George Allen's "Astroturf" Latino Coalition Endorsement

By: PM
Published On: 10/8/2006 9:46:25 AM

George Allen's horse seems to be walking on Astroturf these days. 
GÇ£Astroturf refers to apparently grassroots groups or coalitions which are actually fake, often created by corporations or public relations firms.GÇ¥  http://www.sourcewat...
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Michael ShearGÇÖs Post article today about George AllenGÇÖs cowboy boots and roots (which I thought really made Allen look foolish) mentioned in passing that GÇ£a group called the Latino coalitionGÇ¥ had endorsed Allen.  That would be this Latino Coalition: http://www.thelatino...  Note the head of it GÇô Hector Barreto.  As the Latino Coalition website says: GÇ£Hector V. Barreto was unanimously elected Chairman of The Latino Coalition in August, 2007 after serving five years as the Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration. His appointment to head the SBA by President George W. Bush was unanimously approved by the United States Senate on July 25, 2001.GÇ¥  http://www.thelatino...  $3,000 given to Bush-Cheney, according to the FEC?  So, a Republican pol is head of this GÇ£Coalition.GÇ¥  The Coalition endorsed Bush over Kerry.  http://www.latinopun... 

Susan Alvarado, a lobbyist from Alexandria, is the groupGÇÖs VP.  LetGÇÖs look at her contributions. http://www.campaignm...  Friends of George Allen, Republican Party of Virginia, Tom Davis, Ted Stevens, the scandal ridden Northern Lights PAC GÇô and thatGÇÖs just in 2006.  In 2004 she gave $2,000 to Allen.  SheGÇÖs been giving money to Allen since 1999. 
http://herndon1.sdrd...

TreasurerGÇöSal Gomez of Denver CO.  $1,000 to George Allen back in March 2006.  Heavy supportere of Marilyn Musgrave, Bush-Cheney, Wayne Allard, Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Duncan Hunter, and over $5,000 to the National Republilcan Congressional Committee.

Secretary, Dr. Rene Rodriguez, Miami FL.  His FEC records show contributions to Bush-Cheney and the RNC.

First board member GÇô Robert de Posada, Graham WA.  Contribution to somebody named GÇô George Allen!  $1,000!  Second board member, Juan Carlos BenitezGÇöcontributions to Mel Martinez, Fairfaxc County Republican Committee, and this nicely named committee GÇô Majority Commission to Keep Electing Republicans Fund.

Could it be?  George Allen is so desperate for visible "ethnic" support that he has to stoop to using an Astroturf organization? 

By the way, two of the Coalition's main money supporters are Altria and RJR, the tobacco firms, which have heavy GOP ties.

Does walking on Astroturf hurt a horse's feet?


Comments



Republican front group (Arturo - 10/8/2006 12:17:59 PM)
This is the same group that criticized Jim Webb back in June, on his affirmative action position.  Nice for Allen to have an endorsement from Latino Republicans.  Now all he needs is a brochure showing him with some "ethnics".


Good Research, But . . . (bb10 - 10/8/2006 1:35:12 PM)
I think you did an excellent job of compiling the information on the campaign contributions of the leaders of The Latino Coalition (TLC).

I hate to even half defend any group that has endorsed George Allen. However, calling this group an "astroturf" organization may not be completely accurate. If you look at
the list of all the candidates that the TLC endorsed when they endorsed Allen on Oct. 2, you'll see that half of the endorsees are Democrats. TLC endorsed 17 candidates for the U.S. Senate (8 R, 8 D, and Joe Lieberman), 8 candidates for governor (4 R, 4 D), and 4 candidates for state attorney general (1 R, 3 D). 



Two buts--here's what they've done (PM - 10/8/2006 3:33:57 PM)
If you look at the Dems they are endorsing, they're almost all in races which are Dem locks.  That way they look non-partisan.  It's an old trick.

Are any of these DEM "endorsements" meaningful?  Nope.

Remember, all these are Dems.
In AZ, Napolitano is up 58-24 in the polls.  Mason-Dixon has Ritter up by 15% in CO.  Rendell is crushing Swann by 17 in PA.  Feinstein is ahead 57-29.  Carper is ahead 63-23.  Nelson is ahead of the hapless Harris 54-37.  In NE, Nelson is ahead by 23.  Bingaman in NM is up by 65-19!  Hillary is up 66-38.  Blagojevich is up by +10, but that's about the narrowest lead I've seen and no one gives his GOP opponent a chance.  Menendez is in a tough race, but they'd have to back him or it would look weird.  The one exception -- Harold Ford.  But the others are phony endorsements.

Look, they back Bush, they have all GOP in the top of the organization -- it's astroturf.



that endorsement (TurnVirginiaBlue - 10/8/2006 5:24:56 PM)
actually clues me in on who not to vote for...

Yet another example of lobbyists convoluting wording to advance their agenda

(Numerous bills in congress labeled the opposite of their effect).



another clue (TurnVirginiaBlue - 10/8/2006 5:29:01 PM)
http://www.freetrade...

See the domain name?  Free Trade For Americas.  I really wonder if there actually is a Latino in this group!  It's all about bad trade agreements by and for special interests.

If there are any Latinos there is no doubt they are those elite corrupt Latinos destroying their nations and people with bad trade agreements that enable workers to be treated like slaves.

If they endorse someone it probably means that candidate is likely to be bought and pass yet another horrific trade agreement.

The fact they endorsed Allen speaks volumes on how corrupt he probably is.