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Um, You're Not Helping

by: Colorado Pols

Thu Aug 09, 2007 at 09:39:56 AM MDT


UPDATE: the Polis staffer in question has resigned. An updated story on the Rocky Mountain News website (same link) reports that Polis has personally called every Democrat disparagingly mentioned by the staffer and apologized.

From the Rocky Mountain News:

A staffer for Jared Polis' congressional campaign trashed Polis' two rivals in an online posting so ferocious that fellow Democrats are stunned.

The staffer said one of Polis' opponents has "no deeply held convictions," and the other is backed by "the same folks who gave us 12 years of Democratic ineptitude."

Polis, a Boulder entreprenuer, faces environmentalist Will Shafroth and state Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald in the 2nd Congressional District Democratic primary.

The online thrashing was posted Wednesday on the blog My Direct Democracy by Raf Noboa, who handles outreach for Polis...

...Polis' campaign manager, Wanda James, hadn't heard of the posting until contacted today by the Rocky Mountain News. The dismay in her voice was obvious.

"That's not how Jared Polis feels about the people he's running against. We feel like we have three excellent people running for office," she said.

Pat Waak, the state Democratic Party chairwoman, said, "Oh my God" when she heard about the postings.

"That's not very helpful," she said, mindful that squabbling among Repubicans in their primaries in 2004 and 2006 helped Democrats score huge victories.

Here's the post in question: Jared Polis is Looking for a Logo.

The logo contest is silly in itself, but this is really damaging. Blog posts like this create an image of Polis supporters as undisciplined and amateur, not to mention whiny and childish, and it reflects back on the candidate.

As Raf writes: "Well, we're not your mom or dad's political campaign. We're different. We think different, we act different."

Indeed.
Colorado Pols :: Um, You're Not Helping
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Um, You're Not Helping | 69 comments
Going Green, in the worst sort of way
Here's what we said on the open thread. I don't feel like retyping it.
http://www.coloradop...

"Suddenly, it may be cool to be American again" - William J. Kole
He's a moveon.org guy, just like his candidate
You are whom you hire. This guy's an out-of-control wacko:

Shafroth is a nice guy who's been looking to run for office for a long time--he has no deeply held convictions that anyone can see, and if he's elected, he'll be a decent enough Member who will likely go on to lead the Caucus of the Obscure, and not achieve anything remotely worth remembering.

Fitz-Gerald is your traditional main-line establishment politician. She's a state senator from Jefferson County, and she runs the Senate with an iron fist. Essentially, the folks that gave us 12 years of Democratic ineptitude are the folks who are backing her. If you love John and Ken Salazar, and you hunger for the kind of bold, visionary leadership that they provide, you'll simply adore Fitz-Gerald.

Anyway, here's the deal. I'm running outreach for the campaign--both online and offline. We're going to be doing many of the things that Ned Lamont did in CT--having worked for Ned in that campaign, I learned at the feet of some great folks, and I want to put that tutelage to great use. We're going to be involving both the state and national netroots at every level, and I'll be looking for your help and input at every stage of the race. Wanda James, our manager, ran Jay Fawcett's race in the Colorado 5th last year, so she's someone who knows what kind of power you bring to the table. 

JP's going to have a tough time recovering from this one.

[ Parent ]
And your source is?????
And the reason moveon.org is worse than, say, Club for Growth?

Jared can easily recover.  Repudiate what this jerk said and can him.

"Collective fear stimulates herd instinct and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd." -Bertrand Russell

[ Parent ]
What does that mean, exactly?
A move-on.org guy? Did he work for them? Create policy for them? What? What constitutes being a "Move-on" guy and please do provide a link to prove it.

Thanks.

"The only way you could be worse is if you were Wade Norris." Ralphie

[ Parent ]
A moveon.org guy is a hard leftist
He's obviously been brainwashed by the Soros-funded outfit, imho. If not, he's on the same page.
[ Parent ]
Thank God ...
...Coors, Scafe, and othe rich righties don't fund political movements!

If you think moveon.org is hard leftist you are really detached from reality.  Although no fan of moveon, most of its supporters are pretty middle of the road liberal Dems.  You know, raise kids, go to jobs if they still have them, believe in the inherent dignity of all men and women.  Radical shit like that.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

"Collective fear stimulates herd instinct and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd." -Bertrand Russell

[ Parent ]
Hmmm
I have heard that 41 would not pass.
I have heard that JP stood no real chance of even coming close to JFG.
Now, even before the race has started, a worker made a mistake, AND taken responsibility for it,  and you think that JP is to be held responsible? Hmmmm. 41 was JP's doing and the cutting of it's legs had JFG behind it. I think that at the next election that will play more than this.

I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
[ Parent ]
Incredible
The best part is that there's no credible denial here. Noboa identifies the Polis campaign as a client and even describes his position and role. Wonder how long he'll be with the campaign. . .
Good question
If he's not already looking for a new job, the "integrity" of the Polis campaign is lost. Polis has enough luggage already and piling more on top isn't helping, as the Dead Guvs articulated so well.

"Suddenly, it may be cool to be American again" - William J. Kole
[ Parent ]
did wanda really not know?
I don't think these online attacks were that bad, but I realize I'm jadded.  I thought the worse offense here is that the campaign manager didn't know what was being made public.  Either she's lieing and did know or she isn't on the same page as her staff and neither of these are good signs.
What makes it bad isn't so much the content
As the lack of control. There's no benefit to doing this, and the damage is what it does to the perception of the Polis campaign.
[ Parent ]
I agree
What's funny is, Fitz-Gerald's campaign manager seemed to know about it before Polis's.

And after the Polis staffer attacked just about every Colorado Democrat, Mary Alice asked the right question "I wonder who in the Democratic Party he does like."

"Suddenly, it may be cool to be American again" - William J. Kole

[ Parent ]
Wow
Take some advice Polis, get rid of Wanda James and fire Raf.  It's your only chance.

"For those of you who do not know what a blogger is, it is someone with a laptop, an axe to grind, and their virginity." - Steven Colbert
Trashing your opponents...
is one thing.  It is even expected (although generally not this early in the process).  I think the real story here (in addition to the campaign manager apprently being unaware of this attack) is the trashing of Ken and John Salazar.

I would expect Polis, should he get the nomination, to be wanting support from Senator Salazar.

Polis needs to fire this guy and fast...

"I've learned a lot of lessons being involved in politics. I also believe that when you are attacked, you have to deck your opponents." -- Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY)

I agree
A bit of trashing your opponents is expected, but trashing half the major D's in the state is not a good idea.  On top of the bad blood he generated with the A41 disaster, he isn't working to have many friends.  JP must have a lot of confidence that his money can buy him enough friends.
[ Parent ]
not smart
Raf's a well-meaning guy but this was a stupid move.

As for Dems he does like, well he was Merrifield's aid this past year

Raf is a well-meaning, passionate Democrat.
He really is, and is usually more level-headed than this post would indicate.

I saw similar invective tossed around by paid bloggers and some staffers between the Lamm and Perlmutter campaigns.  It's nothing to smile at, but I think this particular screed by Raf is getting a surprising amount of attention.  Obviously it was wrong.  We'll see how Raf and Polis make amends.

"But every Republican in the world is a lobbyist…" -- Bill O'Reilly

[ Parent ]
Perlmutter
I am pretty sure Perlmutter had no paid bloggers.
If he did, I want back pay!

Lamm had paid staff blogging, publicly and anonymously but  Kathryn Poindexter was always very professional online. The Lamm staffers who were rude, were generally hired on for other things than outreach. I think they were more or less 'rogue staffers' when it came to their net activity.

The real negative campaigning was not done by either candidate's staff online. It was done either by passionate partisans here, or it was done by pro-firms in Lamm's televised attack ads.

I am not saying that intra-party online fighting doesn't happen in Colorado, the Republicans went heavy in that direction last cycle and the Denver City Council races had a number of Dems throwing the mud around, but in Lamm-Perlmutter-Rubenstein most of the tone on the web was created by the supporters and not the campaigns.


[ Parent ]
I defer to your expertise, TBTH.
The general impression of rancor is what we all hope to avoid.  It can lead at least some potential supporters to a "pox on all their houses" attitude.

I hope Ed at least bought you a beer.  You definitely got the word out for him.

"But every Republican in the world is a lobbyist…" -- Bill O'Reilly

[ Parent ]
Agree
It was a stupid move. Guess another "rouge staffer" is at it again. Still, Polis will win.
Stupid is as stupid does
The "rogue staffer" excuse is not going to work. Polis hired this guy, and this reflects poorly upon Polis for not having the insight to hire a professional campaign team, instead of some ametuers like this.

"Suddenly, it may be cool to be American again" - William J. Kole
[ Parent ]
Raf's Apology -- posted MyDD and here in the Diaries
Taking Responsibility
by Raf Noboa, Thu Aug 09, 2007 at 01:03:00 PM EST

Yesterday, I wrote a post both here and on Open Left, in which, during the process of announcing the campaign's logo contest, I sharply, in an unflattering manner, and unnecessarily criticized Will Shafroth, Joan Fitz-Gerald, and both of the Salazar Brothers.

I want it to be absolutely clear that I wrote what I wrote under my own volition. The sentiments expressed in those posts are my own, and no one else's. They absolutely and certainly don't reflect the sentiments or attitudes of the campaign. They are not reflective, at all, of how Jared feels.

As a result, I have submitted my resignation from the campaign, effective immediately. I feel that my continued presence would distract immensely from the hard work of the campaign. I feel that my error of judgment should not reflect on Jared, but rather on myself, and I will now take time to reflect on how I can best repair the breach.

The decisions leading up to this are mine and mine alone. I continue to believe that Jared will be the best representative from the 2nd Congressional District of Colorado

Well, good on him.
There's not much more he can do than apologize and resign and he's now done both.

"The only way you could be worse is if you were Wade Norris." Ralphie
[ Parent ]
Its a hard thing working for someone in politics
most people active in politics are opinionated, but you have to be disciplined when you work for someone else because you are the candidates proxy.

You can say whatever you like when you are speaking for yourself, but when you work for the campaign you have to remember you are speaking for someone else.

BTW he didn't really apologize--he said the thoughts and words were his own.  He appologized for creating confusion, not for trashing everybody.

[ Parent ]
Damn! You're right.
I went back and reread it and that's not an apology, by any stretch, is it?

"The only way you could be worse is if you were Wade Norris." Ralphie
[ Parent ]
No, but...
...it is a taking of responsibility.  But he obviously still feels the same way, which is certainly OK as a private citizen.

"Collective fear stimulates herd instinct and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd." -Bertrand Russell

[ Parent ]
But it does leave open the question--
did Polis know how he felt about the other two candidates and does Polis feel the same way? Those are some pretty harsh assessments that Raf made about Polis' opponents.

As apologies go, this one sort of sucks.


"The only way you could be worse is if you were Wade Norris." Ralphie

[ Parent ]
Still an apology of sorts
Like a "sorry I got caught" statement and please don't hold my boss accountable for my actions, rather than I'm sorry for what I said.

"Suddenly, it may be cool to be American again" - William J. Kole
[ Parent ]
Yep. Exactly. Well put.


"The only way you could be worse is if you were Wade Norris." Ralphie
[ Parent ]
Hey,
He's fully entitled to his opinion and, frankly, I don't think that he should apologize for having it (or for expressing it publically).  He apologized for dragging his boss and preferred candidate into it...which is appropriate and he should have done.  Polis would have looked better if he would have fired the guy for it instead of having him resign.

There are quite a few politicians that I don't particularly like and I would never apologize for my opinions be they publically expressed or privately held.


"I've learned a lot of lessons being involved in politics. I also believe that when you are attacked, you have to deck your opponents." -- Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY)

[ Parent ]
also
I liked the way Polis handled this by personally calling each person Raf criticized.  I am not trying to find a silver lining here, because this is a disaster for his campaign, but I think that was a good way to handle the problem.

" And there are no Christian terrorists."

The Beej, circa 8/26/2010

[ Parent ]
Don't overreact - the post was not that bad
Many worse things have been said about opponents during a campaign.
[ Parent ]
and actually...
... gosh, what he said was largely TRUE also.  I've read all the way down the page and no one seems to acknowledge that.  I laughed.  Rav, if you're reading, at least one person on this site is applauding you today.
[ Parent ]
all true???
please tell me what 12 years of Den inepitude is he talking about?
[ Parent ]
wait.......it's still early

[ Parent ]
So there you go.
Not a fake apology--he meant what he said with his criticisms--but certainly a humble and appropriate one.

"But every Republican in the world is a lobbyist…" -- Bill O'Reilly
[ Parent ]
Good on you
For taking responsibility, admitting fault, and doing what you think is right.

"Suddenly, it may be cool to be American again" - William J. Kole
[ Parent ]
What's Polis thinking with his staff?
This is really pretty minor, but for me it raises some bigger questions about Polis' choices for his staff.  Given that this is a seat some Dem is going to win and Polis isn't exactly hurting for money, why in the world did he hire the team that he did?  Wanda James as campaign manager?  What's her track record?  Fawcett's campaign was ok but nothing all that remarkable.  Then the Watson campaign for city council?  She is the one who brought king-of-mud-slinging Merlino to "save the day" on Fawcett's campaign so I guess no surprise they're already going nasty in CD2 and when Watson lost her apologist was right there to throw the original manager under the bus saying she wasn't there long enough to "save" it.  Her saying she didn't know what Naboa did is kind of hard to believe too and if I'm not mistaken he was involved down in CD5 so she knows his m.o..  In Naboa's defense, I think he was just trying to get the whole netroots crowd rallied up around beating an establishment (aka DLC) candidate, but it showed some poor judgment and is not going to help attract support other than the Kos crowd. 

JP, you want to win?  Go find yourself a staff that has experience running & winning hard-fought races not amateurs who will sink you and then blame everybody else.

in other words...
... hire the passionless robots the Colorado Democratic Party expects you to hire.
[ Parent ]
On the charges:
I can see that the story for the consultant class is going to be about how Wanda James as manager handled things, or an attempt to make internet outreach look radioactive, and there will be some return fire about what it says about Jared as the candidate. I will let everyone make their own decisions about what is mostly 'inside baseball' and not something that will register very highly with the public.

Yes, for the primary voters this will be an issue and the 'Jared went negative first' story will mean something to them, but there is something I think is larger.

The charges that were made, reprinted by the RMN with some context, and then reprinted here uncritically are going to shape the narrative in some ways about Polis' opponents. The truth is, if handled properly by Polis and James this could fade as a black mark against the campaign, but if JFG and WS mishandle it this could haunt them.

In a real 'Rovian' way, these are just the sort of attacks they need to confront. If nothing else, Shafroth's bio looks to me like the story of a man with deep personal conviction, the guy is the E.D. of the Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund and the Colorado Conservation Trust. I think I can guess at least one of his convictions.

But for him to fight for something that should have been a given, is exactly the position Rove would want him. But right now I only see him in the worse position of neither fighting against the spin nor changing the framing to a debate he wants to be having today.

I believe the same thing about Joan's campaign. Her staff has got to be loving the way today's marshmallow roast is turning out, but they have to recognize that in a major publication the '12 years of ineffective Democrats' charge has been leveled. Fitz-Gerald's last 12 years was anything but ineffective. She has been given a chance to draw distinctions between what happened on the national stage without her and what happened here in Colorado with her.

She is arguably one of the most effective Democrats that the country has seen in a long long time, but the ju-jitsu of the attack makes her relative experience seem like a failing.

This was a bad day for Jared, and his opponents should take a few minutes out of their outrage to savor it, but this could be the start of a real swift-boat moment for them if they are not swift and precise in their responses.

I don't know Will, but it is clear he is a dedicated Conservationist
From a college degree in environmental studies to work for the CA state government to to Great Outdoors Colorado he has dedicated his entire adult life to the environment.  Raf's critisism rings hollow.

In a seat that has been home to great friends of the environment like Udall and Tim Wirth (One of my personal favorites), being dedicated to open space, alternative energy and othe green causes seems like a pretty important "deeply held conviction" to me.

I like JFG and it's a mistake to characterize her as ineffective.

[ Parent ]
she also hasn't been there 12 years
but I guess facts are not important
[ Parent ]
Dumb mistake, but the cleanup is impressive
Ok, totally dumb comment. But you can't lay that at JP's feet as a candidate does not control every move of the people in a campaign. A successful campaign needs people that take initiative. Of course, they also need people with common sense.

And the guy resigning, taking full ownership for what was said, and not trying to worm out of what he said - very stand up. So dumb post but a perfect apology.

The one question remaining is will JP say anything on this issue. If he handles it like amendment 41 he will stay silent hoping to avoid it. Hopefully he'll do better than that.

- dave

Tom Tancredo Interview

My assumption
is that JP can afford to stay silent on this one.  No paper is going to cover any more of it and for JFG or Shafroth to make an issue out of it would mean they would also have to reiterate the comments about their political prowess.

The issue will be done and gone from voters minds within a couple weeks.

[ Parent ]
I'm not sure this snafu
will cross paths with most voters. Nobody in my house will know a thing about it unless I tell them. From my perspective, it's a big yawner and more of the same from campigns and/or their staff.
[ Parent ]
It looks like he did step up
and called everyone that was diss-ed. That's classy as those had to be tough phone calls.

Tom Tancredo Interview
[ Parent ]
Boy, no kidding.
A rough day for him, I'm sure. He did an outstanding job of stepping up.

"The only way you could be worse is if you were Wade Norris." Ralphie
[ Parent ]
I'd vote for Raf
Apparently calling them like you see 'em is no longer allowed.

I cannot believe so many people who say they want to see progressive change are in a tizzy over someone pointing out Joan Fitz Gerald's ties to the establishment. In my humble opinion, she cares more about her and her party's political gains than about bringing about the changes progressives wish to see.

If you only care about Democrats being in office, go ahead and chide this guys for being outspoken in his beliefs. But if you care about what they actually do when they get there, and you wish to realize true social and political change, you should be giving him a pat on the back.

If I were running for office, I'd hire him in a heartbeat. I'd rather lose by fighting for what is right than win  by doing nothing nothing to stop what's wrong.

Well, do give him a call
because he's currently unemployed, after this stunt and I have a feeling he may be unemployed for awhile.

I just read Wanda Jame's email and from the sound of it, he was supposed to run everything he wrote through her, he (obviously) didn't, and because of his brainless post, his former boss spent the day personally calling and apologizing to each person he insulted.

"The only way you could be worse is if you were Wade Norris." Ralphie

[ Parent ]
Yes dear - that dress does make your butt look big
We can all be brutally honest but society would sure be a nasty place. And do we want campaigns to be even more nasty than they are now?

Because calling the other guy as you see it is refreshing honesty. But them calling your candidate as they see it is meanspirited gutter level campaigning.

Tom Tancredo Interview

[ Parent ]
All is well....
A friend of Raf's just spoke to him. He is indeed fine. Seriously though, that type of behavior should not, and cannot fly. I hope that ColoradoPols will do the responsible thing and suspend that user. Rumors like that have absolutely no place in this dialogue. Never.
Thank you for letting us know
After Larry this would have been even more awful. And we need people this passionate in politics.

ps - tell him if he is looking for a job out of politics and would consider enterprise software sales to please call me.

Tom Tancredo Interview

[ Parent ]
Already done

[ Parent ]
Why would someone be suspended for posting their thoughts?
I haven't read the comments (and I doubt I would be able to now), but what was so bad about them that a users would be suspended?
[ Parent ]
the user said
That raf had  killed himself, and his body was discovered by his roommate.
[ Parent ]
Dern...
I see the light now...
[ Parent ]
I saw it
yesterday just a little after 5 PM.  Sick.

" And there are no Christian terrorists."

The Beej, circa 8/26/2010

[ Parent ]
Trust me
This one was worth suspension. And I am an advocate that pretty much anything should be allowed on an anonymous forum like this. This was over the line though. I hope their IP is suspended.
[ Parent ]
I agree
Thanks for clearing it up for me, I was confused  :)
[ Parent ]
Yes, complete scum-bag
[ Parent ]
Heinous Act
This is Raf's roommate.  The heinous and cowardly post by this asshole cannot be measured.  I spent a horrible afternoon thinking the worst about a good friend.  No one should have to go through what this scoundrel put me and several of his friends through.  You sir ought to be ashamed.
[ Parent ]
I am...
very happy and relieved that nothing bad happened to Raf. He is a friend, and though he made an error in judgement, I hope to never to come across a post like that again on this site. Let us not forget that we are a community, both sides of the aisle, we are still an empassioned group who use this forum to voice our thoughts and convictions. I hope to never, and I mean never, ever, come across a grossly irresponsible, irrational, and downright malicous post as I did earlier. This is the type of thing that makes all of us look idiotic. Colorado Pols...you did the right thing. I congratulate you for that.
[ Parent ]
Wasn't a tough decision
This could be the most reprehensible thing that has ever been posted to our site.
[ Parent ]
Good news
I thought it was probably B.S., but you never know.
[ Parent ]
Um, You're Not Helping | 69 comments
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