The Shields and Cragan work in their longitudinal study(not be completed until 2008) is really about Public Relations and smearing. For a quick review of how the technique works, consider the legend of LBJ,who supposedly decided to spread a rumor that his opponent was a pig-f****r. LBJ's campaign manager said, "Lyndon, you know he doesn't do that!" Johnson replied, "I know. I just want to make him deny it."
With that in mind:
In email, KagroX has suggested that it would be "it would be very, very interesting to research the list of Democrats and Google for articles on those investigations to see if the people under investigation ever commented to the press that they're the targets of a partisan witch hunt, or some such similar thing."
We'd like to do just that.
The point is not that they were investigated, but that they felt that they were being targeted because they were Democrats.
Example:
Don Siegelman, from Decateur Daily, this past January 20th, 2007:
Siegelman, a Democrat, said he believes the investigation was part of a partisan conspiracy by some Republicans to destroy his political career. Prosecutors have said Siegelman ran the governor's office as a criminal enterprise and that politics had nothing to do with the investigation or conviction.
He said the court cases have cost him about $2 million in legal fees and the bill likely will rise to between $2.5 million and $3 million before the appeals process is completed.
He and Scrushy have both said they plan to appeal to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta after they are sentenced.
Siegelman and Scrushy have also said they will ask the judge to delay sending them to prison until the appeals process is complete.
from February 18th, 2007, The Dothan Eagle Politics and courtrooms
I still believe Don Siegelman is a good man who has had the best interest of the people of Alabama at heart. I think he made some mistakes, particularly with regard to the character of those he chose to work in his cabinet. But in the end, I believe the contributions Siegelman has made to improve our state far outweigh what appears to be a politically motivated criminal case.
Don Siegelman has served as governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state and attorney general. He provided the impetus for thousands of school building projects by issuing an executive order in his nauguration speech calling for the elimination of portable classrooms.
Siegelman played a vital role in the creation of the CHIP program to provide healthcare for children. Despite his background as a trial lawyer, he worked to rein in runaway jury verdicts that earned Alabama the nickname, "Tort Hell."
Bolding for emphasis added.
The list is here, so could folks take one or two of the names and do some google-type search engine research (BUT PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, no phone calling, no harassing, no publishing of personal details) to see what about each target might or might not have said about the investigation. These could include statements made by the target's attorney or any spokesperson.
When you post your goggle/search engine findings, could you please post this information:
- Person under investigation
- Publication, date, author and url link
- Copy of quote or statement that makes allegation
We'll collate the data and try to make sense of it in the future.
The fallout is already being felt. David Kurtz has a post on Talking Points Memo that points to this video of a report from a CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh. This provides an excellent example of what we are looking for in this research request. We need examples, regardless of presumed innocence or guilt, where public officials under investigation for corruption are now claiming they are the victim of a partisan politically motivated policy to investigate Democrats.
So there is no confusion on the information we are seeking for this project. We do not care about the guilt or innocence of the party under investigation or indictment. We are looking for statements that have been made by the party or on the party's behalf alleging that they are the victim (target) of a partisan witch hunt or something similar.
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