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Garden to Granite State: A Sockpuppet on the Straight Talk Express!

by: Dean Barker

Thu Dec 21, 2006 at 08:02:59 AM EST

I'm out the door, but this is almost too good to be true. Move over IndyNH, you've got competition! Blue Jersey (God bless local blogs) reports that Tom Kean Jr.'s very own sockpuppet, Jill Hazelbaker, has been hired by John McCain to be his Granite State Communications Director. Awesome!

A Straight Talk Sockpuppet. Isn't that a contradiction in terms?

So, what name will she use here, do you think?

Dean Barker :: Garden to Granite State: A Sockpuppet on the Straight Talk Express!

Tags: Jill Hazelbaker, NH-Primary, sockpuppet, John McCain, (All Tags)

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Garden to Granite State: A Sockpuppet on the Straight Talk Express! | 10 comments

asdf (0.00 / 0)

This is most unsettling news. I hope we all don't go running around calling each other a sockpuppet if we disagree with each other.

Why would a John McCain staffer want to pose on a Liberal Blog, anyway? Would they think that they could round up some Dem Crossovers?

by: Nicholas Gunn @ Thu Dec 21, 2006 at 13:09:18 PM UTC

She was caught being a sockpuppet. (4.00 / 1)

You should read about the whole situation on Blue Jersey. She, or someone using her computer, was caught leaving posts on our blog pretending to be a Democrat who disliked Bob Menendez.

That is sock-puppetry, and calling it that is not calling names.

by: jwgoodwin @ Thu Dec 21, 2006 at 13:28:43 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

sure (0.00 / 0)

but how does a Republican Sockpuppet work on a Liberal Blog during a primary? Do they just go around arguing against every candidate?

by: Nicholas Gunn @ Thu Dec 21, 2006 at 13:42:10 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

The Canuck Letter (4.00 / 2)

1972. Before the web, before blogs.

A Nixon sockpuppet wrote to the Union Leader saying he had met Muskie, but wondered what the Senator was talking about when he referred to Canucks with a derisive laugh.

Nixon wanted to face McGovern rather than Muskie.

by: elwood @ Thu Dec 21, 2006 at 14:23:34 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Wow. You should add that to w-pedia (0.00 / 0)

You should definitely add that to wikipedia entry on sockpuppetry. That's a great example of a concern troll existing before talk radio.

Or I assume a concern troll, depending on whether he portrayed himself as a guy who liked Muskie, but had some concerns.

Geez, poor Muskie, man. That guy was ill used. I'd have cried a lot sooner than he did.

by: Mike Caulfield @ Thu Dec 21, 2006 at 16:17:47 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Donald Segretti (0.00 / 0)

explained the concept:

"When a rally is scheduled at 7 p.m. at a local coliseum by a particular candidate, you call up and represent to the manager that you're the field manager for this candidate and you have some information that some rowdies, some hippies or what-have-you are going to cause trouble. So you ask him to move the rally up to 9 o'clock -- thereby insuring that the place would be padlocked when the candidate showed up at 7."

Sounds like a particularly nasty concern troll, eh?

I can't find the text of the Canuck letter, which is believed by many to have been written and sent be Ken Clawson -- despite his denials.

by: elwood @ Thu Dec 21, 2006 at 17:01:12 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I think it was melting snow not tears, but it still destroyed Muskie (4.00 / 1)

I read the original Canuck letter in the Muskie Archives on Bates campus... It was written by a "covert operative" of the Nixon campaign. Definitely a great example of sockpuppetry. If Nixon had tried that any later in the campaign it wouldn't have had nearly as big an impact because even though Muskie still won the NH primary, he won by nearly 10 points less than expected and lost a lot of financial backing, ultimately causing him to withdraw in April.

by: BananasFlambe @ Fri Dec 22, 2006 at 04:16:45 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I can't find the full text of the letter anywhere online (0.00 / 0)

And I searched on the misspelling of Canuck in it, which should be pretty foolproof.

Perhaps we can convince someone to type it up. It always gets under my skin when important historical documents are not online.

I wonder if Granteprof has an electronic copy. I'll shoot him an email, if he does we'll post a story here on it, and solicit general comment.

by: Mike Caulfield @ Fri Dec 22, 2006 at 16:36:11 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Muskie Archives (4.00 / 1)

I also have the contact info for the historian at the Muskie Archives. Let me know if you would like me to contact him to ask if it's available in digital format.

by: BananasFlambe @ Fri Dec 22, 2006 at 20:45:59 PM UTC

[ Parent ]