McCain Campaign Blames Reporters For Spokesperson's Peddling Of Incendiary "Carved B" Story
A spokesperson for McCain's national campaign is pushing back on our story yesterday reporting that McCain's Pennsylvania communications director was giving reporters an incendiary version of the attack hoax story before the facts were in.
But Keith Olbermann does a nice job of skewering the push-back. From the Countdown transcript:
Tonight, McCain`s spokesman, Brian Rogers, denied the campaign gave out those quotes, telling COUNTDOWN, they came from the police and were attributed to the McCain camp because of sloppy reporting.An account that doesn't explain why two television stations both quoted the McCain campaign, or the fact that one of them, KDKA Pittsburgh specifically followed the McCain quotes with the line, quote, "Police, however, have not confirmed that."
And tonight, COUNTDOWN asked the reporter from the other station, WPXI to check his notes. He says he got those quotes first, 4:08 p.m. yesterday from McCain`s Pennsylvania communications director.
So now we have two stations -- WPXI and KDKA -- who both independently say they got the same story and the same quotes linking the "B" to "Barack" from the McCain campaign.
Yet the McCain camp is actually asking you to believe that both reporters -- independently -- made the same mistake and wrongly attributed the McCain PA spokesperson's quotes to the cops. That'll work.
McCain screwing up his message yet again is truly EXCELLENT
October 25, 2008 8:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
yes, and they seem to be doing the obama campaign a favor. Seems like they have learned little from the clinton campaign.
Listen: Joe McCain Makes 911 Call About Traffic
October 25, 2008 4:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Forget Ashley Todd, McCAIN HIMSELF Engaged in Self-Mutilating Hoax
http://satiricalpolitical.com/?p=4311
October 25, 2008 8:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
God, I am so sick of the McCain camp's lying, childish, alternately-frightened-and-bullying crap. Can't they simply apologize and can their PA communications director? Practice a little g.d. accountability for once?
October 25, 2008 9:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
Co-sign. And no... mcShame is shameless and blameless. And whatever he does wrong is always the other guy's fault! Grrrrr....
October 25, 2008 9:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah... I'm sick and tired of it too. Repugs are from the top to the bottom all like that, i.e., never apologize, never take responsibility, just whining.
October 25, 2008 12:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
And they are really going out with class, eh?
October 25, 2008 1:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Are we really surprised? The campaign hasn't taken responsibility for any one of their gaffes. It'd be like swallowing his tongue for McCain to admit anything, ever.
Incidentally, I've been watching conservative boards saying "ASHLEY TODD IS A SECRET OBAMA SUPPORTER!!!!11!" (I love the smell of Schadenfreude in the morning.)
October 25, 2008 9:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's right, she is on the Obama team. I was at the meeting. She was like, "Hey, I gotta idea that will help us win!" And we were like, "Hope so, 'cause nothing's working!"
She told us all about it, and we all agreed, it was our last chance to beat McCain.
October 25, 2008 11:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
Next, the Republicans will be picking up on the fact that the Assistant Police Chief is a black lady and start talking about cahoots.
October 25, 2008 9:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
that up is down, that the sky is green and the grass is blue, that 2 + 2 = 5 and that Sarah Palin is ready to be president.
In the grand scheme of things, this actually may be one of the easier lies to believe.
October 25, 2008 9:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
It should be abundantly clear to everyone that these are not the folks we want running the country.
October 25, 2008 9:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
it's also becoming abundantly clear to everyone that these are not the folks who will be running the country.
October 25, 2008 10:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
Bizzaro world has become business as usual.
October 25, 2008 9:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yet the McCain camp is actually asking you to believe...
Defining phrase of the McCain campaign.
October 25, 2008 10:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
Just keep repeating to yourself. . .ONE MORE WEEK OF THIS NONSENSE (then of course the "other" nonsense of constant criticism and second guessing will begin).
OT, this is priceless (The Vet who did not Vet):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03fcGelz8Hw
October 25, 2008 10:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
Second. Not so terribly OT IMO.
October 25, 2008 10:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
McCain-Palin campaign strategy: drop an axle and see how far the loose wheels roll.
October 25, 2008 10:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
on politico article on sarah palin going rogue...i think its a free for all in that side
October 25, 2008 10:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
Election Night at the Palin camp should be interesting. If and when Obama gets to 270, Levi's gonna blurt out, "So wait, I don't have to marry her anymore, right?"
October 25, 2008 10:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
zamboni is gonna cry when they take away her designer bags "mommy, i wanna keep them"
October 25, 2008 10:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think this particularly works against McCain because all Americans, and even most especially wealth conscious Republicans want serious adult leadership. Sarah acts likes she's about as old as Piper and McCain acts like he needs long-term care.
October 25, 2008 10:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
If the McCain campaign wasn't pushing the story, then why would the executive vice president at Fox News write on his blog, "If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain's quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting."
October 25, 2008 10:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
First time I've agreed with someone at Fox.
October 25, 2008 11:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
I wish I could agree with him, but it really is too good to be true.
October 25, 2008 4:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
This statement, "If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain's quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting," is complete nonsense if McCain's campaign wasn't somehow connected with getting the story out there.
October 25, 2008 1:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Probably more accurately: should be complete nonsense. But you know how it is in politics, events unattached to the campaigns themselves still affect them.
The other side of his statement was "if it's true, it will cause some voters to re-evaluate the Obama campaign." Nonsense, yes. But probably also true.
October 25, 2008 2:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Trouble in the McCain camp. Gov Plain is doing things her way.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14929.html
October 25, 2008 10:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
What's the deal with keeping Todd in jail rather than releasing her on a bond as is the norm for a misdemeanor? Is she really a threat to herself as the police say, in which case you'd think she'd be shipped off to a psychiatric facility. Or do the police want her around because there's more to the investigation yet to come out? Maybe she's a material witness to something bigger.
October 25, 2008 10:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think a combination: she's being held in a psychiatric facility-not "jail" per se and last I read, they haven't been able to contact any family. I think they are doing the right thing. She's needs supervision for her safety, perhaps.
As far as investigation, I think they would absolutely want more information...like who did she call, other than the police and how did that photo of her get out...? (maybe I missed that...)
October 25, 2008 10:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm hoping we learn more about those 45 minutes between the time of the alleged incident and the time she called the police. Who did she call? Who did she talk to? What about the friend's apartment she went to? Why can't she recall how the disfigurement occurred? Etc.
October 25, 2008 10:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
"Can't remember" my ass. She is definitely stupid, maybe mental, but she knows damn well how it happened.
She hatched a plan, whacked herself a few times, went in front of a mirror and scratched the "B" on her cheek, and was so nervous she forgot that the "B" would look backwards to everyone else. So she goes to the police and recounts her "story" and the police are like, "um, darlin', why is the "B" backward?" And she thinks to herself, "Oh. Shit." So at that points she knows she's screwed, it's pretty obvious she cut herself in the mirror, so she makes up a new story that, well, she doesn't really remember how it happened. Must have done it herself, but can't remember how. BULLSHIT. It's like killing someone, getting caught, and pleading "temporary insanity" to get off the hook. Do a little time in a mental ward, let the docs check you out, maybe drool a little excessively, "get better", and go home.
I tell you one thing, the girls a prodigy. She'll be huge in the GOP someday, quick thinking like that. Screw up, cover it up, blame the press for blowing it out of proportion. Standard MO. She'll probably be on Palin's election campaign in 2012, just wait.
October 27, 2008 4:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's a very good question! Maybe it simply came from the police, but if so it should be easy enough to find out. Who had it beside Drudge?
Also interesting is the fact that in the "perp walk" shots she doesn't appear to have either a black eye or anything marring her left cheek. Details - it's always the details.
Trouble is, the only people who probably *could* answer the question are Drudge and Fox. Sigh. Odd statement from Fox. I wonder if they took the story and picture but smelled a rat themselves and made the statement so they, too, can start distancing themselves from the flailing McCain campaign?
October 25, 2008 1:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
In my dream, I see the DA scaring the shit out of Todd with the threat of real jail time but offers her a deal if she'll spill all the beans.
Todd, in turn, implicates senior McSlime staffers and produces ep-mails and documents to corroborate...I know, I know...jeez...a guy can dream, can't he?
October 25, 2008 10:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
As far as shenanigans in Pennsylvania go, I think this is far worse:
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/24/pennsylvania-republicans-send-false-anti-obama-e-mail/
Ashley Todd is obviously mentally ill, but these people are calculating and should be charged with something, not sure if it's slander or libel.
October 25, 2008 11:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
Journalism 101.
Garcia took the photos
http://www.postgazette.com/pg/08299/922849-53.stm
that were used to prop up the B=Barrack story line.
To whom did he send the photos?
Who told Peter Feldman? How was he made aware of the alleged mugging?
Time for truth motivated Pennsylvanians and Pittsburghers to camp out on these two guys and get the answers on video.
Feldman obviously f-d up. And Fox smelled the race baiting hoax. Time to connect the dots.
October 25, 2008 12:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for the link. Here's what is said in the story about where copies of the (digital) photo went.
" He [Garcia] said he only gave copies of the photos to police and Ms. Todd's employer, the College Republicans. One photo appeared on The Drudge Report on Thursday, setting off a storm of media attention."
Doubt the police would be sending copies to Drudge ........
And the absolutely best touch: on Facebook, she lists as her favorite book "The Scarlet Letter"!! Can't make this stuff up.
October 25, 2008 2:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Think this puts to rest any notion of McCain using Rev. Wright in the final days of the PA campaign?
October 25, 2008 2:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
An interesting contrast is the way in which the Obama campaign has specifically chosen to downplay racial incidents. You hear reports here and there of vandalism and racial slurs, but the campaign doesn't push them.
October 25, 2008 3:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Right, and yet McCain's camp is constantly decrying Obama for "playing the race card". Interesting, that. And, of course, constantly decrying the other side for playing the race card is itself playing the race card, but let's not confuse McCain too much, he was a POW you know . . .
October 27, 2008 4:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
i cant bealive what i have seen about McCain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYt-4MaY9HQ
October 25, 2008 4:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Interesting the way the McCain Campaign is now trying to "play the victim" and get themselves off the hook on this one... trying to blame "sloppy" media reporting and obscure their own culpability.
Meanwhile by Fri the poor and delusional Ms Todd is out there complaining about the "liberal" media reporting on her story in a way that she no longer likes...
I guess on Thurs she thought she might still be the heroine of the McCain Campaign in PA - but by Fri, with her confession she's caught in race-baiting incitement... 'like hey what's a little racist fun housing among a few college republicans, no biggie'
Well, it is a big deal - it shows the campaign and the people inside it for who (and what) they really represent...
I think the McCain Campaign should be disallowed from discussing ANY OTHER TOPIC for 10 more days.
October 25, 2008 5:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Dan Garcia, the man Ashley Todd went to and who took the pictures of her, etc., may be implicated. He has lawyered up. The lawyer is Ty Clevenger of the Young (College?) Republicans. If you google "Dan Garcia" and "Young Republicans" you can find out what he was up to while an officer in the Bracos County Young Republicans. Also there are videos online of his (and Clevenger's) recent interviews with station KBTX (Texas station?)
October 25, 2008 9:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's right. Dan Garcia is in this up to his eyeballs as I posted last night.
Think about his story. This girl that's staying with him for a few days comes home claiming she was assaulted. But he doesn't force her to go to the hospital or get medical attention, instead he photographs he her and sends the photographs to the CNRC. This is NOT what a normal person would do if they believed Ashley's story.
I conclude he's lying and therefore was probably part of the scheme from the beginning. At the very least Garcia and Todd executed the hoax together.
The only question now is which of the other members of LITF and CNRC were involved (if any), and whether Feldman or someone else in the campaign knew what they were up to in advance.
October 26, 2008 10:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
Garcia is an Iraq war veteran, and yet didn't observe that Ashley's "wounds" were questionable?
And Garcia has a history of being involved in things that "got out of hand", e.g. his invitation to the Minutemen to present at a College Republican meeting in 2006: http://migramatters.blogspot.com/2006/08/minutemen-tell-young-republicans-we.html
"With that, Garcia quickly cut off the conversation, thanking his 'guest' and apologized to the crowd. Telling the Young Republicans his goal was 'just to set up a forum where we could hear different opinions,' he added later that the discussion 'got out of hand a little too quickly.'
He's also a "Fred Head": http://centraltexas.mojo4m.com/1634/
October 26, 2008 10:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
According to the video interview, Garcia "dressed the wound" on Ashley's face. Are we are to believe he didn't notice that it could not have been made with a knife or that it was backwards?
Also Garcia's lawyer says he was being accused of involvement in the Pittsburgh press, but I can't find any evidence of that online.
Finally, I'll just note that the police say Ashley's eye injuries were real, but that she won't say how she got them. Now think about how hard it would be to punch yourself in the eye with any force...
October 26, 2008 11:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
Here's the link to the video interviews Garcia and his lawyer Ty Clevenger gave Friday to Texas station KBTX http://www.kbtx.com/news/headlines/33228749.html Ty Clevenger is a lawyer for the Young Republicans.
October 26, 2008 11:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
Another question:
Did Ashley access Twitter from Garcia's house?
Her posts to Twitter about the events where made around the time Garcia claims they were at a diner.
October 26, 2008 12:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
"The officer asked Ms. Todd if she needed medical attention. She declined. Instead, Mr. Garcia said, they went to eat at Ritter's Diner on Baum Boulevard. He then persuaded her to go to nearby UPMC Shadyside, where he waited for her until 2 a.m."
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08299/922849-53.stm
When and where did Ashley post to Twitter? Garcia's time line doesn't work unless Ashley is accessing Twitter from the hospital or diner.
October 26, 2008 12:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Image of Ashley's Twitter stream from Wonkette: http://wonkette.com/403766/racial-mugging-victim-helpfully-twittered-her-tale
Notice the times.
October 26, 2008 3:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
So now that the McCain campaign has screwed up, they blame the media for "taking bad notes".
You might want to take better notes yourself Johnny Boy and get the facts straight about what really happened!
October 26, 2008 5:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Look no further for evidence that a McCain Administration would resemble its predecessor closely. BTW, I find it scary to contemplate what other moves the McCain camp will come up with over the few remaining days. It's clear they will stop at nothing.
October 26, 2008 8:01 PM | Reply | Permalink