Very Serious Allegations Made Against 2012 Ron Paul Campaign Manager Jesse Benton

[erowe1]

People don't talk about it because why?

It just involved interpersonal problems with a lot of people, especially some females. It wasn't something corrupt or criminal. I just think people involved didn't really want to smear him over it, but couldn't keep working with him either. If you were on some of the conference calls when he was running them, you probably heard some hints of this.

I don't see why Ron Paul would know anything about it, or why he would be obligated to say so if he did.

I agree about highly questionable people. He was one. And so were others.

I am certain about one thing though, if anything you think about what happened is based on anything you heard from Garfield, then it's pretty much guaranteed to be a lie.

 

[pcosmar]

It just involved interpersonal problems with a lot of people, especially some females. It wasn't something corrupt or criminal. I just think people involved didn't really want to smear him over it, but couldn't keep working with him either. If you were on some of the conference calls when he was running them, you probably heard some hints of this.

I don't see why Ron Paul would know anything about it, or why he would be obligated to say so if he did.

I agree about highly questionable people. He was one. And so were others.

I am certain about one thing though, if anything you think about what happened is based on anything you heard from Garfield, then it's pretty much guaranteed to be a lie.

I was on some conference calls,, and there was nothing about it. After this incident there were Non Disclosure Agreements required. and new people brought in
I will NOT sign such,, and and my contact with the official campaign ended.

No answers were ever given.. Only "shut up and don't ask" was the response.
I ain't the only one with this view.

I am certain about one thing though, if anything you think about what happened is based on anything you heard from Garfield, then it's pretty much guaranteed to be a lie.

Why?
I am pretty sure everything I hear from Adam de Angeli is a lie.. until convinced otherwise.

 

[angelatc]

It just involved interpersonal problems with a lot of people, especially some females. It wasn't something corrupt or criminal. I just think people involved didn't really want to smear him over it, but couldn't keep working with him either. If you were on some of the conference calls when he was running them, you probably heard some hints of this.

All that might be true, but that doesn't negate the fact that the situation was handled so badly it destroyed the entire state's cohesion, possibly forever.

 

[Matt Collins]

No, he did not. If he did, go ahead and post a link to it.

Can't?

It's because it didn't happen. Everything Tom wrote was gentlemanly, classy, and reasonable. None of it was in poor taste. He showed great restraint.

Actually no, he hurled personal insults and did not act appropriately or reasonably. I have screenshots of this, but I'm not going to post it because it doesn't do anyone any good to dredge this stuff back up. Besides, I like Tom, so I don't want to circulate this sort of thing. His posts were taken down very quickly in most cases, but they did exist. But it is important that the record is straight on this.

 

[erowe1]

All that might be true, but that doesn't negate the fact that the situation was handled so badly it destroyed the entire state's cohesion, possibly forever.

Yeah, I agree. But there was a lot of damage done before that. What cohesion there was had already been destroyed, and there were large factions who were through working with him, including some really important activists around the state.

And some of what happened after that might have still happened anyway. The national campaign would have still sent in its own people in the weeks leading up to the primary, and that wouldn't have turned out any better with Garfield there.

 

[Matt Collins]

We need people like Collins and Benton who'll get their hands dirty and do what needs to be done to guarantee victory.

Err... it depends on how you define "dirty". I don't mind doing the sometimes unpleasant work that has to be done that many others don't like doing, but as far as breaking the law that's not a line I would cross.

 

[juleswin]

Then post these multiple instances.

They are so numerous that it is hard to pick just one. Try using google, mmkay?

 

[Matt Collins]

The campaign was dishonest, when it kissed Mitt Romney's ring on his hand and helped him win the nomination without attacking him as Doug Wead said they agreed, because of a "threat" by Romney's people they would go nuclear.

Doug has since clarified his comments and they were taken a bit out of context. They didn't mean what lots of people think they meant.

The point of the campaign was to win the nomination, not collect money to sit on. When the campaign stopped trying to win the nomination, Ron should have dropped out immediately.

Incorrect.


Campaigns, any campaigns, can have a multitude of objectives besides actually getting the candidate elected:
- raising issues no one else wants to talk about
- forcing the other candidates to concede issues or go on the record
- playing the role of spoiler or flank blocker
- building an organization that will outlast the campaign
- building name recognition for the candidate
- laying the ground work for another run
- getting other candidates to ride on the coattails

 

[Matt Collins]

What victory? Ron finished third in Iowa.

And then went on to win the majority of the delegates in Iowa. So yes it was a victory, considering Ron Paul placed like 5th in 2008.

Apparently some people around here don't know what the definition of bribery is. Oh by the way, it's against the law too,

I am not a lawyer, but are you saying that it is illegal to employ people in a campaign? And if someone decides to leave one campaign to go to another campaign that is illegal too?

 

[ninepointfive]

Stephen Moleneux really understands why this isn't going anywhere. Libertarians need to become a community of people others want to emulate, not disgust people for all the infighting. But really, the only infighting exists because of the poison allowed to flow and that is a problem which emerged from the very top. You won't win many converts supporting the politics as usual types. Do not trust Benton, collins, tate, or southern avenger, Liberty Eagle - et. al. they are poison.

 

[ClydeCoulter]

Doug has since clarified his comments and they were taken a bit out of context. They didn't mean what lots of people think they meant.





Incorrect.


Campaigns, any campaigns, can have a multitude of objectives besides actually getting the candidate elected:
- raising issues no one else wants to talk about
- forcing the other candidates to concede issues or go on the record
- playing the role of spoiler or flank blocker
- building an organization that will outlast the campaign
- building name recognition for the candidate
- laying the ground work for another run
- getting other candidates to ride on the coattails

So, maybe it would be nice for donors to know what they are donating for? Was the point of the campaign not "primarily & foremost" in honesty trying to win the nomination?

 

[pcosmar]

Yeah, I agree. But there was a lot of damage done before that. What cohesion there was had already been destroyed, and there were large factions who were through working with him, including some really important activists around the state.

And some of what happened after that might have still happened anyway. The national campaign would have still sent in its own people in the weeks leading up to the primary, and that wouldn't have turned out any better with Garfield there.

Bullshit,, Ron was gaining traction in the state. and would have taken the state by a landslide had things continued.
It went downhill after this.. Immediately and drastically.

If there was any actual impropriety it should have been aired and corrected. This was a petty power play by folks that wanted PAID Positions and had no prior experience in politics as opposed to a seasoned veteran with a solid history and a winning campaign.

This was nothing short of sabotage. And it DID kill the campaign in Michigan.

I am not familiar with all the campaigns in other states,, but it appeared to have been repeated,, with variations.
The grassroots did not kill Ron's chance,, the official campaign insiders did.


I have never been on the Bash Benton bandwagon. But some very bad decisions came from inside the camp.

 

[Matt Collins]

Was the point of the campaign not "primarily & foremost" in honesty trying to win the nomination?

Of course it was, but there were other objectives in addition to winning the nomination as I have listed above.

 

[helmuth_hubener]

Actually no, he hurled personal insults and did not act appropriately or reasonably. I have screenshots of this, but I'm not going to post it.

You are not going to post it because it doesn't exist.

because it doesn't do anyone any good to dredge this stuff back up.

If you really believed it didn't do any good to dredge this stuff up, you wouldn't be dredging it up. You wouldn't have made this post, nor the previous one. Since you like Tom, you wouldn't have made damaging accusations against him. You would have kept silent.

No, you are dredging this up, you are trying to change people's opinion of Tom Woods unfavorably, but you are trying to do it without posting any proof.

If you really think it does no one any good to try to bring up the past to drive wedges to widen splits and harm reputations, (an opinion I happen to be sympathetic towards) then you should stop posting about this. You should not reply to this post, and you also probably should delete your previous ones, and I would be happy to delete my replies to them.

Or, alternatively, if you think it would do the liberty movement good to bring Tom Woods' reputation down a notch or two, by all means show me the links! Because if all we have is unbacked assertions by you, then no one's opinions ought to be changed by those mere unbacked assertions. Only stupid people's minds would change as a result of bald unsubstatiated claims.

 

[Aratus]

isn't jesse benton's youthful lack of savvy & experience why his timing was often questionable?
doug wead has been very honest about how close iowa was in 2012 and how there was a cogent
gameplan in place that could have corralled enough delegates over time well long before august.

 

[Matt Collins]

You are not going to post it because it doesn't exist.

Incorrect. I was the new media manager for the campaign, I kept my eye on that sort of stuff, and I saved the screen shots. It does indeed exist, I have it.

If you really believed it didn't do any good to dredge this stuff up, you wouldn't be dredging it up. You wouldn't have made this post, nor the previous one. Since you like Tom, you wouldn't have made damaging accusations against him. You would have kept silent.

No, I am setting the facts straight, but I am not getting into detail because it doesn't do any good to do so.



But you're free to believe whatever you want I guess.

 

[orenbus]

Story picked up by weekly standard 7 minutes ago

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs...-my-nose-until-rand-paul-campaign_745785.html

Edit: For most people the take away of this story isn't going to be about who got paid what, when, and by who. It's going to be Jesse Benton saying "he's holding his nose" while at the same time being McConnell's campaign manager and mentioning Rand Paul for 2016.

Edit2: The article has been updated with Fusaro's comments:

Update: In a phone conversation, Fusaro confirms to THE WEEKLY STANDARD that the call is between himself and Benton. He says both he and Benton were in "one-party consent" states--meaning only one person on the phone is required to consent to a conversation being recorded.

Fusaro, a former Ron Paul campaign aide, says he waited six months to release the audio because he wanted Benton to "do the right thing" with regard to the allegations the Paul campaign paid Iowa state legislator Kent Sorenson.

"He's incapable of doing the right thing," said Fusaro.

 

[Aratus]

had he said he was being "low key' and carefully "biting his tongue' until rand runs... it would have sounded nicer.
jesse benton is sounding less practical and more like a dried up ideologue. kentucky politics is volatile by definition.

 

[AuH2O]

Story picked up by weekly standard 7 minutes ago

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs...-my-nose-until-rand-paul-campaign_745785.html

Edit: For most people the take away of this story isn't going to be about who got paid what, when, and by who. It's going to be Jesse Benton saying "he's holding his nose" while at the same time being McConnell's campaign manager and mentioning Rand Paul for 2016.

This is a different story, and potentially much more (professionally) damaging to Jesse.

Dennis Fusaro seems pretty pissed off.

 

[Aratus]

young jesse also has a wise old boss he works for.
the hill in d.c on a daily basis experiences change.