VT: GOP astroturfing starts a wee bit too Thune...

[skids]

Neat diary at dKos on how the old Thune fake blog trick is being recycled up in Vermont:

Some of you may remember when now-Sen. John Thune used paid campaign operatives to run anti-Daschle blogs, supposedly unconnected to the Thune campaign, in the South Dakota Senate race in 2004.

...

Using appropriate search tools, however, we were able to find a VermontSenateRace.com registry page with a human name attached. The name of only one person appears: "Jeffrey Bartley." Bartley is listed next to "Organization Name."

...

Ready for this, folks? Might want to sit down first. That's because the name "Jeffrey Bartley" also appears several times in GOP Candidate Richard Tarrant's recent FEC filing. Bartley, in fact, has been a salaried employee of "Tarrant for Senate Inc." since October, receiving his first paycheck one week after the bogus, seemingly nonpartisan "Vermont Senate Race" website was registered.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/2/15/141513/629

[wtbymark]

1. Bernie's got a lock n/t

[sharp_stick]

2. Big Surprise

Fucking repuke scumbags make me sick. The swiftboating tactic worked so well against Kerry that they'll try anything to make an opponent look bad. Christ, I hate those asshats.

[wicket]

3. Pathetic!!!!

:eyes:

[ReadTomPaine]

4. Dems should use it as a cudgel, then...

and beat Tarrant senseless with it politically. Yet another GOP gift, let's see how well Dems use it.