The President's Hit List

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Wall Street Journal:

Those are some ugly details that our Kimberley Strassel has been turning up about the effort to smear Mitt Romney's campaign donors. The dirt-digging exercise reflects the character of President Obama's re-election campaign, as well as what's really behind the drive for more "transparency" in political donations.

As Ms. Strassel has reported in recent columns, Idaho businessman Frank VanderSloot has become the target of a smear campaign since it was disclosed earlier this year that he had donated $1 million to a super PAC supporting Mr. Romney. President Obama's campaign website teed him up in April as one of eight "less than reputable" Romney donors and a "bitter foe of the gay rights movement." One sin: His wife donated to an anti-gay-marriage campaign, of the kind that have passed in 30 or so states.

Now we learn that little more than a week after that Presidential posting, a former Democratic Senate staffer called the courthouse in Mr. VanderSloot's home town of Idaho Falls seeking his divorce records. Ms. Strassel traced the operative, Michael Wolf, to a Washington, D.C. outfit called Fusion GPS that says it is "a commercial research firm."

Fusion GPS is run by a former Wall Street Journal reporter, Glenn Simpson, who wouldn't say who is paying him for this high-minded slumming but said in an email that Mr. VanderSloot was a "legitimate" target because of "his record on gay issues."

If Mr. Simpson and Democrats really favor disclosure, then surely Mr. Simpson should disclose who is paying him to rummage through the personal lives of opposition donors. Someone should also ask the White House, the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee if Mr. Simpson's chop shop is on their payroll and if they approve of such tactics. Does Mr. Obama think the lifestyles and divorce records of campaign donors should be fair political game?

________

 

Apparently, he does. It's the Chicago way...

[Valin]

And Romney is supposed to be the “bully”?

[Valin]

Remember when Nixon had his enemies list? Recall the hue & cry, about smearing private citizens?

Well as the old saying goes...That was then...this is now.

 

ABC Obama Campaign Flags ‘Less-Than-Reputable’ Romney Donors

Devin Dwyer

Apr 20, 2012

 

President Obama’s re-election campaign is circulating a list of eight “wealthy individuals with less-than-reputable records” who have donated to presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

 

“Quite a few have been on the wrong side of the law, others have made profits at the expense of so many Americans, and still others are donating to help ensure Romney puts beneficial policies in place for them,” the campaign said in a statement from its “Truth Team.”

 

Team Obama alleges four men, who have each given more than $100,000 to support Romney and an affiliated super PAC, have benefited from “betting against America” – specifically through outsourcing.

 

The list includes Paul Schorr, a partner at Blackstone Group, the nation’s largest private equity firm; investors Sam and Jeffrey Fox of the Harbour Group; and T. Martin Fiorentino, who has lobbied for Lender Processing Services, a firm that has been penalized by the government for its mortgage servicing and foreclosure practices.

 

(Snip)

[pollyannaish]

I find this frightening. People have definitely questioned some of Obama's donors but it's always been citizens, not his official capacity opposition.

 

To have the power of the US government under Obamas leadership do this is something else altogether.