Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Obama Campaign Stiffs Indiana Campaign Workers

Anyone out and about this past weekend couldn't help but notice all the workers out canvasing for Obama's presidential campaign. If you assumed they were all volunteers, you would be wrong. They were paid, temporary workers. And several hundred of them became raucous outside of Obama's campaign offices on North Meridian Street when nobody showed up to issue them paychecks as promised. Indianapolis police had to be called to calm down the crowd. WTHR reports:

Lines were long and tempers flared Wednesday not to vote but to get paid for canvassing for Barack Obama. Several hundred people are still waiting to get their pay for last-minute campaigning. Police were called to the Obama campaign office on North Meridian Street downtown to control the crowd.

The line was long and the crowd was angry at times.

"I want my money today! It's my money. I want it right now!" yelled one former campaign worker.

The temporary workers were hired in the final days of the Obama campaign to help volunteers canvass neighborhoods. They showed up to get paid Wednesday morning at 10:00 am.

"There was a note on the door saying 1:00 pm and then at 1:20 pm everybody was like why is nobody here. They just got here and they're trying to get it organized," said Heather Richards, a former campaign worker.

The large gathering of around 375 people prompted police to call in extra officers and set up temporary barricades. The barricades helped keep the crowd from spilling out onto Meridian Street. Police say the several hundred people in line were for the most part orderly.

According to WTHR, someone started paying the workers hours after the workers had been waiting in line but some complained that they there were being shorted on the hours they worked. A spokesman for the campaign offered an assurance that everyone would eventually be paid for their work. I guess if you can raise hundreds of millions of dollars in non-traceable campaign contributions over the Internet, you can afford to pay hundreds of workers in every major city across the country for doing the work normally performed by volunteers. But you better make sure everyone gets paid as promised or you have a public relations disaster as was witnessed in downtown Indianapolis today. Kudos to WTHR's Jeremy Brilliant for being brave enough to do this story. You can bet he'll be getting hate mail from the Obamanauts for weeks.

14 comments:

Unknown said...

yep...a lot of promises were made....how many will he keep....mmmm.....our Nation...our America.....is doomed!

IndyPaul said...

The great bulk of canvassers were, indeed, volunteers.

How are contributions made over the internet and reported to Federal election angencies "non-traceable"?

Gary R. Welsh said...

Where do I begin, indypaul? The use of prepaid credit cards, credit card donations not matching the listed donor, non-existent donors from non-existent places and on and on. The Obama's online system intentionally removed every audit procedure intended to ensure that the person actually making the contribution was the same person as the person to whom a credit card had been issued. When the story is finally told in a few months by the mainstream media, you will see unfold the largest campaign finance fraud ever committed by any candidate for any office in the history of this country.

Concerned Taxpayer said...

Gee...I thought they were doing it to get him elected. They also expected to get PAID!

Oh...I forgot...welfare.

I wonder how many of them actually did their job (you know...like turning in names like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, etc.)

Anonymous said...

Well, the Obama lovers are the "me, myself, and I" crowd. Heaven forbid they just be happy with their win. How greedy can one get?

Downtown Indy said...

There sure was a lotta 'hope' going on out there, wasn't there?

Anonymous said...

I just watched the video. These greedy leeches are the future of this country? Oh well, seems like history will repeat itself when comparing the US to Rome. Heaven forbid you actually work to help elect the first black president for free instead of getting a $120 gift card. This attitude is exactly why Obama is a one trick donkey. I was driving through the near northeast side of town. It was run down and everything. The residents here who voted for Obama expect, no demand, that he make this area look like Carmel, or Fishers, or anything other than a run down neighborhood. They will be so ticked off when that doesn't happen, they will just blow him off as "he really wasn't one of us" meaning he wasn't 100% poor ghetto black.

guido said...

Let the distribution of wealth begin!

Unknown said...

Can anyone be surprised at this? As is the case with most of the Obamaites, they demand something they did not earn. $10 an hour to stumble down the neighborhoods like zombies, repeating mindless "change" messages?!?! Geeze, I did that free for McCain and Mitch!

We just have to hang on for 24 short months. The house will be up again, and 1/3 of the senate. Keep the faith, drag the GOP back to the right.

artfuggins said...

Let's see now. You object to the campaign hiring unemployed or underemployed people to WORK for some extra money. Don't you always preach that people should work for their money rather than ask for a handout? It is too bad that there was a snafu but....everyone has been paid every cent owed. CASE CLOSED.

jbargeusa said...

Barack Obama beat the Clintons (something even the Republicans couldn't do), beat the GOP, and WON INDIANA! Simply amazing. Add to that mix the fact he's black and has Hussein for a middle name, and he appears even more formidable. He certainly knows how to: 1) organize a presidential campaign 2) give an excellent speech, and 3) stay cool under pressure. It makes sense that conservatives are afraid of him - I would be too if I were in your shoes. I ask myself, can he be worse than George Bush? I mean, he would have to get us into 3 wars and tank the economy even more to be worse than "W". I bet you a dollar to a doughnut he turns out to be more moderate than you think. And finally, as Napoleon used to ask, "But is he lucky?" Well, we all know the answer to that one!

Gary R. Welsh said...

"everyone has been paid every cent owed," says Art.

Paid with prepaid credit cards? Typical hypocrite Democrat. Not paying them as employees with tax withholding or at least as 1099s. Again, why the secrecy in payments? I think if the truth is ever told we will learn that a certain hate America liberal worth over $30 billion funneled more than $300 million into Obama's campaign illegally through various money laundering schemes.

jbargeusa said...

"...while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours: "We are not enemies, but friends… though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection."
And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn - I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president too."
Classy stuff. Care to match it?

Unknown said...

Advance Indiana could not have expressed this issue any better! We shall not forget all the disturbing background noise in the Chosen One's background.