As the Iowa campaign closes the HRC camp has grown increasingly desperate. Recently the national arm of AFSCME (which endorsed HRC) sent out a mailer attacking Obama but trying to make it look as if it had come from Edwards. The crack Edwards staff (and if you want to know what actually capable staff looks like, as opposed to those extolled by the cozy media, you might take note of the effectiveness and promptness of the Edwards team) immeadiately caught on.
Now - the local AFSCME members are disavowing any affiliation with the HRC sponsored but deceptive mailer. Join me below to get the details and for an amazing bit of sophistry and disingenusousness by the Des Moines Register.
The Des Moines Register has a story today that lays out all the specifics:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/...
The story notes that the Iowa AFSCME members will disavow "the paid media campaign...." The local leaders in Iowa held a press conference today to lay out their grievances against the flyer and to distance themselves from its attempt to portray the relentlessly positive Edwards message as going negative. Just so there is no confusion - the characterization of the Edwards campaign as relentlessly positve is mine (although it is simply stating the obvious). The DMR artcle itself does not use those terms although it does quote Jennifer O'Malley Dillon of the Edwards camp who notes the misleading nature of the flyer and its pathetic attempt to cast the Edwards camp as going negative.
However - here is something I found stunning, even in this day and age of low journalistic standards - (yes, I know - the age old question of whether you can get beneath absolute zero rears its head) the DMR caucus page contains this headline for a story that shows local branches of a union disavowing a deceptive media campaign by HRC in this way:
"Union members plan to disavow themselves from Edwards/Obama attack ad.
Catch that cuteness - if one reads only the headline it makes it seem as if Iowa unions are backing off an attack ad from Edwards/Obama. Hmmm - and the DMR is on record as endorsing HRC - cute, real cute.
Update - moments ago Hardball hosted Anthony Weiner, speaking for the HRC camp, David Bonior speaking for Edwards and Rep. Arthur Davis speaking for Obama. When faced with a direct question about the burgeoning AFSCME scandal, Congressman Weiner allowed as to how some of the things emanating from the HRC camp might have been "too hot." Bonoir made clear that the mailer in question should have properly attributed the source of the mailer.
As an aside Bonior adroitly stayed out of the Obama/Clinton fight and pointed out that the real question is who will best fight the entrenched interests and actually beginning redressing the calamitous effects of global warming, health care malfeasance and insider corporate influence. It even worked out that, to my surprise, at least, he got the final word.