Even my Democrat Friend Thought this was Ridiculous
You all may remember that in July, we sponsored a contest on STORM, with the prize being free housing at the Republican National Convention. The College Republicans who won had a great week in Minneapolis-St. Paul, getting to participate in some great events during the day, and watch the speakers in the convention hall every night.
However, it turns out that one of the winners wasn’t a CR. He wasn’t even a Republican. Michael Connery, a blogger for the leftist site FutureMajority.com, disguised his identity in order to infiltrate STORM and become one of the winners. His ultimate goal was to obtain embarrassing footage of College Republican leaders in order to harm Senator McCain’s standing with young voters, but he failed.
What’s worse, another blogger reports that Connery conspired with a Rock the Vote employee to complete his subterfuge, reporting that: “Using dozens of different e-mail addresses, Connery and friends voted up his account. Sarah Burris, an activist with Rock the Vote and a pal of Connery’s, has 30 different email accounts registered with storm…He pretended not to know his friend Burgiss (sic), in town working with Rock the Vote, throughout the convention.”
Rock the Vote is a non-profit, non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization, subject to strict laws and regulations governing its participation in the election process. The organization and its employees are legally prohibited from participating in activities that would promote a specific political party or candidate over another.
I have to say, this whole thing is really lame. This guy lied and tricked his way into winning a College Republican contest. Other than perhaps fulfilling some childhood dream to be a spy, what exactly did Connery accomplish? Absolutely nothing. Meanwhile, the poor CR who was first runner up in the contest was robbed of his or her chance to go to the Convention. After last week, I can say firsthand that going to a political convention is an incredible experience, and Michael Connery should be ashamed that he stole that amazing opportunity away from a dedicated young activist just so he could try to write a story he could sell to a magazine.
Ethan and Charlie both released statements on the issue:
“This sort of behavior from an employee of a non-partisan organization is completely unacceptable,” said Ethan Eilon, Executive Director of the College Republican National Committee. “Sarah Burris’ participation in Connery’s plot is unethical at best, and is possibly illegal. The College Republicans demand that Burris be dismissed from her position, and that Rock the Vote issue a public apology for their connection to this matter.”
College Republican National Chairman Charlie Smith added: “Connery and Burris’ twisted plot of lies and subterfuge is ridiculous behavior in a free and open democracy. Their sad attempt to embarrass the College Republicans demonstrates the liberal desperation to discredit the conservative youth movement. Barack Obama’s advantage with young voters is rapidly dwindling. Several recent polls have shown Obama’s lead among young voters has dropped from 30 points to nearly single digits in only a month. Connery and Burris’ behavior shows that Democrats will clearly do anything to disguise the rapid shift of young voters towards the candidacies of Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin.”
Update:
After this story broke, Rock the Vote called us to assure us that they did not condone Ms. Burris’ actions. They also issued the following statement:
“Rock the Vote was not involved in any way in Mr. Connery’s project to win the College Republican’s contest to go to the Republican National Convention. Our good working relationship with the College Republicans is very important to us and we take our status as a nonpartisan organization very seriously. We regret that an individual associated with Rock the Vote took part in this project, but are happy to have clarified with our friends at the College Republicans that it was on her individual time and not associated with or supported by Rock the Vote.”
We are glad to hear that Rock the Vote did not know or condone Burris’ role in this matter. We also commend them for their quick response to this issue, and regret that one of their bloggers abused the trust Rock the Vote placed in her in a way that reflected poorly on an organization with such an important nonpartisan mission. It’s unfortunate that these two rogue leftist bloggers would go to such lengths in an attempt to smear hardworking college republicans at the RNC. Meanwhile, responsible adults at Rock The Vote and the CRNC will continue to work together to get youth more involved in the political process.