Skeptic Project

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's consulting firm has apologized for posting a 20-year-old transcript in which two people discuss rumors that her opponent, Democrat Terry Goddard, is gay.

Here's what happened:

Earlier this week, some local blogs began speculating that Brewer was facing significant health problems, and might even be too sick to finish her term if reelected in November. One writer for Psychology Today even implied that Brewer's trainwreck of an debate in September, during which she awkwardly fumbled for words, could be a symptom of her old age, or worse, indicative of "prescription drug abuse brain dysfunction, drunk, early stages of senile dementia, or she had suddenly been afflicted by a mini-stroke or seizure."

The rumors spread, and Brewer's campaign emphatically denied them. "There have been recent outlandish and completely unsubstantiated reports on liberal Internet blogs and Twitter citing anonymous sources questioning my health," Brewer said in a statement. "Before committing to seek election, I had a complete checkup with my doctors and confirmed there is nothing to prevent me from holding office for four more years."

But her campaign consulting firm, High Ground Public Affairs Consultants, wrote a blog post taking things a step further. Politico reports that the post initially had a link to this:

a 20-year-old partial transcript of a conversation between an indicted lobbyist and a mobster-turned-informant was provided -- in it, the pair discussed speculation that Goddard is gay.

The transcript came from a massive public archive connected to a sprawling sting operation during the early 1990s that resulted in charges for 14 Arizona lawmakers and politicos known as AZSCAM.

The post also said:

The latest rumormongering about Governor Brewer is about as relevant as an 20 year old AZSCAM transcript. Questions are raised and the media pursuit legitimizes a topic no matter how irrelevant. In no way is anyone suggesting that there is a problem with being gay, but it has a common lack of relevance to this race for Governor as the unfounded rumors being perpetuated by Goddard and his democrat operatives.

The link has now been removed, and a subsequent post apologizes for the insinuations: "We have heard from some people who were offended by our blog post yesterday. For that, we apologize. Our purpose was to point out how ridiculous it has become that blogs and other irrelevant speculation are being used to create rumors that the media takes seriously."

Goddard's campaign denied pushing the illness rumors, and his spokeswoman Jeanine L'Ecuyer told Politoco: "I think this speaks volumes about the kind of people that Governor Brewer is controlled by."

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/10/brewer-consultants-apologize-for-posting-docs-that-insinuate-goddard-is-gay.php?ref=fpi