Tricky Tracker Troll Trekked Out - Granite Grok

Tricky Tracker Troll Trekked Out

Name This TROLL
Jason ‘X’ (Fill in the blank)
Have you seen this sneaky little troll at YOUR event? Find every reason possible to exclude him up front, and eject him if he gets in. Freedom of association means freedom of non-association, too!

You may have suspected he’s a Democrat tracker, and you’d be right. You may have suspected that he’s there to make trouble for you or your candidates – that’s what he’s paid to do.

Beware this logo
Beware this logo
Last night, he showed up at Kevin Avard’s fundraiser, also attended by Andrew Hemingway, Marilinda Garcia, Bob Smith, and George Lambert. Asked if he was a tracker, he claimed not; asked what he was there for, he claimed “holding candidates accountable”; asked who he worked for, he eventually said “American Bridge”, being careful not to give the full company name – didn’t give his name either, no business card.

A little later, when he was challenged by Kevin, I was able to tell the group that he actually worked as a tracker for David Brock, and Di Lothrop remembered ejecting him from last year’s Steak-Out. Out he went, squawking all the way about public meetings, except this was a private hall, and it was an RSVP event.
So, who ARE American Bridge 21st Century?

Description of American Bridge 21st Century from USA Today, via New Mdeia Journal:

In an office building nearly a dozen blocks from the White House, bluejeans-clad 20-somethings sit before flat screen computer monitors, scrolling through newspaper stories, reading Twitter feeds and studying videotaped footage.

They have one goal: uncovering an unguarded moment, a controversial position, a gaffe or flip-flop, anything that can be used to torpedo a political foe’s campaign.

Who's your (sugar) daddy, David Brock?
Who’s your (sugar) daddy, David Brock?
Welcome to the “war room” of American Bridge 21st Century, a super PAC that its founders tout as a key part of Democrats’ arsenal in this year’s presidential and congressional elections……

Democrat operative David Brock launched American Bridge 21st Century in November 2010 — one of a crop of so-called super PACs created in the months after the Supreme Court ended the long-standing ban on the use of corporate and union money to elect or defeat federal candidates.
(Ed Note – and these hypocrites decry the Citizens United decision, while piling on with all of their rich donors!)

The LA Times reports:

Nine months before the November election, the 100-person staff of American Bridge has now fanned out across 37 states, with 40 full-time trackers and 25 researchers collecting every utterance by their 2014 Republican targets in House, Senate and governor’s races. They are simultaneously building their books on the 2016 Republican hopefuls, dispatching 169 records requests to local, state and federal officials on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie alone.

Finally, this research from FactCheck.org:

ABridge-logoAmerican Bridge 21st Century is a liberal super PAC that conducts opposition research to aid Democratic candidates and organizations.

The group was founded in November 2010 by David Brock, a conservative-turned-liberal activist. After making a name for himself as a self-described “right-wing hit man,” Brock reinvented himself as a liberal crusader. In 2004, Brock founded Media Matters, a liberal website that monitors the media for “conservative misinformation.”

Rodell Mollineau, a former staffer of Sen. Harry Reid, is the group’s president. Its chairwoman is Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, a former lieutenant governor of Maryland and the eldest child of Robert F. Kennedy.

As a super PAC, American Bridge can accept unlimited donations and is largely funded by major Democratic donors and labor unions. Billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros, a well-known supporter of liberal causes, was the group’s largest donor for the 2012 cycle, contributing $1 million. Close behind, at $850,000, was Anne Earhart, an oil fortune heiress who has contributed to other liberal outside spending groups such as Priorities USA and the House Majority PAC. The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees also donated a total of $575,000.

Soros has continued to lead the way for American Bridge with contributions totaling $1 million so far this election cycle. Other top donors for 2014 include Earhart, who has given $400,000, Paul Egerman, a software entrepreneur who chaired Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s 2012 campaign finance committee, and Stephen Silberstein, founder of Innovative Interfaces, a library services technology company, who also has contributed to Democratic-leaning groups such as Planned Parenthood Votes, Senate Majority PAC, House Majority PAC and America Votes Action Fund.

All told, American Bridge spent about $338,000 on independent expenditures and electioneering communications in 2012, all of which went toward attacking Republicans. The group had raised about $8.5 million as of May 19, 2014, halfway toward its $17 million goal. The majority of PAC funds are used for tracking and recording Republican candidates as part of an extensive opposition research operation. The group shares its research with top Democratic independent expenditure committees, such as Priorities USA Action, Senate Majority PAC and House Majority PAC, for advertising.

Once again, beware the tracker trolls, and do get pictures and names wherever possible – I’d love to get the name of this particular specimen, as he seems to be assigned to NH – until we can render him worthless.

============================================

Meanwhile, I personally prefer THIS version of a bridge to the 21st Century – turns out that the “Clinton Library and Massage Parlor” sits on the bank of the Arkansas River rather close to an old, rusted railroad bridge. If you remember the Clinton-Gore 1996 campaign and the talk of a bridge to the 21st century, you’ll understand why the locals labeled that rusty bridge on their tourist map as the “Bridge to the 21st Century” – see for yourself, along with my photo of Clinton library meets bridge:
Clinton-Bridge21

>