The Washington Independent

Posts Tagged astroturf

Fact Checking the ‘Too-Big-to-Fail’ FinReg Attack Ad

By | 04.29.10 | 12:11 pm

I don’t watch much television, and therefore have missed most of the attack ads on financial regulatory reform. But, with Sen. Chris Dodd’s (D-Conn.) bill finally on the Senate floor for formal debate — and the open amendment process starting today — the back-and-forth will only heat up. More…

MA-Sen Video: Brown’s Crowd Control

By | 01.18.10 | 11:57 am

Here are two quick video examples of something BlueMassGroup blogged yesterday–the Brown campaign busing in support for its “People’s Rally” and running some serious crowd control. In the first part of the clip, supporters stream off the bus. In the second part, an angry Brown supporter is pulled away More…

MA-Sen: Out-of-Staters for Brown

By | 01.18.10 | 9:51 am

BOSTON — A surprising discovery at yesterday’s “People’s Rally” in Worcester was just how many people had traveled into the state to assist, in whatever way, GOP Senate candidate Scott Brown’s campaign. Some of the loudest people at the rally outside the main event were visitors. Wayne More…

Pro-Israel Lobby Group’s Iran Petition Features Lots of Questionable Names

By | 12.11.09 | 2:33 pm

Earlier today, the Israel Project — a pro-Israel organization that endorses tough measures against Iran’s nuclear program — sent out a release announcing substantial support for placing sanctions on Iran. A petition issued by the Israel Project to be sent to “every ambassador to the U.S., all UN member More…

Republicans Pay Tribute at ‘Tea Party’ Movie Premiere

By | 12.03.09 | 10:08 am

Getting into Wednesday’s Washington, D.C., premiere of “Tea Party: The Documentary Film” meant walking through a steady rain into the Ronald Reagan building, a sprawling downtown trade and convention center where the economic conservative group FreedomWorks, which helped organize a number of Tea Party protests, had rented a foyer and More…

Americans for Prosperity Brings Tea Partiers to Washington

By | 11.05.09 | 5:23 pm

It was widely reported that the corporate-funded, small-government, anti-health care reform group Americans for Prosperity was helping to organize Rep. Michele Bachmann’s (R-Minn.) Tea Party at the Capitol today. ThinkProgress has video of AfP workers handing out signs and talking points to the Tea Partiers the group More…

Weigel, the Olympics, Astroturfing and More on ‘The Rachel Maddow Show’

By | 10.06.09 | 10:16 am

TWI’s David Weigel went on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” last night to talk about his reporting on Americans for Prosperity’s “Defending the American Dream” conference this past weekend in Washington. Video after the jump.

RightOnline Attendees Soak Up Success

By | 08.18.09 | 6:00 am

PITTSBURGH – Scott and Anna Allegrini founded The Children of Liberty shortly after the inauguration of President Barack Obama. It was a small group that would meet at the local library in Sylvania, Ohio, bringing in guest lecturers to talk about economics and the More…

Americans for Prosperity Makes Anti-AstroTurf Signs

By | 08.14.09 | 6:58 pm

PITTSBURGH — At the start of Americans for Prosperity’s “Send Specter a Message Rally,” I talked to Esko and Rebecca Polvi, who were holding signs that read “I’m with Astroturf … ” and “NOT Paid to be Here.” The signs, it turned out, were part of a batch created More…

‘What They Call Mob Rule the Average American Calls Democracy’

By | 08.04.09 | 6:09 pm

I haven’t blogged much on the “yo mama” contest between the Democratic National Committee and the National Republican Campaign Committee, but it’s been fascinating to watch. The DNC, keying off of reports revealing the Tea Party/health care industry/conservative grassroots ties of the people making fusses at congressional town hall More…