Mike Connell and Proposition 8 (Anti-Choice Zealots and their efforts on Elections)

[mod mom]

Has the GOP used fervent Anti-Choice Zealots (save the babies) to corrupt elections?

Mike Connell and Proposition 8
by Chino Blanco

Mon Dec 22, 2008 at 10:23:47 AM PST

-snip
As we all know by now, Mike Connell has been killed in a solo plane crash in Ohio.
But what we may not all know is that on September 22, 2008, Connell's firm, Connell Donatelli Inc., was paid $200,000 for their work for the Yes on 8 campaign.

-snip


Curiouser and curiouser:

Cliff Arnebeck, the Ohio attorney litigating the lawsuit regarding alleged manipulation of the 2004 presidential election in Ohio has offered to cooperate in an investigation into California's Proposition 8.

In its post-election poll, the PPIC replaced the response from the folks they polled regarding Prop 8 with the previously reported vote breakdown (52% Yes, 48% No), rather than reporting the actual breakdown from their own sample.

In 2004, Bart Marcois, chair of the RNC Advisory Council on LDS Outreach, helped make sure that50% of observers at Ohio's election places were made up of his Mormon volunteers.
Compare these two URLs (losing and winning):
A) On the basis of answers from 2,168 exit poll respondents, CNN reports Prop 8 losing 52% - 48%
B) Later in the evening, on the basis of 2,240 exit poll respondents, CNN reports Prop 8 winning 52% - 48%
C) Between the exit poll that showed Prop 8 losing and the exit poll that showed Prop 8 winning, CNN polled 72 voters ... not enough to account for the flip, even if every single voter they polled answered that they'd voted yes.

I've long wondered why so many players from the Ohio 2004 contest were involved in the Prop 8 campaign. With Mike Connell's passing, it's time to stop wondering and start sorting out this mess.
-snip
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/12/22/131559/05/147/676152




CONNELL'S COMPANY RECEIVED $200,000 FOR YES ON 8 CAMPAIGN:

http://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1302592&session=2007&view=expenditures








Was Prop 8 Fixed by Religious Zealots?

Monday, 17 November 2008, 9:54 am
Column: Mark Crispin Miller

Was California's Anti Gay Proposition Fixed by Religious Zealots?

Mark Crispin Miller

Early evening, Nov. 4, exit poll showing Prop 8 going down to defeat.
Later in that evening, after adding 72 respondents the exit poll
figures switched to show a preference for "Yes." (Screen shot)



Well, well, well. First we find out, happily, that We the People may not be so fiercely racist after all, as Election '08 has debunked the (feeble) theory of "the Bradley effect."

And now it turns out that Americans--at least those in gay-friendly California -- may not really been as hostile to gay marriage as the outcome of that state's election has apparently suggested.



As we think about the possibility that Prop 8 was not really passed by California's voters, let's note something that the press, and others, won't discuss: i.e., that the entire apparatus of computerized voting in this country--the e-voting machines and op-scans and central tabulators, etc.--is largely owned by members of the Christianist far right.

Diebold and ES&S were both begun by Bob and Todd Urosevich, two ardent Oklahoma theocrats, while Triad, which makes the central vote tabulators used in Ohio in 2004, is owned by the Rapp family. SmartTech, the company that helped Bush/Cheney steal that state, is owned by evangelical Jeff Averbeck; and his associate Mike Connell, owner of GovTech Solutions, which also helped to steal Ohio, among other races, was motivated to such work by his desire "to save the babies," according to Stephen Spoonamore.


-snip

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0811/S00217.htm





THE ROLE OF LDS IN THE OHIO 2004 ELECTION:

The Journal from Ground Zero Ohio, Part Two
By Cherilyn J. Bacon

Read Part One Here

The Anxiously Engaged Series seeks to establish a principle-based, non-partisan- philosophy of politics. This is the second in a series of articles, re-capping Latter-day Saint experiences of the 2004 election and exploring a values-driven strategy and public policy agenda. The journal to follow is Part 2 of an example illustrating a campaign experience from Bush Cheney 2004 headquarters in Ohio. Experiences from readers who participated in other values-driven campaigns, regardless of party affiliation, are welcome. With the philosophy that Latter-day Saints should be actively involved in their communities and noting that the Church is politically neutral, Meridian Magazine helped recruit volunteers for both parties during the election.

Election Day, November 2, 2004 Continued…

http://www.meridianmagazine.com/ideas/050120ohio2.html


DEMOCRACY NOW Coverage:

Connell Death 1/2: "Circumstances suspicious & convenient for Rove & WH" Mark Crispin Miller
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJi7ViN35O8

Connell Death 2/2: Scared & wanted to talk Bush Crime Family that masquerades as a Political Party!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPH_NX_dJgQ



Friday, May 2, 2003

Diebold's Wes Vance Was Longtime Pilot, Natural Leader

By Paul Logan
Journal Staff Writer
Wes Vance was voted Del Norte High School's "Senior Class Favorite Boy" by the more than 600 students he graduated with in 1975.
Vance went on to become a successful and popular chief operating officer at Diebold Inc. in Ohio. He died Saturday in a private plane crash southeast of Columbus. Vance, of the Canton area, was 45.
The State Highway Patrol said Vance was practicing takeoffs and landings during a recertification test when the six-seat Beechcraft A-36 crashed in woods near Jackson, about 70 miles from Columbus, according to The Canton Repository newspaper.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash. Vance had been a pilot for more than 20 years.
Vance was a qualified and skilled person who had a lot of drive and the highest integrity, said Tina Swanson of Diebold, a longtime manufacturer of security products and the largest U.S. maker of automatic teller machines.
"He worked very well with associates — a real people person," Swanson said. "He always took the time to stop and say hello to folks ...
"He's just the kind of person you like to be around. He had a confidence. Not arrogant. A confidence that was justified."
Wesley B. Vance was also a leader at Del Norte, recalled David Steffensen of Albuquerque, a longtime friend.
"People wanted to be around him," Steffensen said. "He was a natural leader. He chose to do good things. That's what made him special."
Vance, an Eagle Scout, was chosen to attend Boys State. The 6-foot, 180-pound athlete also played three years on the Knights' baseball team and was the team's catcher.
Steffensen, Vance's roommate for one semester at Brigham Young University, said his friend was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints. He served a two-year mission between his freshman and sophomore years in Mexico City.

-snip
http://www.abqjournal.com/obits/profiles/vance05-02-03.htm

More questions....

[tabatha]

1. If Connell helped with Prop 8, despite Rove's "threats"

I am beginning to wonder if his death was staged - there is no body.

That would stop his role as a witness in its tracks.

[mod mom]

2. I spoke w a neighbor who is a commercial pilot and he said the fact the wreakage

was moved so quickly (reported by 10pm that night) is highly suspicious.

His payment ($ 200 K) for Prop 8 group was for web development. It might have been an attempted payback. Who knows, but this certainly needs to be scrutinized.

[Sebastian Doyle]

3. Wreckage moved so quickly that it tampered with the evidence

Now where have I heard that before?



Oh yeah....... that other suspicious crime scene :evilfrown:

[Dennis Donovan]

11. I find that suspicious as well...

The accident happened after dark. Why would they remove the wreckage before they had an opportunity to examine it (in the spot it came down) in daylight? They could've cordoned it off and put a guard on it overnight.

:shrug:

[robertpaulsen]

4. Great research, mod mom!

Here's a pretty comprehensive link:

Connell Donatelli Inc.
Connell Donatelli Inc. (CD, Inc.), is a "specialized online advertising agency" that was "born" July 2004 "from the merging of two prominent Republican Internet firms," Erin McPike wrote.

R. Rebecca Donatelli, chairman of the D.C.-based Campaign Solutions, and Mike Connell <2>, head of the Cleveland, Ohio-based New Media Communications, Inc. <3>, "joined forces in a venture to target niche markets for their clients with a focus on Internet pop-up and banner ads, online commercials and e-mail lists ... Both Donatelli and Connell plan to continue in their current leadership positions at their respective firms, but merged to offer these concentrated services to their clients, many of them mutual," including Bush Cheney ’04 and the Republican National Committee, McPike wrote. Donatelli served as "chief Internet consultant" to the John McCain for President "bid in 2000, where she propelled Internet giving."

New Media produced "Internet applications and Web sites for a host of Republican organizations and campaigns, including the RNC's GOP.com, and sites for the Republican National Convention, Bush Cheney '04, the Ohio and Pennsylvania Republican Parties, John Thune's South Dakota Senatorial campaign and the NRA." <4>

Website
The Connell Donatelli, Inc. CONNELLDONATELLI.COM website was registered June 23, 2004, by New Media Communications, Summit of Richfield II, Richfield, OH 44286.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Donatelli_Group


Question regarding the onsite investigation/removal: Was the FBI present ala the Wellstone investigation/removal?

[robertpaulsen]

5. Kicking.

:kick:

[mod mom]

6. Here's disturbing footage post crash:

Weather appears clear; 'Ear-witnesses' heard on tape describing sounds leading to crash...
I'm not sure what, if any, light this video --- as shot by local eye and ear-witnesses in Akron, OH --- sheds on the plane crash and death of high-ranking GOP IT operative Mike Connell. But, as it may reveal something, to somebody, in the still-unexplained, and surprisingly-timed crash, I suppose it may useful to put it on the record here.

For example, despite scattered reports that bad weather may have contributed to the cause of the crash, the weather seems to have been clear, at least on the ground, at least by the time the witnesses arrived, as seen in the video. Reports of "mist" seem to be belied in the early part of the video, shot through the front window of the car which does not appear to have its windshield wipers on. Also, several descriptions of what was heard by the "ear-witnesses" as the crash occurred, may be of value as well...


VelvetRevolution.us' Emily Levy, who pointed the footage out to me, wrote: "This is disturbing for a couple of reasons at least. One is just that it shows ten minutes of the fire, in which we now know Connell's body was burning up. The second is that there's no concern expressed for the pilot or any passengers by the guys doing the filming. Near the beginning they refer to it as 'awesome.'"

Of course, as the folks who were video-taping drove to the scene and described the noise as "awesome", they didn't necessarily know what they were going to find when they got there, which was burning wreckage, eventually attended to by the fire department, as also seen in the video. Connell, as the pilot of the small single engine plane, was the only passenger on board.

-snip

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6769

9-9:28 into video "heard an explosion that sounded like a gunshot"

[robertpaulsen]

7. And, of course, 10 minutes of fire doesn't jive with the "ran out of gas" excuse.

Thanks for that link. As far as questionable small plane "accidents", this is one of the more questionable.

[creeksneakers2]

9. There is no out of gas excuse

The out of gas explanation came from the original posts of Larisa Alexandrovna. Larisa has since retracted the out of gas information, saying she was misled by a source she had at the airport who was helping her track Connell's movements prior to the crash.

There was never any official report that the plane ran out of gas.

[Dennis Donovan]

10. The fire after it crashed dispels that notion...

There was fuel in the tanks.

[creeksneakers2]

14. The explosion dispels it as a cause of the crash from an

crash investigation standpoint. What isn't dispelled by the explosion is the mistaken notion that has spread around here that some official explanation tried to pass off running out of fuel as the cause of the crash.

[robertpaulsen]

13. Thanks, I wasn't aware of that.

A lot of things official and unofficial are very suspicious, not to mention the MSM minimal coverage.

[Dennis Donovan]

8. I started a thread regarding analysis of the crash itself:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4695148

[eridani]

12. Exit polls are secondary data

The only way you know for sure is an audit or a recount of PAPER ballots.