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<p class=MsoPlainText>McCain Employing GOP Operative Accused of Voter
Registration Fraud<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>Sam Stein<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>October 20, 2008 05:03 PM<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span lang=EN>John McCain's campaign has directed $175,000 to the firm of a
Republican operative accused of massive voter registration fraud in several
states. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span lang=EN>According to campaign finance records, a joint committee of
the McCain-Palin campaign, the RNC and the the California Republican Party,
made a $175,000 payment to the group Lincoln Strategy in June for purposes of
"registering voters." The <a
href="http://www.lincoln-strategy.com/nathan.html">managing partner of that
firm</a> is Nathan Sproul, a renowned GOP operative who has been investigated
on multiple occasions for suppressing Democratic voter turnout, throwing away
registration forms and even <a
href="http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?articleId=7960%20">spearheading
efforts</a> to get Ralph Nader on ballots to hinder the Democratic ticket. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span lang=EN>In a <a
href="http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/phone-jamming/?resultpage=4&">letter</a>
to the Justice Department last October, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John
Conyers said that that Sproul's alleged activities "clearly suppress votes
and violate the law."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span lang=EN>That Sproul would come under the employment umbrella of the
McCain campaign -- the Republican National Committee has also separately paid
Lincoln Strategy at least $37,000 for voter registration efforts this cycle --
is not terribly surprising. Sproul, who has donated nearly $30,000 to McCain's
campaign, has been in the good graces of GOP officials for the past decade
despite charges of ethical and potentially legal wrongdoing. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span lang=EN>But his involvement with the Republican Party's voter
registration efforts has the potential to create a political and public
relations headache at a time when McCain can ill-afford one. For weeks the
Arizona Republican and his allies have been seeking to tie Barack Obama to the
community organization ACORN, which they have accused of potentially committing
massive voter registration fraud. Sproul's contract with the GOP ticket -- in
addition to news of Republican officials attempting to suppress Democratic
turnout in California -- raises, for some, questions about McCain's own
efforts. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span lang=EN>"It should certainly take away from McCain's
argument," said Bob Grossfeld, a progressive political consultant based in
Arizona who has followed Sproul's career. "Without knowing anything of
what is going on with ACORN, there is a clear history with Mr. Sproul either
going over the line or sure as hell kicking dirt on it, and doing it for profit
and usually fairly substantive profit."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span lang=EN>As Republican Congressman Chris Cannon summarized during a
joint hearing for the subcommittee on commercial and administrative law back in
May 2008: "The difference between ACORN and Sproul is that ACORN doesn't
throw away or change registration documents after they have been filled
out."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span lang=EN>Indeed, Sproul's history is filled with allegations of
political misdeeds. During the 2004 election, Sproul & Associates (the
former name of Lincoln Strategy) was accused of attempting to destroy forms
collected by Democratic voters in Nevada. <a
href="http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_101304_news_voter_fraud.2a2c6f98.html%20">That
same year in Oregon</a>, Sproul & Associates allegedly instructed
canvassers to only accept Republican registration forms in addition to
destroying those turned in by Democrats. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span lang=EN>In Minnesota, meanwhile, Sproul's firm was accused of actually
firing workers who brought back Democratic registration forms, while other
canvassers were allegedly paid "$13 an hour, with the $3 bonus for every
Bush, undecided or Ralph Nader voter registration." Similar problems
related to Sproul & Associates popped up in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span lang=EN>All of this was executed, it seems, through an elaborate web
of deception. <a
href="http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2004/10/21/sproul/index.html%20">As
Salon.com wrote back in 2004</a>: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><span lang=EN>Canvassers were told
to act as if they were nonpartisan, to hide that they were working for the RNC,
especially if approached by the media... In letters the firm sent to the
libraries, Sproul misrepresented itself as America Votes -- a left-leaning
national voter registration group not affiliated with Sproul -- but said that
it was interested in registering "all those who wish to register to
vote." Shortly after Sproul canvassers began working the libraries,
though, patrons began complaining that the canvassers were being especially
inquisitive about their political leanings, and some were pushing people to
register as Republicans.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span lang=EN>Sproul has denied those charges, claiming often that his
registration efforts were bipartisan and that any suggestion otherwise was
nothing more than the testimony of disgruntled former employees. He did not
return a request for comment for this article.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span lang=EN>But there has been a wide array of public complaint over the
scope and nefariousness of his activities. Sens. Patrick Leahy and Ted Kennedy <a
href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/10/14/politics/main649380.shtml">sent
a letter to</a> Attorney General John Ashcroft in 2004 asking that the Justice
Department "launch an immediate investigation into the activities of Mr.
Sproul and his firm." Three years later, members of Congress still weren't
satisfied. Rep. Conyers complained in an Oct. 2007 letter <a
href="http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/phone-jamming/?resultpage=4&">that
the Justice Department was not closely scrutinizing Sproul's efforts.</a>
"The alleged misconduct described by many witnesses," he wrote,
"clearly suppress[es] votes and violate[s] the law."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span lang=EN>Indeed, those who have followed Sproul's rise in Republican
circles argue that the pattern of behavior is too hard to dismiss as anything
other than ethically-blurry, brass knuckle tactics. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span lang=EN>"The biggest single thing is that he is a true
believer," said Grossfeld. "He might take this as a compliment, but
he is as committed to the worldview and the neocon approach to life as any
operative I have ever run across. He is absolutely devoted to whatever that
ideology is and as a byproduct of that he will look for every opportunity he
can, I believe to further his or his client's agenda."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><a
href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/20/mccain-employing-gop-oper_n_136254.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/20/mccain-employing-gop-oper_n_136254.html</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
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