Justin Fenton wrote an article "Rough politics hit the blog" about the recent GoldwaterGOP episode. In the article Aaron Tomarchio outed himself as GoldwaterGOP. I posted a comment and it was mentioned in the article that there was in fact a fake GoldwaterGOP. I checked Aaron's previous comments and they came from a completely different location than the GoldwaterGOP that made the tax increase comments. I have to admit that the fake GoldwaterGOP accomplished his/her goal. The media published a story mentioning Craig and a possible tax increase. Tomarchio has since denied the tax increase.
This article shows the "power" that blogs like this weild, especially in election years. I think I can claim "Harford County's first political blog" or at least the first with "widespread" appeal. Joe Steffen could certainly attest to the power of blogs. Aaron Tomarchio was "baited" much like Joe Steffen was. Some democrat figured out who he was and the handle he was using and got a story in The Sun.
In the future I strongly recommend using a real email address when posting comments. If you are a public official you should not use an email that is available to the public. If you do not leave an email address I have no way of knowing who made the comment and anyone can "steal" your name. I hope this article does not cause people to leave the discussion. I'm hoping a mention in The Sun might bring more people to the site who are willing to make their opinions known.
13 responses so far ↓
1 Notpoliticallyinclined // Oct 29, 2006 at 5:55 pm
“Stupid?” Tomarchino is a county employee who calls Ann Helton “stupid” on a political blog, dosen’t he have any real work to do? Is this what you pay him to do? What a waste. Who looks stupid now?
2 independent educator // Oct 29, 2006 at 8:18 pm
So, Gop, the tax comments weren’t AT’s. How bout the “park” comments ? And the ” we” reference?
3 GOPerative // Oct 30, 2006 at 6:39 am
independent educator,
The tax comments, the “park” comments, and the “we are in charge” comments all came from a fraud. I have no reason to cover for Aaron Tomarchio or David Craig. Just on the principles of honor and integrity I think it should be known that they were not comments from anyone in the Craig administration. Unfortunately people are willing to roll around in the mud on this site to push their agenda. I guess all’s fair in love and war (and politics).
4 Greg Johnson // Oct 30, 2006 at 9:58 am
Independent Educator:
How about letting us know who you are? Your handle is incredibly deceptive. You aren’t “independent” at all, are you? Your true colors have been showing all over this blog. Just come clean and admit you are a Democratic operative.
5 A Nixon Guy // Oct 30, 2006 at 2:05 pm
This controversy sheds light onto the fact that Tomarchio is known in some circles as “The Black Hand” (like the character in Godfather II).
6 BullElephant // Oct 30, 2006 at 3:02 pm
Just because we trust where most of Goldwaters comments came from doesn’t me that he couldn’t have posted from another offsite computer. I’m not that computer literate but I know enough that I could walk into the public library or logon to my work pc and rant and rave and turn around and say it was someone else. I’m just a bit dubious of it all. What about password protecting everyone on here so this can’t happen again?
7 GOPerative // Oct 30, 2006 at 6:53 pm
BullElephant,
I have thought about this but that is not the norm on political blogs. You can register even though I do not require it. I may post a poll to see if people would still post if I required registration. Maybe that is the direction I need to go. It is very easy for me to do. All I have to do is click a box.
As far as the GoldwaterGOP episode goes, I am almost 99% sure that it was another person. Different IP addresses completely and the grammar and punctuation was very different (i.e. Fake used colons and real used commas after salutation). If I were and FBI handwriting analyst I would say for certain that they came from different people.
8 independent educator // Oct 30, 2006 at 10:51 pm
Ya know GOPerative, in this often (way) less than honest world of politics, I do find that I trust your appraisal of this matter. I just want to commend you for the respect, honesty and integrity you have maintained since the get-go on this blog. I know that we do not always agree- but I hold you in the highest regard and appreciate all that you have done to allow the people of HC to have a forum for active political discussion. Thank you.
9 Greg Johnson // Oct 30, 2006 at 11:20 pm
Muah! Nice butt kiss. Can you tell us who you are now?
10 GOPerative // Oct 30, 2006 at 11:20 pm
Thanks independent educator. That’s what it is all about. I don’t agree with some of the stuff I write myself. I think we need a site like this. We are not supposed to agree with each other all the time. We need to be able to discuss things civilly and encourage one another to think. Imagine that, people actually thinking and discussing.
I have enjoyed this site immensely. One person told me that he was addicted to it. I got a good laugh out of that one. I’m glad you enjoy it too. It will be interesting to see how the site operates in the “off season.†It’s a long time until the next local election cycle. I may have to go into watchdog mode. If we get a bunch of democrats and O’Scary I will probably be plenty busy.
Anyways, thanks for the thanks.
11 Greg Johnson // Oct 30, 2006 at 11:24 pm
Right. We should discuss things civilly. Like when Independent Educator calls people racists. What a paragon of civility he/she is!
12 independent educator // Oct 30, 2006 at 11:54 pm
Greg- If a civil thank you and an expression of respect are merely butt kissing in YOUR book- I pity YOU….
13 Greg Johnson // Oct 31, 2006 at 7:15 pm
I think recent days have lent quite a bit of hope to the Republican Party, both state-wide and nationally. First, Ehrlich gets endorsed by the Washington Post. Now, Steele gets the endorsement of the Democratic Prince George’s County Exec and five members of the County Council. Nationally speaking, John Kerry’s reckless comment has the Dems licking their wounds BIG time. Early speculation that the Christian Right is not going to turn out in this election seems to be melting because of the issues being so polarizing and widely-publicized. I am one of those voters, and I can attest to the fact that I know there is way too much at stake to abstain from voting in ANY race. I cannot remember campaigns ever having been so loud and negative as they have in the run up to the general election this time, but it is indicative of a party that is so far out of the mainstream that they have dumped their former Vice Presidential nominee over his “hawkishness.” If the Democrats don’t pick up enough seats to take the House, they have a LOT of introspective analysis to do. I, for one, am excited. See you all at the polls!
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