CPAC Politics Get Dirty

So you thought the Ann Coulter stirred the pot at CPAC this past weekend....

Late last night, I was crashing around the internet and checked my email. I received a message from an old college Republican friend of mine from years past. He had received an email from someone that was sort of one of those chain email deals, but instead of the 'pass this on or your dog dies tonight' stuff, it was a video that was supposedly accusing Mitt Romney and his campaign of rigging the recent straw poll held at the CPAC conference in Washington, D.C. with a link to the always popular and fun You Tube.

Two things passed through my head.

1) Mitt Romney and his staff rigged the 2007 Conservative Political Action Conference Straw Poll with paid College Republican votes.

-or-

2) A shameless person is attempting to smear the good name of the Mitt Romney and his campaign.

You decide.

The video is suggesting that there's some sort of voter fraud going on here. I will report this as I see it. In the video, Ryan Bilodeau, who is the chairman of the University of Rhode Island College Republicans and an organizer for the Mitt Romney for President Campaign, is seen rummaging through a box of materials that supposedly look similar to the bags that were given to the official CPAC registrants. Jordan Sekulow, a Romney staffer, is seen walking quickly through the Exhibition hall with a handfull of CPAC badges to give volunteers. Sekulow is the son of syndicated radio host, Jay Sekulow and organized the "Students for Bush" Campaign in 2004.

The video itself, makes a poor attempt at linking the actions of Dilodeau to Sekulow. They look pretty innocent, but you decide. If you love watching people walk, you'll love this. For me, it didn't do a heck of a lot.



Rumors have been floating around that the Romney campaign spent a boat load of money to pack the room at CPAC this year. Travel, registration fees and all the good stuff were covered so long as they volunteered for the weekend and at a reception after the conference. Apparently, 24 hours a day, folks could see the Romney army of College Republicans in the hotel lobby, exhibition halls, stairwells, elevators, restaurants, bathrooms and of course the local bars. To say the Romney campaign was everywhere was an understatement.

Apparently the Romney campaign wasn't messing around with the poll. They out-worked and even out paid (I wish I had known this when I was a college student) other campaigns like Brownback, Gilmore, and Tancredo for the College Republican boost. The Romney campaign felt winning the poll was a small, but important step in winning the nomination. Romney's strong showing certainly verifies him as a top tier candidate.

Regardless of how I feel about kids being paid to come to a political conference and sway results, videos like this are an example of how over the top the new You Tube Society has become. One thing is for sure. Some form of corruption exists here. Either someone's attempting to lambaste a qualified candidate or someone's trying to point out something that should be disturbing to all of us. Hopefully, this adds up to a lot of nothing and just some political hack trying to get some attention. Regardless, you decide.