This is a very interesting diary that was posted by Stefanie Lane today at Daily Kos. It bears re-posting in its entirety here:


"John Podesta responds to WVWV robo-call scandal"

I wasn't surprised to find that there were ties to Clinton's campaign - in fact, when I read about the robo-calls, my first thought was "Mark Penn." I really lost it, though, when I saw that John Podesta is a member of WVWV's board.

You see, John Podesta is a graduate of my tiny and relatively unknown but completely amazing alma mater, Knox College - Knox is where Elsinora kicked John Ashcroft's ass last week, as a matter of fact. So I've always felt a kind of connection to him. I've met him a few times and found him to be an extremely pleasant guy.

Then I found out that he's on WVWV's board. So I dug up his email address and sent him this:

Dear John:

I read today, with immeasurable shock and disappointment, that Women’s Voices, Women Vote, an organization on whose board you sit, has been involved in suspicious attempts to mislead and disenfranchise black voters in several states over the past several months, most recently this week in North Carolina. (Details can be found here: http://southernstudies.org/... <http://southernstudies.org/facingsouth/2008/04/facing-south-exclusive-dc-nonprofit.asp> )

As a fellow Knox alum, I expected better from you. I have told countless people with great pride that John Podesta went to MY college. Remember when you took over Old Main? Do you remember the 1970 version of yourself? What were you fighting for then? Fairness? Equality? Everyone’s right to have their voices heard? Does the 2008 version of you still stand for these things?

In case you are unaware of the situation, WVWV has robo-called black North Carolina voters (using the name "Lamont Williams") with the message that they needed to return a voter registration packet by mail, despite the fact that North Carolina does not register voters by mail, the voter registration deadline in North Carolina is April 11, and many of these voters are already registered (but the calls make them think they are not).

It is a Class I felony in North Carolina "to misrepresent the law to the public through mass mailing or any other means of communication where the intent and the effect is to intimidate or discourage potential voters from exercising their lawful right to vote."

I hope against all hope that you did not have prior knowledge of these incidents, and that these voter disenfranchisement efforts have not, as some have suggested, been coordinated by the Clinton campaign. I urge you to immediately break all ties with this group and publicly renounce their tactics.

Regretfully,

Stefanie [lastname]
Knox College Class of [year]

He actually responded, which I didn't expect, though his response was less than satisfying:

Believe me, you were no more shocked than I was. WVWV has a strong record of registering disenfranchised people so that they can participate in the political process. Over 400,000 in this cycle. With respect to North Carolina, remedial action is being undertaken.  While  I believe the calling program there was a mistake of judgment and execution, and not an attempt to disenfranchise voters, as a board member, I have asked for a full accounting of the circumstances of the North Carolina events.

It's great that he's asked for "a full accounting of the circumstances," but seriously, I don't understand thinking this is all a big coincidence. So, my response:

Thanks for responding, John. I'm glad to hear that you've requested an accounting of what's happening in North Carolina but frankly North Carolina is just the tip of the iceberg - WVWV has apparently executed similar "lapses in judgment" in Virginia, Arizona, Wisconsin, Florida, Michigan, Colorado, Louisiana, Kentucky, and Arkansas, usually immediately before those states' primaries. I have an incredibly difficult time believing this is anything less than voter disenfranchisement - if their intentions were good, why wouldn't WVWV identify themselves on the call? Why target black voters? Why use a fictitious identity for the call, and why else use the name Lamont, if not to immediately establish the caller's racial identity? Why choose the week before an election to suggest to these (largely black) voters that they may not be registered to vote?

From my perspective, the odds of all these factors being coincidental is virtually nill. But I look forward to the full accounting, which I hope you will encourage WVWV to make public. Thank you.

Stef

When/if he responds, I'll post that too.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/30/211016/253/775/506710