Getty images via nymag.com
The dogged, tireless Greg Sargent over at TPM's The Horses' Mouth has uncovered a pretty embarrassing story from the Anamosa Journal-Eureka in Jones County, Iowa (thank you, Google Alert!): Turns out someone on the Rudy Giuliani team invited an Iowa farming couple, Deb and Jerry VonSprecken of Olin, Iowa, to host a campaign event — and then reneged afer they learned the couple weren't millionaires. Why? Giuliani will be campaigning on the Estate/Death Tax, and, well, who wants to be seen with a non-millionaire? Trouble is, these are chatty non-millionaires, and they had already started organizing an event for 75-100 people, and efforts to assuage them with a Rudy photo-op did not make it all better. And they're only too happy to talk to the media about it.
Okay, reality check here: In all likelihood, Giuliani had never heard of these people until this story broke — some tone-deaf staffer clearly screwed up. Even so, it's a gaffe, and a major one — Sargent points out that Deb VonSprecken has fibromyalgia, a condition marked by chronic pain, which adds even more pathos to statements like this: "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?"
Okay, so: Where does a story like this go? Sargent wonders sardonically if "the haircut-obsessed political media" will pick it up (paging Adam Nagourney!); a quickie Google search reveals that only Wonkette and the National Journal's Hotline have picked up the item (and, now, us). Here's an indicator though: A link to the original item kicks up an error message: "The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to the site owner reaching his/her bandwidth limit." So clearly someone is paying attention. We'll see what the pickup is over the next few days, but in the meantime, two notes: First, this is a good example of how the Google Alert is levelling the coverage playing field, i.e. a story from the Anamosa Journal-Eureka is just as clickable from your inbox as a headline from the NYT; and second, that said, it still may not be enough for the MSM to take it, well, mainstream. Guess if Rudy had sexy hair things might be different.
Speaking of the hapless Rudy — hapless because, unlike, say, marrying his cousin, he probably didn't know about this beforehand — how Rudy handles it from this point will be telling — a guy who bills himself as the ultimate crisis manager should probably be able to deal with this. Unless, of course, he listens to his staffers.
Rudy Campaign Reportedly Snubs Farmer For Not Being Rich; Will Media Cover It? [TPM]
Related:
Giuliani Hates American Farmers Who Love Him [Wonkette]
Poor Advance Work [National Journal]
Adam Nagourney: I Totally Started That Whole Breck Girl Thing [NYT]
