Last month this blog broke a story about FreedomWorks attempts to manipulate Utah’s caucuses with mailers that encouraged supporters to break party rules in order to gain an advantage at local precinct meetings. I was outraged enough to call freedom Works in Washington, DC and to demand an apology from Matt Kibbe.
Instead of an apology, what I got was arrogance and misdirection. First FreedomWorks denied the fliers were theirs. Next they insisted that the party rules were finalized after the mailers had already been sent (later proven to have been false). Finally I got an excuse about FreedomWorks not being “affiliated with the Utah republican Party” and thus not being bound by our rules and an arrogant dismissal of my concerns because as a Utah voter they weren’t really accountable to me anyway.
Tomorrow, FreedomWorks will take to the state capital to pitch the following message:
During the interview, Sen. Hatch launched into a series of pejoratives and bully-like threats directed toward his opponents, who have raised serious questions about his voting record and conservative credentials. Sen. Hatch said, “Give me a break- these people are not conservatives… I despise these people and I’m not the type of guy you come in and dump on without getting punched in the mouth.”
“Orrin Hatch continually resorts to bullying his opponents and has failed to prove he is a true conservative,” said Russ Walker, national political director for FreedomWorks for America. The American people have shown time and again that they will no longer put up with Washington establishment bullies, and come May 8, neither will Utah voters.”
In short, after being caught red handed trying to manipulate our elections and being called out on the fact by our senior Senator, FreedomWorks demands an “apology.” Personally, I have a really hard time feeling sorry for these people.
FreedomWorks needs to go home. They lost their rights to Utah when they tried to use us like a pawn in their expensive bid to raise their national profile and to send a “message” to the national republican party leadership. It takes a lot of nerve for a group like this to fly in one more time after poisoning our election with their negative garbage and expect us to bend over for them one more time and apologize. No person who believes in our election system and loves our state can help but be outraged by what FreedomWorks has tried to do here, and no leader with any sense of duty can stand by quietly and watch it happen.
The only apology Matt Kibbe, Russ Walker and the FreedomWorks crew is likely to get from those of us in this state who know how damaging their negative campaigning has been to this state is a finger pointing the way back to Washington and a friendly word of advice never to return. We don’t need Washington insiders telling us how to vote any more than we need President Obama telling us what healthcare plan we should choose. If FreedomWorks has any self respect at all, they will leave us to do out state’s business in peace.