I was just interviewed by Rachel Sladja of Talking Points Memo who wanted to follow-up on her story from yesterday. I’ll post a link to the new article when it comes out. (UPDATE 1/7/10 @ 8:56 EST: An email received from Ms. Sladja stated: “I was going to do a story about Hoekstra’s people claiming Snyder’s people were behind the site, but my editors vetoed it. C’est la vie.”)
Apparently, the Hoekstra team is now saying that I am doing this to help Rick Snyder’s campaign. Sladja said a Hoekstra spokesman thinks Snyder’s campaign is “feeding us information”. And there’s more: Somehow that my father, Jeff Padnos, is involved in this effort.
“100% absolutely positively NOT TRUE,” I told Ms. Sladja. Here are the facts: My Dad heard about this the same way many of you did — someone forwarded him an article about it. He shot me a quick email and I replied, “Sorry to blind-side you with this.” His response was something along the lines of, “There are 435 Congressional Districts in the US. Why do you have to choose this one?” My response was, “Well, this is the one I know best.” Even though I’ve been in Southern California for 15 years, I follow what’s happening in Western Michigan closely and get home several times a year. I remember Hoekstra’s first campaign in 1992 and I’ve met him on a couple of occasions…
Ultimately, given everything that’s going on in the state, I think Michigan needs a leader with serious firepower. So, this is my little contribution. It’s being done purely in the spirit of what I think is best for my home state. I’ve explained this in deep detail here, here, and here.
As I have said, we are not affiliated with any candidate, organization or political party. I am a registered Independent who leans Libertarian. This is 100% a personal effort related to Pete Hoekstra, and Pete Hoekstra alone. The only thing I know about Rick Synder is that he is from Ann Arbor, was the President of Gateway Computer at some point in the past, and was smart enough to reserve RickSnyder.com a long time ago. The registration dates back to 2003, in fact.
Now, a bigger issue here is bubbling up. Not only did the Congressman fail to reserve his own .com name, he’s being dishonest about his own efforts to secure it. And on top of that, he’s pointing fingers at Rick Snyder and my Dad, both of whom have absolutely have nothing to do with this.
This is how Pete Hoekstra conducts his business in Washington, and it’s how things will be if he were elected Governor.
Why couldn’t Hoekstra have simply said, “You know what, we dropped the ball. We should have reserved the name and we learned a valuable lesson.” People would understand that he’s got a lot on his plate. But instead, he just spins and spins and spins, pointing fingers without regard to the facts. Just as he did in his offensive campaign letter last week.
On a personal note, I don’t want any of my efforts to have any negative reflection on my family back home. I think the “Padnos” name is a pretty proud symbol in Western Michigan of what’s great about this country, the American Dream, and that you can “do well, while doing good”.
Amen to that. Being up-front and honest isn’t a part of Hoekstra’s repertoire – regardless of how much respect it may garner him. Instead it’s lie, demonize and spin.
You seem pretty savvy about domain registration – but I’d still be ready for any incoming ICANN complaints or lawsuits.
Pete is an absolute embarrassment to our State and this country and I applaud you for your efforts. My dislike for Mr. Hoaxtra has little to do with his party affiliation and has everything to do with his divisiveness and deceit. I will be following you here and on Twitter! Do you plan on adding a personal blog section? As a Grand Rapidian I would love to post from time to time.
I think more and more you are doing this to shed light on Ben Padnos, not on the issues. Leave your dad and family out of it, do you really want and/or need this attention?
President Harry Truman once said “It takes a carpenter to build a barn, but any jackass can kick it down.” That is what you are doing with this stupid website. I worked with Pete Hoekstra at Herman Miller as Market Research Manager. I conducted all the new product research for the company. He is way above the mentality involved with this feeble attempt at political strategy. You should be ashamed
We registered the domain anonymously, but the Hoekstra campaign released my name to the press. I have made it very clear this effort solely reflects the views of the author and not anyone else in my family.
Yeah this is a step backwards, thanks for your great work for Michigan, maybe you should have put up a website against the governator when he was running, talk about problems. Clearly you and the snyder camp are BFF’s, wouldn’t be surprised if they had a hand in this.
Pete Hoekstra looks like my dad..
To William Isenberg, just because you worked with Pete Hoekstra 15 years ago doesn’t give you exclusive rights to judge his current character. He has chosen to run for governor of this state and had better be prepared to answer for his missteps. So far his answers have not been good. Please point out one untruth that has been posted on this site! Please demonstrate where the author has been vile or demeaning – you won’t find it. He has nothing to be ashamed for but Pete Hoekstra should be.
[...] the story on a controversy surrounding the petehoekstra.com domain. The domain owner speaks out here. If we followed Matthew Sanderson’s advice and created a .pol top-level domain for [...]
Pete Hoekstra pointing the finger and blaming someone else yet again.. Call him what he is – A partisan hack.
Mr. Eisenberg and Ronald typify everything that’s wrong with Congressman Hoekstra and his ilk. If you’re not with us, you’re a socially irredeemable enemy deserving nothing but contempt.
Kind of makes it hard to communicate with folks like this.
William Isenberg says:
Harry Truman once said “It takes a carpenter to build a barn, but any jackass can kick it down.”
OMG – your not kidding you were a student of Peaties. You have mastered the twisting of the facts just as well. Okay, not a problem … just another minor slip. No biggie
Actually the quote is by Sam Rayburn ” A jackass can kick a barn down, but it takes a carpenter to build one …”
Think it was Harry Truman who said ” There must be WMD’s in them there hills”
Now that I quoted Harry Truman I know exactly what it was like to win WWII.
Ben, you really do live in Fairyland. You do not have a clue of the evil in this world that would love to rip your face off like Al-Qaeda did to Iraqi citizens. Pete was out front saving your ass so you could get all excited about your brainless little website. He was doing the right thing by not letting Gitmo scum go back to Yemen to kill more innocent people. But dumb ass liberals and the aclu bottom feeders made sure they got to fight another day!
Let’s here it for u of m turning out another brain fart!
Hey Junkyard Dog..there is nothing “Christians” fear more than having their “faces ripped off” except maybe losing their cushy retirements in Florida. P.S. M Go Blue!
not sure about the U of M comment, but brain fart is accurate. Living in California the silver spooned grandson attempts to inject himself in Michigan politics but buying a domain name from go daddy or whatever for 39.99 +/-, stick to web creation, surfing or at least California politics Ben, This is all about Ben, willing to put himself on stage, not caring what affect it may have on his family, in my opinion you need some maturation in how you conduct yourself. Take a hint from the Stryker family they are active in politics, Democratic causes, liberal agendas, but in way far more subtle and tasteful than this. John and Pat don’t cause embarrassment to their familly.
miteeeman why is he an embarrassment to his family? Because he is pointing out the flaws in Pete Hoekstra’s statements? Because he is calling Pete Hoekstra on the carpet for being divisive and a liar? So Mr. Padnos doesn’t get to have an opinion different than yours and junkyard dog, one not based on unfounded fear tactics? A wise person once told me no matter where you go, no matter where you choose to hang your hat, always be proud of where you came from. As far as “interjecting” himself into Michigan politics, it’s Mr. Padnos’ right just as it’s Sarah Palin and her ilks right to interject themselves into everyone elses political races.
Stryker? Really? The reason that family is “subtle” in its politics is that it understands many people would be appalled by what it supports. That sounds more like a manipulating machination than activism. Real patriots put their name to their beliefs — see the founding of this country.
Joan Marie, its called tact. Look it up in the dictionary, yes we can all say whatever we want I guess, regardless of how others may be affected. I wasn’t brought up that way, maybe you and Ben were, but I doubt Ben was I know his family, his uncles and grandfathers more than his dad. This web thing he is doing appears self serving. And I guess it is working isnt it. I will no longer waste my time here.
Yes, miteeeman, I guess it is always best to close your mind, avert your eyes and refuse to carry on in civilized debate. Great ideas come from someone putting an idea out there and others presenting their thoughts and ideas to improve or disprove the intial viability. This has nothing to do with tact or how I was raised in a Christian conservative household in private school (although we are far from being a “privileged” family) and still managed to see the world as it is beyond the end of my whitebread nose. I can’t speak for Mr. Padnos, who btw did not use his name in this endeavor, it was the “honorable” Pete Hoekstra that first used his name. We should be looking at good old Pete’s motivation in all of this.
miteeeman says: its called tact. Look it up in the dictionary
I’m a little lost on the definition …. so help me out, – is tact when a politician tries to raise campaign funds by playing off the public’s fear of a recently attempted terrorist event?
miteeeman says: I will no longer waste my time here.
Well okay then… I sure wouldn’t want to see one put themself through
the pain and suffering of having to endure spending time anywhere others may have different views.
for someone so well raised and schooled you missed the whole point of tact. keep up with ur schooling and the same closed mindedness you point to me and to the Palin “ilks”, Im not a fan of hers or many politicians these days, this whole thing is stupid, and if you don’t believe the extended family has red faces because of a pompous self serving nephew/grandson,,,, think again.
Sbell, do you know the Stryker family? Is it against the law to be gay and support those causes? I don’t think so, Im not gay, and I have voted more for Republicans than Democrats, wow what a choice we have there isnt it??? Your comment about the Stryker family and where they contribute is scary, whether Republican or Democrat. Wow!
Actually miteeeman you’ve just made my point for me. His family has nothing to be red faced about. Based on your statement, people are apparently judging Mr. Padnos’ family based on what Mr. Padnos does or says – these are the people that should be red faced. He has stated quite clearly that his views are not necessarily reflective of his family’s views. I work very hard to listen to all sides and make my decisions based on my knowledge of the subject and the facts I can gather. While I do trend liberal I find points and positions raised by moderates and conservatives valid and solid policy. I have a problem with people from all walks of politics that blatantly lie for their own gains and use these lies in horrible ways (i.e. Pete Hoekstra’s fundraising letter of the Christmas terror attack, Pete Hoekstra Tweeting that he just landed in Iraq creating a security risk for those accompanying him on this trip, potenitally using government sources to “out” Mr. Padnos as the author of this site.)
You “trend” liberal??? HA a Rachel Maddow and Keith Olberman fan I’m sure. Read Rosemarie Russcher’s remarks. She sums up why the internet entrepreneur who was “outed” and surprised by it, should use more discretion. I don’t think Hoekstra’s campaign would have minded had the website not been devoted to MSNBC type cartoonatorials
I find it interesting that your responses to fact are insults or at least what you percieve as insults. Perhaps there are no counter points to the facts as laid out? Maybe Pete Hoekstra really isn’t the Tweet king that some of us have come to know and be appalled by, Maybe his Christmas fundraising letter is a liberal conspiracy. Quite frankly it doesn’t really matter what the Hoekstra campaign likes or doesn’t like, If he keeps putting his untruths into the public domain his campaign had better be prepared to take the heat. To this point, they seem to be lacking in that area.
again this is not nor has ever been whether Hoekstra is the right or wrong candidate it is about why Ben has brought this up? you continue to miss the point. Keep trying,
umm . . because he doesn’t like what Pete Hoekstra does . . . doesn’t like what he stands for . . . has the ability to do something about it. Quite honestly, if Mr. Padnos were out to garner attention for himself there are a lot of other ways to do that which would bring a much bigger bang for his $10 website. And he more than likely would have done it a long time ago. Be realistic!
what a great return on a $10 website, hes already done it by buying Barry Bonds paraphenalia for $187,000, who are you kidding and now this? Bye continue to live in your Southern California bubble ideology along with Mrs. Pelosi and Harry, now they are more comical than Pete Hoekstra, George Bush, Cris Dodd, Dick Cheney,Joe Biden, Jimmy Carter, and the Great One put together
Seriously miteeeman, that’s your response? Change the subject to something completely irrelevant and attempt to make nonsensical “insults’ (which are misspelled)? What happened to a substantive debate on issues? Oh wait you are using a diversionary tactic because there is no substance to your argument.
It’s amazing that Hoekstra still has lightbulbs waiting to illuminate.
I just went to GoDaddy to look at various domain names. I can still register numerous hoekstraformichigan and hoekstraforgovernor variations, including hoekstraformichigan.info or hoekstraforgovernor.info for just 89 cents each.
Even petehoekstraformichigan.com is available!
Is this guy too dim to spend the few dollars to lock those up too?
JoanMarie,
You STILL don’t get it. You never will so I quit. So I have a spelling or grammatical error, my apologies, I dont proofread statements on a stupid blog post. If you do, go for it, you have more time than I do. I honestly enjoy listening to your babble and the others here, if you look at the periodicals mentioned above, the Washington Monthly, Daily Koz, Huffington Post, Time, these are real bastions ( I hope I spelled that right) of unbiased journalism aren’t they. Those “news” publications spell out the agenda very clear.
James Jett, have you ever worked at the level Hoekstra has in marketing???? Maybe he views your ideas worthless, as I do.
Enjoy living in your fishbowl all.
miteeeman I understand completely what you are trying to say. I understand that you think it is disrespectful of Mr. Padnos to have started this website because you believe there will be some fallout toward his family over this. You believe he is self-serving and out of respect for his family he shouldn’t be doing this. I believe that you are wrong for reasons that I have stated in previous posts above. Everyone is entitled to their opinion – it’s a free country. The difference between us is that I was respectful toward you, did not try and insult you and stayed on topic. Your agenda here, based on ALL of your posts, is to disparage the author’s name and it makes you appear to be a petty and narrow minded person.
If you clowns want to waste your money please go ahead and lock up those websites and spend your money, isn’t that the michigan way? stupid decisions when it comes to spending?
Thanks for your support, “JoanMarie”. As I pointed out in my “We’ve been outed” post, I intended to stay anonymous to keep my family out of it. It was Congressman Hoekstra’s folks who released my name to the Grand Rapids Press. However, even when I perceived myself as having anonymity, everything I wrote was reasonable in both substance and tone. That’s what I describe as the “Internet purist” in me – I’ve been involved actively online since 1996. Some people such as Miteeeman choose to hide behind anonymity and make personal attacks. This is his right, but I find it to be ineffective and unproductive. I am happy to publish opposing views on this site as long as they’re constructive and respectful. For example, Miteeeman, tell me who you think should be Governor. If you support Hoekstra, tell us, specifically, why. This blog is NOT about me or my family, rather the Michigan Governor’s race and one specific candidate who I hope to see lose. And you can put up your own website for or against Pete or anyone you choose!
Ben – I’m glad you are regulating these comments yourself. As for the consistently idiotic postings of Miteeeman – first of all, you keeping saying this is about Ben being self-serving – so you are saying that HE alerted the media and gave his name out regarding this website? What kind of person, (with family still living in this small community) would actively do that? I don’t have to remind anyone who lives in this area how quickly and ruthlessly small town gossip spreads….He’s have to be some kind of sadist to do that to his own family. Don’t you think that in order to cover up for their idiotic oversight, that the Hoekstra campaign went to the media with this story in order to try and spin it in a more positive light for themselves?
This is obviously more and more not about the person that decided to start the website, but the message that the website is trying to project. And this is being obscured by all of this controversy regarding the fact that the idiot that is Pete Hoekstra ‘forgot’ to register his own name.
Well said /|\ /|\ /|\
The problem with this country is BOTH the Democrats and Republicans. Anyone who seriously thinks that one side isn’t corrupt or slaves to Corporate America hasn’t done an adequate job of paying attention. To the Republicans: The GW administration will go down in History as one of the worst administrations. They eroded your constitutional rights, expanded the power of the wealthy elite, invaded countries under false pretenses, destroyed diplomatic relations with the rest of the world, and spent money like it was going out of style. To the Democrats: Obama is a dud. He promised much and has turned out to be another corporate lackey. He made deals with big pharma to ensure you could not get your medication cheaper elsewhere, he flip flopped on military tribunals, he refuses to fix health care properly through nationalization or single payer, he populates his inner circle with more Wall Street insiders, he spends money on bailouts and useless stimulus packages.