Joe Conason by 'walking back the cat' examines Gannon's role in the narrow defeat of Senator Daschle.
Salon. com,
Opinion
Gannon: The early years
Before he was buttering up Bush at White House press conferences, "Jeff Gannon" was doing the GOP's dirty work in attacking Tom Daschle.
By Joe Conason
Feb. 18, 2005 | Long before "Jeff Gannon" became a household pseudonym in the nation's capital, he had earned considerable recognition among the political elites of South Dakota. During that state's closely contested Senate race last year, the Talon News writer -- whose real name is now known to be James Dale Guckert -- dug his claws deep into Tom Daschle, the former Senate minority leader narrowly defeated by Republican John Thune.[...]
UPDATE, February 19, 2005
See
Keith Olberman
Tonight there are more ramifications from the "Jeff Gannon" story, one bouncing back at the Republicans because of Gannon's connection to the successful unseating of South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle.
Watch for the transcripts for Friday, February 18, 2005, coming soon
here.
Next to Senator John Kerry,
Senator Tom Daschle was the most important target for the Republican Dirty Tricks section of the Republican Propaganda Machine. The Gannon story is about propaganda above all.
Gannon hooked up with two paid bloggers, Lauck $27K and Van Beek, $8K to destroy Daschle, summer 2003. By interviewing Thune, Feb. 8, 2004, lobbing his now famous softball style questions on internet radio Right Talk (with hardly any listeners), Gannon allowed Thune to lay out his attack. Then Gannon used his fake news, Talon.com/GOPUSA to spread the points of this attack interview. All these articles, of course, are now scrubbed. The same Gannon who accused "leftie bloggers" of attacking his personal life before the AMERICAblog exposé, showed no hesitation in spreading sensational lies about Senator Daschle and his wife.
(This reminds me, Gannon was scheduled for a spot on Right Talk yesterday. Wonder if he showed up.)
Don't let go of the Gannon story, because his dirty tricks background may lead to the discovery of his easy access to the White House.