Tim Bridgewater, Utah's newest entry into an already large field of GOP candidates (including solid conservatives) who have been campaigning for months, appears to us to have violated FEC rules. Watch our two-part video below for explanations:
Here are links to articles online:
(1) Salt Lake Tribune Article: http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13611222?source=rss#
(2) FEC candidate brochure on testing waters: http://www.fec.gov/pages/brochures/candregis.shtml
(3) KSL GOP convention story and video http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=6810199
(4) Tim’s current facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=71608052128
(5) FEC candidate filing search: http://www.fec.gov/finance/disclosure/norcansea.shtml
One might ask why we are pointing out the bad about a Conservative candidate. Believe us when we say in the hours of doing research and putting together these videos for you, we asked ourselves that question many times!! But the reality is that if any conservative candidate is to stand against a powerful incumbent senator, they are going to have to be solidly vetted. As we don't see any news organizations doing investigations into these obvious FEC violations, we felt it our duty to do so. Indeed we might just be saving Mr. Bridgewater a ton of his money on a race he isn't going to win when the truth gets out.
In the end, this is a stand for truth and principle rather than standing behind a businessman we like and share values with.
Monday, October 26, 2009
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7 comments:
http://www.fec.gov/finance/disclosure/imaging_info.shtml
is where the initial filing would show.
It was my understanding that none of the current candidates Bridgewater is running against was planning on filing a FEC complaint. They all were aware it by June 13th.
Perhaps they don't consider him a threat, don't consider the violation critical, or don't want to show up as the "poor sport" of the group.
They all want to get his supporters for the multiple round selection.
Anonymous(es): Great posts folks!
A1: You are correct. We meant to show where the quarterly filing would be but it would have been a better argument to show that no filing at all had been done.
A2: We believe Bridgewater should voluntarily reconsider his presence in this race. We would welcome anyone else filing a FEC complaint but if we don't soon hear of anyone else and Bridgewater continues to ignore us, we will pick up the ball ourselves.
FEC has confirmed that someone like Bridgewater was not "testing the water" as he claimed, but the FEC really does not require/mandatory filings until the $5000 amount is crossed.
It is funning that Bridgewater was saying he was a candidate, but hadn't crossed the $5000 limit yet, and then decided to say he was Testing the Water, which allows some FEC exceptions.
If he crossed the $5000 limit before filing, the "testing the water" exception will not help him. We will not know until he files his next quarterly statement if he is toast or not.
A3: Very interesting and informative post. We'll watch for that filing.
Notwithstanding the letter of the law which remains to be seen, it is evident that Bridgewater violated the spirit of the law. How can Bridgewater say he hasn't spent $ with all the evidence presented in the videos? This really makes Bridgewater look disingenuous.
We believe that even should he get a legal FEC pass, this mishap from a third-time federal election contestant will prove him a very weak candidate. It seems that he should rally behind EAGAR instead of EGO so conservatives can knock out Bailout Bob without an expensive primary.
It's apparent to me that this site is more interested in slinging mud on behalf of Eager than actually examining the candidates and their value. Shame on you. You give our party, and politics, a bad name.
A4:
We're flattered that like the famous Bon Jovi song, you rate us so powerful as to give party & politics a "bad name". LOL.
Seriously though, we've done a great job in examining Eagar; a poor job in examining Williams because we don't see enough momentum (although he is a candidate of great principles as well), and despite your claim of our slinging mud you have yet to identify a single point of error on our part in examining Bridgewater nor do you give credit that we actually mentioned him having good qualities. Hmmm. Perhaps you need to read our blog more to get a better perspective. ;-)
Here's our bottom line with Bridgewater: surely on the third attempt he should have run a clean campaign and clearly he hasn't. Do you really believe that it is proper to run for office and NOT to be vetted by your potential constituents? Although we don't expect a thankyou from Bridgewater, we are saving him $ by suggesting to him early on that due to his FEC violations, this is not his day so that perhaps he will realize his folly. This will also save "our" party (as you say) from future embarrassment down the road. (Would you rather Nacilbupera bring this issue up or let’s say the Salt Lake Tribune?)
For us, slinging mud has to do with bringing up non-relevant issues to a campaign. How a candidate conducts themselves with regards to their FEC obligations is clearly NOT mudslinging but rather bringing to light the truth as it pertains to this campaign.
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