General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Beware of this Rovian maneuver... it is coming. [View all]Agony
(2,605 posts)and his candidate won...
JAMES MOORE: This I think is perhaps a seminal moment in Karls career. He all of a sudden, his candidate is sort of lagging, and he all of a sudden, Karl does, discovers on the wall of his office a bugging device. He discovers it and calls a news conference the morning of the only debate in the gubernatorial race of 1986 between Mark White, who was the incumbent and Karls candidate, governor Bill Cleamons who was not a goody debater.
This news covers up all the news about the debate. It leads the television newscast; I was a television reporter at that time. It was all any of us could talk about on the 6:00 and 10:00 news on the night of the debate. The debate became a secondary issue which was good for Karls candidate since he was a lousy debater and frequently flew offhand and angered easily, but we werent interested in policy and issues. We all were compelled to report on the intrigue around this bugging device.
Now, was it real? No, I dont think it was. The F.B.I. agents and everyone else who investigated it who spoke to me and I got copies of the investigation which indicated that the battery life on the bugging device indicated that its been on the wall for less than an hour, had a six hour battery life that broadcasts only within half mile range.
Whoever planted it did so knowing that they would either have access to go back and change battery every six hours, or they werent really interested in broadcasting information in Karls office, they were simply interested in having that bug discovered. But it had its desired affect. Ultimately, the campaign turned around, the incumbents numbers flagged as a result of the distraction caused by the controversy.
from--->http://www.democracynow.org/2003/10/1/conflict_of_interest_white_house_rejects