"After ten full years inside the GOP, ninety days amongst honest criminals wasn't any great ordeal."
This is a quote from Allen Raymond, author of "How to Rig an Election: Confessions of a Republican Operative." You've got to like the irony if nothing else.
So I just can't seem to get away from the politics...... I walked into my favorite cafe yesterday in Sydney, Australia and the owner, who knows me personally now, greets me kindly and ask about things in the United States. He of course knows my order as well and we say it simultaneously. We chat a minute about the weather and the strengthening US dollar versus the Aussie dollar and then he jumps right into politics - "Who's gonna win the Presidential election Mate? He asks. I initially respond with a confident - "Looks like it's gonna be Obama." He smiles and before long we're talking about Allen Raymond and dirty GOP tricks.
Perhaps now I'm not so sure.
Raymond, served a three-month sentence for jamming Democratic phone lines in New Hampshire during the 2002 US Senate race. He served as chief of staff to a co chairman of the Republican National Committee, supervised Republican contests in mid-Atlantic states for the RNC, and was a top official in publisher Steve Forbes's presidential campaign. He went on to earn $350,000 a year running a Republican policy group as well as a GOP phone-bank business.
I happened to catch part of "Real time with Bill Maher" on HBO tonight and guess who was on? You guessed it - Allen Raymond. I suspect mostly he was out promoting his book but he also shed some light on the dirty GOP voter suppression tactics of the past and maybe of the future.
An enlightening show to say the least.
This Presidential race is like no other in my lifetime. I'm astounded at the amount of information that is available in all areas. A media field day. I'm captivated by the number of Republicans who are jumping ship, divorcing George W. Bush, and professing their support for Obama. Collin Powell, Scott McClellan author of "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception," and Allen Raymond are just a few former Republicans who now have quite compelling stories to tell about their political journeys.
It's perhaps too late for McCain/Palin to change their game plan but you can best believe that if their bid for the presidency is unsuccessful, the GOP will be re-writing the playbook for next time.
Here's a clip of Allen Raymond:
Courageous ideas for now and the future! Travel the world, experience new things and reflect on old ones. All with a Bold and Dauntless Attitude!
3 comments:
This frightens me to no end. We can never be sure what will happen on election day, due to party tricks. It also frightens me that so many problems are already surfacing from voting locations during early voting. You would think that the GOP would have changed game-plan this time around. It would have been looking a little different if McCain had maintained "who" he really is, without accepting party tactics. I have a sneaky feeling that somewhere behind closed doors, he ended up in some Catch-22. It's too bad that there is not more precedence of independents successfully running for Pres.
Thank you for the great information. You are right, there is so much information available in this election, the mind boggles.
Yikes. It's scary when it gets to "the means justify the ends..."
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