Fallen star blames self, GOP tactics

Fallen star blames self, GOP tactics

Jail term served in N.H. phone plot

By Michael Kranish, Globe Staff | June 10, 2006

WASHINGTON -- For nearly a decade, Allen Raymond stood at the top ranks
of Republican Party power.

But most recently, Raymond has been in prison. And for that, he blames himself, but also
says he was part of a Republican political culture that emphasizes hardball tactics and
polarizing voters.

Raymond, 39, has just finished serving a three-month sentence for jamming Democratic
phone lines in New Hampshire during the 2002 US Senate race. The incident led to one of the
biggest political scandals in the state's history, the convictions of Raymond and two top
Republican officials, and a Democratic lawsuit that seeks to determine whether the White
House played any role. The race was won by Senator John E. Sununu , the Republican.

In his first interview about the case, Raymond said he doesn't know anything that would
suggest the White House was involved in the plan to tie up Democrats' phone lines and
thereby block their get-out-the-vote effort. But he said the scheme reflects a broader culture
in the Republican Party that is focused on dividing voters to win primaries and general
elections. He said examples range from some recent efforts to use border-security concerns
to foster anger toward immigrants to his own role arranging phone calls designed to polarize
primary voters over abortion in a 2002 New Jersey Senate race.