How Arnie's recall backers wound up running the I-hate-Cindy show

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" Zepp " <zepp

Fri, 26 Aug 2005 23:18:18 -0700

[Zepps_News] How Arnie's recall backers wound up running the

I-hate-Cindy show

 

 

Better name for pro-war " You Don't Speak For Me Tour " :

" We're Speaking For A Republican PR Firm Tour "

 

 

Read the following for the history of this Republican PR attack machine

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http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2004Q3/maf.html

 

by Diane Farsetta

 

It was mid-July, and at least one conservative group was worried. " Move

America Forward has obtained a list of the speakers at the Democrat

[sic] National Convention, and it is rather apparent that this political

convention will be nothing more than a 'Blame America First' pep rally. "

Move America Forward (MAF) warned that convention speakers would include

prominent Democratic Party members Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Ted Kennedy

and Al Sharpton. " These individuals have used some of the most

irresponsible language in seeking to advance their liberal political

goals by trying to divide our nation and erode support for our military

and the war effort, " MAF wrote.

 

A few days later, MAF painted an even bleaker picture: " The news media

is reporting that Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins will be attending the

Democrat [sic] National Convention and headlining fundraisers to

undermine support for the war on terrorism. " The fundraiser the activist

couple headlined, however, was for the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, a

non-profit charitable organization widely respected for its human rights

work. Regardless, MAF urged, " PLEASE!!! Help us raise the money to

balance the leftist anti-war message. "

 

MAF frantically fundraised to run their own TV ads during the Democratic

National Convention. One ad claimed, " The Blame America crowd is at it

again. But they were wrong about World War II, wrong about the Cold War,

and they're wrong again today. . . . Stand behind our troops, as they

help move America forward from the threats of terrorism. "

 

On July 20, MAF continued to unfold its overwrought drama: " Today we

attempted to confirm and purchase our order to air our television spots.

You can imagine our surprise and supreme disappointment when we were

told that 'other groups' had come in at the last minute and snapped up

the remaining inventory of 60-second television ads. We don't have to

think too hard to figure out who the culprits might be. Groups like

MoveOn.org and The Media Fund can afford to pre-empt us on the airwaves

at their will. "

 

The same day MAF blasted those " other groups, " the Boston Herald

reported that the right-leaning group the Israel Project, which has

worked with GOP pollster Frank Luntz, would " spend hundreds of thousands

of dollars on TV ads. " The Project deemed " the thousands of journalists,

policy-makers and delegates that will flood Boston " during the

convention to be " an attractive audience " for their pro-Israel message.

But the Herald also found that the Israel Project's enthusiasm was not

widely shared. " Advertising insiders and local stations say they're not

seeing any run on ad time during special convention-related programming

or newscasts, " the paper reported.

 

MAF claimed victory over the " attempt to silence us " in a July 23 email.

" What we've done these past few days is edit our ads into 30-second

versions, " MAF wrote. " We didn't indicate in our emails that we were

going to do this, because we couldn't tip off the folks at such 'Bash

America' organizations like MoveOn.org or else they would have tried to

block us from getting on the air yet again. "

 

California Scheming

 

MAF's roots can be traced back to California's gubernatorial recall,

which put movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger into office. In November

2003, one month after the recall election, the Daily News of Los Angeles

interviewed Sacramento-based political consultant Sal Russo. He

characterized the recall campaign he and other Republican strategists

had organized and funded as a near-unstoppable, grassroots tour de

force. " We took on the political establishment and won, and they feel

empowered, " said Russo of the 120,000 recall supporters in his database.

" They want to be involved.

.. . . We'll change the name to something like 'Move America Forward,' "

and go national, he predicted.

 

A week later, the Web site address MoveAmericaForward.com was registered

to Russo's right-leaning political consulting/public affairs firm, Russo

Marsh & Rogers. The firm had previously registered and designed the Web

site DumpBarbaraLee.com, part of a vitriolic campaign against

Representative Lee, the only member of Congress to vote against a

wide-ranging " war on terror " resolution in the aftermath of the

September 2001 attacks. Russo Marsh & Rogers' political work includes

consulting for the Recall Gray Davis campaign, media work for

businessman Bill Simon's 2002 California gubernatorial run, and

directing the election campaigns of such Republican notables as U.S.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, New York Governor George Pataki, then-New

Jersey Governor Christie Todd Whitman, and U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch's

short-lived presidential run in 2000.

 

In May 2004, MAF was publicly launched. " There has seldom been a more

important time in our nation's history for the people of America to

stand up and proclaim our love for this great nation and the ideal of

freedom, " declared former California state representative, GOP

consultant and self-described " taxpayer hero " Howard Kaloogian, who

serves as MAF's chair. MAF's main objectives are " rebuffing the constant

and escalating attacks on our military and the war against terrorism by

the shamelessly biased liberal news media, building public support and

resolve for the continuation of our efforts to eradicate terrorist

networks . . . [and] demonstrating our support and appreciation for the

heroic men and women of our armed forces. "

 

American Idolatry

 

MAF's inner circle is remarkable for its extensive conservative

connections. Kaloogian was a key recall proponent. He also had headed

the Defend Reagan Committee, which mounted a successful campaign in late

2003 to pressure CBS to cancel what they called its " hatchet job "

biopic, " The Reagans. " MAF chief strategist Sal Russo, founder of Russo

Marsh & Rogers, was also chief political advisor for the Defend Reagan

Committee. Douglas Lorenz, a Russo Marsh & Rogers staff person and the

national chair of the libertarian-leaning Republican Liberty Caucus, was

the Defend Reagan Committee's grassroots coordinator and a recall

campaign advisor. Lorenz registered MAF's Web site - which looks

strikingly similar to the Committee's Web site, DefendReagan.org, also

registered under his name. MAF's phone number was previously the number

of the Recall Gray Davis Committee, Kaloogian for U.S. Senate and the

Defend Reagan Committee. MAF shares office space with Russo Marsh &

Rogers and, according to multiple accounts, the receptionist who answers

calls to MAF also answers Russo Marsh & Rogers' phones.

 

Conservative talk show host Melanie Morgan and National Tax Limitation

Committee founder and president Lew Uhler are MAF's vice chairs. Former

California Assembly Republican staffer Siobhan Guiney is the group's

executive director. Guiney's biography credits her for fighting " for the

people against liberal corruption. " MAF boosters among conservative

media personalities include Hugh Hewitt, a nationally syndicated talk

radio host and a weekly columnist for The Daily Standard, columnist and

FOX News contributor Michelle Malkin, and Rush Limbaugh.

 

MAF's " special advisor " is Marine Corps reservist and Afghanistan war

veteran John Ubaldi. According to MAF, Ubaldi " personally put together a

humanitarian relief project that brought over $300,000 worth of supplies

for the people of Afghanistan. He is currently working on sending

medical supplies and equipment to Afghanistan & Iraq. "

 

News searches by PR Watch, however, yielded only one item referring to

Ubaldi's humanitarian work. The Ventura (Calif.) County Star noted in

June 2003 that Ubaldi " coordinated the shipping to Afghanistan " of

" clothing and blankets as well as personal hygiene items, rice, beans

and detergent " collected by about 500 area children, but credited Anne

Robinson as the " project leader. " The paper reported the area Sunday

school of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints, of which Ubaldi

was a member, organized the aid effort.

 

Also of interest is a request for " networking assistance " posted by

Ubaldi on a Marine Executive Association's job opportunities email,

dated August 20, 2003. MEA provides Marines with " assistance in the

career transition process. " Ubaldi wrote about himself, " Has a

Bachelor's Degree in government, worked on various local & State wide

political campaigns for candidates. . . . Looking for a position in

public relations or public advocacy in the Sacramento, California area

to begin in the September time frame. "

 

Blame Democrats First

 

MAF launched its first attack on May 26, when they called House Minority

Leader Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from northern California, " one of the

worst examples of a 'Domestic Enemy' . . . certainly up there with the

ranks of Senator Ted Kennedy and America-bashing filmmaker, Michael

Moore. " Pelosi earned that distinction by harshly critiquing George Bush

over the Iraq war, calling him an " incompetent leader " and declaring,

" The time has come to speak very frankly about the lack of leadership in

the White House. " To MAF, Pelosi's strongly worded dissent amounted to

treason.

 

MAF urged people to " demand an apology from [Pelosi] to the American

people and to our President. " They gave out the direct email addresses

of four of the Congresswoman's staff people - information not usually

widely circulated. MAF also asked people to contact the " special

interests and corporations " that were major Pelosi contributors in 2004,

E & J Gallo Winery and Wells Fargo Bank. " Those people . . . should get

the message that we - as consumers - want them to stop supporting 'Bash

America' politicians like Pelosi or else be willing to lose our

business, " MAF stated.

 

Brendan Daly, Congresswoman Pelosi's communications director and one of

the four staffers whose email address MAF listed, estimated that the

office received a few hundred emails in response to the alert. But " most

were not worth responding to, " he told PR Watch. The emails were " not

from constituents " and many were extreme in tone, along the lines of,

" You're a communist, go back to where you came from, " although " some

were more measured, " said Daly. The MAF alert " didn't have much of an

impact, " according to Daly, although he called a MoveOn alert in support

of Pelosi " very helpful. " (MoveOn was not responding to MAF, but to

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who said Pelosi's criticisms " are

putting American lives at risk. " ) The MoveOn alert generated

letters-to-the-editor in newspapers across the country, with the message

that " we should always encourage differing viewpoints in a democracy. "

 

MAF's second target was the California state legislature's Asian Pacific

Islander Caucus, whose members are all Democrats. The caucus planned to

honor Wen Ho Lee with a " Profile in Courage " award during a brief

presentation on the Assembly floor. On June 4, MAF slammed " left-leaning

politicians [who] cannot find any words of praise for our brave troops

fighting the War on Terrorism, " but who " honor former accused spy Wen Ho

Lee. "

 

Dr. Lee, a Chinese-American scientist who worked at Los Alamos National

Laboratory, was accused in 1999 of stealing U.S. nuclear secrets.

However, the case against him didn't withstand serious scrutiny. An FBI

agent admitted to giving misleading testimony against Lee in federal

court. The judge lamented that " top decision makers in the executive

branch . . . embarrassed our entire nation " and apologized for Lee's

incarceration. The New York Times, whose coverage was so damning that an

FBI investigator used its early articles in an attempt to get Lee to

confess, admitted in retrospect to having " a problem of tone, " not

giving " Dr. Lee the full benefit of the doubt, " and " not raising

questions that occurred to us only later. "

 

But MAF stood firm. Sal Russo told the San Francisco Chronicle, " People

are innocent until proven guilty, but just because something was not

proven, that's no reason to celebrate. " Howard Kaloogian questioned

whether " Asian caucus members might be violating their oaths of office

to defend against domestic enemies by honoring Lee. " The caucus, saying

they wanted to avoid an " awkward situation " for Dr. Lee, changed the

event to a private dinner. Nearly 100 Asian community leaders from

across California decried MAF as a group of " racist, right-wing zealots. "

 

Moore Bashing

 

Then came MAF's campaign against Michael Moore's film Fahrenheit 9/11.

In mid-June, before the film's U.S. opening, MAF circulated what it said

were the names, telephone numbers and email addresses of theater owners,

and urged people " to speak up loudly and tell the industry executives

that we don't want this misleading and grotesque movie being shown at

our local cinema. " Salon.com reported that MAF included contact

information for " a lowly theater payroll employee inexplicably listed on

MAF's e-mail list of 'leading movie executives.' "

 

MAF rode the wave of Fahrenheit 9/11 media attention. The Nexis news

database lists nearly 240 articles (including letters to the editor)

that contain both phrases " Move America Forward " and " Fahrenheit 9/11 "

from June 15 to July 25, including CNN, USA Today, People, Los Angeles

Times, Washington Post and New York Times. Many of these stories focused

on the movie, with only brief mentions of MAF. In contrast, conservative

talk radio helped promote MAF's campaign, according to the San Jose

Mercury News: " Popular talk show host Rush Limbaugh . . . featured a

lengthy conversation with a 16-year-old Nebraska girl who called the

show seeking advice on how to stop [Fahrenheit 9/11]. After discussing

the pros and cons of carrying a picket sign in front of her local

theater, Limbaugh told her about Move America Forward. "

 

MAF vice-chair Melanie Morgan claimed their anti-Fahrenheit 9/11

campaign resulted in " probably well over 200,000 emails, " but there are

no reports of theaters canceling the movie. Moreover, Salon.com reports,

" after the grass-roots political group MoveOn launched a

counteroffensive, letters of support for the film's release began

outpacing negative letters (according to an unscientific survey of five

theater owners) at roughly 3-to-1. "

 

It's difficult to gauge whether MAF has much true grassroots support.

MAF's fundraising drive to run TV ads during the Republican Convention

had raised over had raised over $175,000 by August 22, according to the

group, but data on the average contribution sizes was not made public.

PR Watch's repeated interview requests to MAF were not returned. The

only discernible measure of MAF's support, its online Message Board

(actually a link to a moderated forum), had less than a

thousand members in mid-August. Moreover, at least some forum members

appear to have joined to bait MAF supporters with pointed questions and

contrary messages.

 

Considering its genesis, main players and short existence MAF could

remain little more than an Internet-based " astroturf " - or fake

grassroots - group. Given Bush's warnings that the War on Terror might

last decades, a pro-military cum patriot police group run by Republican

operatives could be very useful to conservatives. In an August 7 email,

MAF wrote, " We are going to keep the pressure up - not just through the

rest of this year, but throughout the duration of the 'war on terrorism.' "

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