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STOLEN WITH PERMISSISON FROM ARIZONA's PREMIRE POLITICAL BLOG: RUM, ROMANISM AND REBELLION
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http://rumromanismrebellion.blogspot.com/...
I don't know all of the rules involving congressional staff members, but I understand that they have to be very careful about getting involved in politics. For example, they cannot e-mail political (or even personal) messages on their congressional accounts. A member of congress cannot direct a member of his staff to do political work. Doing anything that smacks of electioneering or campaign work during office hours is a big no-no.
The guy without the name badge is Todd Sommers, a legislative assistant to Rep. J. D. Hayworth.
Now, check out who is hanging out at the back of the crowd at Harry Mitchell's announcement, looking very uncomfortable. Apparently, Sommers was also spotted one day (around 11:00, dead center during federally funded office hours) at Tempe City Hall doing research on Mitchell's tenure as Mayor of Tempe.
You know, most campaigns can pay for people to do this sort of opposition research so they don't need to break the rules and send folks on federal salaries to do it. I thought Hayworth raised somewhere north of $800,000, you'd think he'd have enough to pay someone to do this. Maybe he's anticipating spending all that money on something else, like attorneys.