A UK Telegraph reporter and and a McClatchy reporter go to a McCain/Palin townhall meeting attended by three thousand people-- by a shocking coincidence, both reporters happen to encounter the same Republican couple who give some great quotes -- quotes not favorable to McCain/Palin.
Here are the headlines.
The McClatchy headline: "Not everyone's sold on McCain-Palin after Michigan meeting"
The UK Telegraph headline: "Sarah Palin phenomenon could have peaked"
Now look at more similarities.
From McClatchy:
Trish Castiglione, a Republican, was sold on McCain-Palin before Wednesday's event. Now she's not so sure — particularly after hearing Palin answer questions from the public for the first time since becoming McCain's running mate....and...
"The only thing she knows about is oil. She was kind of wishy-washy," said Trish Castiglione, a 38-year-old foundation officer at Grand Rapids Community College, which held the event. "I came in knowing I would vote for them — I don't know now."
From the Telegraph:
"I came in thinking I would vote for them, but I don't know now," said Trish Castiglione, who works at the college in Grand Rapids where the event was held...and...
Her husband Joe, an undecided voter, sat listening carefully to both speakers. He said: "I liked McCain, he knows his stuff, but she needs to work on her delivery. There were not a lot of facts. The only thing she knows about is oil. Other than that she was wishy-washy.I don't know how this happened, all I know is, something is really fishy.
UPDATE 3:44 PM: In comments, someone calling herself Trish insists she was there and spoke to the reporters. But that doesn't answer my questions -- I wondered how 2 reporters happened to encounter her in an otherwise enthusiastic crowd of 3,000. Did she approach the reporters and initiate the contact? Was she "holding court" with several reporters, or did she take the initiative to track down 2 reporters seperately? Still more questions than answers.
Ace linked, thanks!
6 comments:
So now their Astroturfing interviews at Town Halls?
No FEC record of any Castiglione registered as a republican in Michigan or having given any money. Also, no Trish, Patricia, Joe or Joseph Castiglione living anywhere in the vicinity of Grand Rapids Michigan.
Just Sayin'
Astroturfing at McCain/Palin TownHalls? Just asking questions....
Name: Trish Castiglione, reported to be a Republican.
Well is she? She might be but I wonder about the place she works at and how right leaning they are? Link provided so you can judge for yourself (some quotes below). Nothing damning but I wonder how they confirmed that she was a republican for the stories?
Well a Goggle search finds that one "Trish Castiglione" works for the: http://www.grcc.edu/foundation
H
ey, she is a "Director of Annual Giving."
quote: The Grand Rapids Community College Foundation was established in 1964 at the 50th Anniversary of Grand Rapids Junior College...
Today, The GRCC Foundation has assets of over $13 million and awarded a total of $669,531 in scholarships during the 1999-2000 academic year.
... The Foundation board is comprised of members representing community leaders, professionals, alumni, donors, faculty, staff and students.
They sponsered events like "Rock the Vote"
September 8, 2008 Grand Rapids, MI – On Sept 10, 2008, GRCC students will ROCK THE VOTE from 10 am to 2 pm in an event featuring a variety of voting-related activities, local bands/artists, and interaction with local political leaders including Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, Mayor George Heartwell, and State Representative Michael Sak among others.
The event will offer the enticement of free food from Qdoba and features comprehensive voter registration / education opportunities including
An “Ask the Clerk” booth, staffed by Lauri Parks the Grand Rapids City Clerk who will also be recruiting poll inspectors.
A “Voter Simulation Activity,” which walks students through the same process they will encounter on election day; and students who complete it and sign up to receive an SMS text message reminder to vote on election day will get a free parking pass.
A resource fair of political organizations offering information and diverse angles on the issues to students
The event is the result of a partnership between GRCC’s Campus Activities Board, the GRCC Black Student Union, The GRCC Student Congress, the Grand Rapids City Clerk’s Office and the Grand Rapids Alumni Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.
and one on
Media, Politics and Washington: An Evening with Ray Suarez Wednesday, October 8; 7:00 p.m.
Ray is a current Senior Correspondent for PBS’ NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and previously the host of NPR’s Talk of the Nation.
Sponsored by the GRCC Diversity Learning Center.
Other events
October 2 – Health Care in America: How Can We Make it More Affordable?
October 16 – What is the 21st Century Mission For our Public Schools?
October 30 – Racial and Ethnic Tensions: What Should We Do?
To Beto_Ochoa and Anonymous:
You can take your tinfoil hats off - there's no astroturfing going on here.
I work at GRCC with Trish and confirm that she and her husband are indeed real and authentic (and that what is reported about their political stance is accurate).
While the college leans to the left (simply by virtue of being a public institution) - West Michigan is very conservative and there are a great many conservatives who work at the college (which has caused numerous clashes in recent years over various issues; a local theatre group's performance of "Corpus Christi" was a good example).
Many of the big-name donors to the college are major players in the Republican party which is why GRCC has landed two election-related appearances by GOP candidates in recent years (Bush was here in 2003).
There's no coincidence at all; they happened to be sitting up front during the speech and were approached by several reporters both before and after the speech.
Despite the fact that Mr. Anonymous vouches for them (and certainly seems knowledgable about the school and the area) I'm still a little leery.
I've heard countless criticisms of Palin from the moonbats I work with. But "wish-washy" has not been one of them
Let me set the story straight to some of you who doubt the accuracy of the content. We were at the event, we did talk to BOTH reporters and their information is correct. Trish Castiglione
Public information that is 100% entirely legal to obtain and possess bears out what Trish herself says: she was born in 1970 and lives in Rockford, a suburb northeast of Grand Rapids.
It would not be useful, fair or decent to post her address or SSN so I wont. I dont imagine a Dembot or an Obaman would think twice posting such things about a Rep who they had targeted for grief, but thats not how we do it in GOP land.
So, folks nothing to see here, lets give Ms. C a break. We're nowhere near the grassy knoll on this.
It is not at all beyond the realm of possibility that she was close to the press platform and thus was interviewed by both papers.
Lets fight this election with everything we have, but also remember to be fair and honest and decent and dont F up people's lives if they dont deserve it. Leave that to the Dems and the Obama-bots.
Instead of griefing her, we should re-double our efforts to bring her and Joe back to Maverick & Goose's side.
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