It was inevitable that Robin Hayes' Liberal hate comments would come up in yesterday's debate between Larry Kissell and Robin Hayes. What's amazing is that it came up so often. Hayes was obviously angry that he got caught in a lie. So angry, in fact, he's now placing the blame on ....GASP!...Liberal bloggers!
The local press has loved Hayes for years and has been very friendly to him. In the past a story like this wouldn't have trickled down to our local papers. Not true this year. Denialgate has even made front page on the little Enquirer-Journal in Union County.
Video below the fold
In an earlier portion of the debate Hayes blamed his problems on "some blogger," [Found at 4:06 in this clip]
....Of course the people who made the reference, they were more concerned with their benefit not with the truth of the statement. Traditional media didn't report it until some blogger put it up.
The problem for Hayes is that the denial of his denial just doesn't make any sense.
Hayes is now claiming that the way it was presented to him was that he (Hayes) hated liberals and according to Hayes that isn't true. Hayes' spokesperson, Amanda Little, initially said, "Hayes absolutely denies making the comments found in the Observer article." According to "some blogger", Ryan Grim, of The Crypt, he didn't call Hayes for comment so did not present the context or the exact words found in the Observer. Little contacted Grim. If Hayes was presented with the wrong words or context, it wasn't "some blogger" who made the mistake. It was Hayes' own employee.
All that in mind, the denial of Hayes' denial simply doesn't hold water.
Once the video surfaced Hayes gave this statement:
I genuinely did not recall making the statement and, after reading it, there is no doubt that it came out completely the wrong way. I actually was trying to work to keep the crowd as respectful as possible, so this is definitely not what I intended.
Now he's claiming that he was denying that he hates liberals not that he had said what he was quoted as saying in the New York Observer.
Say what?
Please help Larry Kissell put Robin Hayes out of his misery. Our little thermometer isn't showing as much progress as Larry has actually made since contributions are coming in on other pages. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
{UPDATE} - In the comments below I mentioned that I had to leave to go take a couple of voters to the polls. Miss P and her husband are elderly and don't move around too well. Mr. H can barely walk and can't stand for a long time. He needs a hip replacement. I was running a phone bank for Larry Kissell last night and we were doing pure GOTV early voting phone calls into key precincts. When I spoke with Miss P she jumped at the chance to go vote. They didn't know about curbside voting and as I found out, Mr. H could not have voted on his own. It would have been impossible.
You see, Mr. H can't read or write. As the poll worker explained the curbside procedure I saw the look on his face when she asked him to sign his name on the affidavit swearing he was unable to go inside to vote. He couldn't sign his name. She told him that was OK. He could simply make his mark. He marked an x.
On the way over Miss P. had told me she had only voted once before. Mr. H. admitted he had never voted. I now know why.
To make a short story even longer, I can't describe how it makes me feel. I've been crying as I type this because I know how proud Mr. H. was and Miss P. openly expressed how happy she was to vote.
Please, please, please make sure you are offering people a ride to the polls. This took about an hour and a half out of my day and it is the happiest hour and a half I've had in a long, long time.