Jawa Report: Orchestrated “Grassroots” Smear Campaigns Run By Professional Firms!
Posted by Carlos C. on Monday, September 22nd, 2008 at 1:08 am
Extensive research was conducted by the Jawa Report to determine the source of smears directed toward Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Those smears included false allegations that she belonged to a secessionist political party and that she has radical anti-American views.
Our research suggests that a subdivision of one of the largest public relations firms in the world most likely started and promulgated rumors about Sarah Palin that were known to be false. These rumors were spread in a surreptitious manner to avoid exposure.
It is also likely that the PR firm was paid by outside sources to run the smear campaign. While not conclusive, evidence suggests a link to the Barack Obama campaign. Namely:
* Evidence suggests that a YouTube video with false claims about Palin was uploaded and promoted by members of a professional PR firm.
* The family that runs the PR firm has extensive ties to the Democratic Party, the netroots, and are staunch Obama supporters.
* Evidence suggests that the firm engaged in a concerted effort to distribute the video in such a way that it would appear to have gone viral on its own. Yet this effort took place on company time.
* Evidence suggests that these distribution efforts included actions by at least one employee of the firm who is unconnected with the family running the company.
* The voice-over artist used in this supposedly amateur video is a professional.
* This same voice-over artist has worked extensively with David Axelrod’s firm, which has a history of engaging in phony grassroots efforts, otherwise known as “astroturfing.”
* David Axelrod is Barack Obama’s chief media strategist.
* The same voice-over artist has worked directly for the Barack Obama campaign.
This suggests that false rumors and outright lies about Sarah Palin and John McCain being spread on the internet are being orchestrated by political partisans and are not an organic grassroots phenomenon led by the left wing fringe. Our findings follow.
WHO PRODUCED THE VIDEO?
FactCheck.org debunks this video!
This is just the beginning of the blog on The Jawa Report! Rusty Shackleford of The Jawa Report goes on to make an incredibly lengthy post as to who is behind the smears and how the smears are being coordinated. This story will be everywhere on Monday morning and afternoon conservative talk radio. I encourage everyone to visit The Jawa Report and read their blog!
The blog also details the efforts of David Axelrod, Barack Obama’s chief media strategist, in his attempt to astroturf the media with fake Republican voters giving fake quotes to the media in support of Barack Obama. Also, the professional firm is directly tied to David Axelrod! Business Week calls Axelrod “the Master of Astroturfing”.
Others blogging about this story:
And another… ACE OF SPADES HQ
Hat Tip: The Jawa Report
UPDATE 1: The video was taken down! Barack Obama and his campaign have been CAUGHT IN THIS LIE!
But our friends at ACE OF SPADES HQ have copies… of everything… stay tuned…
UPDATE 2: The name of the professional marketing firm is Winner and Associates!
UPDATE 3: Rusty Shackleford of The Jawa Report is updating his copy of the video that was just taken down! As soon as it is posted, I will post it here on Scoop This.
UPDATE 4: This is the ACE OF SPADES HQ current headline:
Obama Connected PR Firm Produces, Uploads Lying Anti-Palin Ad on YouTube, Then Pushes it Virally as “Grassroots” Effort
PR Exec Sockpuppets Praise Video for “Getting the Truth Out”
Company Employee Uploads it On Democratic Underground and Urges Readers to Send it Out to Ten People Each
The Winner and Associates YouTube account was logged into 18 minutes ago! I wonder why? Was it to take down the videos?
Everyone, this is a crime! The Obama campaign used backdoor channels to smear Sarah Palin, thus breaking campaign laws. When this leads back to Obama’s campaign, they are screwed.
UPDATE 5: The video backup is on You Tube!
What now, Obama?
UPDATE 6: Michelle Malkin has the story. Michelle has screen capture pictures of “eswinner”. Who is “eswinner”? That would be Ethan S. Winner, the family member caught in his web of lies. This “concerned citizen” was the one who created the video along with Winner and Associates. This was a professional hit job, and since this tracks back to David Axlerod and the Obama campaign, they all could face criminal charges for violating campaign laws.
But why did “eswinner” feel compelled to pull down his videos nearly an hour after the videos were exposed? Would not a “concerned citizen” with no ties to the Obama campaign want his “truth” spread? The reason is that ACE OF SPADES HQ and The Jawa Report only mentioned Axlerod’s connection to this firm. They never mentioned Winner and Associates in their original posts! They never mentioned Winner and Associates in their teaser posts a few hours before they broke this story! Someone within the Obama campaign with knowledge of this “grassroots” movement checked these websites, called someone close to the Winner family, and the “eswinner” and “cswinner” accounts on YouTube, along with their videos, disappeared.
(3 Ratings)Filed Under: = BREAKING NEWS =, News & Politics
Figures…..they are such scums….and they will do anything …cheat, lie, deny and villify….
Irrational partisan hatred is the name of the game for the Establishment Media, the Osamamaniacs, and the nutroots.
Thanks for posting this guys! Great work. It’s great to know that someone kept a copy of everything!
Those lying no good cheating varmits…..OMG
Interesting.
- Doc
Conspiracy theorists unite!
I have worked with a lot of huge ad agencies, and what some of those guys do in their spare time is pretty impressive… They could even have gotten the same vo person, who may have been in for some paid Obama spots, to cut some vo for them.
Oh noes!1!!
Typical B.S. When you don’t true have a platform to stand on you have to make stuff up to degrade your opponent. It will all come out in the end. Great work guys.
Even if that were the case, here’s a little of your own medicine:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swift_Boat_Veterans_for_Truth#Connections_with_Republicans
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYaXr03vtNE
http://mediamatters.org/items/200809020009
http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/09/cbs_complains_youtube_takes_do_1.php
Ken, the difference is that Obama and his campaign committed a crime by breaking campaign law.
It’s all completely based on assumptions at this point. If Obama were as conniving a character as you guys like to make him out to be, do you think he’d make it easy enough for a blog to just Google up an “information” omelet?
Even if this string of people is related to this thing somehow, it doesn’t mean that he had them do it, or would approve of it. I could make a very professional-looking, but vicious and vitriolic broadcast spot on this laptop and someone would try to pin it on him if I were a campaign contributor.
The inexperienced Barack Obama is scared to death of the very competent Governor Palin. Makes my day.
The Obamassholes are scum.
I love how you guys all vote down the comments from the one guy who actually does advertising and broadcast work for a living.
Classy! Wait, am I on scoopthis.com?
“cuz if it’s on the net, it’s got to be true™”
Shut up Kenneth.
If anyone wants Kenneth to STFU his idiotic comments, give me a thumbs up!
“Shut up Kenneth.”
While your logical and well-reasoned argument is utterly convincing… no.