Shooting Yourself in the Foot

With friends like YAL, who needs enemies?

It’s safe to say that Texas-based Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) / American Action Fund (AAF) has been stirring the pot in Idaho for the past few months. Yesterday morning, I and many others received an email from AAF asking me to do two things: click a link to send a petition to lawmakers demanding they eliminate sales taxes on groceries, and to donate money to their organization:

Clicking on the petition link opens a Jotform page asking for some personal information, with a pre-checked box opting in to text messages:

Were I to fill it out, the form would send the following message, presumably using my Zip Code to figure out which lawmakers to send it to:

This is not out of the ordinary for political organizations. However, starting yesterday morning, several legislators began sharing on Twitter that they were receiving messages like these from people who never sent them. Sen. Brian Lenney accused YAL/AAF of “diving into a new realm of deceit and manipulation” and saying they “allegedly stole voter data from Idaho, and forged emails from real people to their lawmakers.”

Sen. Camille Blaylock posted a screenshot of a conversation with a friend whose name appeared on an email from AAF, who said she did not send it:

The story was blown wide open during the House floor debate on H231 this morning. This bill would raise the grocery tax credit, which many see as an inferior alternative to eliminating the sales tax on groceries. Rep. Rod Furniss revealed that he had received one of these AAF emails, signed by himself:

Logan Finney of Idaho Reports spoke to numerous other legislators who said that they too received apparently fake emails:

Lawmakers also discussed the messages in an email chain, shared with Idaho Reports.

“I support grocery tax repeal and school choice,” Blaylock wrote to her colleagues, “but these emails give me pause on supporting either effort this year – why is an organization so motivated to get something passed that they would lie like this? It’s concerning.”

“I also received an email purporting to be from my neighbor,” wrote Sen. Todd Lakey, R-Nampa. “I spoke with her and she confirmed that they sent no such email. Those behind this have sunk to a new low.”

“Same here,” wrote Senate Assistant Majority Leader Mark Harris, R-Soda Springs. “I recognized several names but the addresses were wrong. Those that I asked told me they sent no such email.”

Within moments of the vote on H231 (it passed 61-6-3), AAF sent a very long email mocking claims that it was engaged in fakery:

None of this is to say a desire to eliminate the sales tax on groceries is good or bad. I’m fairly neutral on the idea, as I’ve written numerous times over the past three years. However, polling shows that most Idahoans want the state to exempt food from sales tax, so I understand the frustration that the Legislature has not taken it up. I’ve heard rumor that leadership and committee chairs are refusing to even have a print hearing for a bill to eliminate food taxes. I honestly hope they reconsider, because we deserve to have a full debate on the issue. However, it’s also not surprising. This is risk of confrontational politics. Instead of making lawmakers feel electoral pressure, activists often end up burning bridges and end up accomplishing nothing.

I have no idea if YAL/AAF somehow sent out fake emails, using voter data or otherwise. However, even the perception that they have is damaging their own case. For example, YAL’s antics gave Rep. Furniss, who is often on the opposite side of conservative policies, a chance to laugh at their expense. If you’re a lawmaker who really wants to eliminate the sales tax on groceries, you have to ask yourself if YAL’s antics are helping or hurting your cause. The organization has essentially burned bridges with more than 90% of the Legislature.

Sixteen Idaho legislators publicly withdrew from YAL’s Hazlitt Coalition last May, citing the organization’s unwillingness to listen to people in Idaho about Idaho issues. Perhaps the lawmakers who remain allied with YAL should consider doing the same thing. After all, with friends like this, who needs enemies?