Romney Brought A Black Entourage to the NAACP

You can't make this stuff up. I saw this on the Ed Show last night and was staring at the TV in disbelief, and because it is such a strange story held it until today to see if more information was available.

According to NAACP members on the ED Show, Romney brought his own entourage of African Americans to the convention, either bussed or flown in. You can see the original article and video below, but here is the new information from this afternoon:

MSNBC ~ Romney Brought in Black Supporters

The Romney campaign Wednesday night denied to Lean Forward that it brought in supporters to cheer during the candidate's speech to the NAACP, as several attendees have claimed. But one prominent black Republican told us she was invited to the event by the Romney campaign, and another African-American conservative said he was urged to go by people connected to the campaign.

"I was invited by Governor Romney," Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll of Florida, a Republican, told Lean Forward in a phone interview Thursday afternoon.

Asked who paid Carroll's way, her office referred Lean Forward to the Romney campaign's press office, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

. . . Niger Innis, a conservative activist, told Lean Forward Thursday that he was encouraged to attend the Houston speech by friends in the NAACP, as well as "some folks that were aligned with the Romney campaign," declining to elaborate. Innis said he paid his own way.

. . . The TV host Roland Martin, Hilary Shelton of the NAACP, and the radio host Mark Thompson all have claimed that the Romney campaign brought in supporters to the speech. Shelton said on MSNBC Wednesday that the goal was "to provide the cheering for [Romney]." Thompson said the supporters served as "applauders for his applause lines."

Andrea Saul, a Romney campaign spokeswoman, told Lean Forward Wednesday night that Shelton's claims were "not true." Asked Thursday about Carroll's statement that she attended the speech as a guest of the Romney campaign, and Innis's that he was urged to go by people connected to the campaign, Saul did not immediately respond.

No joke, folks. Romney is one weird candidate. If he brought in people to clap and support him, maybe they were also the ones booing him on cue as well. Honestly - it begs the question. The whole thing stinks to high heaven, if you ask me.

From The Ed Show Blog

Romney said today that after the speech, at which he was booed for saying he'd repeal the Affordable Health Care Act, he met with black leaders who told him they support his policies but are afraid to do so publicly.

But on The Ed Show, (Hilary) Shelton said those were likely people brought in by the Romney camp "to actually provide the cheering for him."

"Quite frankly, the campaign actually gave me a list of African-American VIPs that they brought into the NAACP meeting," Shelton told Ed Schulz. "So we were aware that they had people brought in specifically for the campaign. So I'm sure those were the ones they sat down with, because quite frankly none of the rank-and-file NAACPers met with him."

Indeed, despite the boos, cheering can be heard at various points during the speech, including when Romney criticized President Obama over the economy and education.

Shelton said that none of the people Romney met with were active NAACP leaders, and that Romney's referring to African-American conservative politicians like Niger Innis who "was brought in from New York."

Pressed by Ed Schultz about whether Innis and the others were actually members of the NAACP, Shelton said: "They're bringing people in that they know will support his agenda from other places, that aren't active with the NAACP. These are people who are brought in to actually provide the cheering for him, so there will be some support along those lines."

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Help Wisconsin Defeat Scott Walker

At nearly the eleventh hour, just days before the Wisconsin Governor's Recall Election on June 5th, the Democratic National Committee is finally drumming up some major funds and support on the ground to help Democrat Tom Barrett defeat the despicable union-hater Scott Walker.

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Elect Tom Barrett and Recall Scott Walker 

Tonight on MSNBC, Rachel Maddow had a great overview about Walker's union busting and why it puts the future of the Democratic Party in Wisconsin in jeopardy.

... Republican Legislators all over the country have all gotten religion all at the same time about the importance of killing off public sector unions. The most high profile among them is, of course, is Republican Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who with the stroke of a pen wiped out 50 years of union rights in the State of Wisconsin...

Scott Walker did not campaign on getting rid of those rights, but once he got elected he said he had to, he said he had to kill union rights in Wisconsin to 'save the state's budget.' When the unions said 'yes' to all of the financial concessions he asked for, and he still wanted to kill them off, it became clear that it wasn't about money, it was not about the budget. He wanted to get rid of union rights in order to get rid of unions altogether.

"If you get rid of unions altogether, then there is no one funding the other side. There will be no one funding the Democrats when business funds the Republicans. You get rid of union rights, you thereby get rid of unions, you thereby game the whole state so Democrats cannot compete in the big money part of elections ever again. Pull that off and Wisconsin didn't just go all red in 2010 - Wisconsin will be all Republican, all Red from here on out permanently. Democrats will never recover.

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But there is help on the way for Badgers who have been on the ground trying to throw Walker out of office for months: the Democratic National Committee is finally stepping up to provide fundraising for Walker's opponent, Tom Barrett.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal

“The DNC is fully committed to helping Mayor Barrett win next month’s recall election in Wisconsin,” said Melanie Roussell, DNC Spokeswoman. “DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has spoken to Mayor Barrett and has pledged the DNC’s support for his successful election next month. She will host a fundraiser for Mayor Barrett, and the DNC will utilize both its substantial network of activists, volunteers and supporters and extensive online resources to assist in building the ground game that will win on Election Day.”

In the fundraising e-mail, Wasserman Schultz says:

“Of all the elections we are preparing for in 2012, one of the most important ones isn't happening in November.
On June 5th, the people of Wisconsin will have their chance to recall Governor Scott Walker, whose attacks on workers' and women's rights are the definition of a fireable offense. Democrats are rallying around our nominee, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, and with just 14 days to go before the election, we're organizing one of the largest get-out-the-vote efforts in state history.
Will you donate today to help Wisconsin Democrats build the grassroots organization it's going to take to beat Scott Walker and win in 2012?
It's up to Democrats across the country to help win this thing.”

Huffington Post Story 

"Choices don't get clearer than this," read the email sent Wednesday evening by the DNC chair, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.). "Winning in Wisconsin sends a powerful message to the far-right extremists, and it starts to roll back their worst offenses. To build our organization and make it happen, Democrats need to come together to turn out hundreds of thousands of voters -- and we all have a part to play."

What's notable about this fundraising appeal is that the money will go directly to Wisconsin Democrats, rather than to the DNC. Other national organizations -- including the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee -- have sent out solicitations related to the recall, but the money has not directly gone to Wisconsin entities.

A Democratic party official told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Wednesday's fundraising email was being sent to "millions" of people.