MoveOn.org's Zack Exley working for Blair campaign-- known as

[Gloria]

the "garbage man"



2//The Independent, UK 27 February 2005

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=615230



NO 10 IN NEW DIRTY TRICKS ROW OVER ROLE OF US ‘GARBAGE MAN’

By Francis Elliott, Deputy Political Editor

Labour has hired an American spin doctor known as the "garbage man" for publishing pictures doctored to show George Bush taking cocaine. The party faces controversy over "dirty tricks" after it said Zack Exley, 35, is working full-time on its campaign.



He is notorious in Washington as an expert in the use of the internet to spread black propaganda. President Bush was moved to call him a "garbage man". Other stunts included fake photographs of Mr Bush smoking a joint and spoof articles by him.



Mr Bush's team tried to close down one website run by Mr Exley during the 2000 presidential campaign. Mr Bush's supporters cried foul again last year after he was brought into the Kerry campaign fresh from running another Bush-baiting website, MoveOn. He has also worked with Stan Greenberg, a business partner of Philip Gould, Tony Blair's personal pollster.



A Labour Party spokeswoman said: "Zack Exley is working for the party as a campaign consultant specifically using his experience of working on www.moveon.org."



Jitters over the faltering campaign led Robin Cook to call for Gordon Brown to be given a greater role. "I have a grave anxiety about the negative tone of the campaigning we've done," the former foreign secretary said. "Two months of mud wrestling" with Tories would only help the Liberal Democrats.



(MORE)

[democracyindanger]

1. WTF?

What a crappily-written and -researched story.

[applegrove]

2. They are desperate to separate themselves from the rovbots. Smart

move!!

[Old and In the Way]

3. Never heard him called the garbage man......

Dirty tricks? Karl Rove must be shocked.