Today (12/11) is John Kerry's 61st Birthday. As a present, Massachusetts Democrats had the PR group hired by the Turnpike Authority (who run the Big Dig) fired. Why? Because they were the firm who handled PR work for the Swift Boat Veteran's for Truth.
There is a great story, complete with traded insults and dopey back charges availabe at the Boston Globe site:
City & Region Section of www.boston.com
Turnpike Authority Drops Publicist
Reporter: Frank Phillips
More below the Fold:
Payback is such a bitch!
Excerpts follow:
In a statement that reflects the deep bitterness about the swift boat group's tactics, a Kerry spokesman blasted the decision to hire Russell (Sr. VP of Creative Respnse Concepts, the PR firm) and his firm, calling it ''just the latest breathtakingly stupid decision by the Republicans in charge of the Big Dig."
''Do they have so little respect for Massachusetts taxpayers that they believe the answer to years of waste, fraud, and abuse is to lavish more taxpayer money on a discredited partisan hack to spin the Big Dig?" said David Wade, Kerry's press aide, after the news circulated that the firm had lost the contract. ''Will the taxpayers get a refund? Add this to the list of serious questions Matt Amorello must answer before the only reasonable verdict is that, like Mike Russell, he doesn't have a shred of credibility left.
Last night, Russell responded sharply.
''I'm sorry the Kerry campaign is coming unglued over this, but the bottom line is the election is over," he said. He noted that his firm was hired to do a specific job, and said, ''There was no political motivation in the hiring of CRC, nor was there any political motivation in our efforts to get the word out about this terrific project."
Sure there wasn't. And I got a bridge in Chelsea I want to sell you, cheap.
Further on, the articles states:
The firm's client list also includes the Republican National Committee, along with strongly conservative advocacy groups such as the Christian Coalition, Contract with America, and Americans for Fair Taxation.
It also represents Regnery Publishing of Washington, D.C., which published ''Unfit for Command," a book by Swift Boat Veterans leader John O'Neill that attacked Kerry's war record.
Regnery also published Governor Mitt Romney's book, ''Turnaround," a memoir of his work organizing the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Happey Birthday Senator! Glad to see that everybody is still in the revenge game. Wouldn't be Massachusetts politics without it.
This just made my day. Way to go guys!