Schaffer's embarrassment may spill over into the pro and anti union debate in Denver.

"We are a long way out but this story has potential to significantly impact the conflicting pro- versus anti-union Constitutional initiatives that are making their way towards the ballot. Tying Schaffer's sweatshop scandal to the anti-union ballot measure could put the business proposal into a pretty bad light."

On Colorado Politics' site there are two threads all about Bob. This little gem was posted on the earlier (second) one a few minutes ago. The poster makes an obvious but quite cogent point. Thanks Bob! TPM is all over this.

Two other points posted...at least the woman in the picture is his wife and... at least his companion is a woman.
So he's got that going for him. :rofl:

http://www.coloradopols.com

is going to be oh so much fun.

Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer swears he's never met Jack Abramoff. But his track record of serving as a key ally for one of Abramoff's star clients, the Northern Mariana Islands, makes it clear that the two had a surprising overlap of interests over a number of years.

This weekend, The Denver Post detailed how Schaffer had beautifully orchestrated Abramoff's lobbying strategy for the islands in a September, 1999 Congressional hearing.

Schaffer told the Post that his "were questions that occurred to me at the time listening to the testimony." But it's apparent from the course of the hearing that's not true.

In a 1998 memo, Abramoff had laid out that strategy, which concentrated on attacking Interior Department officials who had been advocating stricter immigration and labor laws on the islands. Flying lawmakers on junkets to the islands, Abramoff wrote, was "one of the most effective ways to build permanent friends on the Hill." The September hearing occurred just weeks after Schaffer's Abramoff-organized trip to the islands.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/04/schaffer_played_attack_dog_aga.php
TOPICS: Jack Abramoff


Schaffer Staffer Mum on Ties to Marianas Gov

Yesterday we detailed Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer's ties to the Northern Mariana Islands, Jack Abramoff's prize client, and particularly the islands' governor, Benigno Fitial.

The Denver Post followed up and put the question to Schaffer as to why he'd been so loyal to a little island territory thousands of miles away. The answer? Quit asking. From the Post:

Schaffer campaign manager Dick Wadhams declined Thursday to discuss his candidate's role in island politics. "The Denver Post continues its character assassination of Bob Schaffer," he said.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/04/schaffer_staffer_mum_on_ties_t.php


Schaffer Was Key Ally for Marianas

When Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer freely offered earlier this week that the Northern Mariana Islands, notorious for human rights abuses and sweatshops, were a great model for a nationwide guest worker program, it seemed to be coming out of the blue. But a look at Schaffer's time in the House (where he represented Colorado's 4th District from 1997 through 2003) shows that he was one of the most reliable allies for the islands, which were represented for most of that time by lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

The Denver Post reported today on a trip Schaffer took to the islands in August of 1999. The trip was nominally funded by the Traditional Values Coalition, though like all the other junkets to the islands, it was really organized by Abramoff.

Schaffer's spokesman Dick Wadhams told the paper that Schaffer has never met Abramoff or spoken to Abramoff. But Schaffer was a remarkable ally for the islands nonetheless, especially for a lawmaker from Colorado. My call to the Schaffer campaign this afternoon was not returned.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/04/schaffer_was_key_ally_for_mari.php

TPM http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/04/schaffer_echoed_delay_on_maria.php


You know that Bob Schaffer thinks he's getting a bum rap. The Colorado Republican Senate candidate says he's never met Jack Abramoff, but more than anything, he says his comments that launched the controversy were taken out of context.