The Other McCain

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TwitterGate Update: Neal Rauhauser Switches Account to ‘Protected’ Status

Posted on | October 9, 2010 | 41 Comments

After my first post about TwitterGate, many of the “Beandogs” in Democratic campaign consultant Neal Rauhauser’s network were laughing as if it were all a big joke. Yesterday, I came back with a second post that connected the dots a bit more clearly — and highlighted Rauhauser’s status as a Daily Kos contributor.

In the comments of the second post this morning, Right Klik had linked numerous communications between Rauhauser and his “Beandogs,” both from his “StrandedWind” and “WingNutWatch” accounts.

In one of those Tweets, Rauhauser said, “my role is trainer, coordinator, develop methods, etc. If civil or criminal proceedings begin deposition is lawyer’s job.” In another key message, “Obamagician” — who had previously Tweeted that conservative blogger Greg Howard had “sexy, f***able children” — told Rauhauser, ”Thx for you hard work.”

Such messages obviously lend credibility to the TwitterGate video’s suggestion that the “Beandogs” harassment against Howard and other conservatives on Twitter was carried out with Rauhauser’s knowledge, if not indeed as part of an orchestrated effort of which Rauhauser described himself as “coordinator.” And now look what we find:

Rauhauser has now switched his “StrandedWind” account to protected mode, and if you click on any of the messages from Rauhauser’s “WingNutWatch” account you get this:

Rauhauser deleted that account and protected the other, the kind of gesture a detective might say was indicative of “consciousness of guilt.”

The obvious question: If Rauhauser has nothing to hide, why is he hiding? Let me suggest an obvious answer: Rauhauser is becoming an embarrassment to his Democratic clients, especially Arizona 7th District Rep. Raul Grijalva.

Rauhauser had boasted of his relationship with Grijalva — who sent the consultant a “thank you” note — and like so many other previously “safe” Democratic incumbents this year, Grijalva is in the toughest re-election battle of his career. The Yuma Sun reported on Thursday’s debate:

Incumbent Democratic Congressmen Raul Grijalva admitted Thursday that it was a mistake to call for a boycott of Arizona after Gov. Jan Brewer signed Senate Bill 1070.
“On my part it was a strategic mistake to call for the boycott,” he said. “I felt that it would have an impact on the leadership of this state … but the fact of the matter is that they’re not going to change their mind…”
One student, Lisa Griffin, informed the candidates that according the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Yuma currently has an unemployment rate of 30.2 percent and asked them what they plan to do to usher more industry into the area, thus creating more jobs. . . .

Grijalva called for an economic boycott of his own state at a time when unemployment in parts of his own district is over 30%! Now imagine the horror of Grijalva’s staff when they saw this video exposing what their consultant Rauhauser had been up to since August:

When I first linked that video Thursday, it had gotten 288 views; as of this morning, it had nearly 5,000 views. If you Google “Grijalva” and “Rauhauser,” you see that this was becoming a big enough story that other journalists might be starting to ask questions. (Hey, Kossacks: You’re not the only ones who know how to use Google.)

Congratulations to Greg Howard, Patrick Read and others who helped compile the “Twittergate” research. That video dossier may not have connected all the dots, but if you show people enough dots, sooner or later the pattern becomes clear enough that only a blind man can miss it.

I’m leaving for Boston this afternoon to do some more shoe-leather campaign reporting. Please hit the tip jar.

UPDATE: The “besieged” Democrats now have their own Memeorandum thread.

UPDATE II: Linked by Dan Collins at Piece of Work in Progress.

UPDATE III: To understand just how desperate Democrats have become, check out Professor Donald Douglas’s post about how the Left used a “Nazi” smear against an Ohio Republican for his participation in a WWII historical re-enactment group.

UPDATE IV: Why is the Left getting so desperate? Even progressive poll analyst Nate Silver is now projecting that Republicans will gain 50 House seats Nov. 2. Small wonder that Democrats are trying to pull the Jedi mind-trick on the Rauhauser scandal.

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Category: Arizona, Congress, Daily Kos, Democrats, Election, Scandal, Tea Party, Video

Comments

  • Joe

    Chickens! Braaaaack Braaaaaack Barack.

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  • Robert Stacy McCain

    Chickens! Braaaaack Braaaaaack Barack.

    It’s typical hacker/troll behavior: Once people identify them and start calling attention to their egregious behavior, they get sweaty and try to hide the evidence.

  • American Power

    Thanks McCain!

  • nice venn

    Sarah Palin’s hairdresser in Wasilla, Jessica Steele, deleted some of her tweets, made her account private and then deleted her twitter account “Jessicabeehive” after some attention was brought to her tweets about Sarah Palin. Is that typical hacker/troll behaviour too?

    RSM, you dump insults and pose with an “I got this all figured out” attitude every time you write an expose about people and behavior you find objectionable.

    And you do it often.

  • http://www.facebook.com/jeff.weimer Jeff Weimer

    So what’s you theory as to why this happened?

  • nice venn

    @Jeff Weimer

    My theory is, there’s no conspiracy. RSM is simply playing a game of connect the dots and place his weak script and imaginative subplots in a broader, solid narrative about desperate Democrats and their mid-term travails.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1385852725 Richard Mcenroe

    Nice Venn and Waylay must be really raking it in.

  • Guest

    I live in the district next door to NC05 where Bill Kennedy (who is listed in the vid as employing Rauhauser’s firm) is running against the local conservative. I have many family & friends who live in NC05 & vote.

    I sent a link to the vid to that candidate & also to Bill Kennedy’s campaign hq. I specifically asked the Kennedy campaign to explain to the voters why they would employ someone like that. No answer, of course.

    Wonder how many others did the same in their districts?

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  • Srsly

    Or, you know, there might be trolls just doing this for the lulz, because Tea Partiers are fun to bait. Just saying.

  • Anonymous

    That’s because he does have it all figured out. ;)

    None of these tactics are new, especially for the Democrats. The media and the people using them may have changed, but the tactics are as old as the Bolshevik Revolution, if not older.

  • http://twitter.com/breitbartfan77 Tee Zielsdors

    not protected now

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  • Anonymous

    nice venn is waylay is gg.

    He can change his name all he wants, but he’s the same troll he ever was.

  • Anonymous

    Naw, I’m thinking RSM has nailed it.

  • Anonymous

    Projecting again, gg?

    Man, it kills you to see the Dim playbook opened up for everybody to read, doesn’t it? I don’t know why you’re surprised, you guys have all the tactical and strategic depth of a thin crust pizza pan. A four year old could figure you clowns out, given the time and motivation.

    And given the number of center and center/right reporters cut from the media’s workforce over the last five years (thus providing an abundance of people with both time and motivation), you idiots haven’t even begun to see Armageddon.

    But you will.

  • Anonymous

    Yep, shine a light and watch the roaches scurry.

  • http://twitter.com/RightKlik RightKlik
  • http://twitter.com/RightKlik RightKlik

    strandedwind: RT @Perfect_Beanis: Hey #stc now that media figures are writing stories about us could we PLEASE stop talking about having sex with @gregwhoward’s kids tia

  • http://twitter.com/RightKlik RightKlik
  • http://twitter.com/RightKlik RightKlik

    Running against Grijalva:

    http://www.ruth4az.com/index.html

  • onthego

    “Sarah Palin’s hairdresser in Wasilla”

    Er, is she a paid political consultant?

    Was she commenting about a politician that the NYT and others think requires vetting to the level of sifting through her garbage and hiring numerous fact checkers for her books?

    Apples and pineapples. The words have superficial similarity and that is it.

  • http://twitter.com/RightKlik RightKlik

    Last comment: What does it say about a Social Media Strategist when his accounts are shut down or otherwise inaccessible due to protected status? Must be hard to get the message out that way. If I were one of Neal Rauhauser’s clients, I’d be looking for a new Social Media guru.

  • Anonymous

    No, what you do is typical troll behaviour. Gonna tell RSM to his face that his book isn’t a valid source, or are you going to pretend you never spewed that bit of foolishness?

  • Anonymous

    Yeah, and I figure the only accounts clicking Like on his posts are his other accounts.

  • Anonymous

    Some of them were bragging about getting into tweet wars with conservatives because then they’d get paid more.

  • Anonymous

    That wouldn’t surprise me a bit, although I think Disqus might auto-log a “like” any time someone responds to a comment.

    Yet more motivation to not feed the trolls.

  • nice venn

    Finrod writes “I figure the only accounts clicking Like on his posts are his other accounts.”

    “nice venn” is the only the Disqus account i have.

    Randy Rager writes “I think Disqus might auto-log a “like” any time someone responds to a comment.”

    No true. But you get points for wishful thinking and imaginative speculations.

  • nice venn

    @Finrod

    Gonna tell RSM to his face that his book isn’t a valid source, [...]

    What do you think? I come here to worship RSM at the altar of TOM?

    I can give you any number of misleading claims. Do you know that Christians are 10 times more likely to end up in prison than Atheists (proportionate to their general population)?

    Moreover, you don’t even quote a paragraph the book and the original supporting source for us to verify the validity of a rant from Randy Rager.

  • nice venn

    Moreover Blacks are disproportionately found among the prison populations. And Blacks are disproportionately Democratic party supporters. Those are facts but to equate Democrat to Crime based on that evidence is pure dishonesty.

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  • http://twitter.com/erickbrockway Erick Brockway

    LOL! Dude, that “Protected Status” just means he blocked you. Try a different account. One of mine works and I can see his garbage, but the other, the one he knows, is Protected.

  • http://twitter.com/erickbrockway Erick Brockway

    Aaand the WingnutWatch account he deleted. He’s a big ol’ wuss

  • http://twitter.com/erickbrockway Erick Brockway

    Another Neil sockpuppet account; http://www.youtube.com/user/pumpybeanis

  • Anonymous

    I’m pretty sure it’s true, gg. My “Like” count is inflated, and Disqus shows count on posts but doesn’t disclose all the people who’ve clicked it.

  • http://twitter.com/nalgape Burt Banana

    You idiots are totally failing to grasp the seriousness of this issue. Firstly, Neil Rauhauser has gone missing. Authorities won’t say anything, and the press is being kept in the dark about this, or is choosing to keep quiet as they sometimes do during abduction situations. Secondly, the video documenting the “beandog militia” has been removed from youtube. Do you know what this means?

  • http://twitter.com/nalgape Burt Banana

    Oh they are. Obama and his comrades are lining their pockets with green taxpayer dollars. Just kidding. This whole ruse is actually nothing but a way for trivial people to feel like they’re a part of something larger than themselves. You can forget about it and move on with your life, without ever looking back or calling attention to it again. That would be best.

    On a separate note, don’t let the cute cartoon avatars or the ridiculous names fool you. The aptly named “beandog militia” is highly organized, malicious, and not to be trifled with by anyone who values their safety or the wellbeing of their loved ones. Keep that in mind, when you post in the future.

  • http://twitter.com/nalgape Burt Banana

    Powerful socialists had the twittergate video removed from youtube. Specifically, liberal Jewish collaborators with ties to Sony Music Entertainment. Bold patriots like Rick Sanchez have been trying for years to call attention to the wicked Zionists that run the American media from behind the scenes, but one by one the conniving Jews stomp them out with cries of “bigotry,” or “antisemitism.”

    I laud you for your anonymous bravery. You are a true patriot. One day we and our Middle Eastern brothers will stomp out the Jewish curse forever, purifying America and the world it leads, once and for all.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_T2M4IKL6VU3EFRZU75EMOKHVXY NoN

    re: Nate Silver’s ‘projection,’ you suck at reading. A 24% chance is not 51% or greater.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Thomas-Lee-Brown/1522418996 Thomas Lee Brown

    Waaaaah! Make the scary Australians go away!!!!!

    Man, you guys are hilarious. You can dish out the guano, but you sure can’t take it.

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