{"id":2948,"date":"2008-03-05T17:51:00","date_gmt":"2008-03-05T23:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/03\/spread-of-vote-buying-rumors-on-internet-is-shameful\/"},"modified":"2008-03-05T17:51:00","modified_gmt":"2008-03-05T23:51:00","slug":"spread-of-vote-buying-rumors-on-internet-is-shameful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/03\/spread-of-vote-buying-rumors-on-internet-is-shameful\/","title":{"rendered":"Spread of vote-buying rumors on Internet is shameful"},"content":{"rendered":"

For days, rumors have been spreading across the Internet about an alleged vote-buying scheme at the recent Bernalillo County GOP convention. I\u2019ve been asked repeatedly why I haven\u2019t written about the allegations.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The answer: I haven\u2019t found a story worth writing about.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Until now. The rumors \u2013 and, at least at this point, that\u2019s all they are \u2013 that the campaigns of Heather Wilson<\/a> and Darren White<\/a> paid people to attend the convention and vote for their delegates, and that doing so is a felony violation of the state election code, have gained traction to the point that they are appearing on national liberal blogs and have become the subject of a news release sent out today by the Democratic Party of New Mexico.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Democrats hate when baseless allegations circulate on conservative talk radio to the point that they get picked up by the mainstream media. Bloggers \u2013 most of them openly liberal \u2013 and the state Democratic Party are now doing the same thing, and that shameful action is, in my view, the story.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

So here\u2019s the allegation, and then I\u2019m going to tell you, in detail, why I haven\u2019t written about it, and why I believe the actions of those who have are disgraceful.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Former governor alleges vote-buying<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\n

The rumors started gaining traction when a reporter for KKOB radio in Albuquerque, Laura MacCallum, aired the allegations on the radio. In a conversation with me, she cited former Gov. Dave Cargo<\/a> as a source. When the Wilson<\/st1:city> campaign complained that it hadn\u2019t been given an opportunity to comment, and argued that there was no vote-buying by the Wilson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> campaign, the station\u2019s news director pulled the story.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

So MacCallum quit.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Since then, an Albuquerque journalist who hosts two TV shows, Dennis Domrzalski, published a story on his blog about the allegations citing MacCallum, Cargo and state Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones<\/a> as sources. Arnold-Jones was quoted in the story as backing up Cargo\u2019s assertion that people said they were being paid.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

That caused the story to spread across the New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> liberal blogosphere and into the national liberal blogosphere. Today one national blog ran the headline \u201cRep. Heather Wilson Accused of Felony Vote-Buying in New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>; Reporter Quits After News Director Scrubs Story.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

That prompted the state Democratic Party to strike.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cOnce again, Heather Wilson is caught in an ethically compromising situation in which she faces allegations of manipulating the system to come out ahead in an election,\u201d Democratic Party Chairman Brian Col\u00f3n said today in a news release. \u201cThis time, she refuses to directly answer the charge that she bought delegate votes, and her silence on such a serious charge is incriminating.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

A non-story<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The spread of these rumors, Col\u00f3n\u2019s inaccurate claim that Wilson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> has refused to answer the charges and numerous e-mails asking me why I wasn\u2019t covering this issue prompted me to write this article.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

My investigation began a week ago, after MacCallum first contacted me. I interviewed Cargo, who told me there was illegal vote-buying at the convention. During the interview, he contradicted statements Domrzalski and MacCallum quoted him as making and implicated a third candidate in the alleged illegal activity. I won\u2019t repeat the contradictions here or name the third candidate, because I don\u2019t want to spread rumors any more than they have already travelled.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I also spoke with Arnold-Jones, who told me the Domrzalski story doesn\u2019t quote her accurately. She said she is concerned that vote-buying might have happened but she doesn\u2019t know whether it did and isn\u2019t sure whether that would be illegal even if it happened.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I spoke with the Wilson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> campaign, which flatly denied that it had paid anyone to attend the convention and vote for delegates who support the congresswoman. That, to my knowledge, is the second time Wilson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> has answered the charges. The first was when the campaign spoke with KKOB\u2019s news director.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Wilson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> campaign spokeswoman Whitney Cheshire told me the campaign did pay the $30 entrance fee into the convention for five people \u201cfor whom paying party fees was a hardship. That is traditionally done and is allowed under the rules.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I spoke with a source close to the White campaign, who also denied the allegations. I asked Cargo and MacCallum for names of people who said they were paid to attend. They provided none.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I have twice asked the attorney general whether there is an investigation. Last week, I was told there was none. This morning, in response to a second inquiry, a spokesman said the AG\u2019s policy is \u201cto examine almost any complaint that comes into our office. As a matter of course, such complaints are analyzed by appropriate personnel to determine if there is reason for the office to proceed further.\u201d The AG\u2019s spokesman also said the attorney general had personally spoken with White\u2019s opponent in the First Congressional District primary, Joe Carraro<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

That isn\u2019t a very strong statement, and seems to imply that the AG\u2019s office is checking or has checked into whether there\u2019s any reason for it to investigate these allegations.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I asked the state Republican Party whether Cargo or anyone else had filed a complaint with the party about vote-buying. None have.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I spoke with law-enforcement sources who told me that, even if the allegations were true, they don\u2019t believe the law was violated. The statute that prohibits vote buying applies to actual votes at the polls, the sources said, not votes on sending delegates to a state party convention. The political parties\u2019 delegate-selection processes are governed by their own rules, not state law. That\u2019s why the state didn\u2019t have grounds to investigate problems with the Feb. 5 Democratic Party presidential caucus.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

So I had a former governor making allegations that contradicted what he had been quoted as saying elsewhere, and he hadn\u2019t filed formal complaint and didn\u2019t provide the names of anyone who he believed was paid to be at the convention. This is also a guy who is admittedly upset that he didn\u2019t get selected as a delegate at the convention.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

That\u2019s not enough for a story.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

This is why blogging doesn\u2019t get any respect<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Some of the liberal bloggers who have written about this have referred to Domrzalski as a reputable, 27-year journalist in spreading his article across the Internet. But his blog includes a posting headlined \u201cWhat Naked Men Shouldn\u2019t do in the Locker Room\u201d and two online polls that ask, \u201cShould naked men blow dry their crotches in health club locker rooms?\u201d and \u201cWould you refuse to fondle an implanted female breast?\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

This is not a reputable journalistic site.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

As for MacCallum: I give her credit for going after a story she believed to be true and following her heart, at the expense of her job, when she felt her boss was doing something unethical. But she has made assumptions in her reporting that she should not. An example: When I asked her how she knew the vote-buying statutes would apply to this situation, she replied by writing in an e-mail, \u201cIf they didn\u2019t apply, why would the SOS (Secretary of State) spend any time investigating it?\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

That\u2019s not an assumption that, as a trained journalist, I\u2019m willing to make.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I won\u2019t say there\u2019s no story here. I will say that a journalist\u2019s job is to investigate rumors and allegations and determine what\u2019s true and what is not. For now, this one remains solidly in the rumor category.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

This whole situation is an example of why the blogosphere doesn\u2019t get any respect. As a journalist who is working hard to try to bring some integrity to the blogosphere, it makes me furious. Whatever their motives, those who have spread this rumor as though it\u2019s fact should be ashamed.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\n

\n

Good journalism is about facts, not assumptions. It\u2019s about asking hard questions, verifying claims and understanding all angles of a story.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

By the way, if you\u2019re wondering why I haven\u2019t linked to any of the blog postings in question or the Democratic Party\u2019s news release, it\u2019s because I won\u2019t spread these rumors any further unless I find facts worth reporting.<\/p>\n

\n

A prior version of this posting incorrectly stated that Domrzalski is a reporter for KOB-TV in Albuquerque<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>. He isn\u2019t. He\u2019s co-host of the Eye on New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:State> talk show on KOB-TV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For days, rumors have been spreading across the Internet about an alleged vote-buying scheme at the recent Bernalillo County GOP convention. I\u2019ve been asked repeatedly why I haven\u2019t written about the allegations. The answer: I haven\u2019t found a story worth writing about. Until now. The rumors \u2013 and, at least at this point, that\u2019s all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2948\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}