Is Personal PAC using Your Donation to Attack Progressive Pro-Choice Candidates?
No, they are just using them to back fight for one pro-choice candidate over the other. Good use of your money:
Nice try. To bad all of this is a sad fabrication to raise money and gain attention. Apparently, there are those who are unaware of a July 1 ’06 state law that says all calls must be identified by the organization or person paying for the calls. Personal PAC follows the law and we are using the same script we have used for Beth Coulson over the past three election cycles: Beth Coulson is a pro-choice leader. That’s it. We identify ourselves with the calls. Not to worry though as Personal PAC has every intention of clarifying this matter with our donors, the media and the voters of the 17th district over the next 6 weeks.
Stay tuned. Terry Cosgove, President & CEO, Personal PAC
Nice try. To bad all of this is a sad fabrication to raise money and gain attention. Apparently, there are those who are unaware of a July 1 '06 state law that says all calls must be identified by the organization or person paying for the calls. Personal PAC follows the law and we are using the same script we have used for Beth Coulson over the past three election cycles: Beth Coulson is a pro-choice leader. That's it. We identify ourselves with the calls. Not to worry though as Personal PAC has every intention of clarifying this matter with our donors, the media and the voters of the 17th district over the next 6 weeks. Stay tuned. Terry Cosgove, President & CEO, Personal PAC
So my apologies for misidentifying the source of these calls, Personal PAC is just using donations to back pro-choice candidates over other pro-choice candidates. That should make everyone feel much better.
The fabrication bit is quite funny–because many people have received the calls from a firm identifying itself as Precision Research or PRC which is the same identification that Precision Communications has used in other pro-choice call programs in Illinois and elsewhere. So if Cosgrove wants to blame me for this post–fair enough, but to claim the calls aren’t happening is bizarre.
I just got word that it is definitely not Personal PAC. Leaving the choices to be… more in a few minutes.
Progress Illinois covers a push poll in the State House Race for District 17 which pits Daniel Biss against Beth Coulson. The call is claiming that Coulson is the only pro-choice candidate in the race which is a flat out lie.
Last week, Democratic state representative candidate Daniel Biss‘ campaign began fielding calls from 17th District women reporting that they had received a “push poll” intended to mislead them about his position on reproductive choice. According to Biss campaign manager Julie Sweet, the voice on the other end first asked the voters receiving the call if they were pro-choice. If they answered yes, the caller would then ask if they knew that incumbent GOP Rep. Beth Coulson is the “only pro-choice candidate” in the race. Sweet said the campaign initially received complaints from voters in Wilmette, but have since heard similar accounts from women in Northbrook and Skokie. The office reported receiving about two to three complaints per night, mostly from female voters over the age of 40.
After hearing about it I asked how the callers identified themselves and it seems to be some variant on PRC or Precision Research. So we have a little bit of information to go on–a company that does work on pro-choice candidates and has either PRC or Precision in the name. Let’s go to the D-2s. Of course, any current work won’t be in there until right before the election, but let’s see who has done similar kind of work before with the name Precision…
We get a whole bunch of these:
| Precision Communications Inc. 8601 Georgia Ave. Suite 806 Silver Springs, MN 20910 |
$5,411.25 3/13/2006 |
Expenditure Personal PAC Inc |
Who is Precision Communications:
A phone banking consultant for candidates. The following is on their site.
Persuasion Calls
Our persuasion calls to undecideds re-identify support for the candidate or campaign and help win tight races.
That’s the nice name for Push Polling.
And who has Personal PAC endorsed?
Now, I’m all for protecting Pro-Choice candidates, but I fail to see how an organization can choose sides between two strong pro-choice candidates. If I were a donor to Personal PAC I’d be giving them a call wondering what the hell they are doing with my money attacking a progressive pro-choice candidate–and lying about his stance to boot.
Maybe I’m wrong–but I think Personal PAC needs to explain itself.
September 19th, 2008 at
One thing that appears to unite Republicans, whether they’re dyed in the wool right-wingers or supposed “moderates” is their willingness to lie, or hide behind others lying on their behalf, to get elected. Way to go, Beth! You really are a true Republican. Congratulations!
September 19th, 2008 at
Nice try. To bad all of this is a sad fabrication to raise money and gain attention. Apparently, there are those who are unaware of a July 1 ’06 state law that says all calls must be identified by the organization or person paying for the calls. Personal PAC follows the law and we are using the same script we have used for Beth Coulson over the past three election cycles: Beth Coulson is a pro-choice leader. That’s it. We identify ourselves with the calls. Not to worry though as Personal PAC has every intention of clarifying this matter with our donors, the media and the voters of the 17th district over the next 6 weeks. Stay tuned. Terry Cosgove, President & CEO, Personal PAC
September 19th, 2008 at
Couldn’t Beth Coulson — knowing that Personal PAC uses PRC for robocalls — have simply contracted w/ PRC directly, without Personal PAC being involved?
September 19th, 2008 at
The message you claim we are using is a fabrication, not that the calls themselves are a fabrication. Just to be perfectly clear, we are saying Beth Coulson is pro-choice leader. The words only and Dan Biss are never used anywhere in our script. Terry Cosgrove
September 19th, 2008 at
consider me underwhelmed by terry’s flacid response. he admits to using an unethical vendor who engages in illegal behavior. in no way does he indicate that his organization will stop using this unethical vendor — he merely wants to point out that it wasn’t him (or personal pac). not that he tried to prove that. he simply denied it.
which is precisely what you’d expect him to do, especially if he *was* behind these calls! deny, deny, deny — until there’s incontrovertible proof otherwise! we know how this game is played, and we all know that personal pac plays the game well. so his assertions that he’s not behind these calls are meaningless.
what you didn’t see terry do — and what he *would* have done if he did not approve them — is a statement condemning the calls because of their illegal nature in illinois and a promise to not use this unethical (or any unethical) vendor ever again. while he can feign shock at the fact that his preferred vendor is doing something illegal in the state, his response not only showed approval, but it sent a message. personal pac can’t be trusted. period. pro-choice voters need to find a more ethical organization to represent them. personal pac undercuts their message that women have a right to choose. deception is the tactic of those who oppose choice…
September 21st, 2008 at
“Beth Coulson is a pro-choice leader.”
Yeah, right — by caucusing with the Republicans who the moment they get into power attempt to pass one anti-choice bill after another.
If you ask me, all ‘Personal PAC’ is doing is making Republicans more palatable to voters who otherwise think of themselves as progressives. Choice — pro-, anti- or whatever — has nothing to do with it.