I blogged yesterday the bad news that Bob Corker had joined pr planned to join the Main Street Partnersquish.
It appears now that he did not become a member nor intend to become one:
Bob Corker's office just hung up with me. They inform me that Senator Elect Corker wants us to know that he is not, has never been, and does not intend to be a member of the Republican Mainstreet Partnership and he has accordingly asked both Roll Call and the RMP to make it clear that he has not joined.
Well, that is really good to hear. But how the heck did that information get into a Roll Call story?
Don't get me wrong, the thought crossed my mind that Corker felt the heat from conservatives and reneged on his promise to join the group. But then I heard from one of his staffers, who told me of Resnick's claim, "Not only is this not true, Senator-elect Corker only learned of the group’s existence when this story was reported today."
As David Freddoso pointed out in a story last month, the Republican Main Street Partnership and Executive Director Sarah Chamberlain Resnick are challenged when it comes to getting things correct, particularly spelling.
Volunteer Voters details an exchange with Main Street executive director Sarah Chamberlain Resnick, who was the source for the Roll Call story:
I decided to email Ms. Resnick myself. I asked the following questions:
I am told by Corker's people that he is not joining. Had no intention to. Did you tell the reporter, Duran, this? Were you quoted accurately? If not, what was the reporter told? What indication did you have that led you to believe you would join?Resnick responded:
Have never spoken with the senator – [Rep.-elect Dean Heller] is a new member not Corker.I didn't really ask her that though, did I? Whether she has ever spoken to Bob Corker is not the issue. The fact that Bob Corker is not a new member is also of little consequence as that was, again, never asserted by anyone. The Roll Call reporter did not state that Bob Corker was a new member only that it was his intention to become one.
Resnick did not address the question at hand which is whether she was quoted accurately about her belief that it was Corker's intention to join and, if so, where she got such an indication. I asked her again:
What about [Nicole] Duran [of Roll Call]? Did you tell her that Corker planned to join? Were you quoted accurately? If so, from where or from whom did you get that indication?As of this posting, I have not received an email back. I have also attempted to contact the reporter, Nicole Duran, to no avail.
Resnick's evasiveness thus far gives me pause. I am not asserting that Todd Womack, or by extension Bob Corker, is lying.
I am only asserting that Resnick's responses to this matter seem rather henky. Is it possible that someone at sometime gave Resnick the impression that Corker was down with her program?
Read the whole thing for all the details. Interesting. Corker didn't campaign as a Coburn or anything, but he did come across significantly more conservative than a Main-Streeter. If he had thought of becoming a Main-Steeter and then backed down, I don't think his staff would claim he'd "never heard of" the group. Too easy to get found out. If they'd been talking with the Main-Streeters, why put themselves out on a limb with such an uneqivocal denial? A simple "no" would have done. I was surprised by yesterday's report. That's a pretty huge mistake for the Roll Call reporter and Resnick to make.
Could it be that the plummeting membership of the Main Street group after this election is leading them to desperate measures?
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