Thanks to William Roberts for forwarding us his letter to Mr. Benton (reprinted below).
Dear Mr. Benton:
This is important information regarding the upcoming Iowans for Tax Relief Candidate Forum and should be discussed with Dr. Paul.
Wednesday, June 27, I received and read the July 2 edition of the American Free Press, particularly Mark Anderson's Rep. Ron Paul's Campaign Sabotaged in Iowa article on page 6.
I was baffled by Mark's article, especially with the tone of the article. I rarely accept that which I read, hear or see as truth until I verify it in my own research, so I called the number listed in Mark's article, spoke with a receptionist, was given a second number and called Ed Failor. I left a brief message on his answering machine stating my name and number and requested a position statement, if one exists, as to why Dr. Paul was denied the opportunity to participate in their forum.
Less than five minutes elapsed before I received a call from Mr. Failor. He began by stating that I was the first non-member and out-of-state caller whose call he had returned, because I was polite and seemed genuinely interested in understanding why Dr. Paul was excluded from the forum. He stated that the other calls and e-mails were filled with vulgarity and accusations. I thanked him for returning my call and inquired again if he had a position statement that he could send to me, or could he explain the reason why Dr. Paul would not be in the forum.
Mr. Failor stated that he was a Christian and a father of four and that he generally doesn't swear (as in an oath), now he stopped himself from what I assume was a swearing upon his children that what he was about to say was true. Then he said that the candidates selected for
invitation had to meet two criteria:
1. The candidates had scored 1% or better on a poll.
2. The candidates had formed an exploratory committee.
Mr. Failor stated that candidates were selected February 5th, which he immediately corrected to March 5th.
I asked Mr. Failor for the name of the poll and when it was conducted, but he could not answer that question.
Mr. Failor stated that each candidate considered for invitation met those two criteria, but that Dr. Paul had not formed an exploratory committee on the date the decision was made and therefore could not have been considered for inclusion. He continued by stating that the FEC
(Federal Elections Commission) had fined people (organizations) in the past for not using objective criteria in selecting candidates. He further stated that Democrat candidates had also been invited to the forum, but none were planning to attend, so far. He also stated that
their organization was founded in 1978, and that in 1995 they held their last forum.
We visited a few minutes longer and concluded what I can I only say was a very pleasant, cordial telephone call.
Still perplexed, I called American Free Press and spoke with editor Chris Petherick. I reviewed the above with Mr. Petherick, and during the process, he looked up and gave the date March 12, as the date of forming Dr. Paul's exploratory committee. Mr. Petherick viewed Mr. Failor's comments as well-rehearsed, or something to that affect.
Today, June 28, Mr. Alex Jones began his broadcast boldly stating that Iowans for Tax Relief had barred (or some similar strong terminology) Dr. Paul from their forum. I called in and disagreed with Mr. Jones on a point of information, attempting to share the above with
him and his audience. Naturally, Jones was unable to contain himself and my call was of little value to any.
SUGGESTION:
I strongly recommend that Dr. Paul take advantage of the fact that both he and Mr. Failor will be in the same building at the same time June 30, in Des Moines. This would be an excellent time to find out why Dr. Paul was not included in the forum--face to face with Mr. Failor.
Iowans for Tax Relief and the Iowa Christian Alliance likely contain many Ron Paul 2008 supporters, a little bit of strategy here may create many more converts and avoid alienating others! If Mr. Failor's story is out of alignment with the above, it would provide reporter Mark
Anderson and others a good story.
I am the organizer of the Rocky Comfort Ron Paul Meetup group (zip 84861) and we are growing rapidly.
Sincerely,
William Roberts
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