Gingrich: Campaign worker's signature fraud cost slot on Virginia ballot
Algona, Iowa (CNN) - Newt Gingrich cited fraud Wednesday as the reason he didn't get on the Virginia primary ballot.
Last week his campaign acknowledged they used paid volunteers to scramble to get the required 10,000 signatures but fell short after the former House speaker and Virginia resident boasted his campaign was submitting as many as 12,000-14,000 signatures.
On a campaign stop at an Algona chocolate store, the former House speaker said the "mistake" occurred because one of their workers committed fraud.
"We hired somebody who turned in false signatures. We turned in 11,100 – we needed 10,000 – 1,500 of them were by one guy who frankly committed fraud."
The campaign called the Virginia ballot qualification process a "failed system" after they learned that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Rep. Ron Paul were the only candidates that were successful.
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PAID VOLUNTEERS? Isn't that an oxymoron? I bet the IRS and the Unemployment people think so.
Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. This speaks volumes about his whole campaign.
Respondiet superior....let superior be responsible...entire GOP idiots are idiots, and Fraud...I simply say this "FRAUD".
So there IS evidence of voter fraud... committed by GOP operatives!
Somehow I think this is one case where voter fraud does affect the results of an election... for the better!
I smell a fish
It's a failed system because they caught the fradulent signatures?
Surprised to hear Newt hired someone from ACORN…. hypocrite....
What precisely is a paid volunteer? In most circles that's an employee.
Way to pass the buck there Newt. Buy some signatures and then blame the guy you paid b/c you couldn't get your ground game in order an extra week in advance to pull 10k signatures w/o hiring people. Then blame the system that's been in place in the past and even Ron Paul achieved w/o issue. Speaks greatly to your ability to lead.
Is it really *that* hard to get 10,000 non-fraudulent signatures? So hard that when you fail you feel the need to call the whole system a failure? Despite two others managing to do get past it? Really??
We hired somebody who turned in false signatures. We turned in 11,100 – we needed 10,000 – 1,500 of them were by one guy who frankly committed fraud."
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Say it isn't so Newton! I thought fraud was only done by ACORN & lefties? That's just sad that you can't even get the amount of ballots needed in the state that you reside in.
100,000,000 people vote in a national election, and there are 23 cases of voter fraud. Not bad compared to a republican operative having 1500 fraudulent signatures out of 11,000.
Newtie is taking lessons from Barack Obama now... "To err is human, but to lay it on someone else is cool!"
If a captain of an oil tanker is asleep in his stateroom while his first-mate (hired help) runs the ship aground and spills several hundred thousand gallons of oil into the sea, who is ultimately to blame? Nuff said, case closed.
I like Newt and considered him as a candidate. But this sounds like Al Gore a la 2000. His campaign knew the rules before hand and had the same chance as every other candidate. After he fails to get the needed number of signatures, he blames the VA GOP (just like Al Gore blamed "flawed vote counting"). Now, he's going even further and blaming a paid campaign worker. And, like Gore, his campaign's response is to file a law suit. Please stop and accept the defeat in VA.
Since Newt lives in Virginia, and said he won't be voting for Ron Paul, looks like Newt will be voting for Mitt Romney in the primary. That's pretty close to an endorsement.
You're campaign hired the guy. Is this the same sort of management we will see if he's elected POTUS? It's always going to be someone else that is at fault. Instead of taking the time to verify that something, as important as collecting signatures so you can be on the ballot, is correct. This is a failure of Newt. And then to claim that the laws that have been around for years is what the problem is, just shows that he will do whatever he can to pass the blame for his failure. Do we want a president that doesn't take responsability?
Poor baby.
This speaks to Newt's character. He doesn't take accountability for his own failures but instead tries to put the blame on someone else. The bottom line is that he did not gather enough votes to make it on the VA ballot, which by the way is a state that he lives in and knows very clearly what the requirements are to get on the ballot. This is just another excuse and attempt to place the blame elsewhere. Definitely not the kind of person we as Americans, would want serving as our president.
I guess I'm confused.
Is there such a thing as a paid volunteer? I thought you were either a volunteer (unpaid) or an employee / contractor (paid).
An establishment Republican complaining about onerous ballot access laws? Gimme a break!
You are the company you keep Newt. I guess that means your quite the low life. But then we already new that.
This is a serious charge, I trust Virginia's Attorney General will fully investigate.
I'm shocked! After the GOP accused the DNC of turning in false signatures, Newt Gingrich's campaign did the same thing. Just shocked that the GOP would hire workers (must be their jobs plan) and have those workers forge signatures. Oh the GOP would never ever do anything like that. /sarcasm
At least Newt didn't blame it on George Bush.
Shouldn't Gingrich have had better control over his organization? Whatever happened to the buck stopping with someone? It's always someone else's fault. If this is the kind of campaign Gingrich is running it does not bode well for what kind of President he would be.