Yesterday Bob Moore of the Ft. Collins Coloradoan posted a diary here on Colorado Pols about his Coloradoan story debunking wild attacks on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that came from CD-4 Republican candidate Diggs Brown.
Moore’s story does not say who exactly provided the audiotape of Brown’s Pelosi-bashing, but in the comments section on the Coloradoan website, that answer seems clear:
Campaign workers for Cory Gardner set-up a camera to record opponent Diggs Brown at the Friday Feb 19 meeting of the CO Republican Business Coalition (CRBC). I specifically asked them not to record the meeting, as CRBC tries to create an atmosphere where policy makers and candidates may speak candidly, without fear that a comment may be misused. It’s an insult to me personally and a violation of trust that they probably did so anyway in a surreptitious manner.
Clearly, Mr. Brown misspoke about Speaker Pelosi’s use of military aircraft and liquor expenses. To make an entire “gotcha” story around one wrong comment does both a disservice to the Gardner campaign by looking petty and to the voters who want to know about a candidate’s policy ideas.
By policy, CRBC does not endorse candidates in a Republican primary. Tom Lucero and Cory Gardner have already spoken to our group of small business owners.
Christine Burtt
Chairman
CO Republican Business Coaliion
www.smallbizgop.com
2/22/2010 2:33:30 PM
Apparently it was the campaign of serial foot-shooter Cory Gardner who provided the tape, and also made the recording despite the admonitions of Christine Burtt of the Colorado Republican Business Coalition. That revelation begs a couple of questions, but the main one is this: How worried are they about Diggs Brown? While Gardner is the only GOP candidate raising any real money in this race, do they have internal poll number showing that Brown is a real threat?
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Contrary to this post, my story did address how I came in to possession of the recording. I said it came from someone at the meeting who provided it on the condition that we not identify the source. The story also included a comment from the Brown campaign alleging the source was the Gardner campaign, playing “gotcha.” Burtt wound up adopting the Brown campaign’s language in her post, complete with “gotcha” and “misspoke.”
For editing the diary. It’s now accurate.
Sorry for the mis-wording.
and say stuff that kills in a roomful of R’s in aprimary, but doesn’t work in the general.
Is there a relevant state or federal law about recording? events? conversations? etc
though in CO the standard appears to be recording is ok as long as 1 person in the conversation knows they are being recorded and has consented or if the speaker has no expectation of privacy.
Not clear exactly what the law is when someone specificlly requests or insists “no recording”. Seem like for political, public speech, you could blow off the request- but the law may be specific.
since Mr. Brown made these outrageous unfounded allegations when he appeared before the CRBC, he is fair game. Frankly, anyone who makes these kind of statements, regardless of their party affiliation or philisophical leanings, has no business representing us in Washington, D.C. or in any other deliberative body. The willingness to make such statements disqualifies them.
The outrage coming from the Brown campaign (and apparently from the CRBC) is just an attempt to cover Brown’s gaffe.
I don’t care whether Bob Moore got the tape from Mother Teresa’s ghost or from Dick Cheney; if the tape itself doesn’t appear to have been edited, it’s news.
tries to create an environment conducive to the dissemination of misinformation, that’s newsworthy as well. Thank you, Ms. Burtt, for sharing that policy with us, and expressing your commitment to blind partisan ideology over informed and rational self-governance through informed and rational public discourse.
Honest candidates with some personal integrity and a belief in the reason and good will of their positions welcome all opportunities to get their message out, to everyone. We consider being recorded an opportunity to do so, not an inhibitor to expressing our policy positions candidly.
But what does it say that they are going to these lengths to discredit Diggs? Does their internal polling show Diggs to be a real problem?
Why in the world would Gardner attack Brown, unless he believes he is a threat. As a Ft. Collins city councilman and military veteran, Brown certainly has more of a political base and credibility in Larimer County than Gardner, who is virtually unknown in that area, where 85% (Larimer, Weld and Boulder counties) of the vote will be cast.
As you know, normally if Gardner felt Brown wasn’t a threat, he would ignore him. Again, I’guessing, but perhaps Gardner has polling that shows a candidate with Brown’s characteristics (and shares the same last name with Hank Brown)is already a formidable presence on the ballot and therefore, he believes he needs to destroy Brown’s image.
Sometimes this stuff is just personal and keep in mind that two big names, Kastein and Traxell (Ft Collins citycouncilmen) came out for Gardner not Brown, when it was almost a foregone conclusion that Brown would receive their endorsements.
And conversely, Gardner didn’t make the Young Guns list recently which was sort of bad news for his campaign. Seems to me these two guys see each other as their biggest competition for the primary and are starting to run against each other as we get nearer to caucus.
Aren’t you at least the tiniest bit insulted that Diggs Brown would think so little of the intelligence of your membership (and you) that he’d take the opportunity to tell your members a gigantic pack of totally-made-up LIES?
He didn’t just “misspeak.” He was sitting there just totally making shit up.
Your knickers are all in a twist about someone recording the session (and you say it’s “probably” Gardner’s reps but you have no proof), but you apparently have no concerns whatsoever about Diggs Brown treating your members like a bunch of gullible, stupid rubes.
Her purpose, apparently, is to provide an echo chamber for ideologically motivated falsehoods, else she would want remarks made to the CRBC to be held to the same standards of factual validity as are other remarks made in public by public officials and candidates. It’s not Diggs Brown “treating the members like a bunch of gullible, stupid rubes,” but either their leadership doing so, or the members themselves volunteering to be so.