A Unifying Theory [TPM] [GSA Doan Jennings and Rove and the 2008 election]

[caligirl]

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002874.php

"It also brings into sharper focus an emerging pattern of misconduct. Note the timing, and the subject of the presentation. The GOP got spanked in the midterm elections. The president lost his congressional majorities. By late fall of 2006, it was clear that the GOP was in a tailspin. The only remaining levers of power in Republican hands were held by the administration, and it had just two years left to reverse the tide. Evidently, Karl Rove decided that he had been insufficiently aggressive in using federal agencies to bolster the chances of Republican candidates. So he dispatched Jennings to convince the minions at GSA to ensure that every new federal project would have a Republican cutting the ribbon. (It's worth noting that no one has bothered suggesting that Doan invited Jennings. That's not how this works. Jennings was there because the White House sent him, and Doan went along. She's likely to take the fall here, but this came straight from the White House.)

One of the puzzling aspects of the US Attorney purge is that it wasn't completed until after the 2006 elections. So far, most allegations have focused on the notion that these US Attorneys failed to do enough to help Republican candidates win in 2006, by failing to investigate enough Democrats or to pursue scurillous allegations of voter fraud. But it's looking more and more like what happened here has more to do with 2008 than with 2006. Only two USAs were asked to step down before the elections: Cummins, to make room for a specific Rove disciple, and Chiara, whose office was a mess. The plan to dismiss the rest had festered for well over a year, but it kicked into high gear immediately after the elections. Sampson sent out the formal plan on Nov. 15, marking its importance 'High'. "An associate of Rove" told the Times that Rove learned of the plan in November. And...wait for it...remember that 18 day gap? It begins on November 15.

What we're going to find, if Congress succesfully subpoenas officials or their e-mails, is that after the Republicans got routed in November of 2006 a panicked Karl Rove turned up the flame under lots of schemes that had simmered on the back burners for months or years. New orders went out - learn the lessons of the exit polling, and make sure that 2008 brings success. The White House, in its panic, abandoned caution, and got sloppy. It left its fingerprints all over the sorts of things it had generally manipulated at arms-length. And the man who headed up the effort, by all indications, was Karl Rove's right hand, J. Scott Jennings."




Get Jennings under a microscope, KR is right there.

[Patsy Stone]

1. Sure THIS was the problem: insufficient aggressiveness on Rove's part.

"Evidently, Karl Rove decided that he had been insufficiently aggressive in using federal agencies to bolster the chances of Republican candidates. "

[dajoki]

2. Doan is not innocent in this...

GSA chief accused of playing politics
Doan denies ‘improper’ use of agency for GOP

By Scott Higham and Robert O'Harrow Jr.
Updated: 11:54 p.m. ET March 25, 2007
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17790428/

<<snip>>

Between 2003 and 2005, Fraser billed Doan as much as $20,000 a month in consulting fees to "generally promote attributes" of Doan and her company, New Technology Management Inc., according to invoices obtained by The Post. In all, Doan paid at least $417,500 to companies affiliated with Fraser before Doan took over the GSA, according to Waxman's investigators.

Last year, Fraser helped prepare Doan for her GSA confirmation and lined up political support for her, according to interviews and e-mails obtained by The Post.

On July 25, two months after Doan took office, she took the unusual step of personally signing the no-bid arrangement with Diversity Best Practices and Business Women's Network, firms then run by Fraser, to produce a report about GSA's use of businesses owned by minorities or women. The GSA's general counsel at the time, Alan R. Swendiman, told Waxman's investigators he was "alarmed" that the project was not competitively bid.

Last month, in a letter to Waxman's committee, a senior GSA official called the no-bid arrangement a "procedural mistake." Doan told The Post that she submitted a service order for the work through normal GSA contracting channels and did not focus on it afterward.

But Swendiman, now a special assistant to President Bush, told Waxman's investigators that he "immediately and repeatedly" advised Doan to terminate the arrangement. When he was unable to persuade her, Swendiman directed a GSA contracting officer to terminate the arrangement. The investigators found evidence indicating that Doan continued to try to find ways to award the project to her friend.

[caligirl]

3. so doan likes to stick her finger in the outlet,repeatedly, for a friend.

Godd. makes it that much easier charge her as well. :nuke:

[dajoki]

4. Yep...

not the brightest bulb, huh?:rofl:

[bleever]

5. "...learn the lessons of the exit polling, and make sure that 2008 brings success."

You know Karl reads the exit polls. It's just that he's got the decoder ring to tell what they mean after the "adjustments" are taken into account.

Great read by Josh. He's right out front.

[glitch]

6. Rove looks like some kind of horrible mutant baby with that fuzzy hair. Creeps me out.

Sorry, don't usually make personal comments, especially when there is such a rich target. Too easy. But eww. I wish people would stop using that picture, I am squeamish. K & R