HILARIOUS Story!
Hopefully, I can do this story the justice it deserves so that y’all see how funny it is.
Apparently, Jeff Breedlove, John Oxendine’s Chief Strategist, approached Ray McBerry twice yesterday at two different events and demanded that McBerry fire Jenny Hodges, his campaign manager. From what I’m told, he was basically pressing the issue so hard the first time that McBerry told him to go the hell away, and that if he didn’t, bad things would happen. Breedlove finally walked away, but came back later in the day at another event with the same demands, and got the same reaction. So McBerry just went up a notch in my book for defending his staffers like that.
But what makes this story so hilarious? Well, let’s look at Breedlove’s track record just over the past couple of months.
First, back in April, shortly after ‘Ox and Liberty, Part 1‘ came out, Breedlove called me and basically threatened me to stop writing bad things about Ox or else. I don’t take threats very well, and if you’ve followed this blog very long you’ve seen that I didn’t exactly respond the way Breedlove had wanted. The most interesting thing about this? Breedlove was AFRAID of this upstart political blog called SWGAPolitics.com! (Admittedly, I AM hearing from more and more people that our readership is fairly influential, though I won’t name names of people I know to be regular readers without their permission.)
Next, in early May, the story breaks that Ox took $120K in allegedly illegal campaign contributions from his close friend last September.
Then Ox comes out saying that 25 > 31.
Then he doesn’t check Snopes.com and claims an email that has been floating around the net for a decade as his own.
Then it comes out that the only Republicans he raised more money than in this disclosure cycle are the two that almost nobody gives any chance of winning – Ray McBerry and Austin Scott.
Sometime around the time of the last two events, Breedlove’s wife, Kathryn Ballou, is FIRED as Ox’s campaign manager and replaced by Tim Echols.
Meanwhile, McBerry’s team is reporting hundreds of volunteers and a campaign that grows every day. (Much of that is, I suspect, propaganda at best, downright lies at worst, but I haven’t looked into it yet and so can’t prove it – though I do know his campaign and several volunteers are very active on both twitter and facebook.)
So while Ox’s campaign is dieing and having to get ‘new blood’ to spice it up, McBerry’s campaign is apparently growing quite rapidly.
And yet Ox’s chief strategist demands that McBerry fire his campaign manager?
HILARIOUS!!!!
PS: Here’s Jenny Hodges’ ‘Just Jenny’ report on the incident yesterday:
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July 19th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
Jeff,
During an election year, I usually do not make up my mind in a primary until the very end. I do this because more information becomes available and in some small cases I think it is important to vote for someone who has a better chance of beating the democrat. It also gives me an opportunity to examine all of the candidates’ actions as well as their platforms. After I read this post, I watched the youtube video and was shocked about how juvenile “jenny” is acting. WHO CARES? I do not care about the petty high school banter between opposing campaign staff. I do care that someone would refer to another as a “NAZI”. A Nazi is a very strong word. It has come to stand in the belief of a “superior or Aryan” race. Please let me know if the Oxendine campaign/candidate plans on exterminating everyone but whites. If they are not, then I believe that at the very least “jenny” and the McBerry campaign owes not only the Oxendine campaign an apology, but also an apology to everyone, especially Jews who have had to suffer the effects of Nazis. It is obvious that they have never met a holocaust survivor, traveled to Europe and experienced the smells and devistation of places such as Auschwitz. I would not even dream of calling my worst enemy a Nazi. “Jenny” needs to grow up. If she thinks this youtube video or her gossip about the other candidate’s staff will help McBerry, she is sadly mistaken.
I am not sure of who I will vote for Governor, but I am sure that I will not vote for Ray McBerry. Any candidate who can’t keep a muzzle on their campaign manager, or someone who allows their campaign staff to call someone a Nazi, shows a lack of character and leadership. Actions speak louder than words. I can agree with a candidate’s platform, but if their actions are obtuse, my vote goes elsewhere. The campaign should be about the candidate, not the campaign manager.
July 20th, 2009 at 7:28 am
Sara,
The word Nazi has been over used. That is true. I even made a comment about that in a former blog posting. The Confederate soldier has been linked to Nazis by the NAACP, President George W. Bush was labeled a Nazi by the extreme left, etc. It is a word that someone uses when they have nothing left to use in a debate in hopes that it will stir the same emotion that you described in your comment. Sadly though, it has taken on a benign meaning, except to certain people and in certain places, because of its overuse.
In her previous YouTube video, Jenny said that the Ox’s campaign supporters insisted that she remove a bumper sticker that her husband put on their car. The bumper sticker was an Ox sticker with a McBerry sticker over it. That brings up private property rights and freedom of speech issues and looks bad for the Ox and his “liberty” campaign theme. Hitler had his henchmen do most of the dirty work for him. Not all of them worked in the camps that you described. Perhaps henchmen, goons, strong arm men, would have been a better terms? If she had used those words, the video wouldn’t have spread the way it did.
As far as not considering McBerry because he doesn’t keep a muzzle on his manager, that may be a bit unfair too. Are you implying that she is a dog? ( being sarcastic here). Campaign managers often take the arrows for the candidate. We don’t elect them, we elect the candidate. Some campaigns, like John McCain’s, try to take the high road; and sadly, those campaigns often lose. Will you also count out Oxendine because of the bullying that his supporters and manager have done to Jenny?
July 20th, 2009 at 9:26 am
Bill,
Like I have stated before, I do not choose who I would like to vote for this early in the game. I could care less about the banter and personal attacks that go on between campaigns. Jenny needs to put her big girl panties on and ignore it and move on. She should focus her energies on her own(McBerry)campaign. If the Oxendine campaign has threatened to do physical harm to her or her family, then she should contact the authorities and let the voters know what the physical threat consists of. She claims in the video she has been threatened, but how? However, I am STRONGLY offended when ANYONE uses the term Nazi to describe someone. Many of my closest friends have family members who were Holocaust survivors and/or killed by the Nazis. I have personally visited areas in Europe that were devistated by the Nazis. The English language has many more appropriate adjectives to use in her situation. I do feel that McBerry should make an apology for the term Nazi and should not allow anyone in his campaign to use that term. Just because other people use the term, does it make it right to use it? I think not! I was not suggesting that “jenny” was or is a dog. If you look the term muzzle in the dictionary it has more than one meaning. The second meaning is “To restrain from expression.”
July 20th, 2009 at 9:34 am
Free speech must also mean freedom to say things that others find distasteful. While I’m not a fan of the term being bandied about like it has been for far, far to long and also agree that it was not the correct term or even an appropriate term, I can certainly understand a candidate like McBerry refusing to fire Jenny. And him “not allowing” anyone to use the term? I’m sorry, but I’m not a fan of that either.
Let her say what she wishes. The voters will tell the tale when the primary comes around. Frankly, misusing the term won’t help McBerry in my opinion, but Breedloves actions are definitely going to hurt Ox’s chances in my opinion. Truth be told, this would have died out and gone away without this latest gaff.
July 20th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Free speech…free speech does not mean you can say whatever you want, whenever you want…
if that were the case, there’d be no libel and slander laws
and Jenny on the video needs to be careful, because calling someone a nazi is slanderous!
If a campaign staffer put my campaign at risk I would dismiss them from the campaign…no matter the campaign or the person. I don’t know who Breedlove is but going on YOUTUBE and calling someone a Nazi can get yourself sued.
July 21st, 2009 at 5:05 am
Actually, plenty of people believe that free speech does mean you can say whatever you want, whenever you want. Otherwise, it’s not freedom of speech. Now, I’m not one of those, but it is a matter of debate.
However, my point was that McBerry eliminating the words usage was a free speech violation, especially when, if a staffer feels it is the best term, it would limit their ability to communicate effectively.
Obviously, you and I are both free to express our displeasure with the McBerry campaign about the choice of terminology, and I urge you to do just that (I can’t hear video on my computer, so I haven’t actually heard it myself is the only reason I haven’t), and to also pass along word of this incident to everyone you know. While McBerry may indeed be your candidate, this isn’t something that I personally feel that should just be let go.
However, to “ban” the use of a word is something I can’t condone on any level. If a candidate does it during the campaign, it sends a signal that they may want to limit basic freedoms after getting in office.
July 21st, 2009 at 5:23 am
Sara,
Like Tom has pointed out, a candidate banning their people from using certain words tells me that said candidate will attempt to ban the general populace from using certain words if they get in power.
Furthermore, don’t lose the actual significant thing here:
Ox is a supposed ‘front runner’. Why is his campaign even bothering to engage someone that virtually NO ONE gives ANY chance? Heck, back when Breedlove called me, this site was doing good to get 500 hits in a WEEK. (Now we’re fairly regularly surpassing that number in a day, and we hit 10,000 views for the month yesterday!!) Ox is running scared, and ‘front runners’ don’t do that.
Also, just a general question: Did you watch Seinfeld back in the day?
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