In a mind bogglingly stupid and dishonest column "the dean of the Iowa press corps" has attacked Obama and even accused him of a crime!
This all revolves around Obama's plan to have college students in Iowa who are born out-of-state caucus for him. This is the second column that Yepsen has devoted to this ridiculous line of attack.
Here is some stupid:
It's all quite legal, and other campaigns are signing up nonresident Iowa college students, too. But Obama's effort is unprecedented. No presidential campaign in memory has ever made such a large, open attempt to encourage students from another state to participate in Iowa's caucuses.
(But, then, they do elections a little differently in Illinois than we do in Iowa. At least you can't vote a dead person in an Iowa caucus.)
I honestly have no Idea what he is talking about here, he provides no links or context to this "dead-person" line and after ten minutes of googling I still don’t know what he is talking about.
Now he has said that "it's all quite legal" which is true, but he makes a crazy reversal later in the column, this left me slack-jawed when I read it:
However, both laws and practical considerations are in place to help ensure the integrity of the Iowa caucuses:
- Falsely registering to vote is fraud in Iowa. Someone from Illinois who thinks voter fraud is a way of life in that state will find a much different attitude from Iowa prosecutors.
Is Yepsen accusing the Obama camp of voter fraud?
- It would take hundreds of people in the right precincts to make a difference in the outcome. Any plan that brings thousands of people into Iowa to vote would be so visible everyone would see it, and it would backfire on the candidate who is supposed to benefit. It's also called conspiracy, another crime.
A crime! A well organized campaign is not a crime! Telling college students how to caucus is not a crime! Nowhere in the column does Yepsen say that the Iowa Secretary of State's office has instructions on its website that tell college students how to caucus.
And then this really is the kicker:
Credibility. It's not going to do Obama or Paul any good to have a showing in Iowa that is tainted. Obama has worked hard in Iowa. He has built an impressive organization and can win this on the legit. He doesn't need to give opposition spinners a way to discredit a victory.
So there you go, the Yepsen has spoken; even if Obama wins Iowa his victory is illegitimate and tainted.
I hope the Obama camp hits back hard against this blatant dishonesty.