Seems like our old friend
Dick Morris is up to his electioneering again in Romania. This time the report is that he's (possibly) been contracted by a second Presidential campaign to help in this year's elections.
My translation of this article follows:
Basescu negotiates with Dick Morris
According to trustworthy sources, the leader of the PD, Traian Basescu, has been negotiating with the American political strategist Dick Morris in an effort to get him to sign a consulting contract.
Although now they just have an agreement, the contract that will be signed shortly will be to help in the campaign of the mayor of Bucharest [capital] as well as the general elections. Our sources say that the contract will be signed for around 1.5 million dollars. When this contract is signed, the relationship between the PD and PNL will be seriously affected because the two parties are listed together on the ballot. Therefore, the decision to hire a private consultant must be agreed to by everyone.
The leader of the PD, Train Basescu, has not acknowledged having any negotiations with the American campaigner. "I can't confirm something that doesn't exist. Don't try to get me involved in all your rumormongering!", the PD leader told us.
What Stolojan says
On Sunday in [the town of] Bistrita, a spokesperson from PNL President Theodor Stolojan's campaign office, Raluca Tatarcan, sent us a statement that said that any decisions concerning the elections would only take place after the leadrs of PNL and PD had been consulted. "Any decision affecting the campaign team for the general elections, as well as the Presidential election, will be taken with the PD's consent and agreement. Right now no joint decisions have been made for the general elections" said Stolojan in his statement. Additionally, the leader of the PNL said that each party could search for independent consultants for the general elections, that the PNL is now negotiating with different PR firms, but no final decisions will be made until the PD is consulted. PNL sources have declared that the PNL leader was informed about Basescu's discussions with Dick Morris, but that these discussions only concerned local elections. The PNL maintain that the PD have not mentioned anything about signing a contract with Morris for the parliamentary or presidential elections.
They've been meeting for a month now
All the PD officials we contacted denied the existence of a contract with the American campaigner or any negotiation to sign one. Sources from the leadership of the PD told us that Dick Morris and Traian Basescu have been meeting for a month now. They said that Basescu has been soliticing advice from a small team he put together on whether he should hire Morris or not. Morris was recommended by two of the PD's newest members, Dorin Iacob and Cozmin Gusa. The first time he worked with the American consultant was in 2000, when Morris was hired by Virgil Magureanu for the Marian Munteanu Presidential campaign.
A little bit of background for those who didn't know. Traian Basescu is/was the mayor of Bucharest, the capital, where over 10% of the population of Romania lives. He is currently running for President in this year's elections.
Theodor Stolojan is a former Prime Minister who ran for President in 2000 and came in third.
The PNL and PD parties have decided to run "united" together for this year's elections.
In case it slipped your mind, from a brief biography of Dick Morris:
Dick Morris is almost universally credited with piloting Bill Clinton to a stunning comeback re-election victory in 1996 after the president lost Congress to the Republicans two years before. In addition to Clinton, Morris has handled the winning campaigns for more than thirty senators and governors including Republican Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and former Governors Bill Weld of Massachusetts and Pete Wilson of California, as well as the foreign campaigns for Argentine President Fernando de la Rua in 1999 and Jorge Battle in his victory for president of Uruguay in the same year.
Compare this Diary with my earlier Diary about Morris' electioneering in Romania (here as well).
Peace