Blogged by Brad Friedman from the road...

We've been on the road for the last several days, so haven't been able to keep you up to date with some of the latest beats in the NM GOP/Rep. Heather Wilson "Vote-Buying" story, since our on-air audio interviews with some of the key players on Friday. (see our Special Coverage Page here for the full background.)

New Mexico journalist and TV host Dennis Domrzalski --- who broke the story in the blogosphere first, including the not-insignificant detail that coverage of the original allegations had been spiked by NM's largest news/talk radio outlet KKOB-AM 770, leading to the resignation of their award-winning news anchor, Laura MacCallum, who had originally both witnessed and aired the charges --- has been advancing it smartly over the last several days. As The BRAD BLOG reported exclusively in detail last week, KKOB's news director Pat Allen has been having a difficult time keeping his stories straight about why exactly he spiked the stories after the Wilson campaign contacted him to complain about them several times.

Domrzalski will have a guest blog for us here shortly on the latest latest, but to quickly catch you up with notable developments over the last several days...

On Sunday, Eye on New Mexico, co-hosted by Domrzalski on Albuquerque's NBC affiliate, featured both NM's former Republican David Cargo, one of the several elected officials to make the vote-buying allegations against Rep. Heather Wilson (who is vying for the GOP nomination to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici), and Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White (who is vying for the GOP nomination to run for the seat Wilson is vacating to run for Domenici's), and GOP operative Pat Rogers. You can watch the show online right here: Part 1, Part 2.

Rogers is likely best known to the national audience for having inappropriately pressured NM's former US Attorney David Iglesias on behalf of the GOP front group calling themselves "American Center for Voting Rights" (ACVR) to bring phony "voter fraud" charges before the '04 and '06 elections in the state. The BRAD BLOG has covered the ACVR extensively since we originally outed the "non-partisan" voting rights group, and their direct White House/GOP ties beginning in early 2005. Iglesias will be testifying on Wednesday to a Senate panel on the fraudulent "voter fraud" matter and its ties to the U.S. Attorney Purge to which Iglesias fell victim.

Rogers continued his work over the weekend as an unapologetic operative/stooge by making an ass out of himself on the show, attempting to run interference as swiftboater-in-chief hoping to deflect the damage of the Vote-Buying Scandal. On the show he attempted to distract from the actual charges in the case, by producing what Cargo has now called a "magical invoice," from four years ago, alleging someone in the party had previously paid the former Governor's registration fee to a past GOP event. Oddly enough, the invoice was dated last week! Clearly, the GOP swiftboaters are losing their touch.

Further, Rogers has now been forced to retract additional claims made on the show, alleging that Cargo, a two-term GOP governor, instrumental in building the party in the state over the last 3 or 4 decades, had donated only to Democratic candidates. Facts mean little, political power means all, to slimers like Rogers.

Earlier in the weekend, Domrzalski also offered a nice round-up of Wilson's "horrible week," asserting that she has only herself to blame for her campaign's horrible handling of this PR fiasco.

There's your quick catchup. See all of those links for many more details. And we'll have the latest by Domrzalski himself posted here at The BRAD BLOG shortly...

                 

Article Categories: ACVR, Election Fraud, Election 2008, New Mexico, Heather Wilson