Alleged Strickland Staffer tries to defect to Blackwell Campaign

Make of this what you will. The following e-mail was sent to Blackwell Blogger Matt Naugle from someone claiming to be a paid staffer in Ted Strickland's campaign. It's impossible to know for sure if the person truly holds the position he claims to, but it's interesting either way. You can find the entire e-mail transaction here.

From: Barry Sanders Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: [email protected]
Date: Jun 26, 2006 9:47 PM
Subject: hi matt
Matt,

My name is "Barry". I am employed by the Strickland/Fisher campaign. I serve as a paid staffer in a mid-level assistant position. I am willing to provide you with information that you may find useful.

An example - There is significant internal conflict on the campaign about how to address the Turnpike issue. One camp is saying that we should not disagree with Ken's plan and take the wind out of the sales, and another camp is saying that we should be completely opposed. I am willing to provide you with more if you are interested. I am particularly interested in talking about Lee Fisher and his mental instability. He is a loose cannon and a complete embarrassment to the campaign, internally. In public, he is great and eloquent, but behind closed doors he is a nut case.

Keep up the good work. I know of a lot of democrats that are going to vote for Ken. The "Where's Ted?" approach has spooked some folks and has created a negative buzz. In addition to the new Zogby numbers. I will tell you later, my core motivation for pulling this "Benedict Arnold."

Naugle responded with skepticism and wrote it off as a fake. "Barry" insisted his e-mail was truthful even though the name is fake, and explained that while he supports Strickland he hates Lee Fisher. He even said he was thinking about making a blog that had a theme of "Vote for Ted, Not for Lee." And he continued to hammer away that the Strickland Campaign is struggling for a response to Blackwell's TurnkPike initiative, and said that they will "f*** it up" when they finally do have one.

The next day, Blackwell's spokesperson sent the following e-mail to the Strickland Campaign and the the Ohio Statehouse Press Corps.

From: Carlo LoParo
Date: Jun 27, 2006 2:45 PM
Subject: Strickland's disgruntled staffer
To: [email protected]


Jess,

Following is an email exchange between someone allegedly on your staff and our web blogger Matt Naugle. I found it very interesting that someone on your team wants to help our campaign effort. Please tell them no thank you.
We plan to beat you fair and square without the help of your disgruntled staffers. Nonetheless, I think it's only appropriate to let you know that not all is well at camp Strickland. Enjoy.

Carlo LoParo
Press Secretary
Ohioans for Blackwell

The most interesting thing about all of this is that, since the individual used a fake name, it's difficult for anyone - including the Strickland Campaign - to know if he actually holds the position he claims to hold.

This could have been a hoax, but it could also have been a set-up. An attempt to make it appear that Blackwell is seeking out unfair advantages and running a "dirty campaign," a perception that liberals would love to make stick.

Either way, Camp Blackwell handled it well and I am eagerly awaiting Ted Strickland's position on the turnpike issue.