How much does a vote cost?

[Sangersteve]

Rev. Stevie Fielder, an associate pastor at First Union Missionary Baptist Church in Meridian, Mississippi, says Cochran's campaign “told me to offer blacks $15 each and to vote for Thad.”

Fielder, who was paid by freelance journalist Charles C. Johnson for the story, provided a new outlet launched by Johnson—GotNews.com—with four text messages from a person purporting to be Cochran campaign staffer Saleem Baird.

The messages cite an official Cochran campaign email address—Saleem@ThadForMs.com—and include detailed discussions of the campaign providing envelopes of money to distribute to people who vote.

“Send me individual names and amounts along with home address to saleem@thadforms.com and I’ll have money separated in envelopes at the office waiting for you,” one message, sent three days before the runoff, says.

Fielder said he helped distribute the Cochran cash for votes on a promise of eventually getting paid $16,000—and because a key Cochran campaign staffer convinced him that Cochran’s conservative challenger state Sen. Chris McDaniel was racist.


LINK

[ann jusko]

WOW! If true, that's explosive.

[Mark]

And part of John Cornyn's campaign warchest undoubtedly paid for it. He was one of the group of establishment senators that wrote checks to Cochran for his runoff effort.

[crocmommy]

Nice to see the pastor can be bought. Hope he loses his job but not holding my breath.

[bodine]

Am I just cynical? $15 for a vote? Seems kind of low, on many levels...

[Red Oak]

So where is the IRS on this 501c violation ? Oh a Black Church, never mind.