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	E-Mail Accusations Hit Campaign By Jason Clayworth Des Moines Register November 30, 2007 http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071130/NEWS09/711300395/1001/NEWS Caucusgoers beware: It's roughly a month away from the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, and the political shenanigans are in high gear. Such tactics by people who play dirty have moved beyond the destruction of yard signs or push polls that ply caucusgoers with misleading or inaccurate information. This time, they've taken to the Internet in the form of e-mail accounts made to look like they were sent from campaign officials. The latest was an e-mail that was sent this week, using the name of a field director for Republican Mitt Romney's campaign and telling voters that one of Rudy Giuliani's advisers is a "pedophile priest." The e-mail directed voters to a blog item on InsideCatholic.com about Monsignor Alan Placa, a longtime friend of Giuliani's. Placa, who officiated at Giuliani's second wedding and works in his consulting firm, has been accused of molesting two boys in New York. Giuliani has defended his friend as recently as last month. "We give some of the worst people in our society the presumption of innocence and benefit of the doubt," Giuliani said in Milwaukee, Wis. "And, of course, I'm going to give that to one of my closest friends." The e-mail came from an Internet account with David Overholtzer's name. Overholtzer, the Romney supporter, vehemently denied involvement. Such accounts can be set up by virtually anybody with Internet access. "It's a fabrication. The whole thing is," said Overholtzer, who is also co-chairman of the Pottawattamie County Republicans. "The whole thing is a lie." Arthur Sanders, a Drake political science professor, cautioned Iowans to think twice before taking such e-mails as fact. "There are a lot of dirty tricks that campaigns use, and the Web makes it easier," Sanders said. He noted that it's almost a given that campaigns will deny involvement and, unless they are directly caught, the undercurrent of such attacks can linger and erode voter confidence. "We know they're going to say they're not involved, whether they are or not," Sanders said. "It doesn't put the rumors to rest," he added. Paul Pate, the chairman for Giuliani's Iowa campaign, called the e-mail "dirty." "These kind of dirty tactics have no place in the political discourse," Pate said. Other recent rumors or offensive tactics have also attracted headlines. Earlier this month conservative columnist Robert Novak said in his nationally syndicated column that "agents" of Hillary Clinton campaign were "spreading the word in Democratic circles that she has scandalous information" about Barack Obama, her chief Democratic presidential rival. Clinton's campaign dismissed the assertion as a "Republican-leaning journalist" running "a blind item designed to set Democrats against one another." Earlier this week, a hand-written campaign flier found in Ames, Slater and Ankeny advised caucusgoers to vote for John Edwards and referred to Clinton and Obama in abusive language. Campaign officials for Edwards' campaign called the sign disgusting. "You have to be careful and you need to be skeptical of claims that are made, particularly those who are attacking something about someone on the other side," Sanders said. Reporter Jason Clayworth can be reached at (515) 699-7058 or jclayworth@dmreg.com
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