Free | 23/6
Posted: 5/30/2012
WASHINGTON -- The phones at Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett's (D) gubernatorial campaign headquarters were clogged all day Tuesday after an unsolicited text message went out to cell phones accusing Barrett of being a 'union puppet' and telling Wisconsinites to call his office and complain. The message, from 'WI@obamasaliar.com,' read: 'Tom Barrett is a Union Puppet who will give Union Thugs everything they want. Call & ask why 414-271-8050.' The number goes to Barrett's office. View an image of the message, passed along to The Huffington Post by a Wisconsin source: Barrett spokesman Phil Walzak said the calls began Tuesday morning. The phones in the office were operational, but 'clogged' during the day. The calls continued into Tuesday evening. Walzak blamed the campaign of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) and his allies. 'We know that someone is playing a dirty trick on Tom Barrett. It has to be either Gov. Walker or an ally of Gov. Walker who is behind this,' 'Walzak said. 'The sole purpose is to disrupt this office's operations. ... We have been able to complete our tasks and continue moving our ball down the field with no problem, despite this attempt at a disruption.'Ciara Matthews, spokeswoman for Walker's campaign, called Walzak's accusation 'ridiculous.' She said the first the governor's campaign heard of the text message was from the media. The campaign also started receiving random calls -- from Wisconsinites who believed the Walker campaign was behind the texts and wanted to complain or compliment.'Once again, Tom Barrett and his campaign, with absolutely no evidence to back up their claim, is making an outrageous accusation of Gov. Walker and his campaign,' said Matthews. 'This is a complete figment of their imagination. Our campaign had absolutely nothing to do with these text messages. We don't know where they came from, or who i