Hope, Change, & Lies: Orchestrated "Grassroots" Smear Campaigns & the People that Run

cnredd · #1 (**permalink**) 09-22-2008, 03:33 AM

Here's another story that the MSM will either avoid or put on page 38A...

Hope, Change, & Lies: Orchestrated "Grassroots" Smear Campaigns & the People that Run Them

Quote:

Extensive research was conducted by the Jawa Report to determine the source of smears directed toward Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Those smears included false allegations that she belonged to a secessionist political party and that she has radical anti-American views.

Our research suggests that a subdivision of one of the largest public relations firms in the world most likely started and promulgated rumors about Sarah Palin that were known to be false. These rumors were spread in a surreptitious manner to avoid exposure.

It is also likely that the PR firm was paid by outside sources to run the smear campaign. While not conclusive, evidence suggests a link to the Barack Obama campaign. Namely:

Evidence suggests that a YouTube video with false claims about Palin was uploaded and promoted by members of a professional PR firm.

The family that runs the PR firm has extensive ties to the Democratic Party, the netroots, and are staunch Obama supporters.

Evidence suggests that the firm engaged in a concerted effort to distribute the video in such a way that it would appear to have gone viral on its own. Yet this effort took place on company time.

Evidence suggests that these distribution efforts included actions by at least one employee of the firm who is unconnected with the family running the company.

The voice-over artist used in this supposedly amateur video is a professional.
This same voice-over artist has worked extensively with David Axelrod's firm, which has a history of engaging in phony grassroots efforts, otherwise known as "astroturfing."

David Axelrod is Barack Obama's chief media strategist.

The same voice-over artist has worked directly for the Barack Obama campaign.

This suggests that false rumors and outright lies about Sarah Palin and John McCain being spread on the internet are being orchestrated by political partisans and are not an organic grassroots phenomenon led by the left wing fringe.

Here's the actual video produced by the the same people that Obama's campaign uses but claims another innocent associaition...

YouTube - Palin Smear Video Backup

Now I know what you're thinking..."Obama's scum, but he's my Lord and Savior, so what's wrong?"...

Well...Read on...

Quote:

Federal election law requires that a disclaimer from those paying for campaign ads, "must appear on any "electioneering communication" and on any public communication by any person that expressly advocates the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate or solicits funds in connection with a federal election." Even when the ad is not paid for nor coordinated with the candidates election committee, "the disclaimer notice must identify who paid for the message, state that it was not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee and list the permanent street address, telephone number or World Wide Web address of the person who paid for the communication."

No such disclaimer appears on the ad in question. However, "General public political advertising does not include Internet ads, except for communications placed for a fee on another person’s web site." It is not clear to us whether a video is considered an "internet ad" or if the wording only meant to include banner ads or other more common forms of internet advertising.

All of the web only video ads that we could find produced by the Obama campaign carried the disclosure or some other clearly identifiable notice that they were responsible for its content.

It would appear that the ad, while professionally produced, was put on YouTube and then spread in such a way as to make it seem like amateurs had made it and spread it. We can't help but wonder if the missing disclaimer on the video was an intentional exploitation of a loophole meant to distance the people behind the ad from its outright lies?

We also can't help but wonder if maybe those who produced the ad believed that the lack of disclaimer constituted an FEC violation? Which would be an alternative explanation for why they did not wish to be connected to it.

Beyond the disclaimer, though, our reading of FEC regulations suggests that political campaign and 527 groups, such as Moveon.org, are required to report money spent on advertising opposing a candidate for public office. We can find no exception for advertising intended for web only campaigns.

We assume that if some group paid for the production of the video, that it would be reported to the FEC. Not doing so, we believe, would constitute a breach of federal campaign law.

In other words, Obama can pay off the same people to do 527 ads abelow the radar and then say "I had nothing to do with it" and walk away scott free...

The very same thing he scares his supporters with by saying it's what the GOP would do because he's black...

Change you can believe in...

cnredd · #2 (**permalink**) 09-22-2008, 03:49 AM

For a little background to digest (or, for Obama supporters, to skim through, pretend you didn't see it, and then wait for Obama to push the waters back from his Greek temple)...

Quote:

Astroturfing in American English is a neologism for formal public relations campaigns in politics and advertising which seek to create the impression of being spontaneous "grassroots" behavior, hence the reference to the artificial grass, AstroTurf.

The goal of such a campaign is to disguise the efforts of a political or commercial entity as an independent public reaction to some political entity—a politician, political group, product, service or event. Astroturfers attempt to orchestrate the actions of apparently diverse and geographically distributed individuals, by both overt ("outreach", "awareness", etc.) and covert (disinformation) means. Astroturfing may be undertaken by an individual pushing a personal agenda or highly organized professional groups with financial backing from large corporations, non-profits, or activist organizations. Very often the efforts are conducted by political consultants who also specialize in opposition research.

Now let's hear from Business Week on who the master of astroturfing is...

The Secret Side of David Axelrod

Quote:

David Axelrod has long been known for his political magic. Through his AKP&D Message & Media consultancy, the campaign veteran has advised a succession of Democratic candidates since 1985, and he's now chief strategist for Senator Barack Obama's bid for President. But on the down low, Axelrod moonlights in the private sector.

From the same River North address, Axelrod operates a second business, ASK Public Strategies, that discreetly plots strategy and advertising campaigns for corporate clients to tilt public opinion their way. He and his partners consider virtually everything about ASK to be top secret, from its client roster and revenue to even the number of its employees. But customers and public records confirm that it has quarterbacked campaigns for the Chicago Children's Museum, ComEd, Cablevision, and AT&T.

ASK's predilection for operating in the shadows shows up in its work. On behalf of ComEd and Comcast, the firm helped set up front organizations that were listed as sponsors of public-issue ads. Industry insiders call such practices "Astroturfing," a reference to manufacturing grassroots support. Alderman Brendan Reilly of the 42nd Ward, who has been battling the Children's Museum's relocation plans, describes ASK as "the gold standard in Astroturf organizing. This is an emerging industry, and ASK has made a name for itself in shaping public opinion and manufacturing public support."

saltwn · #3 (**permalink**) 09-22-2008, 06:16 AM

This is the kind of stuff that made me decide to vote for Obama.
Anti propaganda propaganda. I never heard any smears against Palin. All I heard and still hear is the other side saying the Dems are smearing her.

I hear it on some radio, cruising web blogs and of course the numero uno of all F__x News.

tristanrobin · #4 (**permalink**) 09-22-2008, 08:04 AM

me either

cnredd · #5 (**permalink**) 09-22-2008, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saltwn

This is the kind of stuff that made me decide to vote for Obama.
Anti propaganda propaganda. I never heard any smears against Palin. All I heard and still hear is the other side saying the Dems are smearing her.

Did you even BOTHER to watch the video?...

Quote:

"My hatred for the American Government. I've got no use for America."

These are quotes from the founder of the Alaskan Independance Party.

Sarah Palin and her husband were members of this anti-American organization which supported the separation of their state from the United States.

That is an outright smear nomatter how you want spin it...

Here's all of the documentation that shows Palin originally regitered as a Republican and has NEVER changed it to this day...

But I guess when Obama has his smear merchants say it, all of a sudden it's not a "smear"...

saltwn · #6 (**permalink**) 09-22-2008, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cnredd

Did you even BOTHER to watch the video?...

That is an outright smear nomatter how you want spin it...

Here's all of the documentation that shows Palin originally regitered as a Republican and has NEVER changed it to this day...

But I guess when Obama has his smear merchants say it, all of a sudden it's not a "smear"...

No I didn't watch a Youtube video that even chronic cannibals have access to as proof of anything but an opinion coming from the creator.

P.S. O.K., I finally watched it. Just to be fair.
Palin did appear sympathetic to her husband's chosen Party. She later registered as a Republican. Why she did that is controversial.
Hillary Clinton was raised a Republican. She is now an icon of the Democrat Party. She started changing her mind during the civil rights and war rumor unrest. Perhaps Sarah Palin matured in her thinking and chose a definite stand on politics.

cnredd · #7 (**permalink**) 09-23-2008, 03:25 PM

UPDATE!

This isn't the first time Axelrod pulled this stunt (obviously, considering it's his MO)...

But he's actually worked with the very same outfit that created the Palin smear video in previous elections...

From Newark's local newspaper...let's hope it works it's way up...

PR firm behind Palin smears has history with Obama media chief Axelrod

Quote:

Ethan Winner, an executive with a Public Relations firm connected to a senior Obama campaign advisor has admitted to distributing a video designed to smear Republican Vice Presidential nominee Governor Sarah Palin. An investigation has shown that David Axelrod, chief media advisor to Obama had previously worked with the PR firm chief Chuck Winner on another campaign.

In 1996, a group of investors penned Proposal E in Detroit which allowed for casinos. The investors hired the firm Winner/Wagner & Mandabach to study the chances of passing that proposal. As told in an article written by Laurence B. Deitch, an attorney for the proposal supporters, the Winner firm later led the media effort to help pass the measure. It brought in several outside media and communications groups.

A video from the Detroit Mayor's office produced by Mayor Archer's political consultant David Axelrod was noted as a key part of the Winner directed effort. This revelation places Axelrod in a direct working relationship with the Chuck Winner PR firm in a past campaign.

Axelrod is considered by many to be a master of planting campaign messages on the internet to look like they did not originate from an organized campaign, a practice know as “astroturfing” (because of the fake grass-roots nature of the message). The joint effort on the Prop E campaign is the first public indication of a direct tie between the Obama campaign team and the Winner PR firm.

dga · #8 (**permalink**) 09-23-2008, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cnredd

UPDATE!

This isn't the first time Axelrod pulled this stunt (obviously, considering it's his MO)...

But he's actually worked with the very same outfit that created the Palin smear video in previous elections...

From Newark's local newspaper...let's hope it works it's way up...

PR firm behind Palin smears has history with Obama media chief Axelrod

Hmmm, I wonder if anyone was this diligent in trying to investigate the origins of the Obama smears (muslim, terrorist, born in Kenya)? Which BTW pale in comparison to anything that (you've shown me) is out there about Palin, not to mention the fact that they are complete falsehoods. I guess not,

. I'm sorry to have to say it, but I'm glad he's fighting back,

.

faithful_servant · #9 (**permalink**) 09-24-2008, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dga

Hmmm, I wonder if anyone was this diligent in trying to investigate the origins of the Obama smears (muslim, terrorist, born in Kenya)? Which BTW pale in comparison to anything that (you've shown me) is out there about Palin, not to mention the fact that they are complete falsehoods. I guess not,

. I'm sorry to have to say it, but I'm glad he's fighting back,

.

Only the nutballs like bhkad are saying stupid crap like that about Sen. Obama, but it's the mainstream left who is making all kinds of deceptive comments about Gov. Palin. Over and over, you read comments minimizing her efforts and rarely discussing her accomoplishments. Over and over, you read "Mayor of a small town.", but rarely "Was willing to take on corruption within her own party."

dga · #10 (**permalink**) 09-24-2008, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by faithful_servant

Only the nutballs like bhkad are saying stupid crap like that about Sen. Obama, but it's the mainstream left who is making all kinds of deceptive comments about Gov. Palin. Over and over, you read comments minimizing her efforts and rarely discussing her accomoplishments. Over and over, you read "Mayor of a small town.", but rarely "Was willing to take on corruption within her own party."

Takes us right back to Saltwn post #3,

.

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