A Leading Candidate In A Key Race: TNGOP Claims Tracker
Posted on June 26, 2008 at 12:28 pmAs we mentioned here yesterday, it appears that we have had our first documented case of “tracking” in the race for U.S. Senate this year.
In a posting on his campaign blog, the Democratic candidate of U.S. Senate Mike Padgett briefly refers to his “Republican company” on the trail and identifies the “company” as a young summer intern from New Jersey sent by the state Republicans.
Reached by email, TNGOP spokesman Bill Hobbs confirmed that the tracker was sent by the TNGOP.
“We don’t generally discuss our staffers and what they’re doing, but yes she is one of our summer interns and identified herself as such to Mr. Padgett. It’s not like she pretended her name was ‘Mike‘,” Hobbs shot back.
Hobbs is referring to an episode earlier in the year where Democratic Spokesman Wade Munday, attending an event for 12th District state Senate candidate Ken Yaeger, is alleged to have attempted to conceal his identity passing himself off as “Mike.”
Munday disputes this account saying that, while he did initially identify himself only as a Vanderbilt Divinity Student named Wade (true at the time), when he was asked specifically if he was from the Democratic Party he immediately acknowledged he was.
As for whether both Democratic U.S. Senate candidates were being tracked this campaign season or just Padgett, Hobbs invites us to make assumptions.
“I don’t know specifics, but I think it’s safe to assume that the leading Democrat candidates in key races are being paid attention to,” Hobbs revealed.
