Jim Morrill reports that your City of Charlotte is hiring Democratic operatives as “consultants” in its bid to bring the 2012 DNC convention to town. Tom McMahon and Karen Finney are the lucky insiders. You can bet the other “finalist” cities are doing roughly the same.
Now you see the violence inherent in the system.
Finney has been more at the pointy end of spin-mastering in recent years, cycling through the DNC, Hillary Clinton’s stint as First Lady, and a turn as spokeswoman for Elizabeth Edwards during the 2004 campaign. I guess that Carolina connection and her Virginia roots are what make Finney perfect to shill for Charlotte.
She has most recently been in semi-heavy rotation at the HuffPost, firing off standard-issue declarations against conservatives and anyone who dared question the Obama machine, to wit:
Once again, the Republican Party is so consumed by thuggery and hate, they see a political opportunity to slam the president rather than to praise America.
What kind of traitor so actively roots for America and its President to fail? … The members of Congress who voted in support of the Stupak amendment sent a message to America’s women: after more than 200 years we are still not full citizens of the United States. Apparently members of Congress now believe that it is within their power to determine what legal medical procedures are acceptable. … The Arizona law — now also being considered in Texas — requires people to carry identification or documentation at all times to prove they are in the country legally. … That is not America. Illegal immigration is a real problem, but this law in Arizona is not the answer.
Finney has also held forth at Politico and a host of MSNBC, Air America shows. She was also hard-wired into the Obama White House health care push and was the DNC mouthpiece during the 2008 convention in Denver.
Interestingly, McMahon helped vet — and ultimately reject — Minny-St. Paul in favor of Denver in 2008 during his time as DNC Executive Director. Think Tom might have a thing or two to dish on that competitor’s weaknesses to his new bosses in Uptown?
Update: The claim is that the consultants will be paid with private funds raised by the convention host committee. Super, sounds like a great time to make public all information associated with the bid. You know, so we can check.
