Mitt Romney Can't Keep Track of Right Wing Zealots

Its tough to run for Prez, you have to remember all sorts of folks, but this was pretty embarrassing. From AJC:

At the fund-raiser for Mitt Romney at the posh 1818 Club on Friday, the candidate was making the introductions to the room.

Romney gestured to Ralph Reed and said, “Why it’s good to see Gary Bauer here.” (For the detached, Bauer is a former presidential candidate with ties, like Reed, to the Religious Right.)

Romney then caught himself. “Oh, I’m a little mixed up here,” he said. But Romney still couldn’t place Reed’s face — and had to move on.

D'oh! So, let's give the Mittster a helping hand.

Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition (Pat Roberston's group), vote rigger, high-school plagiarizer, and chairman of the Georgia Republican Party. He had a meteoric rise in the Republican Party as a champion of the religious right, and even ran for Lt. Governor of Georgia. His future looked bright, until his dealings with Jack Abramoff came to light.

Reed was named in the scandal arising from lobbying work performed by Jack Abramoff on behalf of Indian gambling tribes. Emails released by federal investigators in June 2005 suggest that Reed secretly accepted payments from Abramoff to lobby against Indian casino gambling and oppose an Alabama education lottery while Abramoff was being paid to promote Indian casino gambling. Additional emails released in November 2005 show that Reed also worked for another Abramoff client seeking to block a congressional ban on Internet gambling. These cases are being investigated by multiple federal and state grand juries and by the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Abramoff pled guilty to three felony counts in federal court.

He lost the election and is just another disgraced ex-pol. At least he didn't stick his dick where it didn't belong, so who knows? Could a resurrection be in the cards for Ralph Reed?

Gary Bauer is another right wing religious zealot, probably best known for falling of the stage trying to catch pancakes while running for the presidency. (Does chutzpah know no bounds?) Gary, as expected, is anti-woman's choice, but is pro-death penalty. He had some bizarre run-ins with Dan (Santorum, ITMFA) Savage. Bauer has joined the ranks of right wing ranters by hosting a radio talk show program.