You know...

modernesquire — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 15:38:46 -0700

I predicted after the disasterous communication effort by the Blackwell campaign that Naugle would never work for a respectible Republican campaign again. Look's like I was wrong. He can't even find work with a disrespectible Republican campaign, either.

I dub this...

modernesquire — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 12:30:30 -0700

"Pay to say".... Although after the disasterous Blackwell blog, why would any respectable Republican candidate hire Naugle for their internet outreach?

We have confirmation that Naugle did early consulting

Jerid — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 11:00:20 -0700

Post to follow shortly

If Matt is getting paid

Crooked Stream — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 10:58:31 -0700

Could someone please drop a suggestion to him to invest in a nose hair trimmer?

2010

Jerid — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 10:41:44 -0700

Good catch. None of it appeared on RAB. I went back through their archives last night.

i can confirm that

2010 Buckeye — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 10:36:57 -0700

it was without a doubt matty at the st. patrick's day parade. i was with mary jo kilroy and our staging location was directly across the street from todd's. he even had a mic on todd, i presume to increase audio quality. pretty savvy operation for an upstart mayoral candidate. none of that video ever appeared on RAB as far as i know

blog payola, GOP style

Tim Russo — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 09:33:12 -0700

free enterprise ahoy!

Does Bighead Todd Have RAB and Naugle on the Payroll?

Jerid — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 08:33:56 -0700

Cause I think he does.

And this is more than just a snarky "hit piece", I think both Matthew and Bill Todd should clearly state what financial ties the two parties have to oneanother. If Matthew is on payroll, or has received contract(s) from Todd, his credibility (not to mention RAB's) could be damaged, and he could damage bloggers everywhere with his (potential) actions.

I was perusing Bighead Todd's photo album on flickr over the weekend when I noticed something interesting. In a couple of Todd's pictures there a rather large gentleman carrying a camera. See for yourself:

and...

Now, not to pick on Matthew, but there aren't too many tech savy Republicans in Ohio with that body size. If you can name more than three, I'm all ears. Solidifying my assumption that this faceless ghost trailing bighead Todd was Matthew was a statement one of my friends made: "You know, Naugle seems like a 'one-pair of dress shoes' sort of guy." Indeed.

Call me Encyclopedia Brown, but I recall seeing the shoes above in a video before...Could it be from the infamous video that the Cleveland Plain Dealer described as a "remarkable demonstration of poor sportsmanship?" Maybe...

Check out them loafers....an exact match to the shoes in the photo from the parade. [Quick aside...Matthew, one of my lady friends suggested you need to hem your pants. It might've been an offer from her, let me know if you'd like her number].

Naturally I was curious why Matthew might've been following Bill Todd during the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Columbus. Afterall, no video or commentary was ever posted to Matthew's blog - and whatever you want to say about his quality, the boy prodigiously churns stuff out. He wouldn't sit on anything, why would he sit on video or a write up if he had been in Columbus? That's a question I can't answer on my own, so I'm posing this question:

Bill Todd, have you, or a representative of you or your campaign, ever paid Matt for his services? If you have, do you condone statements Matt has made at RAB, or elsewhere, as representative of you and your campaign?

For example, are statements like these representative of the Todd campaign?

It's no secret that Matthew has a history of astroturfing blogs and sockpuppetry. No one has ever blogged about it, but it's believed amongst the left that throughout the past gubernatorial campaign Matthew was on payroll with Ken Blackwell's campaign while posting favorably for his candidate at RightAngleBlog.com under the assumed name "JamesRhodes". We just never had the IP evidence to nail him - and we still don't.

Look, I can't tell you with certainty that Rhodes was Naugle, but the circumstantial evidence is pretty strong. Rhodes posted for practically the duration of the gubernatorial campaign with the same intensity of Matthew, but he disappeared without a word three days before Matt started blogging under his own name. Also, the writing style of the two posters is similar (the cut and paste special). Also, like Matt, Rhodes confirmed he was from Northeast Ohio (Matt is from Avon Lake). Additionally, the snarkiness between Naugle and Rhodes is dead on. The best example is the Jacobson-Miller "Catfight" post Rhodes posted early last year:

Using words like "catfight, crybaby, wedgie, and swirly" Rhodes attacked the masculinity of both legislators - a tactic Matthew uses often (which led to Eric's challenge to a boxing match earlier in the year). What's more, Rhodes had access to the site's administrators accounts, as evidenced from this shot from Youtube of the video Rhodes uploaded for his catfight post. Long story short, all of that is too much to just be "coincidence" and makes me believe that Naugle has engaged in astroturfing in the past.

Someone is doing Bill Todd's video editing. Someone is helping him construct his website. Someone is preparing his blog.

I think that's Naugle. And if Naugle is receiving compensation for these services he, and Bill Todd, should disclose it so we can more accurately judge the writing at RAB. If Naugle is on Todd's payroll then he has a continued interest in maintaining Todd's candidacy. That might just affect his writing. Also, if Naugle is receiving compensation of from Todd for services for the campaign, then he's an arm of the campaign. Does Todd endorse Matt's sentiments?

The only thing worth having in the blogosphere is your credibility. Todd, Matt, please set us straight with the facts. Do it for the integrity of the 'sphere.

Buckeye State Blog - Does Bighead Todd Have RAB and Naugle on the Payroll? - Comments