Carl Forti joins Freedom's Watch as the head of issue advocacy just in time for the fall political campaign. Issue advocacy is the fancy name for dirty ads, of which Carl has a long and sordid history. Mr. Forti joins FW fresh from the Mitt Romney campaign. His prior employer was the National Republican Congressional Committee, which is reeling from a five year accounting scandal.
Carl served as Communications Director and Independent Expenditures Director at the NRCC where in 2004 and 2006. Both of those years were covered under the accounting scandal. As someone responsible for spending money, one might expect Carl to meet with auditors. Oops! There were none, for over five years!
But what else happened on Mr. Forti's shift with the NRCC? The LA Times quoted Carl and his boss (reported by TPM):
(1) "You haven't seen the majority of the negative ads yet." -- Carl Forti, a spokesman for the NRCC, where a staff of 10 has been deployed on opposition research
(2) "Define your opponent immediately and unrelentingly...Don't make the mistake of pulling your ads in favor of a positive rotation the last weekend." -- internal GOP strategy memo from former RNC chief of staff Tom Cole
(3) "When people are looking at national issues that are not breaking our way, what you want to do is focus on your opponent." -- also from Cole
Applying the above to the NRCC accounting scandal, what would one get? Would it sound like:
Rep. Tom Cole and NRCC staffer Carl Forti didn't mind the store caring for their donors' money. This incompetent pair failed to notice the complete absence of auditors during their time leading the NRCC. Over a period of over five years, their whimsical financial controls allowed one person to purloin Republican campaign donations to the possible tune of $1 million. Rep. Tom Cole stood at the helm while Treasurer Ward raided the NRCC coffers. If Republicans look over their donor's money this poorly, what do they do with the taxpayers?
How was that Carl? Should I have hit harder and lower below the belt? And what's the best way to deliver it? Should I send it in a brown envelope with a government like seal? How do I get a list of Freedom's Watch members for the direct mailing? Of course Carl Forti knows, he's just not in the mood for sharing...
(HT-Think Progress)
Carl served as Communications Director and Independent Expenditures Director at the NRCC where in 2004 and 2006. Both of those years were covered under the accounting scandal. As someone responsible for spending money, one might expect Carl to meet with auditors. Oops! There were none, for over five years!
But what else happened on Mr. Forti's shift with the NRCC? The LA Times quoted Carl and his boss (reported by TPM):
(1) "You haven't seen the majority of the negative ads yet." -- Carl Forti, a spokesman for the NRCC, where a staff of 10 has been deployed on opposition research
(2) "Define your opponent immediately and unrelentingly...Don't make the mistake of pulling your ads in favor of a positive rotation the last weekend." -- internal GOP strategy memo from former RNC chief of staff Tom Cole
(3) "When people are looking at national issues that are not breaking our way, what you want to do is focus on your opponent." -- also from Cole
Applying the above to the NRCC accounting scandal, what would one get? Would it sound like:
Rep. Tom Cole and NRCC staffer Carl Forti didn't mind the store caring for their donors' money. This incompetent pair failed to notice the complete absence of auditors during their time leading the NRCC. Over a period of over five years, their whimsical financial controls allowed one person to purloin Republican campaign donations to the possible tune of $1 million. Rep. Tom Cole stood at the helm while Treasurer Ward raided the NRCC coffers. If Republicans look over their donor's money this poorly, what do they do with the taxpayers?
How was that Carl? Should I have hit harder and lower below the belt? And what's the best way to deliver it? Should I send it in a brown envelope with a government like seal? How do I get a list of Freedom's Watch members for the direct mailing? Of course Carl Forti knows, he's just not in the mood for sharing...
(HT-Think Progress)
