Busted! GOP tracker lies about identity, gets caught
David Steves at the Register-Guard reports on the latest contretemps in the U.S. Senate race. Tim Lussier, an employee of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), has been caught lying about his identity in an attempt to gain access to Jeff Merkley campaign events.
On Thursday, the Merkley campaign got an e-mail sent from an address with “Merkster2008.” The message said it was sent by Tim Lussier, who wrote that he was “a local activist and a big fan of Jeff. I’d love to find out when I can see him speak. ...”When the Merkley campaign did some research on Tim Lussier, it found a treasure trove on the Web.
Tim Lussier’s MySpace page features a photo of Lussier — he’s identical to the tracker “Tim” who Merkley’s campaign photographed — posing with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
The Merkley campaign also found out he was a 20-year-old West Linn man who’s been active in student government at Clackamas Community College and with Young Republican organizations.
The same day, Kelley said, the Merkley campaign got a phone call from someone who identified himself as “Tim Thompson,” asking about a fundraiser that night. He gave a phone number — which turned out to be the number of a landscape business owned by Tim Lussier’s dad: Bob Lussier.
The problem isn't the "tracking" activity - it's the lying.
“But there’s an honest way to do it, and there’s a dishonest way to do it. You find out where they are through public notices and things like that. You don’t call and misrepresent yourself,” [Merkley spokesman Russ] Kelley said.
Even the Oregon Republican Party thinks this conduct is out of bounds.
“I think a good standard code of conduct would be honesty,” said Oregon Republican Party spokeswoman Brianne Hyder. “If somebody asks you, you don’t lie.”
Same for the Democrats:
Her Democratic counterpart, Marc Seigel, said the same standard is expected of the tracker who the Democratic Party of Oregon has been sending around to video-record all of Smith’s appearances with the hope of capturing the Republican in a “macaca” moment.Asked if the Democratic Party of Oregon is encouraging its spy to mislead in order to gain entry to Smith events, Seigel responded: “Absolutely not. The rules are very clear. Always be honest about who you are.”
Read the rest. Discuss.
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Jan. 20, 2008
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Jan 20, '08
Yes, Democrats are much better trained at this sort of thing - the GOP is rife with amateurs.
9:11 p.m.
Jan 20, '08
I'm not surprised that Russ Kelley would phrase it that way. Jon Isaacs, his boss, told me that everyone on that campaign had to read and sign a very stringent ethics policy and that violaters would be fired. In other words, the Merkley campaign places a very high premium on honesty and ethics.
9:23 p.m.
Jan 20, '08
Just making sure I have this right, for future reference--the Merkley campaign stands firmly on always representing oneself properly, correct?
9:26 p.m.
Jan 20, '08
You wouldn't be trying to find a way to distract attention from more GOP shenanigans, would you? Why would a progressive want to do that?
9:33 p.m.
Jan 20, '08
Tim tried to set-up video and tape Merkley at a meet and talked event at a local brew-pub. I thought it odd this guy showed up asking if it was the Merkley event with small video camera on tripod in hand, and if I wasn't busy talking to other people like myself (who regularly attend the weekly gather Merkley was coming to speak at) I might have engaged the guy in conversation. He left before Merkley arrived.
Good to know for future reference this clown is a Smith GOP stringer trying to find "gotcha" comments on tape. Don't these clowns know that it is Republicans who call people "macaca" on tape at events, not Democrats?
9:45 p.m.
Jan 20, '08
ugh..
...a meet and talk event...
not a talked event. Me type no goodly.
Jan 20, '08
Merkley's team seems to be pretty good at detecting fishy odors. TJ, what Merkley campaign impropriety are you referring to?
10:36 p.m.
Jan 20, '08
Yeah Tim Lussier came to Merkley's Willamette event but didn't have a camera as the other Republican trackers so we thought he was a law student and not a tracker. He got really aggressive in his questions about Iraq that Merkley handled superbly. He later told us that he was president of the Clackamas CC College Democrats what scum. Im glad that we have the chance to replace Smith with in less than 11 months with someone of integrity.
Jan 20, '08
bdunn, so would that indicate that the other Smith trackers (how many people do they need, anyway?) were ready to record Tim's aggressive questioning to try to get something on video?
(And is it ok to use "taping" and "on tape" when it's not?)
10:44 p.m.
Jan 20, '08
"Merkley's team seems to be pretty good at detecting fishy odors. TJ, what Merkley campaign impropriety are you referring to?"
Not referring to any. Just noting for the record.
Jan 20, '08
Well, that was kind of weird, TJ.
11:11 p.m.
Jan 20, '08
To what possible end if not to distract from the GOP shenanigans exposed in this post? Why would a progressive want to do that?
Jan 20, '08
Anyway, my question to bdunn was to get to the issue of whether the Smith campaign can still use the "bad apple" excuse, or whether Merkley's team can show that the whole barrel is rotten.
11:32 p.m.
Jan 20, '08
Tim! Dude! You are way smarter than that! Good lord....
11:38 p.m.
Jan 20, '08
Very interesting!
On a somewhat related note... Check this out
12:06 a.m.
Jan 21, '08
There were three people with the Smith camp. One was sitting in the back with a tripod and I asked him not to tape it and he went away. The other was a giant dude who stood way too close to the podium and pulled a small audio recorder out which I didn't previously see. Before the event started I had asked a group of people he was sitting with who they were and one of them said that they were a law student. Since they were sitting so close I assumed that they were speaking for the group. Then there was Tim Lussier. It would make sense that Smith was using multiple trackers to capture Tim's aggressive question. It would have been to no avail because Merkley did a great job of rejecting the false premise of the question, reframing it, and taking on the issue on Merkley's turf, a quality which will serve him well on the campaign trail against Smith and in the Senate.
Jan 21, '08
So more than one person lied about their identity, then. That's not just clear evidence, that's proof it's not just one bad apple. You just furthered the story, bdunn.
4:23 p.m.
Jan 21, '08
If anyone is interested i have posted my experience with Tim Lussier, the NRSC tracker on Forward Oregon.
Jan 21, '08
I sincerely hope that Jeff Merkley's campaign is getting Gordon Smith's (and Steve Novick's) e-mail alerts and newsletters. And I sincerely doubt that they signed up with the e-mail address "[email protected]".
And Kevin, these are not "GOP shenanigans." They are just "shenanigans." And every Democratic campaign I've ever been involved in has had the brains to take a sneak peak at their opponents' communications.
Jan 22, '08
Tim is actually bragging about being a lying scumbag on his Facebook! Marc Lucca, Liz Pearson and Tim Lussier- A long line of amateur republican retards.