New Hampshire Identifies Firm Behind Anti-Mormon Calls -- But Not Their Sponsor
Okay, the New Hampshire attorney general's press release on the probe of the anti-Mormon, anti Romney calls has now been released. And the AG has identified the firm behind the calls as Moore Information.
But the AG has not been able to determine who contracted the company for the calls, which obviously is the crucial info here:
Attorney General Kelly A. Ayotte is requesting the public’s assistance in identifying who employed Moore-Information of Portland, Oregon to conduct a poll in New Hampshire, in November 2007, which has been alleged to be a push-poll. New Hampshire’s voters deserve to know whether any candidate in our Presidential Primary violated New Hampshire’s push-poll statute.
Apparently Moore Information is dragging its feet and asking for more time before it coughs up info the AG wants that could help her track down the sponsor of the calls. And this info looks like it won't be forthcoming until safely after the January 8th New Hampshire primary.
Had the identity of the sponsor of the calls become known in time, it could have had a big influence on the primary's outcome. Some have charged that John McCain's camp is behind them; others have wondered whether someone connected with Romney himself might have done them, to test anti-Mormon messages or diffuse the Mormon issue by airing it publicly.
According to the AG's release Moore Information outsourced the job to Western Wats, the firm that actually made the calls -- and Wats was tied to Romney in various ways, giving weight to the theory that Romney himself was behind the calls.
More in a bit.
Comments (35)
Ajax the Greater wrote on January 3, 2008 4:11 PM:FYI on this Moore group, its 100% a Publican outfit: http://www.moore-info.com/campaign.html
in fact, I dont see any Dems on their entire client list, and I do see names like Pombo, Young and other members of the Bush crime syndicate.
so it's either mccain or romney, and of course we wont find out until it makes no difference to the actual primary campaign.
and some low level staffers will eat it if/when anything actually comes out anyhoo.
the good thing is that either mccain or romney are going to be the Publican nominee, which means delicious negative press about them in the 27 months leading up to the general election...
Anonymous wrote on January 3, 2008 4:18 PM:"Apparently Moore Information is dragging its feet and asking for more time before it coughs up info the AG wants that could help her track down the sponsor of the calls."
Sounds like they need a little pursuasion. Waterboard, maybe?
EH wrote on January 3, 2008 4:22 PM:"Moore Information."
Cute.
Gaines wrote on January 3, 2008 4:27 PM:Wait, is this where I am supposed to post something negative about a Democrat I don't like even though this story has nothing to do with any Democrat? (Rolling eyes)
Maybe I can short cut that:
Clinton is power hungry obstructor of justice! Obama is a closet Islamic terrorist! Edwards is a greedy lying trial lawyer (shudder)! Richardson is an illegal alien!! Biden is a mutant with a third foot that grows from his mouth! Kucinich is a space alien!
There. Did I cover it all? Now, please restrict your posts to the actually article. Yes, the one above. Written by Greg Sargent. Is it really that difficult?
Anonymous wrote on January 3, 2008 4:34 PM:Western Wats only does political work for Republican candidates. In the industry, there's a taboo about doing polls for both sides.
TR wrote on January 3, 2008 4:42 PM:Please play by the rules?
whose rules Gaines?
Can we change YOUR rules
Could you please post more instructions
so that we don't put anything here that may offend you in either substance style
or format.
Please.
Just some friendly advise for you,
I'd stay away from that Rove kid,
I think he might play too rough,
he won't follow your advice,
no matter how well meaning your intentions.
I'd bet my paycheck it's Huckabee.
Pink Panther wrote on January 3, 2008 4:51 PM:How about questioning campaign comptrollers to find out who paid for services from Moore?
Trent wrote on January 3, 2008 4:56 PM:How about put up a reward and ask some one to come forward annonomously who works at the firm.
Worth a try,
Dem operatives waste some of their money on worse.
The Mittster was probably just trying to take a reading on whether he should flipflop on his religion too and become a Baptist.
TR, I think you missed my point. I wasn't "making rules." I'll try again.
Suppose you are at a social gathering ( or a business meeting, for that matter). There is a subject that almost everyone is interested in discussing. But, there are one or two people who have an obsession with something completely unrelated and keep interrupting the mature discussions with their inanity of a 12 year old. It is incumbent on someone to say to them, "Sorry, but that's not what we are talking about right now. We can talk about it later." You simply can't expect people's behavior to improve unless you call them on it. I was doing that with a sense of humor as a few posts to the earlier version of the article had gone far astray. I thought posting a synopsis of all the wildest allegations imaginable about the Democrats would preempt the need for the immature to post their own unrelated rants. It's called ridicule.
I'd be surprised if it was McCain; he doesn't seem inclined towards the dirty stuff to me. Maybe he "learned" from what was done to him in 2000, though.
I wouldn't rule out Giuliani, but my bet's on Romney's campaign.
Califone wrote on January 3, 2008 5:04 PM:I'm hedging my bets on Rudy. McCain was openly outspoken against the ad, and publicly asked for the AG to get involved. Romney may be dirty, but I doubt he's dirty enough to smear his own religion--he's Mormon not Catholic.
bluestatedon wrote on January 3, 2008 5:06 PM:I think Trent has the right idea, and the logical source of such an effort and money would be one of the major newspapers in NH. The Union-Leader came out in opposition to Romney, so perhaps they should lead the charge. Once upon a time journalists would actually relish the chance to break a big story like this.
Michael A wrote on January 3, 2008 5:09 PM:Unfortunately, that was more than 30 years ago bluestatedon. They haven't done their job in over 30 years. It was the olden days, when they cared about the country and doing their job.
sabatia wrote on January 3, 2008 5:11 PM:I think a lot of us here, in the media, and around the country have seen that Mitt Romney will do and say(and spend any amount) to fulfill his ambitions. This was probably delegated by him on one of his top staffers so that there could be deniability. The Romney connections to the firm--the primary vendor was probably instructed to use the friendly Western Watts. Romney could cry foul. It was a perfect foil to his "Jesus" speech. He was not up front about the fact that the most prominent callers were paid "volunteers", nor were the "volunteers" immediately forthcoming about their connection to the Romney campaign. Mitt is too genteel to be directly involved, but he has had no problem using staff and paid "endorsers" to do his dirty work while he remains, above the fray, a man of character. This also fits right in with the Republic phone-jamming in NH in the last Presidential election, where you don't find out the truth until the damage has been done and victory secured for the Rs. Its all about using every means possible to win. Sign of the Rs complete absence of morals.
TR wrote on January 3, 2008 5:15 PM:Gaines
I don't think the analogy applies,
the social dynamics of a group at a party and those at a blog are very different.
At a party you could ostracize the person for being a jerk - you might call him out once or twice but at some point
you physically turn him out of the group.
You cannot physically turn someone out of a blog unless you disable their ip address.
So you have one and only one recourse and that is to not respond in any way shape or form.
Your trying to use reason and the format
is just not conducive to that without recourse of possible physical banishment.
It's your human ego that feels the human need to respond,
The real test of maturity lies in your ability not to rise to the bait and to just stick to the topic originally under discussion.
Thank you so much, TR. The irony that you would chastise me instead of an actual offender will keep me laughing for days.
bluestatedon wrote on January 3, 2008 5:30 PM:Unfortunately you're correct in the main, Michael A. There are still print journalists who do a great job — John Brummett at the Arkansas News Bureau has done a great job covering Mike Huckabee, for example — but the vast majority of the mass print and broadcast media seem to be worse than useless.
Thank god for sites like TPM and people like Josh Marshall. I think future historians will regard the development of independent news and investigative blogs as what rescued American journalism from a catastrophic slide into decadent irrelevance.
sabatia wrote on January 3, 2008 5:31 PM:PS: I personnally met Mitt in 94 and several times since. He made promises to us that he began breaking as soon as he set his eyes on higher office. His current supporters should be forwarned. We in Massachusetts, who know the man well, believe that he is a base individual, a lyin'chameleon, whose ambitions and Stepford image belie the spirit of a wealthy entitled weasel, and I've got nothing against wealthy folks or wild weasels. An uncompassionate corporatist to the core.
TR wrote on January 3, 2008 5:32 PM:Gaines
appreciate your proving my point -
but honestly it was too easy -
I'm going to go talk with the grownups now
bye bye
Michael A wrote on January 3, 2008 5:39 PM:I agree on the blog investigative journalism. That's why I started checking out this blog. I saw a piece on TPM in the mainstream media where they were interviewing Josh Marshall. TPM broke the US Attorney firing story!!!!!! But for TPM, we would not have even known about it. The mainstream media didn't do squat.
Also, more than anyone else, I blame the mainstream media for the iraq war debacle and allowing the king to do what he has done to our constitution. They acted like cheerleaders in the lead up to the war and didn't probe and ask any freaking questions. They just regurgitated the propoganda and played along. Pathetic. They are just as responsible as the king for this tragedy and all the death and destruction.
I actually listen to the BBC quite alot. It's amazingly different from our corporate media and you actually get some information. It's incredible when you have to go overseas to find out what is going on in your own country with a "free press." Pathetic.
sabatia wrote on January 3, 2008 5:56 PM:Its Ron Paul. HuffPost has beaten its partner on this story.
"Moore Information has not yet confirmed the sponsor of the poll, but the firm lists presidential candidate Ron Paul as one of its clients. Paul is the only presidential client listed on Moore's website."
Ron Paul is toast! Oh how I wish it were Mitt!
PeeJ wrote on January 3, 2008 6:00 PM:I gotta go with McCaine on this one. Moore Information (btw, I didn't know we let those kind of people do business here in Portland) is an all red outfit true, but more importantly ol Moore his own self is deep in the red Senate.
Of course, it's not *inconceivable* that we are all falling victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is, Never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well known is this, "Never go in against a Mormon when public office is on the line.
Michael A wrote on January 3, 2008 6:34 PM:Nah, mccain would never do that. Talk about blowback if it ever got out. Not in a million years would mccain do something like this. It really sounds like mitt the flip. My money is on my man mitt being behind it. The timing was too coincidental for it not to be mitt and it was just a few calls and it gave him all kinds of free press. Totally mitt the flip's style.
Anonymous wrote on January 3, 2008 6:42 PM:im going to go talk to grownups now with my lower case letters and lack of punctuation ill blend right in
The Speller wrote on January 3, 2008 6:49 PM:I can spell and puntuate but I aint got shit to say
but boy can I SPELL AND PUNCUATE
That was funny The Speller.
DryHeat wrote on January 3, 2008 7:04 PM:Anyone else notice this sentence about half way down in the NH AG's press release?
"The push-poll law does not apply to presidential primaries. RSA 664:1."
http://doj.nh.gov/publications/nreleases/010308poll.html
Doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose?
When will Angel Moroni be declared persona non grata. Or does anyone even know where his monument is, Sined Phil
Anonymous wrote on January 3, 2008 9:13 PM:Ajax the Greater wrote on January 3, 2008 4:11 PM:...in the 27 months leading up to the general election...
Weird, I thought the election was in November of this year (2008), not March of 2010. Learn something new everyday on the intertubes.
;-)
lestatdelc wrote on January 3, 2008 9:14 PM:Dang, let try it again with my personal info "remembered" this time by the broweser/site.
Ajax the Greater wrote on January 3, 2008 4:11 PM:...in the 27 months leading up to the general election...
Weird, I thought the election was in November of this year (2008), not March of 2010. Learn something new everyday on the intertubes
;-)
David wrote on January 4, 2008 5:34 PM:Interestingly, Ron Paul has been a client of Moore-Information. According to opensecrets.org, Paul used Moore-Information during the 2005-2006 reporting cycle for polling-related services two times. He had previously used the firm in 2002 as well.
David wrote on January 4, 2008 5:35 PM:Interestingly, Ron Paul has been a client of Moore-Information. According to opensecrets.org, Paul used Moore-Information during the 2005-2006 reporting cycle for polling-related services two times. He had previously used the firm in 2002 as well. (http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/expendetail.asp?CID=N00005906&cycle=2006&name=Moore+Information)
Anonymous wrote on January 10, 2008 7:53 PM:Don't rule out Romney's involvement. According to an article in today's Salt Lake Tribune, Moore Information provided past services for the Utah Republican Party AND Congressman Chris Cannon. Cannon's "family".
