Ethan Winner, an executive with a Public Relations firm connected to a senior Obama campaign advisor has admitted to distributing a video designed to smear Republican Vice Presidential nominee Governor Sarah Palin. An investigation has shown that David Axelrod, chief media advisor to Obama had previously worked with the PR firm chief Chuck Winner on another campaign.
In 1996, a group of investors penned Proposal E in Detroit which allowed for casinos. The investors hired the firm Winner/Wagner & Mandabach to study the chances of passing that proposal. As told in an article written by Laurence B. Deitch, an attorney for the proposal supporters, the Winner firm later led the media effort to help pass the measure. It brought in several outside media and communications groups.
A video from the Detroit Mayor's office produced by Mayor Archer's political consultant David Axelrod was noted as a key part of the Winner directed effort. This revelation places Axelrod in a direct working relationship with the Chuck Winner PR firm in a past campaign.
Axelrod is considered by many to be a master of planting campaign messages on the internet to look like they did not originate from an organized campaign, a practice know as “astroturfing” (because of the fake grass-roots nature of the message). The joint effort on the Prop E campaign is the first public indication of a direct tie between the Obama campaign team and the Winner PR firm.
Bloggers at the website “The Jawa Report” have used their collective investigative talent to expose the originators of the video. Normally, the blog specializes in tracking down and stopping sources of internet-based Islamic extremism, also known as jihadist propaganda. The bloggers recently turned their abilities to finding the source of the Palin smear video. After their discloser, Ethan Winner admitted to orchestrating the smear video but denied that it came from the Obama campaign. The connection between Winner and Axelrod calls into question the matter of the Obama campaign's culpability in the smear video tactic.
Ray Robison is the author of Both In One Trench: Saddam's Secret Terror Documents
Comments
Good to see you'll be popping up regularly, Ray. And that you're still a'top your game, as usual.
Yes NICE find Ray.
jane
jawa
armiesofliberation.com
Thank you, and please keep on this.
Is this an isolated case? Or is it simply the first of a pattern to be identified? That is, there are more such attempted smears on YouTube. Is that firm or Mr. Axelrod tied to any of them?
another case of suspiciously professional-looking smear video which has never quite been nailed down in terms of authorship is the "real balls" videos.
there is no such thing as a progressive grassroots.
the woods fund, on which board obama served alongside the terrorist william ayers, was essentially a radical payroll outfit, granting paychecks to professional protesters.
None of this should be too surprising. There's simply nothing that the Obama camp will not do to destroy Sarah Palin. Great job Ray, and keep up the good work.
John McCain worked for the Winner & Assoc. PR firm in 2002.
http://www.metafilter.com/75113/EPIC-FAIL-The-Astroturf-is-always-greener-on-the-other-side
Good site! Interesting information.. ) http://planetmidori.com/bbb/playboy/
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!