FORMER STAFFER: “WE GUTTED McCAIN IN THREE DAYS, AND WE CAN DO IT AGAIN”
COULD TASTELESS TACTICS OF 2000 BE PREVIEW OF WEEKS AHEAD?
The worst kept secret surrounding the ugliest wave of campaign sleaze tactics in South Carolina’s presidential primary history is that Sen. John McCain’s 2000 White House ambitions were derailed by clandestine operatives of now-President George W. Bush’s campaign. Although everyone involved in that year’s election was certain that J. Warren Tompkins — Bush’s top advisor in the state (pictured above on the left in the only known photo of the surreptitiously nefarious consultant) who is now leading Mitt Romney’s efforts in South Carolina — was behind a dirty whisper campaign of push polls and anonymous attacks that persuaded voters McCain was a liar, a hypocrite, a philanderer and a jerk, there has been little evidence to prove it.
That is, until an upcoming PBS documentary uncovered a never before printed quote from former Tompkins campaign staffer and current lobbying partner Jason Puhlasky that reportedly offers a “direct admission” to the sordid events of eight years ago. Courtesy of FITSNews, here’s an excerpt from the documentary in which Upstate Beat publisher James Shannon recalls a Republican event during the 2002 gubernatorial campaign where Puhlasky allegedly confessed culpability:
I remember (the quote) quite explicitly. It was at a backyard barbecue at the home of Edwin Foulke, a local attorney (who was) then the chairman of the Greenville County GOP… a number of candidates were there that day, including [former Lt. Gov. Bob Peeler] and former Congressman Mark Sanford, who had been largely unknown outside his former Charleston-area House district when he filed for governor. After languishing in fourth place during the early primary campaign, Sanford was starting to move up though the consensus was that if Peeler did not escape the primary without a runoff, his likely opponent would be Atty. General Charlie Condon.”
Puhlasky (whom I had never met before that day) spoke confidently of their ability to dispatch Condon in a runoff, and in fact Condon (whose nickname was “Crazy Charlie”) had some exploitable flaws.
“Isn’t it a little risky just focusing on Condon?” I asked. “What if Sanford makes the runoff?”
Puhlasky grinned and said “No problem. We gutted McCain in three days, and we can do it again.” [Emphasis added]
The reference was to the infamous “push poll” tactic, first seen in a 1978 Congressional election between Democrat Max Heller, the progressive mayor of Greenville, and Republican Carroll Campbell, a state senator looking to move up. Using the cover of a third candidate, Lee Atwater devised a scheme to call voters. Those who expressed a preference for Heller were asked, “Would it change your opinion if you knew he was a foreign-born Jew who doesn’t accept Jesus Christ as his personal savior?” As crude as it sounds, it worked. Heller’s double digit lead disappered the weekend before the election and he lost.
I’ll be interested to see if this quote ends up in the documentary, which airs Jan. 4 at 8:30 p.m. on South Carolina Educational Television (SCETV). But either way, Romney needs to distance himself from this kind of stuff immediately.
By keeping Tompkins on his payroll for the final weeks of this state’s primary, especially after such a slam-dunk admission of guilt by someone directly involved, Romney is essentially saying that he’s fine with the unconscionable style of campaign filth peddled during the 2000 election. Worse than that, his failure to disassociate with Tompkins’ firm — which has already been busted for anonymously smearing rival Fred Thompson — could be a warning that we can expect similar or possibly worse attacks in the final days of the primary election.
And this time, Tompkins’ victims might include more than just McCain.
This entry was posted on Sunday, December 30th, 2007 at 8:42 pm and is filed under Primary Season, Republicans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Yea, fire him because of hearsay–that’s a logical assumption. “We gutted McCain in three days” may have been the quote, but assuming it was referring to the push-polling is a leap of faith and hardly the basis for firing someone this close to the election.
Is politics in SC dirty? Unfortunately yes. Is Warren Thompkins behind it all? Not likely. By the way, was there anything inaccurate on the “Phoney Fred” website, or was it simply considered a negative site because it exposed the truth?
Do you dislike Romney because of Thompkins, or do you dislike Thompkins because of Romney? Maybe if you looked at McCain’s vindictive and hot-tempered side, you wouldn’t be as supportive as you’ve been.
Mr. Conservative is right!
We should all be looking past Romney’s association with Thompkins; looking past it and instead focusing on all those other, legitimate, reasons not to like him.
Though come to think of it… he’s right about McCain too… hmm…
Now if only there were a candidate with consistant conservative principles demonstrated by a years long voting record instead of slickly polished speech designed to appeal to whatever audience it is presented to…
[...] Top Romney advisor tied to anonymous attacks of previous presidential primary » The Palmetto Scoop (tags: 2008 McCain romney) [...]
[...] unconscionable style of campaign filth peddled during the 2000 election,” writes Adam of the Palmetto Scoop. Worse than that, his failure to disassociate with Tompkins’ firm — which has already been [...]
Warren Tompkins is paid to be scum. He does his job well, and he produces for those that pay him.
It is a sad commentary on SC republicans…but being the scummiest guy on the block has its rewards.
I say we give the guy a medal for torpedoing that sellout McCain in 2000 and here’s to whomever does it again in 2008.
Key Romney SC Operative Being Tied to 2000 Dirty Tricks Vs. McCain?…
The Palmetto Scoop is reporting that the Mitt Romney Campaign continues to use as a top adviser in South Carolina a man who is now being linked to the sleazy attacks against John McCain there in 2000. The same man’s firm was tied to the sleazy smear s…
I think that those two scuz buckets in that picture above is as low as low can go. They are not only low they are cowards also to do such a disgraceful dispicable act. I think that Romney is just as guilty as they are and the “I didn’t know anything about it” Huckabee answer ain’t getting it. The excuse “that it happened in 2000 or 2003″ ain’t getting it either because the same crap showed up this past weekend in Republicans mailboxes in South Carolina.
Why all the shock? This is par for the course in this state. You don’t see Gov. Sanford apologizing to Bill Cotty for allowing one of his front groups, SCRG, to send mailers calling Cotty a “big spender” and saying he favored condoms for 10-year-olds. And that wasn’t eight years ago. It was a lot more recent and just as nasty.
The reality is that there are a lot of unethical, backstabbing people working in SC GOP politics these days, each trying to get another scalp and out-do the next guy. Maybe it is having too much electoral strength or perhaps the legacy of Lee Atwater, but any Republican operative that’s your friend today could be double-crossing you tomorrow. Competition is, in general, a very good thing. Everybody can agree on that. But it seems that because the SCDP is so toothless, the scum rises to the top of the GOP ranks, unfortunately.
[...] Top Romney advisor tied to anonymous attacks of previous presidential primary » The Palmetto Scoop Romney has thugs on staff. Surprise! (tags: 2008 sc romney) [...]
[...] Anyway, be sure to watch tonight at 8:30 p.m. on SCETV and you might even see a familiar quote or two. [...]
[...] to get Democratic opponent?PBS uncovers what we all already knew » The Palmetto Scoop on Top Romney advisor tied to anonymous attacks of previous presidential primarylou on DeMint takeover of Romney SC [...]
And through this all, Sen. Fred Thompson has been talking about the issues… and the consistent conservative policies that he advocates for.
Sen. Fred Thompson is the consistent conservative. He has credibility and authenticity. Sen. Thompson is Conservative to his core - look at his record. And these conservative principles are reflected in his policies - look at where he stands … http://www.Fred08.com
I believe that Sen. Fred Thompson is the best Republican candidate to challenge the Democrats for the Presidency BECAUSE he stands with Conviction for ‘our’ conservative principles… AND he is the only AUTHENTIC and CREDIBLE candidate who can be this Messenger, this President of the United States.
Now if only there were a candidate with consistant conservative principles demonstrated by a years long voting record instead of slickly polished speech designed to appeal to whatever audience it is presented to…
There is. Too bad for you he’s a lazy asshole who has no chance of getting the nomination.
Legalize Freedom! Vote Dr. Ron Paul for President!
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