How a Newton (MA) man derailed Romney

[ToryNotion]

Fascinating story of one mans campaign to bring down the Romney campaign.

Mountain: How a Newton man derailed Romney
Local Newton (MA) ^ | February 12, 2008 | Tom Mountain


Newton - Brian Camenker of Auburndale was a major force behind the derailing of Mitt Romney’s massively expensive and impeccably organized presidential campaign. One recent national press release called Camenker the “lynchpin” of Romney’s demise. Political insiders have to acknowledge that he was the unforeseen nemesis the Romney machine couldn’t stop.

It’s evident that since stepping down from leading the Newton Taxpayers Association in 2004, Camenker’s been getting a lot more traction outside of Newton than in it. For years Newton liberals had made an industry of publicly berating him, largely due to his relentless challenges to their political sacred cows. And Newton conservatives, most of whom had quietly agreed with him, nevertheless proved to be too timid to stand against the entrenched Newton liberal establishment. So Camenker took a hiatus from the Newton political-cultural wars to target the-man-who-would-be-president, Mitt Romney.

By late 2006, many “real” conservatives had become disillusioned with Romney. The governor was spending the majority of his time in places like Iowa and South Carolina while his administration was on auto-pilot, his socially liberal top officials were running amok, and the state Republican Party was collapsing. Meanwhile, Romney had already begun depicting himself a conquering conservative hero. It was incredibly disingenuous, but his consultants made it all believable.

So over a six-week period, with the help of a half-dozen colleagues, Camenker wrote “The Mitt Romney Deception,” a 28-page paper that documented (with footnotes) Romney’s actual statements, actions, official positions and record as both candidate and governor in Massachusetts on a wide variety of issues ranging from homosexuality and abortion, to gun control and economics, and above all, to his bungling of the same-sex “marriage” debacle.

On Nov. 20, 2006, “The Mitt Romney Deception” was finished and e-mailed to about a dozen activists. The fallout was immediate. Within a few days, about half a million people had received it. Most of the major conservative Christian leaders read it and commented on it. Web sites posted it. It sparked arguments on blogs. Within weeks, the report had been picked up by the Washington Times, National Review Online and Fox News. On Jan. 12 last year, the Associated Press covered it with a big story that appeared in newspapers around the country. The next day, the Romney campaign sent out a bizarre press release personally attacking Camenker. (Needless to say, that only fanned the flames). A few days later, the Boston Globe did a prominent front-page article on Camenker and “The Mitt Romney Deception.”

The mainstream pro-Romney conservative media didn’t quite know what to do. National political correspondent Robert Novak wrote that Camenker was a “nobody” and should be ignored. National Review’s Kathryn Jean Lopez and Ramesh Ponneru, columnist-radio host Hugh Hewitt (who had just written the book “A Mormon in the White House”) and other “conservative” commentators attacked Mr. Camenker and his statewide activist group, Mass Resistance, which continued sending out the paper and posting it on its Web site MassResistance.Org. The conservative Web site TownHall.com, which usually attacks liberals, posted several articles by pro-Romney columnists bashing Camenker.

That mainstream Republican leaders attacked the messenger, Camenker, for berating their anointed hero Romney came as no surprise. The very concept that he was able to wage an effective guerilla campaign against the Romney crowd only caused them to react hysterically.

The Romney campaign’s army of bloggers and hired guns went on the warpath against Camenker, doing their best to discredit him, attacking him all over the net. One Web site, “Evangelicals for Mitt,” run by a Romney staffer’s husband, wrote a long harangue attempting to debunk Camenker’s paper. Yet despite all their efforts, the anti-Romney treatise resonated with conservatives around the country.

As the early caucuses and primaries heated up in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, an army of independent Camenker-inspired activists continued to spread the word. Volunteers independently e-mailed portions of “The Romney Deception” to every list they received. One even sent out a half-million e-mails around Florida. Activists distributed fliers door to door in New Hampshire. Some radio shows around the country interviewed Camenker at least once a week, sometimes every other day. In Iowa, he was on the state’s top talk station for an hour the day before the primary. Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback even asked Camenker to introduce him at a major dinner.

Eventually, all the remaining opposing Republican campaigns used material originally from the “The Romney Deception.” A Mike Huckabee e-mail included direct links to it. Columnists, newspaper editorials, magazines and Web sites used material from it, though almost always without attribution. Even during the Republican debates, other candidates “borrowed” damning tidbits from it to attack Romney.

The damage was done. The ragtag army of conservative activists had prevailed. In the end, the gulf between Romney’s actual record and the spin produced by his expensive consultants was, according to numerous political experts, a huge part of what did him in.

And when Mitt Romney finally dropped out of the presidential race last week, Brian Camenker of Newton could relish in the knowledge that he played a big part in his political demise.

[ToryNotion]

romney derailed bump

[crhoades]

He needs to set his eyes on McCain now. - and Pronto!

[ShowMeLiberty]

Another excellent reason to click the link in my sig to take down Insane McCain. Start printing, signing and mailing those resolutions to the GOP and your local media. We can make a difference!

[Aratus]

romney when governor of massachusetts had a legislature dominated by
mainstream hack democrats. names like finneran and bulger spring to mind.
william bulger is whitey bulger's brother. he was the MC at the debate in the year
2000 between bush and gore. to get things done, as a governor, and there has been
a string of republican governors since the presidential run of mike dukakis, the
dude in the statehouse usually has to cut several quiet deals. both the dems
in the legislature and our governors let the BIG DIG project have overruns in
the billions. more than the other governors, and this includes bill weld, the "frugal"
fiscal conservative budget balancer you all saw tooted in these commercials may have had
the largest amount of payola and featherbedding on his watch, ever! the guy from newton
with his missive has not EVEN scratched the surface of our "old boy network"... and
yes, with a ratio of TWO registered democrats to EACH republican, and an equal
number of political independents to EACH republican, the baystate is left leaning, and
the OTHER side of these flipflops got him votes at the time. BECHTEL was all over
the BIG DIG, and they also are a war contractor. our own payola scandals are again
eclipsed by the war effort. http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=104&sid=1331129

!

[joelfarm]

I remember reading this information early Nov. '07, as Dr. Pauls campaign really started taking off. As a supporter who is also Mormon, I was in a quandry. On a site of like minded Mormons, LatterDayConservative.com I read Mr. Camenker's hit piece and knew then, that it was Ron Paul to November!

This guy's story is a good example of how much power one person has, if they have the ingenuity, perserverance and of course the TRUTH. WE CAN make a difference and effect REAL CHANGE if we stick together and support Ron Paul ALL THE WAY!!

[LEK]

This guy's story is a good example of how much power one person has, if they have the ingenuity, perserverance and of course the TRUTH. WE CAN make a difference and effect REAL CHANGE if we stick together and support Ron Paul ALL THE WAY!!

+1

[Aratus]

+1





true...

[Primbs]

This is why Ron Paul forums is good. We can all stick together and help each other in different states exposing liberal politicians now and in the future.

[Aratus]

technically romney is not a liberal, he's a centrist flipflopper!
especially if you compare him to MANY of the bay state democrats
and republicans past and present. teddy kennedy is a liberal!
i was sorta wondering if huckabee when he runs in 2012 might
pull something similar, namely going from where his stances are now
to something more middle of the road, when hoping most people have
short term memories and a lacking of any long term political memory!
romney is more to the right than most bay state officel holder on either
the local or federal level. keep in mind all of representatives in the house
are democrats, as are our two senators. as a budget tightening fiscal
conservative, a "can do" governor... romney began to lay off or fire
people, many who were civil servants. he also had quiet budgetary
over-runs, though not usually with the typical liberal cause related
areas of our state's budget. he had three republican governors
immediately before him in the statehouse, namely bill weld, paul cellucci
and also jane swift! i think his main political legacy is that the BIG DIG project
went into over-runs as it was finally being completed when he was in office!

[Aratus]

bump

[Aratus]

bump bump bump!
this is a classic tale

[Corydoras]

Wow. I knew Brian waaay back when. He certainly was not a nobody in the Massachusetts conservative scene, but I never thought he would find the kind of traction he apparently has now. Back then, I felt sorry for him because Newton is extremely liberal and he was very isolated in his town. It's rough to be a politically conservative religiously observant Jew in a town so liberal that most of the time the Republicans don't even bother to run candidates. (Barney Frank Country.) Seems like Brian's found a way to be an effective activist.

Such an obnoxious guy and yet so clearly with a heart of gold-- that's probably the combination it took to obsess over Romney's record and nail the guy. Kudos to him.

[Aratus]

BUMP! Mitt was up in augusta!!! he's a CENTRIST flipflopper i say! HE MAY RUN IN 2012!!!

[Aratus]

!!!

[Aratus]

i just gotta luv karl rove for his wisdomings most adroit... and almost nixonian!

[Kade]

Fascinating story of one mans campaign to bring down the Romney campaign.


It shows what one man can do...

We made need him again, as the Dawn of Stupid approaches again... starting this Friday.

[Kludge]

We made need him again, as the Dawn of Stupid approaches again...

:rolleyes: :p

[Aratus]

It shows what one man can do...

We made need him again, as the Dawn of Stupid
approaches again... starting this Friday.


in the year 2000 south carolina inexplicably voted for g.w bush...
karl rove gets this plush, posh job out of all the confusion...then!
o.k ~~~ if G.W Bush = "Dawn of Stupid" and now you feel he was
optimistically mis-labeled and you feel mcCain deserves it even more
than the "W" ever did, should i take on :eek:O, Tempores O, Mores as my sig?

[Kade]

in the year 2000 south carolina inexplicably voted for g.w bush...
karl rove gets this plush, posh job out of all the confusion...then!
o.k ~~~ if G.W Bush = "Dawn of Stupid" and now you feel he was
optimistically mis-labeled and you feel mcCain deserves it even more
than the "W" ever did, should i take on :eek:O, Tempores O, Mores as my sig?

McCain changed.

I would have rather had him than W.

Right now, I'd rather have anyone but McCain.

[Aratus]

i know i actually should take on

~~~O, Tempores... O, Mores~~~

as my signature line... anyway.

[Aratus]

mitt romney right now is very reluctant to bail out detroit willy~nilly with a carte blanche...

[Smiley Gladhands]

mitt romney right now is very reluctant to bail out detroit willy~nilly with a carte blanche...

Posturing for 2012? Trying to reclaim that conservative image?

Especially since he doesn't get to vote on the issue, his rhetoric seems empty.

[Aratus]

mitt romney! JoshLowry--- pray do forgive me.
gotta go offline for today. tis a golden oldie, yes...

[Aratus]

mitt romney was once our governor. right now, we have a democrat in the governor's mansion,
two democrats as our senators, and all our house of representatives people are democrats...

[Aratus]

ItsTime... thy new Gentleman Mitt net*video
brought to mind this hoary + ancient thread!!!

[acptulsa]

Good find. Maybe we should keep him around long enough to sling mud at Perry first, though.

[Aratus]

MITT ROMNEY

[Aratus]

golden oldie
Fascinating story of one mans campaign to bring down the Romney campaign.

Mountain: How a Newton man derailed Romney
Local Newton (MA) ^ | February 12, 2008 | Tom Mountain


Newton - Brian Camenker of Auburndale was a major force behind the derailing of Mitt Romney’s massively expensive and impeccably organized presidential campaign. One recent national press release called Camenker the “lynchpin” of Romney’s demise. Political insiders have to acknowledge that he was the unforeseen nemesis the Romney machine couldn’t stop.

It’s evident that since stepping down from leading the Newton Taxpayers Association in 2004, Camenker’s been getting a lot more traction outside of Newton than in it. For years Newton liberals had made an industry of publicly berating him, largely due to his relentless challenges to their political sacred cows. And Newton conservatives, most of whom had quietly agreed with him, nevertheless proved to be too timid to stand against the entrenched Newton liberal establishment. So Camenker took a hiatus from the Newton political-cultural wars to target the-man-who-would-be-president, Mitt Romney.

By late 2006, many “real” conservatives had become disillusioned with Romney. The governor was spending the majority of his time in places like Iowa and South Carolina while his administration was on auto-pilot, his socially liberal top officials were running amok, and the state Republican Party was collapsing. Meanwhile, Romney had already begun depicting himself a conquering conservative hero. It was incredibly disingenuous, but his consultants made it all believable.

So over a six-week period, with the help of a half-dozen colleagues, Camenker wrote “The Mitt Romney Deception,” a 28-page paper that documented (with footnotes) Romney’s actual statements, actions, official positions and record as both candidate and governor in Massachusetts on a wide variety of issues ranging from homosexuality and abortion, to gun control and economics, and above all, to his bungling of the same-sex “marriage” debacle.

On Nov. 20, 2006, “The Mitt Romney Deception” was finished and e-mailed to about a dozen activists. The fallout was immediate. Within a few days, about half a million people had received it. Most of the major conservative Christian leaders read it and commented on it. Web sites posted it. It sparked arguments on blogs. Within weeks, the report had been picked up by the Washington Times, National Review Online and Fox News. On Jan. 12 last year, the Associated Press covered it with a big story that appeared in newspapers around the country. The next day, the Romney campaign sent out a bizarre press release personally attacking Camenker. (Needless to say, that only fanned the flames). A few days later, the Boston Globe did a prominent front-page article on Camenker and “The Mitt Romney Deception.”

The mainstream pro-Romney conservative media didn’t quite know what to do. National political correspondent Robert Novak wrote that Camenker was a “nobody” and should be ignored. National Review’s Kathryn Jean Lopez and Ramesh Ponneru, columnist-radio host Hugh Hewitt (who had just written the book “A Mormon in the White House”) and other “conservative” commentators attacked Mr. Camenker and his statewide activist group, Mass Resistance, which continued sending out the paper and posting it on its Web site MassResistance.Org. The conservative Web site TownHall.com, which usually attacks liberals, posted several articles by pro-Romney columnists bashing Camenker.

That mainstream Republican leaders attacked the messenger, Camenker, for berating their anointed hero Romney came as no surprise. The very concept that he was able to wage an effective guerilla campaign against the Romney crowd only caused them to react hysterically.

The Romney campaign’s army of bloggers and hired guns went on the warpath against Camenker, doing their best to discredit him, attacking him all over the net. One Web site, “Evangelicals for Mitt,” run by a Romney staffer’s husband, wrote a long harangue attempting to debunk Camenker’s paper. Yet despite all their efforts, the anti-Romney treatise resonated with conservatives around the country.

As the early caucuses and primaries heated up in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, an army of independent Camenker-inspired activists continued to spread the word. Volunteers independently e-mailed portions of “The Romney Deception” to every list they received. One even sent out a half-million e-mails around Florida. Activists distributed fliers door to door in New Hampshire. Some radio shows around the country interviewed Camenker at least once a week, sometimes every other day. In Iowa, he was on the state’s top talk station for an hour the day before the primary. Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback even asked Camenker to introduce him at a major dinner.

Eventually, all the remaining opposing Republican campaigns used material originally from the “The Romney Deception.” A Mike Huckabee e-mail included direct links to it. Columnists, newspaper editorials, magazines and Web sites used material from it, though almost always without attribution. Even during the Republican debates, other candidates “borrowed” damning tidbits from it to attack Romney.

The damage was done. The ragtag army of conservative activists had prevailed. In the end, the gulf between Romney’s actual record and the spin produced by his expensive consultants was, according to numerous political experts, a huge part of what did him in.

And when Mitt Romney finally dropped out of the presidential race last week, Brian Camenker of Newton could relish in the knowledge that he played a big part in his political demise.

[Aratus]

me
romney when governor of massachusetts had a legislature dominated by
mainstream hack democrats. names like finneran and bulger spring to mind.
william bulger is whitey bulger's brother. he was the MC at the debate in the year
2000 between bush and gore. to get things done, as a governor, and there has been
a string of republican governors since the presidential run of mike dukakis, the
dude in the statehouse usually has to cut several quiet deals. both the dems
in the legislature and our governors let the BIG DIG project have overruns in
the billions. more than the other governors, and this includes bill weld, the "frugal"
fiscal conservative budget balancer you all saw tooted in these commercials may have had
the largest amount of payola and featherbedding on his watch, ever! the guy from newton
with his missive has not EVEN scratched the surface of our "old boy network"... and
yes, with a ratio of TWO registered democrats to EACH republican, and an equal
number of political independents to EACH republican, the baystate is left leaning, and
the OTHER side of these flipflops got him votes at the time. BECHTEL was all over
the BIG DIG, and they also are a war contractor. our own payola scandals are again
eclipsed by the war effort. http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=104&sid=1331129

!

[Aratus]

again... a classic
I remember reading this information early Nov. '07, as Dr. Pauls campaign really started taking off. As a supporter who is also Mormon, I was in a quandry. On a site of like minded Mormons, LatterDayConservative.com I read Mr. Camenker's hit piece and knew then, that it was Ron Paul to November!

This guy's story is a good example of how much power one person has, if they have the ingenuity, perserverance and of course the TRUTH. WE CAN make a difference and effect REAL CHANGE if we stick together and support Ron Paul ALL THE WAY!!


+1


This is why Ron Paul forums is good. We can all stick together and help each other in different states exposing liberal politicians now and in the future.


technically romney is not a liberal, he's a centrist flipflopper!
especially if you compare him to MANY of the bay state democrats
and republicans past and present. teddy kennedy is a liberal!
i was sorta wondering if huckabee when he runs in 2012 might
pull something similar, namely going from where his stances are now
to something more middle of the road, when hoping most people have
short term memories and a lacking of any long term political memory!
romney is more to the right than most bay state officel holder on either
the local or federal level. keep in mind all of representatives in the house
are democrats, as are our two senators. as a budget tightening fiscal
conservative, a "can do" governor... romney began to lay off or fire
people, many who were civil servants. he also had quiet budgetary
over-runs, though not usually with the typical liberal cause related
areas of our state's budget. he had three republican governors
immediately before him in the statehouse, namely bill weld, paul cellucci
and also jane swift! i think his main political legacy is that the BIG DIG project
went into over-runs as it was finally being completed when he was in office!


Wow. I knew Brian waaay back when. He certainly was not a nobody in the Massachusetts conservative scene, but I never thought he would find the kind of traction he apparently has now. Back then, I felt sorry for him because Newton is extremely liberal and he was very isolated in his town. It's rough to be a politically conservative religiously observant Jew in a town so liberal that most of the time the Republicans don't even bother to run candidates. (Barney Frank Country.) Seems like Brian's found a way to be an effective activist.

Such an obnoxious guy and yet so clearly with a heart of gold-- that's probably the combination it took to obsess over Romney's record and nail the guy. Kudos to him.


BUMP! Mitt was up in augusta!!! he's a CENTRIST flipflopper i say! HE MAY RUN IN 2012!!!


It shows what one man can do...

We made need him again, as the Dawn of Stupid approaches again... starting this Friday.


:rolleyes: :p

[Aratus]

this was a story from 2008




Fascinating story of one mans campaign to bring down the Romney campaign.

Mountain: How a Newton man derailed Romney
Local Newton (MA) ^ | February 12, 2008 | Tom Mountain


Newton - Brian Camenker of Auburndale was a major force behind the derailing of Mitt Romney’s massively expensive and impeccably organized presidential campaign. One recent national press release called Camenker the “lynchpin” of Romney’s demise. Political insiders have to acknowledge that he was the unforeseen nemesis the Romney machine couldn’t stop.

It’s evident that since stepping down from leading the Newton Taxpayers Association in 2004, Camenker’s been getting a lot more traction outside of Newton than in it. For years Newton liberals had made an industry of publicly berating him, largely due to his relentless challenges to their political sacred cows. And Newton conservatives, most of whom had quietly agreed with him, nevertheless proved to be too timid to stand against the entrenched Newton liberal establishment. So Camenker took a hiatus from the Newton political-cultural wars to target the-man-who-would-be-president, Mitt Romney.

By late 2006, many “real” conservatives had become disillusioned with Romney. The governor was spending the majority of his time in places like Iowa and South Carolina while his administration was on auto-pilot, his socially liberal top officials were running amok, and the state Republican Party was collapsing. Meanwhile, Romney had already begun depicting himself a conquering conservative hero. It was incredibly disingenuous, but his consultants made it all believable.

So over a six-week period, with the help of a half-dozen colleagues, Camenker wrote “The Mitt Romney Deception,” a 28-page paper that documented (with footnotes) Romney’s actual statements, actions, official positions and record as both candidate and governor in Massachusetts on a wide variety of issues ranging from homosexuality and abortion, to gun control and economics, and above all, to his bungling of the same-sex “marriage” debacle.

On Nov. 20, 2006, “The Mitt Romney Deception” was finished and e-mailed to about a dozen activists. The fallout was immediate. Within a few days, about half a million people had received it. Most of the major conservative Christian leaders read it and commented on it. Web sites posted it. It sparked arguments on blogs. Within weeks, the report had been picked up by the Washington Times, National Review Online and Fox News. On Jan. 12 last year, the Associated Press covered it with a big story that appeared in newspapers around the country. The next day, the Romney campaign sent out a bizarre press release personally attacking Camenker. (Needless to say, that only fanned the flames). A few days later, the Boston Globe did a prominent front-page article on Camenker and “The Mitt Romney Deception.”

The mainstream pro-Romney conservative media didn’t quite know what to do. National political correspondent Robert Novak wrote that Camenker was a “nobody” and should be ignored. National Review’s Kathryn Jean Lopez and Ramesh Ponneru, columnist-radio host Hugh Hewitt (who had just written the book “A Mormon in the White House”) and other “conservative” commentators attacked Mr. Camenker and his statewide activist group, Mass Resistance, which continued sending out the paper and posting it on its Web site MassResistance.Org. The conservative Web site TownHall.com, which usually attacks liberals, posted several articles by pro-Romney columnists bashing Camenker.

That mainstream Republican leaders attacked the messenger, Camenker, for berating their anointed hero Romney came as no surprise. The very concept that he was able to wage an effective guerilla campaign against the Romney crowd only caused them to react hysterically.

The Romney campaign’s army of bloggers and hired guns went on the warpath against Camenker, doing their best to discredit him, attacking him all over the net. One Web site, “Evangelicals for Mitt,” run by a Romney staffer’s husband, wrote a long harangue attempting to debunk Camenker’s paper. Yet despite all their efforts, the anti-Romney treatise resonated with conservatives around the country.

As the early caucuses and primaries heated up in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, an army of independent Camenker-inspired activists continued to spread the word. Volunteers independently e-mailed portions of “The Romney Deception” to every list they received. One even sent out a half-million e-mails around Florida. Activists distributed fliers door to door in New Hampshire. Some radio shows around the country interviewed Camenker at least once a week, sometimes every other day. In Iowa, he was on the state’s top talk station for an hour the day before the primary. Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback even asked Camenker to introduce him at a major dinner.

Eventually, all the remaining opposing Republican campaigns used material originally from the “The Romney Deception.” A Mike Huckabee e-mail included direct links to it. Columnists, newspaper editorials, magazines and Web sites used material from it, though almost always without attribution. Even during the Republican debates, other candidates “borrowed” damning tidbits from it to attack Romney.

The damage was done. The ragtag army of conservative activists had prevailed. In the end, the gulf between Romney’s actual record and the spin produced by his expensive consultants was, according to numerous political experts, a huge part of what did him in.

And when Mitt Romney finally dropped out of the presidential race last week, Brian Camenker of Newton could relish in the knowledge that he played a big part in his political demise.

[mosquitobite]

Most of Camenker's charges are about Romney's SOCIAL conservative record.
That's why his support is what it is - he doesn't have the social conservatives OR the fiscal (tea party) conservatives.
He has the ESTABLISHMENT - and they don't care that he is a opportunist...because their only goal is to WIN.

[Aratus]

mosquitobite... tis well said!

[Aratus]

ToryNotion made the OP more than four and a half years ago.
in the interum i have seen Mitt get closer to the White House.


Fascinating story of one mans campaign to bring down the Romney campaign.

Mountain: How a Newton man derailed Romney
Local Newton (MA) ^ | February 12, 2008 | Tom Mountain


Newton - Brian Camenker of Auburndale was a major force behind the derailing of Mitt Romney’s massively expensive and impeccably organized presidential campaign. One recent national press release called Camenker the “lynchpin” of Romney’s demise. Political insiders have to acknowledge that he was the unforeseen nemesis the Romney machine couldn’t stop.

It’s evident that since stepping down from leading the Newton Taxpayers Association in 2004, Camenker’s been getting a lot more traction outside of Newton than in it. For years Newton liberals had made an industry of publicly berating him, largely due to his relentless challenges to their political sacred cows. And Newton conservatives, most of whom had quietly agreed with him, nevertheless proved to be too timid to stand against the entrenched Newton liberal establishment. So Camenker took a hiatus from the Newton political-cultural wars to target the-man-who-would-be-president, Mitt Romney.

By late 2006, many “real” conservatives had become disillusioned with Romney. The governor was spending the majority of his time in places like Iowa and South Carolina while his administration was on auto-pilot, his socially liberal top officials were running amok, and the state Republican Party was collapsing. Meanwhile, Romney had already begun depicting himself a conquering conservative hero. It was incredibly disingenuous, but his consultants made it all believable.

So over a six-week period, with the help of a half-dozen colleagues, Camenker wrote “The Mitt Romney Deception,” a 28-page paper that documented (with footnotes) Romney’s actual statements, actions, official positions and record as both candidate and governor in Massachusetts on a wide variety of issues ranging from homosexuality and abortion, to gun control and economics, and above all, to his bungling of the same-sex “marriage” debacle.

On Nov. 20, 2006, “The Mitt Romney Deception” was finished and e-mailed to about a dozen activists. The fallout was immediate. Within a few days, about half a million people had received it. Most of the major conservative Christian leaders read it and commented on it. Web sites posted it. It sparked arguments on blogs. Within weeks, the report had been picked up by the Washington Times, National Review Online and Fox News. On Jan. 12 last year, the Associated Press covered it with a big story that appeared in newspapers around the country. The next day, the Romney campaign sent out a bizarre press release personally attacking Camenker. (Needless to say, that only fanned the flames). A few days later, the Boston Globe did a prominent front-page article on Camenker and “The Mitt Romney Deception.”

The mainstream pro-Romney conservative media didn’t quite know what to do. National political correspondent Robert Novak wrote that Camenker was a “nobody” and should be ignored. National Review’s Kathryn Jean Lopez and Ramesh Ponneru, columnist-radio host Hugh Hewitt (who had just written the book “A Mormon in the White House”) and other “conservative” commentators attacked Mr. Camenker and his statewide activist group, Mass Resistance, which continued sending out the paper and posting it on its Web site MassResistance.Org. The conservative Web site TownHall.com, which usually attacks liberals, posted several articles by pro-Romney columnists bashing Camenker.

That mainstream Republican leaders attacked the messenger, Camenker, for berating their anointed hero Romney came as no surprise. The very concept that he was able to wage an effective guerilla campaign against the Romney crowd only caused them to react hysterically.

The Romney campaign’s army of bloggers and hired guns went on the warpath against Camenker, doing their best to discredit him, attacking him all over the net. One Web site, “Evangelicals for Mitt,” run by a Romney staffer’s husband, wrote a long harangue attempting to debunk Camenker’s paper. Yet despite all their efforts, the anti-Romney treatise resonated with conservatives around the country.

As the early caucuses and primaries heated up in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, an army of independent Camenker-inspired activists continued to spread the word. Volunteers independently e-mailed portions of “The Romney Deception” to every list they received. One even sent out a half-million e-mails around Florida. Activists distributed fliers door to door in New Hampshire. Some radio shows around the country interviewed Camenker at least once a week, sometimes every other day. In Iowa, he was on the state’s top talk station for an hour the day before the primary. Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback even asked Camenker to introduce him at a major dinner.

Eventually, all the remaining opposing Republican campaigns used material originally from the “The Romney Deception.” A Mike Huckabee e-mail included direct links to it. Columnists, newspaper editorials, magazines and Web sites used material from it, though almost always without attribution. Even during the Republican debates, other candidates “borrowed” damning tidbits from it to attack Romney.

The damage was done. The ragtag army of conservative activists had prevailed. In the end, the gulf between Romney’s actual record and the spin produced by his expensive consultants was, according to numerous political experts, a huge part of what did him in.

And when Mitt Romney finally dropped out of the presidential race last week, Brian Camenker of Newton could relish in the knowledge that he played a big part in his political demise.