Cain Says Perry Is Orchestrating a Smear Campaign (NYT)

[jefferson_dem]

Bwahahahahah... :popcorn:

Cain Says Perry Is Orchestrating a Smear Campaign

WASHINGTON — A defiant Herman Cain accused Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, a Republican rival, of orchestrating a smear campaign to destroy his presidential candidacy, as additional accusations emerged Wednesday that Mr. Cain made unwanted sexual overtures to women while he led the National Restaurant Association more than a decade ago.

As he sought to contain the fallout that consumed his campaign for a third day, Mr. Cain shifted his blame from the news media to the Perry campaign. He accused a top political adviser to Mr. Perry of leaking details of one allegation, saying the adviser learned of it while working for Mr. Cain’s failed bid for the Senate in 2004.

A spokesman for Mr. Perry called the suggestion “reckless and false,” and denied that the campaign was the source of the disclosures that have roiled the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Mr. Cain took aim at his rival after The Associated Press reported that a third woman had come forward with an allegation of sexual harassment at the restaurant association in the 1990s.

“We now know and have been able to trace it back to the Perry campaign that stirred this up, in order to discredit me and slow us down,” Mr. Cain told supporters by phone Wednesday evening.

<SNIP>

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/us/politics/herman-cain-accuses-rick-perry-of-smear-campaign.html?_r=2&hp

[Mojambo]

1. It's either Perry or Romney

I'd been assuming it was Romney.

If it is Romney, he's got to be LOVING the fact that Cain and Perry are going to war over it.

[CakeGrrl]

2. Eating their own. Love it. -nt

[KurtNYC]

3. Smear = telling the truth about each other

Cain should invite Perry to Thunderdome.

[RufusTFirefly]

4. Whatever. The goal is to turn Romney into the nominee, so it doesn't really matter. n/t

[sonias]

5. Perry and his campaign scum consultants are in the mix I bet

Dave Carney his top political operative is a larger turd than even Karl Rove.

The Texas Observer 8/01/11

Can a camera-shy Dave Carney put Rick Perry in the White House?

(snip)
OCCASIONALLY CARNEY’S APPROACH has landed him in legal trouble. He has long been affiliated with the group Americans for Job Security—a corporate-funded nonprofit whose attack ads strike fear in the hearts of Democrats and moderate Republicans alike. (The group reported Carney as its “chief executive” in 2002. More recently, he’s been identified as a “consultant.”) As a nonprofit, the group enjoys an enviable position—it can run incredibly negative ads against candidates without disclosing who’s paying for them. That’s because the group calls its ads “issue advocacy,” exploiting a legal loophole that allows corporate front groups to meddle in elections under the guise of education. Little is known about Americans for Job Security. The group began in 1997 with a million-dollar donation from the American Insurance Association. The group claims its goal is simply to inform voters, not to change electoral outcomes.

(snip)

“I think plays very close to the line and sometimes crosses the line without being penalized,” said Kathy Sullivan, the former New Hampshire Democratic Party chair and a longtime Carney foe. “To me it’s pretty obvious they are engaged in political advocacy. They seem to break the rules with impunity.” The group’s ads have only once led to legal consequences. In 2002, the Alaska Public Offices Commission fined Americans for Jobs Security, saying the group improperly tried to influence Alaska elections.

That wasn’t the only time Carney was accused of breaking the rules. In 2005 Carney narrowly avoided charges from the Federal Election Commission. He, his wife, and his partner James McKay had worked to get Ralph Nader on the 2004 New Hampshire ballot, hoping to rob votes from Democrat John Kerry. The question was whether Carney’s firm, Norway Hill, had paid for the signature drive to put Nader on the ballot, which would have violated campaign finance law. The federal agency’s general counsel report concluded that Carney had “knowingly and willfully” violated the law. Ultimately, however, prosecutors chose not to pursue the case, and by August 2005 the complaint had been dismissed.

Carney is a master at dirty tricks, basically. And Perry and Carney don't have to admit or deny anything.
:shrug:

[Tarheel_Dem]

6. This is too delicious. They'll take each other out, and none will lay a glove on The Mittster!

I hope Perry asks Cain to prove it. This clown show is gonna suck up so much media attention. Meanwhile, we still have 9% unemployment, and the GOP is doing absolutely nothing about it, and they get off scott free? :eyes:

[DCKit]

7. Sorry Herman. Doesn't matter. The first Republicant who slings the shit usually wins. nt