From "Bush names campaign coordinators for state" in the Charleston Gazette on December 28, 1999:
Seventeen regional coordinators who will manage Texas Gov. George W. Bush's presidential campaign in West Virginia have been announced by the candidate and his co-chairmen Bill Phillips Jr. and William Bright.
The coordinators will organize grass-roots activities across the state, according to a news release.
They are Thomas E. Johnston, a Wheeling lawyer; James M. McCutcheon, owner of McCutcheon Auction Company in Parkersburg; Matt Musgrave, a Point Pleasant emergency services executive; Phil Parlock, a Huntington real estate broker; Patrick D. Kelly, a Charleston lawyer; Lee Ross, a Princeton resident who handles insurance for American Electric Power; William Shiffer, a Lewisburg stockbroker; Ronna Dittman, a Republican activist in Gassaway; Terry Jackson, a Morgantown developer; Robert M. Higgins, who is associated with Alderson- Broaddus College in Philippi; Richard Z. Woodworth, a Burlington college professor and farmer; Todd Elliott, a Buckhannon radio sales executive; Norma Clise, a Republican Party worker in Romney; and Jean Jacobs, co-chairman of the state Republican Party.
Phillips said Bush's candidacy "has attracted a team of West Virginia's best. Their enthusiasm for Gov. George W. Bush will help him to carry West Virginia and win the White House."
Did George Bush think this would help him to carry West Virginia, too?
UPDATE: Rising Hegemon believes Parlock's son is responsible for the torn sign. There's precedent for that, too. From "Signs for Bush taken at rally, father, son say" in the Charleston Daily Mail on October 28, 2000:
Huntington residents Phil Parlock and his son, Louis, discovered their Bush-Cheney signs were not welcome at Vice President Al Gore's rally at the state Capitol. The two said some Gore supporters grabbed the signs away from them and there were a few physical confrontations. A police officer said some Bush supporters voluntarily ripped up their signs after a brief scuffle.
UPDATE: Is Parlock a magnet for anti-Republican violence? From
Robert in Wisconsin below,
a shot was fired at the Republican headquarters in Cabell County, West Virigina while Parlock and others watched the Republican National Convention:
Parlock: I think this is definately, definately an act that was by an extremeist kind of thing.
Dee Delancy: Fortunately, no one was hurt. Police are still investigating. I'm Dee Delancy reporting live in our Putnam newsroom.
Fortune does seem to shine on Parlock, doesn't it?
UPDATE: Notes from those who say they know Parlock: Chris Anderson points us to a secondhand account at Turnspit Daily and sjcyoung points us to a firsthand account at Huntington News Network.
UPDATE: I replaced the photo of Parlock with links to the photo. I realized how I would feel if this were a photo of my younger sister, and I thought better of including it here.
UPDATE: From the Huntington News Network, since it's not responding well, now. Says user The Great Society:
This was very unfortunate, but EVERY effort was taken to prevent this. When Phil Parlock came to the gate, he was checked for signs (Both campaigns prohibit bringing in outside signs to events) and asked by several volunteers not to cause any trouble.
After he got in the event and pulled out the sign he was not supposed to have, people in the crowd simply tried to stand in front of him. The sign wasn't torn out of his hands until he verbally provoked people in the crowd. Throughout all of this, he was repeatedly asked to leave.
Says user Brenda:
Yes ma'am, he provoked them. Phil gave his son a sign and pushed the boy in front of him. Some young democrats tried to cover Phil's sign with their own. The boy dropped the sign and a worker grabbed at it. Phil then shoved the kid. When Phil's sign was covered up he placed his young daughter on his shoulders and gave her the sign. The girl was terrified by the people chanting and her father's actions. He used his children as pawns. He did not come to do anything other than disrupt the event and he used his children as a means to an end. He exchanged some angry words with the Kerry supporters when they attempted to hold their signs in front of his but none of them were physical with him. Now while I may think he possibly should have been left alone, I have none, nada, NO respect for a man going into a situation he knows is going to be heated and using his children as frickin targets. . . .
Why do I think he came to cause trouble? There was no time for him to speak to reporters after the event to exchange information yet Phil went to the top of the hill and immediately called a reporter to give him his daughter's name, etc. He had to exchange numbers with him before hand and clue him in that something would happen. This is not the first time he's pulled this stunt and he was asked to please play nice.
Says user Citizen X:
Phil has an incredible ability to provoke anyone in any situation very quickly. I've seen him do it in situations that needed no provocation on several occasions. It's just his nature. I think Phil set it up to cause as big a stink as possible. That's also his nature.
Says user Jerome:
The signs were hidden, I believe, in the leg of his pants so they had been mangled already by body sweat and crumpling. They easily fell apart. He reached down to retrieve them as Edwards came off the bus.
UPDATE:
CaptUnderpants points to
a Glenn Beck interview with Parlock, where he says the perp isn't his son. He also points to
an apology from the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades on behalf of unnamed members.
ACTION! Below, some have suggested contacting Parlock. This seems unwise. If he is the professional victim he appears to be, it would simply play to his trade. thirdparty recommends emailing the Herald Dispatch, which originally ran the story. I'd also suggest contacting the local Republican party and the Bush campaign, and ask what involvement, if any, they had in Parlock's stunt.
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