When all she really needed to do was to issue a statement saying, "Nathan Sproul will not work for this committee," an associate from a PR firm today sent me a long, drawn out non-denial denial.
"Senator Reagan’s response to the reported involvement of Nathan Sproul with the Protect Our Secret Ballot committee."
SCOTTSDALE, AZ – It was recently announced that Senator Michele Reagan will act as chairman for Protect Our Secret Ballot, a committee organized to support the election reform legislation in HB 2305. The majority of the legislation contained in HB 2305 is a consolidation of many reform efforts introduced during the legislative session by Senator Reagan. Pertaining to her decision to chair this committee, Reagan stated “protecting the integrity and credibility of our electoral system is tantamount to protecting our most sacred right. Both Republicans and Democrats should commit to ensuring that Arizona residents have faith that their vote will be counted and elections are fair.”
The Protect Our Secret Ballot committee held its first organizational meeting on Thursday, July 19. It has been reported that Nathan Sproul, managing partner at Lincoln Strategy Group, will be directly involved in the committee’s activities. Regarding Sproul’s involvement, Reagan said
“No roles or responsibilities were discussed during the meeting yesterday. I made it very clear to everyone in attendance that I do not support Sproul’s involvement in this effort and that his past and current activities undermine the credibility of our mission. My legislation is aimed at preventing fraudulent activities; including those Sproul is alleged to have participated in. Defrauding voters is inexcusable, regardless of what the party affiliation is of the perpetrator. My goal from day one of the legislative session was to protect the rights of Arizona voters and ensure that we have integrity with our elections. I will not support or allow my name to be associated with this effort if Nathan Sproul is involved in any way. Our committee set out with a vision of ensuring fairness and integrity with voting and I will not allow that vision to be tainted by the activities Sproul has committed in the past.”There are a few points in Reagan's "response" that I think should be highlighted (and I started by putting those points in boldface in the text quoted above).
I suppose the first, very simple point to make is that July 19 is today (Friday, not Thursday).
Second, Reagan's statement does not indicate that Sproul will be banned from her anti-referendum effort. She just dances around the point by saying she will not allow her vision (which we know consists of depriving Democratic, third-party and minority voters of their rights) to be tainted by Sproul's PAST activities.
The response raises questions. Is the message simply elaborate code that she is not actually in charge of that committee? Is she being "handled?" If so, who are her handlers? Aren't hidden handlers just a group of operatives pulling her puppet strings? If she is being handled, and is not in charge of THIS committee, how could we possibly trust her to independently carry out the duties of Secretary of State?
Third, from the response, Reagan stated “protecting the integrity and credibility of our electoral system is tantamount to protecting our most sacred right.
Her stated goal is to "protect the rights of Arizona voters and ensure that we have integrity with our elections. The literal translation, according to usage, of that statement is that she intends to protect the rights of CERTAIN Arizona voters.
Reagan's statement also continues to propagate the false claim that voter fraud is a problem in Arizona. That claim has been shown to be a complete and total fabrication.
How she can, with anything remotely resembling a straight face, claim that -- completely and totally preventing third-party candidates from ever being able to qualify for the ballot in legislative, Congressional and statewide office races -- protects the rights of any voters except Republicans is beyond me.
Even though the senator tried very hard to avoid having anyone even think of this question, it comes up anyway. Does Reagan have any intention of preventing the "mind fuck" or "brain fuck" activities the Arizona Eagletarian reported last night? "She" certainly did not answer the question in her "response."
I have to ask that since she believes so emphatically in the credibility of the electoral processes, WHY is she planning to circulate non-binding petitions to confuse voters?
I'm not buying what Michele Reagan is selling. Neither should you.
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