Rudy Campaign Reportedly Snubs Farmer For Not Being Rich; Will Media Cover It?
May 10, 2007 -- 4:47 PM EST // // Post a Comment
Did Rudy Giuliani's campaign snub an Iowa farmer couple because they weren't millionaires and hence wouldn't be a suitable prop for Rudy's anti-"death tax" campaigning? And will the haircut-obsessed political media cover it?
Check out this unbelievable story from the Anamosa Journal-Eureka in Jones County, Iowa, the accuracy of which I've just confirmed by phone with one of the people in it:
OLIN–Last weekend Deb and Jerry VonSprecken of Olin received a call from former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s campaign office asking them if they would be interested in holding a campaign rally on May 4, after she had donated to his campaign.“We thought it would be an honor and agreed,” said Jerry.
After agreeing to host Rudy's rally, Deb and Jerry Von Sprecken then set about doing a bunch of work to organize the event. They underwent a security check and called a bunch of local friends and acquaintances -- and even the local sheriff and fire department -- and proudly put the pieces in place for their rally.
But then...
On Tuesday Deb received a call from Giuliani’s Des Moines office and was asked to call New York.“They wanted to know our assets,” she revealed, and added that she and Jerry have a modest 80 acre farm and raise cattle.
Later she received a call from Tony Delgado at the Des Monies location.
“Tony said, ‘I’m sorry, you aren’t worth a million dollars and he is campaigning on the Death Tax right now.’ then he said they weren’t going to be able to come,” Deb continued.
The Death Tax is a federal version of the Iowa Inheritance Tax.
The VonSpreckens then called Delgado back and told him how upset they were that the event had been cancelled, how much work they had done and that they had been expecting 75-100 people at their farm.
“I invited him into my home,” Deb said of Giuliani, fighting back tears.
And it doesn't even end there, by the way. Turns out the campaign called them back after all that, according to the paper, and offered them a consolation prize: The opportunity to get their picture taken with Rudy. The couple dismissed this as an effort to "cover their butts" -- presumably meaning that the campaign was hoping they wouldn't go to the media, or something.
A Giuliani campaign spokesperson declined to comment to the paper on the canceled event. In other words, no denial. The Rudy campaign just confirmed to me that its non-denial to the paper is real.
I just got in touch with Deb VonSprecken, who told me the story's accurate "word for word." To top this all off, she also told me that she's got Fibromyalgia.
Here's what she told me:
"I told [Rudy's aide] from day one that we were poor folks, just trying to scrape by...When they [asked us to host the event], I was just ecstatic. We were honored. It was an honor and a privilege. We worked so hard...Why would Rudy Giuliani not come speak to the average Americans that live in eastern Iowa, instead of qualifying you as a millionaire before he will show up to your place?"
Oh, incidentally, Deb also told me that she'd be willing to speak to the media about this, too.
So will anyone from the media contact Deb? Does anyone doubt that if John Edwards or any other Dem did this it would be covered by all the major networks and chewed over endlessly by cable chat-show hosts for days and days and days?
To visit the homepage of this blog, where you can see many more posts, click here.
********************************************************************
Update: Somerby comments below: "Is there any sign that Giuliani had ever heard one word about this? Aren't we most likely dealing with staff work here? Are you sure this account is fully accurate? Do we want the press to stop the bullshit attacks against Dem candidates? Or do we want them to start such attacks against Reps? Do you think Giuliani knew this woman had a handicap? Do you think his staffers did?"
Absolutely fair questions; let me answer them. No, there's no sign that Rudy himself knows about this. I've changed headline to reflect this. Yes, we are working with staff work here. Is the account accurate? I left a message for the reporter, and called the woman, who said it was, and called Rudy's campaign, who confirmed their nondenial; if they want to say more, I'd be glad to print it. Yes, we want the press to stop the bullshit attacks against Dems; the main point of the item above was to point out the press' unbalanced obsession with such stories on Dems -- a point worth making that's not mutually exclusive with arguing that such attacks are superficial across the board. For the record, if the top execs at the big news orgs were to all pledge to cease superficial attacks on all the candidates, regardless of party, I'd be all for it. No, Giuliani probably didn't know of her handicap. Yes, his staffers probably did; I didn't put this in the above, but the woman told me she repeatedly said this to the staffer she was dealing with. Can I prove it? No, but that's what she told me.
One last point: The Rudy campaign's apparent snubbing of this farmer couple would seem to flow directly from its policy positions, i.e., while Edwards' haircut and Gore's earth tones decidedly don't.
Update II: Another commenter says her affliction is a disorder, not a disability. If this is true, I didn't know this. She described herself as "disabled" to me, but I probably shouldn't have accepted this at face value. Text edited above.
Update III: Let me add that I don't expect the media to actually call these two. That's kind of the point of this post, not to urge the media to make the call.
Update IV: Many, many commenters below are saying that her aliment is in fact a disability. If so, apologies to Deb.