CNN's
October 12, 2004 4:39 PM   Subscribe

CNN's "Undecided" Voter Turns Out To Be A GOP Operative CNN gets duped by Edward Martos. They thought he was an "undecided" voter, but he turned out to be a GOP operative.
posted by Postroad (23 comments total)
 
I just love how people agree that Bush got the U.S. into a big mess in Iraq, but that he is the only one who can get us out of it.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 4:45 PM on October 12, 2004


I wonder, albeit cynically, if CNN will ever acknowledge it.
posted by dejah420 at 5:00 PM on October 12, 2004


strangeleftydoublethink -- It reminds me of a saying from a cartoon (can't remember which) -- "the next time we'll do exactly the same thing and hope that things turn out different".
posted by clevershark at 5:03 PM on October 12, 2004


I hate it when I see the man behind the curtain.
posted by Joey Michaels at 5:12 PM on October 12, 2004


First, big ups to him for fooling CNN. Definetly something I'd try (albiet for the other side.)

As far as his actual statements, well. They don't really sound all that different from the rest of the 'undecided voter' soundbytes we've heard all election cycle, do they?
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 5:18 PM on October 12, 2004


Everytime I see an "undecided" voter rave about what a great job Bush did, I pretty much dismiss them as a GOP operative.

I don't actually believe that there are any "undecideds" anymore. Maybe lots of "leaning towards" but no "undecideds".
posted by fenriq at 5:19 PM on October 12, 2004


Clevershark: That sounds like this: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." -- Benjamin Franklin
posted by rcade at 5:27 PM on October 12, 2004


"I think the problems in foreign policy are so great that -- and he created them himself -- that he's the only one capable of solving the problem."

Um, what?
posted by VanRoosta at 5:48 PM on October 12, 2004


rcade -- indeed!

Personally I can't imagine anyone honestly thinking that the US's current foreign policy problems can "only be solved by Bush", for two reasons. The first is that Bush created those problems, and the second is that he doesn't perceive them as problems at all. So how's he going to solve those problems? Besides, since he obviously sees Iraq as a success, what's to say that the error won't be repeated?
posted by clevershark at 5:55 PM on October 12, 2004


Given the number of years of deception of Goverments WRT the Citizens (Not JUST a US feature folks) anytime citizens hear something the "it is a deceptive lie" comes out.

Example - The tomahawks into Afaganistan during Clinton era. Many people claimed it was a 'wag the dog' move. Seems that is wasn't that....

Could this 'announcement' of the 'threat' be real? *shrug* Lets say the threat is real. Do you then trust that 'the government' will actually do something effective? IF you think that 9/11/2001 was allowed to happen or was even engineered by the government, why would this time be different?

It is too bad that the reaction on this matter has to have a filter of 'governments lie to thier citizens'
posted by rough ashlar at 6:25 PM on October 12, 2004


speaking of GOP operatives: Two former workers say they personally witnessed company supervisors rip up and trash registration forms signed by Democrats.

"We caught her taking Democrats out of my pile, handed them to her assistant and he ripped them up right in front of us. I grabbed some of them out of the garbage and she tells her assisatnt to get those from me," said Eric Russell, former Voters Outreach employee.

Eric Russell managed to retrieve a pile of shredded paperwork including signed voter registration forms, all from Democrats. We took them to the Clark County Election Department and confirmed that they had not, in fact, been filed with the county as required by law.

So the people on those forms who think they will be able to vote on Election Day are sadly mistaken. We attempted to speak to Voters Outreach but found that its office has been rented out to someone else.

The landlord says Voters Outreach was evicted for non-payment of rent. Another source said the company has now moved on to Oregon where it is once again registering voters. It's unknown how many registrations may have been tossed out, but another ex-employee told Eyewitness News she had the same suspicions when she worked there.
...
The company has been largely, if not entirely funded, by the Republican National Committee. Similar complaints have been received in Reno where the registrar has asked the FBI to investigate.

posted by amberglow at 6:51 PM on October 12, 2004


i posted it to the front page--it's too important and way too illegal and disgusting to just have as a comment.
posted by amberglow at 7:47 PM on October 12, 2004


As Rod (or Tod) once prayed:

"...and thank you, God, for sending Lisa to protect us from the moth you sent."
posted by interrobang at 7:54 PM on October 12, 2004


That's hilarious, though. It shows how utterly bullshitty all of this media punditry is.

Re: "The definition of insanity..." The quotation is attributed to both Franklin and Einstein. However, nobody has ever given a specific source for it, and experts on both say they've never seen it in their subject's work.

I think it's one of those things some random person made up, then attributed to someone more famous than they.
posted by Sidhedevil at 8:34 PM on October 12, 2004


At this stage of the game, if someone is truly undecided, they are as dumb as a rock. Why do they get to go on TV all the time?
posted by spilon at 8:34 PM on October 12, 2004


So, I'm confused - who says CNN was "duped?" I love the assumption that, somehow, CNN wasn't informed on the selection.

(Adjusts tin foil hat...)
posted by FormlessOne at 9:03 PM on October 12, 2004


I don't actually believe that there are any "undecideds" anymore. Maybe lots of "leaning towards" but no "undecideds".

This is all I know for sure. I'm working for a non-profit where our main task is to go door-to-door registering voters. We've registered several thousand in the past few months, and knocked on easily ten-thousand doors.

We have yet to meet an undecided voter. Yes, we've met a ton of folks who feel like they don't want to have to choose between "the lesser of two evils", but I have yet to meet a true "undecided" voter.

I'm thinking at this point that anyone who says they're undecided isn't really motivated or interested enough to vote. Apathy is not the same as indecision.
posted by anastasiav at 10:11 PM on October 12, 2004


I dunno, if this guy was really trying to dupe CNN, it seems to me that he would'nt have given such an ambivalent statement. Is it possible that not all Republicans are unflinchingly voting for Bush?

I mean, we're not talking about some Rovian figure here... he's just the assistant editor for the College Republicans newsletter at some school.
posted by Sxyzzx at 12:11 AM on October 13, 2004


I just love how people agree that Bush got the U.S. into a big mess in Iraq, but that he is the only one who can get us out of it.

Who are the “people” that agree with each other that you are referring to here?

Personally I can't imagine anyone honestly thinking that the US's current foreign policy problems can "only be solved by Bush", for two reasons. The first is that Bush created those problems, and the second is that he doesn't perceive them as problems at all.

The idea that it is precisely because Bush caused the situation that he will be unable to solve it seems no more logical than the proposition it seeks to contest; and while it maybe true that he does not perceive these issues as problems, this in itself does not refute the assertion that he is the only one capable of solving them. The reason I don’t accept the idea that since Bush created the situation, he is the only one who can solve it, is because it simply doesn’t follow. If Jack spills a pint of milk and others have just as much access to cloths and running water then I can’t see how it can be said that Jack is the only one who can mop it up again.

First, big ups to him for fooling CNN. Definetly something I'd try (albiet for the other side.)

Why do you consider deceiving a news agency and consequentially misleading the public to be a positive thing to do?

Everytime I see an "undecided" voter rave about what a great job Bush did, I pretty much dismiss them as a GOP operative.

This maybe an interesting fact but it says far more about you than it does about the apparently undecided voter.
posted by ed\26h at 3:19 AM on October 13, 2004


I was undecided about for whom I would vote at this point in the 2000 elections cycle.

And I'm neither an idiot nor apathetic.

I can imagine someone who is neither an idiot nor apathetic being undecided about their vote in the Presidential race today.

Someone, for example, who is very strongly anti-abortion, based on their profound Catholic beliefs, might be attracted to Bush because of his anti-abortion stance. On the other hand, that same person might be attracted to Kerry because of his stance that the Iraq war is out of hand and we need to focus now on "winning the peace"--with, at the back of their devout Catholic's mind, the echoes of the Pope's strong condemnation of the Iraq conflict as an unjust war spurring their admiration of Kerry's public acknowledgement of the situation's complexity versus Bush's pretense that it's been morally clearcut since jump.

I wouldn't call that person an idiot or apathetic for being unable to make a choice between two deeply held beliefs and wanting more time to evaluate which candidate, ultimately, represents the lesser of two evils.
posted by Sidhedevil at 10:04 AM on October 13, 2004


Mopping up pints of milk notwithstanding, I've been using a differrent metaphor:

When you find yourself in a hole, the first thing you do is stop digging.

Why is it held that Bush has any interest in "solving" the "problem" in Iraq? Based on what we have all observed over the past four years, Bush and his neocon cabal are more likely to get the US (and its incredible shrinking coalition of the willing) involved in some unilateral military action in Syria or Iran, than to come up with an exit strategy for Iraq.

It seems obvious to me that his "plan" for the next four years, is more of the same. If you like what's been going on, then vote for him. If you think there's another way, vote for Kerry.

George W. Bush isn't going to wake up on Inauguration Day 2005 and have miraculously developed a conscience and some self-awarness. He'll be the same guy we've known all along. I grant you that some people have profited enormously from his actions over the past four years. I believe he's an empty suit, a corporate pawn of the defense and petrochemical industries, but I understand why some people, out of naked self-interest, want another four years of this.

What I don't understand, is people who can't or won't look past the empty words about family values, the "culture of life" and tough talk about terrorism and see someone utterly incapable of meeting the gargantuan challenges of the job.
posted by psmealey at 10:12 AM on October 13, 2004


But I think that Bush is absolutely serious about wanting to outlaw abortion. I don't think his words on that topic are "empty" at all.

And that's one of the reasons I'm voting for Kerry. However, I can understand that someone who has a profound opposition to abortion would think of Bush's opposition to abortion as a reason to vote for Bush.
posted by Sidhedevil at 2:32 PM on October 13, 2004


I'm still not certain that he, personally, has all that much conviction about abortion. I think they pander to Religious Right when they need to shore up part of their base, and that is certainly one of their hot button issues. But, when push comes to shove, this administration cares more about taking care of their business cronies than any ideological issue. Of course the effect (nomination anti Roe judges) could be exactly the same as having conviction about it... but my sense is if he ever had to choose between abortion and taking care of his corporate base, he'd go for the $$ every single time.
posted by psmealey at 2:59 PM on October 13, 2004


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