Ashley Todd, PA Racist Hoax "Victim," Was Paid Organizer for College Republican National Committee,

[babsbunny]

Not a Volunteer

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/analysis/506

Submitted by meg on Mon, 10/27/2008 - 12:20pm. Analysis

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Meg White

Last week, a troubled young woman handed the McCain campaign a Willie Horton-style race card, and the media helped them play it.

The attack of a 20-year-old college student was seized upon by the Drudge Report as a "mutilation," and other conservative Web sites as fodder against the surging Obama campaign. Ashley Todd filed a report with the Pittsburgh Police Department alleging a 6'4'' black man robbed her, then carved up her cheek and sexually assaulted her because he saw that she was a McCain supporter. It turns out the story was made up, and that Todd's black eye and the backwards B scratched into her cheek were most likely self-inflicted.

[Ian David]

1. Oh, there's a shocker. That must be how they stole her from the Ron Paul campaign. n/t

[TexasObserver]

2. She was booted from the Ron Paul campaign for sleazy conduct.

of this same variety

[Ian David]

3. If she was too crazy for Ron Paul, what should THAT have told them? n/t

[TexasObserver]

6. On a scale of nutty to stark raving mad, McCain is clearly the maddest.

I never realized he was really, seriously nuts until the past six months.

[texastoast]

4. And there I was feeling sorry for a nutjob

No more.

It turns out I'm not so cynical after all.

[yardwork]

5. And what does it say about the McCain that they hired someone with her past?

From the link:

Todd's actions alone show that she is clearly disturbed, and police say she has a history of mental illness. Both her Twitter account and MySpace page (captured here, note the "headline") show her as a person for whom lying is not a moral issue. The fact that an organization would hire someone to be their representative who has such issues is problematic.

Even more problematic, however, is the fact that the McCain campaign would twist and promote the story. On top of that, several journalists abandoned their integrity, playing along after Todd was exposed by downplaying her role to "volunteer," when she was actually a paid employee of the CRNC. The idea of Todd as an unstable volunteer minimizes the relationship between her and Republicans supporting McCain.