James Tobin (political operative)
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- Not to be confused with the Nobel Prize winning economist, James Tobin, who died in 2002.
As New England campaign chairman for Bush-Cheney '04 Inc., Tobin stepped down two weeks before the election when state Democrats accused him of involvement in a phone-jamming scheme on Election Day 2002. Tobin was later indicted for conspiracy.
Tobin served as national political director for publisher Steve Forbes' Presidential campaign. He is an employee of the Washington, D.C.-based, DCI Group and also has his own consulting firm, Tobin & Co., based in Bangor, Maine. During the 2004 election cycle he was a Bush Ranger, raising at least $200,000 for the Bush 2004 reelection effort. [link]
History
In November 2002, Tobin was regional director of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee. On election day, computerized hang-up calls jammed phone lines set up by the New Hampshire Democratic Party and the Manchester firefighters' union. Over 800 phone calls were made to a get-out-the-vote phone bank over the course of two hours. The Senate contest in New Hampshire was between Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Rep. John E. Sununu. Sununu won by about 20,000 votes.
"Tobin reported to NRSCC executive director Mitch Bainwol and political director Chris LaCivita. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist chaired the NRSCC at the time," The Manchester Union Leader wrote. "Subsequently, Tobin and LaCivita worked together at DCI Group, a Washington GOP lobbying and public relations firm, along with Brian McCabe, a GOP activist who formerly worked in several roles in New Hampshire, including as a campaign manager for former U.S. Rep." Bill Zeliff.[link]
During the summer of 2004, Chuck McGee, former executive director of the New Hampshire Republican Party, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and admitted paying $15,600 to an Alexandria, Virginia telemarketing company, GOP Marketplace, that hired another business to make the calls. A co-owner of that firm at the time, Shaun Hansen, of Spokane, Wash., was indicted in March. Republican consultant Allen Raymond, GOP Marketplace's former president, also pleaded guilty in the summer to a conspiracy charge in federal court.[link]
Tobin was convicted of putting McGee in touch with Raymond. [link]
Phone records show Tobin made two dozen calls to the White House within a three-day period around Election Day 2002. Ken Mehlman, then White House political director and now chairman of the Republican National Committee, has said none of the calls involved the phone-jamming incident.
External Links
Documents
- [Indictment against James Tobin], New England Regional Director for the Republican National Committee, May 18, 2005.
Articles & Commentary
- Erik Stetson, "[GOP official, accused in phone dispute, quits his post]," Boston Globe, October 16, 2004.
- Mark Hayward, "[Ex-Bush chairman indicted on charges related to jamming]," Union Leader (Manchester, NH), December 2, 2004.
- Katharine Webster, ["Former Bush campaign official indicted for phone-jamming,"] Associated Press (Foster's Online), December 13, 2004.
- John DiStaso, "[Granite Status: News today about Arel, Pennichuck]," Union Leader (Manchester, NH), December 16, 2004.
- ["Two degrees of separation: Tobin to Frist to Rove,"] Tough Enough, May 21, 2005.
- Kathleen Sullivan, ["What Is the RNC Hiding?"] TPM Cafe, August 11, 2005.
- John Solomon, ["GOP Paying Legal Bills of Bush Official,"] SF Gate, August 11, 2005.
- Matt Singer, ["Racicot's Plumbers,"] Left in the West, October 10, 2005. re Marc F. Racicot
- Anne Saunders, ["GOP Official Convicted in Phone-Jamming,"] Associated Press (Around Philly), December 15, 2005.
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