'Push poll' critics were on Romney's payroll (voters, campaign, spokesman)

[cottonwood2420]

Salt Lake Tribune - 'Push poll' critics were on Romney's payroll

When news broke about alleged push poll calls in Iowa and New Hampshire critical of Mitt Romney's Mormon faith, the presidential candidate's campaign referred reporters to a few voters who had received the calls.
But the campaign didn't disclose those voters were also on Romney's payroll.
Marshan Roth, a Fairfield, Iowa voter, told The Salt Lake Tribune she received a pollster call that asked positive questions about Sen. John McCain but negative slanted questions about Romney. When asked if she was a Romney supporter, Roth said she was leaning toward backing him, but not sure.
Roth didn't disclose, nor did the campaign, that she has received $3,000 since April from the Romney camp as a grassroots field organizer.
Romney spokesman Kevin Madden said Wednesday there were several people who were supporters who received the calls and then contacted the campaign to alert them to the poll.
"It's obviously a statistical probability that supporters of the governor would receive these calls," Madden said.
Madden had suggested The Tribune contact Roth when asked who had received the calls.
The revelation that the voters were on Romney's payroll has further fueled critics' charges that the Romney campaign is actually behind the calls, hoping to cast McCain in a bad light while making Romney the victim.
Madden said those allegations are baseless.
"The campaign, of course, is not involved with making these calls or any others against our candidate," Madden said. "The conspiracy theories suggesting otherwise are clearly absurd."