Desperate Acts of a Desperate Man - Hahn Slings Mud
Hahn lit up the press with a blistering attack on both Antonio and Huggy regarding Enron. He waited for the LA Times to scoop the story, since evidentially Linda "ball-breaker" Breakstone wouldn't carry their water fast enough. Her mud will probably run tonight with the same letters Hahn distributed today. (FYI: Breakstone had this story last week). Hahn did manage to deliver his diatribe regarding their alleged "unethical actions" and keep a straight face, ignoring his own ethical issues. (That in and of itself should have earned him an Oscar).
This prompted Huggy to hold his own event this afternoon swinging right back in defense, and pointing out the Hahn himself also took Enron contributions. Difference: Hahn still has his. Huggy returned it.
Carrick has also been overheard touting a negative hit ad coming out in the near future along with an "attack a day" for the next 7 days.
To use Hahn's line from yesterday in his description of Huggy, "Desperate acts of a desperate man." When all else fails and you are dumping in the polls, take em down with you and spread your crap elsewhere.
Personally I agree with Mack Reed over at LA Voice: "when it comes to what he's actually done for Los Angeles, Hahn's just a lazy dull, pandering hack politician who can't seem to grasp that he's holding the reins of one of the world's great cities limply in his hands and giving them a weak little shake only when it looks as though his re-election might be in jeopardy."
Posted by Anonymous @ 3/02/2005 04:01:00 PM
49 Comments:
Hey people on this blog have been saying for weeks, don't underestimate what Hahn will do near the end. What's he got to lose? Paint him as "dirty" six ways from Sunday from five different directions (opposing campaigns), and he might as well take advantage of the stereotype and slime back. It's not like he's going ti run for city council it he misses the boat here.
FROM MEAT:
Wow, ok. If Chief Parker got these facts from a seperate source, then i know who you are -- which is fine, cause if you are who i think you are, we are cool.
If not, then these is another MEAT exclusive.
blog away
You can be damn well certain ADV never returned the money. . .
Hmmm...a blog that everyone knows to be carrying water for the Hertzberg campaign somehow knows that a TV reporter has been working on story damaging to Hertzberg...must be a coincidence...
When Hahn drops the Vignali Bomb again this weekend on Hertzberg and Villar. Alarcon will be mentioned as the only candidate one apoproached with donations and with the letter request, who refused. While Hahn, Huggy, and Villar fight this out Alarcon will continue to tap into ADV's base.
In real "journo" land, reporters ask questions of both sides, the accuser and the accusee. No coincidence, nothing mysterious. It's only in blog-land that no one asks the target of the slime "is it true, do you deny it, can you explain?" The target of the "damage" usually knows almost as soon as the work on the story begins -- they can either debunk it, or hope it dies a natural death.
FROM MEAT:
*********MEAT EXCLUSIVE*********
Because Hahn thinks he's so cool -- he's coming out with attack ads tomorrow morning. Like i said before -- they hit both Antonio and Bob.
Taste of what the scrip looks like....
Both are Sacramento politicians, both conspired with Energy companies, both took money from ENRON, both wrote a letter for Vignali.
Those are the themes - with all dark and scary music in the background.
Bob attacks same time -- Hahn is too slow on this one. Crush the Hahn negativity Bob.
Antonio... :) Thanks Carrick - you guys are idiots.
blog away dum-dums.
FROM MEAT: Time stamps are great -- since at 10:47am i said this...
FROM MEAT:
Here's the low down on the turmoil - - yes there is a difference of opinion between the consultants.
Kuwata and Carrick want to preserve the negative option for the run-off so it can't bite them too hard in the last waning days of the campaign. And they keep reminding Hahn of that almost everyday.
Hahn and Wardlaw want to attack now -- and they want to attack Bob, but even there they aren't sure, they don't want Antonio to benefit so they may end up cluster bombing both of them -- this is why they needed the LA Times to do the story with both bob and antonio in it together. It's a guilt by association ad.
Sadly, and Kuwata and Carrick know this, whoever they do face in the run-off will have this ad to use as fodder against Hahn the entire run-off. Kuwata may have to go back to the sauce some more when this is all over.
Whatever -- LA gets to be reminded of the kind of unethical scorch earth campaigns lil jimmy likes to run. Cool by me, i want to get dirty.
blog away dum-dums
# posted by Anonymous : 10:47 AM, March 02, 2005
P.S. Kam is the squeaky wheel in the Hahn organization -- he talks to MEAT everyday.
blog away.
Hahn gets more favorable when he stands up and fights these losers like Bob and ADV. These 2 clowns not only took money but they voted legislature towards the companies and special interests they took the money from. Good for Hahn. I guarantee his numbers go up. Remember what I said....it's all in timing. Hahn needs to remind people WHY THEY DIDN'T VOTE FOR ADV IN 2001. Meat...get a life.
Hey MEAT thanks for that exclusive. I thought Hahn would come out with negative ads attacking his sister and other supporters!
CD14... :) Hey, Antonio - Recall!
Yes, it's true Kam does speak to MEAT everyday - I hear he thanks MEAT at the diner when MEAT waits on Kam's table.
Don't order the soup, Mr. Kawata, MEAT spit in it.
So when all these turn out to NOT be the focus of the next set of Hahn ads, will you go away and shut up, MEAT? Seems only right...
Hey MEAT, what is this "sauce" you're talking about? Or is it "source"? Mayor Sam, maybe we could market a dictionary for anybody who wants to understand MEAT?
In 1864 the dictator of Paraguay, Francisco Solano Lopez declared war, simultaneously, on Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. The resulting 4 years of conflict, known as the War of the Triple Alliance, resulted in the population of Paraguay being reduced by more than half, and the country losing 90% of its adult male population.
Jimmy, this is not a good strategy.
Hey, unless Hahn starts drafting civilians for this war, it fine by me!
FROM MEAT:
I admit i make spelling errors - who cares.
As for the jimmy's strategy ehhh - i am ok with it.
He's desperate and got some new polling from a labor friend.
So he's nervous now -- which is fine. Him being nervous makes for a more interesting race.
MEAT - tell us about the gentleman's agreement between Hugman, ADV and Bitterman to take Hahn down. Sort of a non-agression pact?
check out polling:
http://blogging.la/bla/mt-tb.cgi/2471
So I wonder whether Villaraigosa's childhood buddy, Senator Cedillo, is rethinking his endorsement of Hahn:
1. Hahn's not even going to make the runoff.
2. Hahn's reputation is doing worse than his poll numbers.
3. Hahn's deputy chief of staff/Cedillo's erstwhile girlfriend, Natalie Reyes, is in London this weekend with the rich Lebanese national she met over Christmas break. This after going to Acapulco with a boy she met in DC during Hispanic Heritage Month.
Cedillo dates Reyes and endorses Hahn -- talk about pay to play. His one consolation is that he'll be done with both by March 9.
Problem is, then he'll endorse Villaraigosa.
Some people never learn...
Cedillo has nothing to do with this, or anything else of real significance in the Mayoral Race. He needs to be concentrating on making sure that Schwarzenegger doesn't play him again like an ignorant freshman girl gets played during her first week in high school. What's it about is Hahn's hail mary attacks that are crystal clear.
So you mean to tell me that the only thing that Hahn can put his tomahawk missles on is something that that was from the late 90's and didn't really impact LA residents too much, if any??? And of course, he waits until just a few days before the election, so that he can say almost anything and the rest of the camps will be too busy to get out a real response to his accusations.
I'm sure that by the time Hahn crosses the finish line, he'll be watching Hertzberg and Villaraigosa get ready for Round 2 while Hahn begins to remember how to practice law in preparation for any indictments over stuff that he has done during his term come arriving at his door.
Nacho, I read a lot of these postings and have a pretty good sense of where people stand on issues. Your postings always make me sure of one thing by the time I'm through reading them, and that's this: I don't know what they mean, and have no idea whether I agree with you or not!?
Good for Hahn coming out with the Enron stuff. LAT finally is printing the truth on ADV and Hertzberg as being crooks who took money from special interests and VOTED IN FAVOR of them in legislature. ENRON made hard working people lose their jobs and 401K's. MEAT is full of shit. He thinks he knows it all but didn't se this coming. Funny how ADV or Huggy couldn't answer media questions.
By the way the traffic light ADV had put up in Boyle Heights yesterday took over a year. Leonardo and his group had been trying to get a meeting with ADV for months and he didn't even return their calls. Its been documented in Eastside Sun newspaper. Now all of a sudden there's AV giving them the light.
1) Cedillo is not a factor in this race, so there's no need to talk about him.
2) Hahn's desperate shots aren't going to hit home because deregulation was not a factor here in LA since we have DWP.
3) Hahn's going to come in 3rd place.
How's that??? I have talked to various people and they seem to get what I'm saying, but I'll try to make my statements a bit more traditional.
"I admit I make spelling errors - who cares?" MEAT, that's not the attitude we want our kids to grow up with. In fact, your spelling errors and bad use of language puts you at a disadvanatge in your job - as a wannabe spin meister. If you can't properly convey your message, well - you're just a dum dum.
Sorry, I forgot to add for #2:
His accusations have been discredited by those who were involved in the energy crisis several years ago, either as elected officials or consumer advocates.
and for #3:
With the all the investigations that are taking place regarding his administration, it makes no sense for him to criticize others who were never tied to any scandals in the way that he has been.
The fact of the matter Nacho is Huggy and Attention Deficit Villaraigosa made hard working people lose their jobs and lose their 401k's. They voted in legislature for these criminals and the CEO LAY made millions. How the hell can they be attacking Hahn when they're not better? Wonder what MEAT's spin on this one will be. MEAT you didn't post anything we didn't already know. You're not as connected as you pretend to be.
FROM MEAT:
So about an hour ago -- ACORN killed Hahn's little press conference with Garcetti. Now since i was standing right next to the LA Opinion reporter when Hahn was asked if his commercials and campaign are RACIST.
Wow, if this is what reporters think about Hahn's campaign how will he ever get reelected?
What about La Opinion's piece on Antonio, Meat? It basically called Antonio a liar for saying he had the support of his community to run for mayor.
FROM MEAT:
Yeah you are right about that pesky LA Opinion and their article. Here it is for those of you that haven't seen it.
LA Opinion
http://www.laopinion.com/print.html?rkey=00050224131507609279
Here is the annoying LA Hoy article too (not a good one)
http://www.holahoy.com/noticias/columnistas/la/hoy-editorial-la-02-25-05-trfeb25,1,552988,print.story?ctrack=2&cset=true
But the one that really gets my blood boiling is the one from the Eastside Sun:
http://www.egpnews.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=browse&id=30&pageid=36
Finally i think in todays LA Weekly someone noted something about Hahn's campaign style. His campaigns aren't the style of his father Kenny, but more like Sam.
Hahn is the Son of Sam.
Yorty that is.
blog away
hey meat,
if hahn is the son of sam -- does that mean Gotti is his cousin?
lol
Just FYI - The Sun has backed the loser in nearly every race on the Eastside in recent history. Factor that in!
Desperate? You think?
Hahn, struggling to hold onto a run-off spot pulls his positive advertising track to run a new negative that attacks two different candidates on three different issues.
His tracking must look pretty bad.
All the AV recall supporters aka Nick Pacheco supporters should be voting for AV so that they can get Nick back on the council.
It's a smart strategy for Hahn. It worked in 2001. Remind the people that the little shit Antonio took money from a drug dealer's family and wrote a letter in support of him. With the way drugs have deteroriated this city especially in South Cental LA please if you don't think that will hurt ADV you're crazy. I asked the Eastside Sun why they endorsed the loser Antonio and they said they did a phone poll. I told them they obviously didn't speak with anyone in CD14, any Latino leaders or organizations. They admitted they hadn't. I think that paper like the LA Opinion are the typical stereotype if you're Latino we'll back you. Old ELA way of thinking. College educated Latinos don't think that way.
I just can't wait to see Antonio's face when Alarcon get more votes in Boyle Heights than he does.
I just can't wait to see Antonio's face when Alarcon get more votes in Boyle Heights than he does.
The Latino vote in Boyle Heights will go to Hahn, Huggy and Alarcon. ADV is having all type of lunches inviting the community. All of a sudden he has money. He already took money from 2 of his neighborhood councils in CD14.
I couldn't believe the attack tv ads I just saw from Antonio. He's such a whimpy loser that he didn't even have the balls to put his face or name anywhere on them against Hahn. Thank David Jackson from KCAL who stated they were from Antonio. Hey, MEAT is your boss that afraid? Good for Alarcon people who slammed Antonio in his own district. Good job El Sereno!!
antonio, when hahn hits your punk ass do not cry racism, or play the role of victim. you did support the release of a crack dealer the only problem never in your dream did you think that vignali jr. would get out. antonio, not only did you take vignali money you took your car to his body shop to get fixed and did not pay. the biggest piece of shit in this race is you Tony.
To the person who says that Villaraigosa didn't put his name or face on the attack ad against Hahn, you should notice that the name tag is at the beginning of the commercial. It's illegal to put out any ad out there without publicizing who put it out there (which is what Ricardo Torres did when he did the pathetic attack pieces against Villaraigosa during the City Council race).
As for the ads that Villaraigosa and Hertzberg are putting out in response to Hahn's attacks, I don't think that any members of either candidates' staff presently or in previous administrations has had to resign due to pressure from indictments being brought on by law enforcement agencies. Hahn on the other hand, has had 3 key players in his administration resign, went ahead and opened a legal defense fund, and has clearly been linked to the DWP-Fleishman Hillard scandal.
He should check himself before he wrecks himself, because misleading attacks like that are bad for his political health.
Sorry, I just saw this article in the LA Times website and thought that you should all read it.
Now that we're talking about the commercials that everybody is putting out, LA Times went ahead and did a fact checking on the ads of Hahn, Villaraigosa, and Hertzberg. If you want to see it from their website, go to:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mayoradbox4mar04,1,5637431.story?coll=la-headlines-california
But in the name of trying to bring some substance to this blog, I have copied the article below. Enjoy!:
THE STATE
The television campaign
The top three candidates launched new television ads Thursday that, for the first time, take direct shots at their opponents. Mayor James K. Hahn criticizes both Bob Hertzberg and Antonio Villaraigosa for their records as state assemblymen. Villaraigosa takes on Hahn for "corruption in his administration." And Hertzberg dismisses Hahn's latest television ad as "another Jim Hahn excuse."
*
Mayor James K. Hahn's new ad
Claim: "Sacramento politicians Antonio Villaraigosa and Bob Hertzberg are running negative attack campaigns."
Analysis: Though neither candidate had explicitly attacked Hahn in their commercials until Thursday, both have taken frequent swipes at him in public forums, accusing him of running a dirty campaign and suggesting the presence of "corruption" at City Hall. In one TV ad, Villaraigosa speaks of the need to "restore people's trust of their government." Hertzberg distributed a mailer depicting a car with the license plate "JHAHN" and a bumper sticker that reads, "I brake for campaign contributors."
Claim: "Hertzberg secretly worked with Enron to bail Enron out. And Villaraigosa backed Enron's deregulation bill. Both took thousands in contributions from Enron."
Analysis: Hertzberg was Assembly speaker at the height of the energy crisis in 2000 and 2001 and played a central role in efforts to devise a solution. In the spring of 2001, he met with Enron's then-chief executive officer Kenneth Lay and had several conversations with Enron officials.
Hertzberg worked to keep the state's utilities, which were billions of dollars in debt to Enron and other energy companies, from going bankrupt. At the time, some consumer activists accused Hertzberg of trying to bail out the utilities. But several key players in the negotiations said recently there was no evidence Hertzberg was trying to "bail Enron out" at the expense of consumers.
For his part, Villaraigosa was one of 116 legislators who approved the deregulation plan in 1996; no one voted against it.
Enron did lobby strongly for the plan. But when it passed, leading consumer groups had dropped their opposition and the measure was widely expected to drive down prices for consumers.
The candidates raised money from Enron before it was accused of manipulating the state's flawed energy market.
Villaraigosa and Hertzberg raised $18,000 and $13,000, respectively, from Enron for campaign funds they controlled.
Hahn has said he did not take money from Enron. But campaign finance records show Enron gave him $900 when he was city attorney.
Claim: "Both raided hundreds of millions from L.A. taxpayers to bail out Sacramento."
Analysis: Under a budget deal worked out in Sacramento in the early 1990s, the state has been using billions of dollars in local property taxes to help balance the state budget. The National League of Cities estimates that since 1992 and 1993 — when the shift began — Los Angeles has lost more than $1.2 billion to the state.
Neither Villaraigosa nor Hertzberg were in the Legislature when the property tax shift began. But when Villaraigosa was Assembly speaker from 1998 to 2000 and Hertzberg was speaker from 2000 to 2002, both voted for state budgets that relied on local property taxes.
However, the city's share of state tax revenue went up by $95 million during Villaraigosa's three-year tenure as speaker. As state lawmakers, Villaraigosa and Hertzberg also helped pass legislation and statewide bond measures that directed hundreds of millions of dollars to Los Angeles for new schools, parks and public transit.
Under a compromise worked out last year between state leaders and local government leaders, including Hahn, it will be harder for the state to increase its reliance on local property taxes in future years.
Claim: "Both Villaraigosa and Hertzberg wrote official letters to get a convicted crack cocaine dealer pardoned."
Analysis: Both candidates were among a dozen local officials who wrote letters to the White House and other federal officials on behalf of Carlos Vignali, a convicted drug dealer whose sentence was commuted by President Clinton. Many of the politicians who intervened received some of the more than $150,000 Vignali's father donated to officeholders after his son was incarcerated.
Neither Hertzberg nor Villaraigosa explicitly sought a pardon for Vignali. Rather, in his letter to Clinton on Dec. 7, 2000, Hertzberg asked the president to commute Vignali's sentence. He said the convicted dealer had been a "model prisoner" and noted that "neither guns, drugs nor drug money was found in Mr. Vignali's possession" when he was arrested.
Villaraigosa wrote a letter to the White House pardon secretary on May 24, 1996, asking for consideration of Vignali's appeal. "I am convinced that he has been falsely linked to a drug ring," he wrote, adding that he believed that the conviction was "a product of 'guilt by association,' among other factors."
When Vignali's release became an issue in his 2001 mayoral campaign, Villaraigosa expressed regret for sending a letter on his behalf, saying that he had misunderstood Vignali's role in the drug ring.
Hertzberg, who was not a candidate at the time, did not comment on the role he played when the issue first surfaced.
On Thursday, he said he had made a mistake.
*
Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa's new ad
Claim: "Because of corruption in his administration, Jim Hahn's campaign is in trouble…. His administration is under investigation by a federal grand jury."
Analysis: To date, no one in the Hahn administration has been charged with corruption. But multiple city officials and city contractors have testified before grand juries. And federal and local prosecutors have been subpoenaing contracting documents and other evidence from city government for more than a year amid allegations that contractors were pressured to give contributions to the mayor's campaigns.
Claim: "His own documents and e-mails subpoenaed by investigators."
Analysis: The U.S. attorney's office last year did subpoena all of Hahn's e-mails, as well as those of many top aides.
Claim: "Three Hahn appointees resigned in contracting scandals."
Analysis: In the midst of the probes, Deputy Mayor Troy Edwards, who oversaw the airports, port and Department of Water and Power, and Airport Commission President Ted Stein resigned. Both were major Hahn fundraisers, and Stein helped raise thousands of dollars from companies that appeared before his commission. DWP Commissioner Leland Wong, another Hahn fundraiser, resigned amid allegations that he had misused his employer's funds for political purposes and steered an airport contract to a friend.
Claim: "A Hahn fundraiser charged with money laundering."
Analysis: Hahn fundraiser Mark Alan Abrams was fined a record $270,000 for arranging illegal contributions to Hahn's 2001 mayoral campaign. Attorney Pierce O'Donnell has been charged with laundering donations to Hahn's campaign. Hahn has said that he had no knowledge of their alleged improprieties.
Claim: "A PR advisor indicted for over-billing the city."
Analysis: John Stodder, an executive with public relations firm Fleishman-Hillard, has been indicted on fraud charges. The firm did hundreds of thousands of dollars of public relations work for Hahn under a contract with the Department of Water and Power.
*
Former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg's new ad
Claim: "That's just wrong. Another Jim Hahn excuse. Like Jim Hahn saying a mayor can't do anything to fix our schools."
Analysis: Hahn has never said the mayor cannot do anything to help the schools, and he has presided over an expansion of LA's Best, an after-school program. But the mayor has no direct authority over the Los Angeles Unified School District, which is governed by an independently elected board. Hertzberg has said he will break up the school system, but he could not do that on his own. He would need a City Charter amendment or a statewide ballot measure that would alter the funding of education in California.
Claim: Hahn maintains "that we need a tax increase to hire more police."
Analysis: Hahn has twice pushed plans to ask voters to approve an increase in sales taxes to pay for 1,200 more police officers. Last fall, he supported a countywide measure that failed. This year he backed a similar city measure.
After the City Council rejected that plan, the mayor proposed hiring 720 new officers in the next fiscal year, through unspecified budget saving and borrowing against future tax refunds.
Hertzberg has said he would hire 3,000 more officers by, in part, devoting 25% of new city revenues to expanding the force. Hertzberg's campaign put the annual cost at $300 million, but he has declined to say what services he would cut to pay for the new hires.
*
Source: Times staff writers Matea Gold and Noam N. Levey
Los Angeles Times
FROM MEAT:
NACHO YOU ARE A LIAR AND A POND OF THE LA TIMES!!!!
Wow its easier than i thought to sound crazy.
Let me try this one more time.
MEAT WHY DOESN'T YOUR SCUM BUCKET BOSS ADV RETURN THE ENRON MONEY!!! ONE CENT IS TOO MUCH AAAARRRGHGHHHHG IM CRAZY.
Well i suppose Antonio can return the money when Hahn returns his. Lead by example lil jimmy.
blog away dum-dums.
:) nice ad antonio! perhaps it was you i was talking about that can beat Carrick at his own game...wait it was.
Villaraigosa wrote a letter claiming a convicted drug dealer's imprisonment was simply the result of "guilt by association" - after taking money from the felon's father. He has since said he "misunderstood."
For poloitical gain Villaraigosa repeatedly claims Hahn is corrupt even though he has so far only been presumed that as a product of "guilt by association."
He is unwilling to afford the same courtesy to a political opponent as he did -- for pay -- to a proven criminal. This is not the kind of judgement worthy of high office, anywhere.
Big difference in all this ad analysis is in thinking that clarifying all these claims will change anyone's mind. Villaraigosa's slams against the Hahn administration have all been out there for weeks -- Times polls even asked about them in general. The public is about as aware of all this as they're ever going to be this late in the game, and adding paid ads results in little or no further slippage for Hahn's numbers at this late stage.
On the other hand, the Hahn charges against AV and BH are new, and may make some headway -- at least with the 20 percent still undecided. Hahn had little to lose by going negative; he had already taken the hits in his numbers during the period when both opponents' shares rose and his didn't. His opponents now have little time to correct the impressions Hahn's ads leave, and their response ads don't help there.
Hertzberg's claims against Hahn are more defensive in nature -- in terms of Hahn's earlier criticisms. They may best serve to maintain his forward momentum. AV had the most to lose by the final burst of ads going negative at this point - reminding the voters why they refused him the spot 4 years ago.
MEAT
"FROM MEAT:
NACHO YOU ARE A LIAR AND A POND OF THE LA TIMES!!!!"
It's pawn MEAT, not pond. You sound about as stupid as Tony your boss. Can't wait for the runoff, when the good stuff on Tony comes out.
Maybe he meant "pond" -- that delivery person's always throwing my Times in the water, too.
Oh MEAT, yes, I am a pond of the LA Times. I guess I just enjoy reading stuff that has subtance to it and is supported by facts and not foolish "I heard" comments, like others on this blog enjoy doing. I'm sure that you know what I'm talking about, since you tend to be the Chef on the blog who gets the shit thrown at and then serves it right back. Keep it up bro!
Let's see what comes up from all of this. In the meantime, I'll just hang out here at home all "wet and ticky".
Hey dumb ass the PR Official that was indicted also gave $500.00 to dip shit tony.
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