This morning, I received information that an Obama campaign worker Jacob I. Smith had registered to vote at a temporary address in Ohio.
We looked up Smith's public voter record and contacted the residents of the house at which "Jake" Smith was registered to vote.
Smith was being hosted by a man named Don and his wife during the election period; Don agreed to answer a few questions on camera, so we headed down to Howard, OH.
On the way down, Don called me back and said that he wanted us to get Smith's side of the story as well... he felt bad because Smith was “a good kid.” Don gave Smith my number and before I knew it, I had a new message...
Smith wanted to know why we were seeking him out and told me to please go to HIM, not Don. He said that he was at the Obama headquarters in Mt. Vernon and that we should stop by to speak to him.
A few minutes later Smith called again, wondering how we got his info and why we wanted to talk to him. I said we wanted to ask him a few questions about early voting in Ohio.. he sounded nervous, but he agreed to talk OFF the record.
I called Palestra graduate managing editor Tiffany Wilson to tell her the situation and when I hung up, I had ANOTHER message from Smith. He was frantic and said he couldn't answer any questions at all… “thanks but no thanks.”
Smith didn't want to lose his job with the campaign.Tiffany and graduate reporter Gary Orr headed over to see if they could talk to Smith at the Obama HQ, and I headed to Don's house with graduate reporter Sean Merinar.
Don was really nice and just gave us the facts- he said that to his knowledge, Smith grew up in Florida and is a graduate of Hofstra University on Long Island, NY. He is a paid worker on the Obama campaign and is staying for the month of October. Don said they don't talk too much because Smith is always out working, but he seems like a nice guy.
When I asked Don if Smith planned on staying in Ohio, he said he didn't know.
...so I then asked if Smith was welcome to stay at his place in Ohio, and he joked, "yeah if he pays some rent."
So, maybe it was just something that was discovered....no organized attempt to game the system by Jacob or the campaign, right? Well, let's go to the rest of Ms. Holliday's story for some curious conversations with the Obama campaign:
Following our conversation with Don, Sean and I went to the Board of Elections and found that Jacob I. Smith registered and voted on October 1, 2008 at Don's address. (According to the info Don gave me, that is a day or 2 after Smith arrived in Ohio.)
We thought the info we had could be of interest to the prosecuting attorney for election law, but when we visited her office, she was unavailable for comment.
I was literally 2 steps out the door when I got a call from Tom Reynolds of the Obama campaign. Reynolds appeared angry and said, "I understand you visited one of our campaign workers..." I told him that Tiffany had visited Smith because SMITH INVITED US THERE and that I visited the host family. Frankly, Reynolds sounded paranoid and said "you have to go through the press office- we don't bother you at work, please don't bother us. Our workers have a job to do and we don't want them being disrupted."
He also said that if we needed something on the record, we should call him.
After talking one of our managers in the Palestra office, I called Reynolds back and told him I'd take him up on the offer since Smith couldn't comment. But then Reynolds backpedaled and never agreed to go on the record. He kept saying, "I don't know why you want me on the record because I don't even see a story here."
I REPEATEDLY TOLD HIM that we were inquiring about Smith's residency. Did he plan on staying in Ohio? We were told that he wasn't from here and that he was probably planning on leaving after the election (off camera on the phone).
Reynolds said "Well he got here before October 4 right? So he will be here 30 days right? And he registered before Oct 6 right? So he has complied with the law. There is no story."
I told him it appeared as if Smith had NOT complied with the law because he was most likely a temporary resident of Ohio. We have spoken to multiple attorneys and that the law actually states that a temporary presence in Ohio does NOT make one eligible to register and vote in the state. (Ohio Revised Code 3503.02 Residence Determination Rules). This information can be found online, and it was also given to us by the Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Ron O'Brien just 2 days ago.
Reynolds laughed and said he was "well versed"... that I didn't need to refer him to the law. He repeatedly told me that he didn't see any story here.
Reynolds also felt it necessary to point out (numerous times) that the prosecuting attorney Ron O'Brien is a Republican and is not in Knox County -- as if that changed the state law.
We were back and forth for a LONG time, and he never agreed to go on the record. I felt like he was trying to intimidate me and talk me out of doing a story, but I could also sense that he was a little nervous about it all. He kept asking me who I had on camera and what kind of information I had.
I told Reynolds that we wanted to reach out and give them a chance to give their side of the story, but he kept saying "there is no story."
Well you know what? I think there is.
No...nothing to see here....move on...pay no attention to the ACORN or the fraudulent voters behind the curtain....
