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October 08, 2010 06:47 PM UTC

Who Said? You Said...GOP Says?

  • 46 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

You’ve probably heard by now of the local conservative blog site Who Said You Said, which we’ve discussed a time or two in this space. If you haven’t visited their blog, perhaps you’ve seen one of their many billboards going up around the city:

WhoSaidYouSaid, like Progress Now on the left who has been pulling stunts of this kind for many years, bills itself as an “independent” group–subject to the same kinds of restrictions on advocacy for candidates, forbidden to directly coordinate with campaigns, et cetera. And like we’ve told conspiracy-minded types for years, it doesn’t cost very much money to run a blog, or even to buy an inexpensive camcorder for getting the cameo footage of politicians that WSYS specializes in.

The thing is, WSYS has moved considerably beyond the low-overhead blog-and-Flip-camera model they started with. The billboards that WSYS is putting up cost many thousands of dollars. “Correspondents” from WSYS have recently been showing up to events with high-end camcorders that typically sell for several thousand, not the $150 Flip cameras they used to use. Also, these billboards seem to be, based on their content, the sort of election-related paid communications for which disclosures are necessary–especially within 60 days of the election, which we are.

And it gets better: the principal figures behind WSYS, Kelly Maher and Mary Smith, are both deeply tied to the Republican Party. Maher apparently works for WSYS, while serving at the same time as Secretary of the Denver Republicans. Smith is a past director of the Denver GOP. Furthermore, WSYS’s SoS filing from last year lists an address of 1660 Wynkoop Street #900. That’s the address of the Hale-Westfall law firm, home of Richard Westfall and Ryan Call–two of the GOP’s most prominent election attorneys, and Call actually official counsel for the state GOP.

Seems a little bit incestuous, doesn’t it? We’re not outright accusing anybody of breaking laws here, mostly because we don’t claim to be experts on the finer (and frequently murky) points of either Colorado or federal election law. But we think that having so many GOP usual suspects, especially persons who currently hold positions in the Republican Party, running this “independent” and suddenly very well-funded effort is, well, pretty darn interesting.

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46 thoughts on “Who Said? You Said…GOP Says?”

  2. if they featured Boehner, Blunt, McConnell, and of course any of the important members of the previous administration. But it’s okay because they only borrow the money from China and make sure that those who benefit the most from our American way of life pay the least back into it, percentage-wise.

  3. endorsed Hickenlooper?  Why would she be directly involved with a billboard such as this?  Does not make sense…and Kelly Maher is nothing more than a hack wannabe…

        1. They hire freelancers to cover lots of events, and have been doing so for some time. Maybe they’ve bought expensive cameras, but it’s more likely someone just noticed the freelance videographers instead of the site owners with flip cameras.

      2. please explain to me the Mary Smith connection.  She was all cuddled up with Hick in a photo in the Statesman.  

        If you ever get the chance to spend time with Mary Smith DON’T.  She reminds me of those people that are famous for never having done anything.  Sorry Paris…didn’t mean to classify you in the same group as Mary Smith, but I do have more respect for Paris than I do Mary Smith.  YUCK!

          1. especially when they are of the quality of individual like Maher and Smith.  

            So sxp…you are loving Maher and Smith and respecting them?  

            Please elaborate on all of their qualities that you like and respect.

              1. I don’t like them…and guess what…I get to say that! LOL

                Oh and when appropriate I get off my ass and trash them other places too.  LOL

          2. CPols allows right-wing/GOP-favoring posts and commentary on the blog; does WSYS have a stable of bloggers from both ends of the spectrum who freely post commentary favoring progressives as well as conservatives? The rare comments that appear on WSYS appear to be open to both sides (although it doesn’t appear that there’s much if any interaction between visitors and posters) but there are zero bloggers from anywhere but the hard right.  

      2. Kelly (she) has been a GOP operative for YEARS – she runs political campaigns for Republican candidates. Two years ago, she put Jim Geddes’ campaign for CU regent deep into a financial hole by repeatedly not filing campaign finance reports. He got slapped with some hefty fines (about $4,000) from an administrative law judge for those little missteps. At the time the fines were levied, it was more money than the campaign had. Eventually, the reports got filed and the fines paid.

      3. Aside from sharing her name with a writer of erotic fiction, Kelly Maher is described quite clearly on the internet as Secretary of the Denver Republicans.

    4. Post reported it, here: http://bit.ly/97Vlmk

      And miraculously, there have been no pieces attacking Hickenlooper on the WSYS website since then.

      Believe WSYS did six pieces attacking Hick in Aug-Sept, but since first second week of September, nothing.

      I wonder why that is…

      1. WSYS did on Oct. 6 recycle some of the Mayor’s remarks from the recent Lamm-Owens moderated debate for a piece providing the usual panicky commentary about labor unions. Other than that, nothing since late summer.

    1. So now you can produce a single – just one – example of a Democratic Party staffer simultaneously working for an “independent” attack group.

      Oh wait, you can’t! Or can you? I’m waiting.

      This is a big chance for you, LB. You could actually prove me wrong on the facts, for once, instead of whining about how mean I am to you and not responding substantively to anything. I’d take it if I were you.

      1. Are you telling me that you’re absolutely certain that no Dem staffer has done the same thing?

        I just love the faux-redass about these terrible people trying to influence elections with their money!!!!

        * Cough * Stryker, Gill, Polis…. * Cough *

            1. Unlike this blog post, which is based in FACT.

              I don’t think you’ve ever lost an argument so quickly, LB, so I’ll be watching for your reversion to the usual petulance in 3…2…1…

              1. What argument did I lose?

                My point was that I’m having my heart warmed watching libs cry about their own MO being used on them.

                No petulance here, you’re being really extra sweet today.  Are you feeling alright?

                1. If their “own MO” is being used, then why can’t you point out a case of a Democratic Party staffer simultaneously working for a 527 or c4 or any other independent political committee? Because that is what this post is about, and you are not actually deflecting the issue at hand very well. I’ve never understood why you trolls feign ignorance over something everybody else sees clearly. Didn’t you just do that a week ago too?

                  Still waiting, but that’s the argument I believe you have lost. You asked.

      1. Kelly Maher has certainly worked for Republican candidates and causes over the years, but she is no paid staffer of the Denver or the Colorado Republican Party.

        The only part-time staffer the Denver Republican Party employs is Ruth Prendergast, who helps answer the phones a few days a week.  Everyone else involved is merely a volunteer–including Kelly, who volunteers as the county party secretary.

        If she is like most county party secretaries, that just means she’s responsible for taking notes at Party meetings.

        1. So if Pat Waak, unpaid Democratic Party official, was discovered to be running Progress Now or one of these million generic 527s, Republicans would not immediately demand her to be frog marched? You’re obviously trying to help, but #FAIL.

          Incidentally, I notice that you have only commented a very few times in your relatively long stay (2006 account), and you really like defending GOP attorney John Zakhem. In other cases you comment densely on election law matters. And now you’re poofing in to stick up for Maher, registered out of the offices of GOP Lawyer Central.

          You wouldn’t happen to have an office at 1660 Wynkoop Street #900 of your own, would you?

            1. I’m not outing anybody, there are a lot of people at that address. I don’t know for sure that this person is there. The address is listed in this blog post. I have no expectations that this person is going to answer me, and if they did it would be a self outing.

              Sometimes the perfectly-timed guests should be aware that people are not stupid, that’s all.

    1. Show me a single example of a Democratic Party staffer simultaneously working for a 527 or other independent political group, and I will concede a major point to you. Really, I will, with no sarcasm.

      If you can’t, and I don’t think you can, STFU and stop trying to cast baseless aspersions.

    3. No reason Republicans shouldn’t be doing this. But the WSYS pieces consistently are bogged down by sophomorically lame commentary, huge editorial holes that a decent communicator could easily avoid(the organized labor hysteria piece on Oct. 6 is a great example) or the ponderous presence of the Independence Institute’s Dave Kopel.

      Great idea, poor execution. GOP perhaps should have opted for people with solid communications skills instead of party operatives.

  8. This is politics and politics is a “full contact sport”

    That said –

    I know both Kelly Maher and Mary Smith very well and they are both wonderful, sincere, and honest activists – I trust their word and I deeply believe that their political actions are motivated by making our good State better

    I just wanted that on record

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