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Dems paid for anti-Hershman 'robo-call'Jun 21, 2009 (The Morning Call - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Two days before the May primary, some Allentown voters received an automated phone call urging them to vote against Lou Hershman. The 30-second "robo-call" did not disclose who paid for the message, preventing Hershman from challenging his critics. But that changed Thursday after the names of those who funded the controversial phone call were revealed in newly-filed campaign finance reports. Democratic council candidates Michael D'Amore, Michael Schlossberg and Ray O'Connell paid for the phone call through a political action committee called Voters for a Better Lehigh Valley, which was formed less than two weeks before the primary. They were the lone donors to the PAC, whose only expense was the anonymous phone call, records filed with Lehigh County show. The revelation drew a blistering response from Hershman, who lost the council election to the three candidates but got enough write-in votes from city Republicans to get on November's ballot. Hershman has since joined the Republican party. "It is a terrible testimony to the Democratic Party in Allentown when these allegedly progressive Democratic candidates hide behind a political action committee and are not men enough to come out publicly and admit they were responsible for the smear tactics," Hershman said in a two-page statement issued Friday. "Smear tactics are the work of cowards...I challenge these men to a series of debates around the city -- I am calling them out," he said. In a joint statement Thursday, the three candidates said the PAC and its founders, political consultant Robert Hopkins and local businessman James Spang Jr., sought donations without explicitly telling them how the money would be used. "None of us were aware of the specific message nor did we have control over how the message would be conveyed," the statement read. Hopkins said he did not consult with the candidates before deciding to go with an automated phone call. The day before the primary, the Morning Call asked O'Connell and D'Amore about the call and neither disclosed they helped pay for it. "I thought we paid for a mailer. I got the call myself, and I was not aware I was involved," O'Connell said Thursday. "If I had to do it over again, I would not contribute a penny." To see more of The Morning Call, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.mcall.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |