Durham DA Race Updates

Over the weekend, Professor KC Johnson reported that the Duke Students for an Ethical Durham and members of the Duke lacrosse team were prohibited from encouraging students to register to vote at Saturday’s Duke football game.

“One of the few encouraging developments of the Duke lacrosse case has been the work of Duke Students for an Ethical Durham, a grassroots student organization committed to registering Duke students in time for the November election. According to its mission statement, the group seeks "to encourage students to fulfill their civic obligation to register and vote in Durham County." DSED has received favorable press coverage from the N&O, from Greta Van Susteren of FOX News, and from the AP. In recent weeks, DSED activists have gone "door-to-door" to register students. They have set up tables on campus. They have networked with their friends and classmates. And they have tried to sign up voters at Duke social events.

Over the past few hours, I've learned from multiple sources of a potentially troubling situation at today's Duke football game. I have been told that DSED activists, along with members of Duke sports teams, were prevented from registering students at the stadium, for reasons that remain unclear.”

Duke’s John Burness responded:

“I learned of this issue last night and the answer is fairly straightforward. Apparently the students wanted to set up a voter registration mechanism in the stadium; While the athletics department permits a wide range of activities outside the stadium without prior approval, for reasons I am confident you can appreciate, it doesn't permit activities within the stadium without prior notice and approval. I was told the students, perhaps unaware of this, had made no such request and were thus turned away.”

A commenter on Professor Johnson’s blog adds:

“A little birdie told me that an administrator expressed that the participating students were registering voters with an intended bias. NOTE: the students were wearing t-shirts that said "Voice Your Choice". They said nothing about Cheeks[sic]/NiFong/Lacrosse.”

From what we gather, the students were turned away “officially” because prior approval was not obtained and perhaps exception was taken to the intended “bias” of “Voice Your Choice” despite the lack of any apparent support for any particular candidate. LieStoppers has learned that Nifong “opponent” Steve Monks and his campaign manager, Charlotte Woods, were allowed to distribute campaign material at a pre-game tailgate party and within the stadium during the game. Based on Mr. Burness’s response and the assumption that Mr. Monks would not sneakily violate Duke policies, we can only assume that the Athletic Department permitted Mr. Monks’ campaign activities with prior notice and approval. If that is indeed the situation, it would appear that an “intended bias” is offensive when it is a “Get out the Vote” campaign and not a “Split the Vote” campaign.

Nifong Campaign Deception

Curiously, local media has been noticeably silent with regard to DA Nifong’s campaign kickoff rally from this past Sunday. We can only assume that this means either they had no interest in the event or that the rally was a non-event. Crystal Mess and WTVD discussion board posters offer some clues:

CM:

“Nifibber's duplicity knows no bounds. If you click on his official publicity portfolio, you are greeted by his turtle-faced visage immediately to the left of the banner: "Nifong Campaign Rally, Sunday, October 1." Directly beneath are links to "Photos" and "More Photos." A new visitor to the site would reasonably assume that the slideshows there accessed include pictures of said October 1 rally. One must remember, however, that this is Durham in Wonderland, and Mike Nifibber is the Cheshire Cat. Those pictures were actually taken at flesh pressers held more than five months ago, in advance of the May 2d Beer Hall Putsch. If my sources are correct, no pictures exist of Nifong in the company of "supporters" on October 1st, inasmuch as he spent the entire event doing a fast-paced back-pedal polka to avoid being caught in lens with its two attendees, Victoria Peterson and Kim Brummell. Indeed, I understand that Mayor Bell and Finesse Couch found themselves unavoidably "otherwise engaged" on October 1st.”

WTVD Discussion Board:

“Those photographs are old and not from yesterday. They appear to have been uploaded on June 14. Nifong's website has not been updated since 9/29. It's curious that there has been no news coverage of the event. http://mikenifong.com/kickoff/"

“You’re absolutely right! I missed the time-stamp on the photos (4/23/06). The Fong’s deceptive website led me to believe that these photos were from yesterday’s campaign rally. At the top of the website it reads…“Nifong Campaign Rally, Sunday, October 1” Underneath…there are options for, “More Info,” “Photos,” and “More Photos.”

Examination of the directory, http://mikenifong.com/kickoff/, linked at WTVD appears to confirm the observations that the all of the photos shown by DA Nifong on his campaign website were indeed taken months ago and not this past weekend as his site suggests.

Index of /kickoff

Name Last modified Size Description

Parent Directory 29-Sep-2006 08:52 -

01.gif 14-Jun-2006 22:50 2k

01.jpg 14-Jun-2006 22:50 182k

02.gif 14-Jun-2006 22:50 2k

02.jpg 14-Jun-2006 22:51 282k

03.gif 14-Jun-2006 22:51 2k

03.jpg 14-Jun-2006 22:51 254k

04.gif 14-Jun-2006 22:51 2k

04.jpg 14-Jun-2006 22:51 322k

05.gif 14-Jun-2006 22:51 2k

05.jpg 14-Jun-2006 22:51 323k

06.gif 14-Jun-2006 22:51 2k

06.jpg 14-Jun-2006 22:52 259k

07.gif 14-Jun-2006 22:52 2k

07.jpg 14-Jun-2006 22:52 210k

08.gif 14-Jun-2006 22:52 2k

08.jpg 14-Jun-2006 22:52 259k

09.gif 14-Jun-2006 22:52 2k

09.jpg 14-Jun-2006 22:52 109k

10.gif 14-Jun-2006 22:52 2k

10.jpg 14-Jun-2006 22:52 178k

11.gif 14-Jun-2006 22:52 2k

11.jpg 14-Jun-2006 22:52 213k

12.gif 14-Jun-2006 22:52 2k

12.jpg 14-Jun-2006 22:52 215k

13.gif 14-Jun-2006 22:52 2k

13.jpg 14-Jun-2006 22:52 195k

14.gif 14-Jun-2006 22:52 2k

14.jpg 14-Jun-2006 22:53 146k

15.gif 14-Jun-2006 22:53 2k

15.jpg 14-Jun-2006 22:53 200k

16.gif 14-Jun-2006 22:53 2k

16.jpg 14-Jun-2006 22:53 122k

17.gif 14-Jun-2006 22:53 2k

17.jpg 14-Jun-2006 22:53 128k

18.gif 14-Jun-2006 22:53 2k

18.jpg 14-Jun-2006 22:53 164k

close.gif 14-Jun-2006 22:53 1k

kickmenu.php 14-Jun-2006 22:53 2k

kickoff01.php 14-Jun-2006 22:53 1k

kickoff02.php 14-Jun-2006 22:53 1k

kickoff03.php 14-Jun-2006 22:53 1k

kickoff04.php 14-Jun-2006 22:53 1k

kickoff05.php 14-Jun-2006 22:53 1k

kickoff06.php 14-Jun-2006 22:53 1k

kickoff07.php 14-Jun-2006 22:53 1k

kickoff08.php 14-Jun-2006 22:53 1k

kickoff09.php 14-Jun-2006 22:53 1k

kickoff10.php 14-Jun-2006 22:53 1k

kickoff11.php 14-Jun-2006 22:53 1k

kickoff12.php 14-Jun-2006 22:53 1k

kickoff13.php 14-Jun-2006 22:53 1k

kickoff14.php 14-Jun-2006 22:53 1k

kickoff15.php 14-Jun-2006 22:53 1k

kickoff16.php 14-Jun-2006 22:53 1k

kickoff17.php 14-Jun-2006 22:53 1k

kickoff18.php 14-Jun-2006 22:53 1k

It appears this is yet another example of the Nifong bluff and further indicatation of DA Nifong's willingness to deceive the citizens of Durham in his effort to keep his job.