can’t even exercise any oversight of.</font></p><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Am I passionate about stopping that, yes,” she said. “Does that cause disagreement? Yes. [But] that’s OK.”</font></p><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Echoing Cruz on elections, she added: “Republicans, when they stand on principle, they win.”</font></p><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The 31-year-old mother of two grew up in Montrose, Mich., in an apolitical family. She embraced becoming a conservative Republican working her way through college at Ball State University and founded a website where she wrote about, among other things, the </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">rising cost of<b> </b>tuition.</span></font></p><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">That led to jobs at conservative media outlets and a column at the Washington Times. She became a regular on Fox News, and built trust among online conservative activists. She first made her way to Capitol Hill as <a href="http://www.rollcall.com/issues/55_88/-43038-1.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;">a senior communications adviser and speechwriter</a> for South Carolina Sen. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Jim DeMint — who has since become a key Cruz ally as the head of The Heritage Foundation.</span></font></p><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DeMint “pioneered a lot of the grass-roots model … and trying to change Washington from the outside in rather than from the inside out,” she said. Initially, she worried that as a freshman, Cruz wouldn’t get active immediately, but joining the Texan’s office was the “best decision that I could have made” after leaving DeMint’s staff, she said.</font></p><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Carpenter warned not to expect anything different from Cruz if Republicans win the majority.</font></p><p style="line-height: 18px; margin: 9px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“His principles are not going to change,” she said. “He’s said before, ‘I don’t trust Republicans, I don’t trust Democrats.’ He’s still going try to do the things he set out to do. The goal of being in the Senate isn’t just to be the guy with the most people on your team. It’s to fix it.”</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.7em; padding: 0px; line-height: 16px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">a tweet time-stamped at 9:20 a.m. Friday, Allan Brauer directed a tweet to Amanda Carpenter after she had shared some GOP-backed commentary about gun control, Syria, amnesty and President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act.
</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.7em; padding: 0px; line-height: 16px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"GOP beat gun control, changed Obama's mind on Syria, is holding the line on amnesty. We can defund Obamacare, too!" Carpenter tweeted.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">

Read more: <a href="http://www.kcra.com/news/communications-chair-of-sac-dems-wishes-death-on-speechwriters-children/22043046#ixzz39LvRB5bB" style="text-decoration: none; outline: none;">http://www.kcra.com/news/communications-chair-of-sac-dems-wishes-death-on-speechwriters-children/22043046#ixzz39LvRB5bB</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div></div>