Howard Kaloogian

Howard J. Kaloogian (born December 30 1959), American politician, is a former member of the California State Assembly. A conservative Republican, he failed in 2004 to be elected to the United States Senate and in 2006 to be elected to the House.

Biography

Kaloogian grew up in Michigan, of Armenian-born parents. Kaloogian earned a Bachelor's from Michigan State University and a law degree from Pepperdine University. During 1988–1996, he was an estate attorney. He got his start in politics at the suggestion of Bill Morrow, after Morrow read a strongly worded letter Kaloogian wrote to the editor of the San Diego "Union-Tribune" purporting to correct a reader's misleading interpretation of the preamble to the Constitution of the United States.

From 1994–2000, Kaloogian was a member of the California Assembly, representing California District 74, which covers portions of northern San Diego County. He won his seat in the 1994 legislative elections, with 61% of the votes counted. ["Final California Election Results", "Los Angeles Times", November 10, 1994] He endorsed Senator Phil Gramm's presidential bid in 1995. ["20 State GOP Lawmakers Back Gramm", "Los Angeles Times", March 1, 1995]

Kaloogian was twice re-elected to the Assembly. He recorded an unchanged majority, 61%, in the 1996 legislative election ["Final California Election Results", "Los Angeles Times", March 28, 1996] and was re-elected again in the 1998 election, where his share of the vote fell to 57%. ["Final California Election Results", "Los Angeles Times", November 5, 1998]

In 2003, Kaloogian became the chairman of the Recall Gray Davis Committee, dedicated to the ousting of governor Gray Davis. [ [http://www.worldmag.com/articles/7502 Worldmag.com] . "How grassroots conservatives used the Internet and talk radio in the first successful drive to force a recall vote of a California governor", Lynn Vincent, August 2, 2003.

[http://www.howardisaliar.com/ Others point out] the Recall Gray Davis Committee organization collected no signatures and spent no money on the recall.]

Kaloogian is a founder and co-chairman of Move America Forward, a controversial conservative political action group. Kaloogian considers President Ronald Reagan to be one of his political heroes. [ [http://www.kaloogianforcongress.com/ Kaloogian's official website] . He states "My political hero, Ronald Reagan, made a profound statement in his farewell address to the nation."] Kaloogian serves on the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project and was the Chairman of the [http://www.defendreagan.org/ Defend Reagan Project] , which campaigned in 2003 for CBS to drop a docudrama about Reagan, "The Reagans". The campaign was successful, as CBS did not show the mini-series, but handed it off to Showtime.

In 2004 Kaloogian ran for the U.S. Senate from California but lost the Republican primary with 11% of the vote, placing him 3rd out of 11 candidates. ["California Elections", "Los Angeles Times", March 4, 2004] He also ran unsuccessfully in the special election to fill the opening created by the resignation of disgraced Congressman Duke Cunningham in California's 50th Congressional District.

In 2008 Kaloogian chaired an Anti-Barack Obama political action committee called "Our country deserves better". [cite web|url=http://www.ourcountrydeservesbetter.com/whoweare/index.html|title=Board of Directors for Our Country Deserves Better ] He appeared in a video ad for that group. [cite web|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E0ycYEGtqU|title=YouTube video starring Howard Kaloogian]

Kaloogian is divorced and lives in San Marcos, California.

2006 campaign for Congress

Kaloogian ran in the special election to fill the opening in California's 50th District to the House of Representatives caused by the resignation of disgraced former Congressman Duke Cunningham. In the special elections where the top vote-getter from each party moves to the next round, Kaloogian finished a distant third among the Republican candidates. The next round took place at the same time as the primary for the term that commenced January 3 2007. On April 17, Kaloogian announced his withdrawal from the primary for the next congressional term. [ [http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/04/18/news/top_stories/41606200928.txt North County Times, April 18, 2006] .]

Kaloogian's campaign had to deal with some embarrassments, as claims made on his campaign website proved to be inaccurate.

False and conflicting endorsements

Kaloogian's campaign has been plagued with at least four false endorsements and one conflicting endorsement:
*In February 2006, Kaloogian placed an ad in a Washington, D.C. newspaper that falsely claimed the California Pro-Life Council endorsed Kaloogian. They did not endorse any candidate for the race. [ [http://www.calraces.com/tabid/62/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/100/The-Kaloogian-Pattern.aspx "The Kaloogian Pattern" by Matt Rexroad 2006-02-16] ]
*Another claim for endorsement by the conservative Center for Reclaiming America (active in the Terri Schiavo feeding tube petition drive) also proved false — the organization stated they don't endorse candidates. [ [http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/000244.php "The Baghdad Bamboozler Strikes Yet Again!" 2006-03-31 by Justin Rood] ]
*In March, campaign literature and Kaloogian's website suggested State Senator Tom McClintock endorsed Kaloogian with the two-year old quote "Howard Kaloogian has distinguished himself as one of the most principled, courageous and steadfast conservative leaders in California." [http://www.kaloogianforcongress.com/testimonial.asp Accessed 2006-03-30] ] In a statement McClinctock stated "It has come to my attention that a campaign mailing on behalf of Howard Kaloogian includes a picture and quote from me that suggests that I have endorsed his candidacy for U. S. Congress. I have not." [ [http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/000232.php TPM Muckraker website, 2006-03-30] ] .
*State Senator Bill Morrow, who was running against Kaloogian, challenged an implied endorsement by him of Kaloogian on the same webpage. [ [http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/50thdistrict/20060331-9999-7m31endorse.html "McClintock and Morrow protest Kaloogian using photos, quotes"] . Morrow is quoted in the article as saying "Howard Kaloogian's campaign Web site includes a picture and a quote from me from 2001 that implies that I have endorsed his candidacy for Congress.” According to the article, Murrow asked Kallogian to remove his photo from the campaign website.] [ [http://www.kaloogianforcongress.com/aboutus.asp?id06=101&par06=0 Kooligian's current endorsement page] . Among those listed are psychologist and religious activist James Dobson and columnist, activist and swimsuit model .]
*Endorsements from social conservatives such as James Dobson who was appointed to the Commission on Pornography, 1985-86 during the Reagan administration and Concerned Women for America, a religious conservative women’s political organization, are at odds with an endorsement from Gabrielle Reilly [ [http://www.gabriellereillyweekly.com/gabrielle_reilly/personalitychats/howard_kaloogian.htm Interview With Honorable Howard Kaloogian] Gabrielle Reilly. 2004.] - an adult website model [ [http://www.gabriellereillyweekly.com/gabrielle_reilly/about.htm Gabrielle Reilly] , [http://kellyfind.com/models/2372.html adult internet site] ] and who also appeared on Kaloogian's web site. The Reilly endorsement on Kaloogian's web site was later removed.

Altered photo controversies

Baghdad photo

On March 28 2006, Howard Kaloogian's campaign website displayed a street-level photograph which was claimed to have been recently [ [http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/06/30/news/top_stories/22_31_436_29_05.txt North County Times] . Kaloogian's trip was in July 2005, although in speeches and on his campaign webpage he refers to it as a "recent" trip] taken in downtown Baghdad (see screenshot). [ [http://www.kaloogianforcongress.com/aboutus.asp?id06=116&par06=104# Howard Kaloogian website] Erroneous photograph was removed, replaced with the caption: "We originally posted a photograph not of Baghdad, Iraq but from Istanbul, Turkey where our delegation traveled on the way home to the United States. We apologize for this mistake."] The photograph was offered as evidence that the security situation in Baghdad was better than was being reported in the press. [Caption reads as follows: "Downtown Baghdad. We took this photo of dowtown [sic] Baghdad while we were in Iraq. Iraq (including Baghdad) is much more calm and stable than what many people believe it to be. But, each day the news media finds any violence occurring in the country and screams and shouts about it - in part because many journalists are opposed to the U.S. effort to fight terrorism."]

Commenters at various blogs determined this photo was most likely taken in Bakırköy, a suburb of Istanbul, Turkey. [ [http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/3/28/152755/284 DailyKos poster anthonyLA] ] [ [http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x776401 Democratic Underground] ] [ [http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/3/29/11569/6885 DailyKos poster jem6x] . Provides evidence the location as the Istanbul suburb of Bakırköy.] Various indicators in the image suggested the location of the intersection was not Baghdad. Many signs are written in Turkish (which uses a modified version of the Latin alphabet), but none are in Arabic. Women are seen wearing revealing (western) clothes, taxicabs are similar to those seen in Istanbul, and European-style traffic signs are visible (as are signs of businesses based solely in Turkey). Once it was established that the photograph was actually of a streetcorner in suburban Istanbul, Kaloogian's campaign attributed the error to an unidentified webmaster. [Joshua Micah Marshall quotes Kaloogian during a phone call on March 29 2006: " [O] n the way back from Baghdad some of the crew stopped in Istanbul as a layover. We turned all the photographs [from the trip] over to the webmaster, and it appears he took one from the stopover and not from Baghdad."] The photograph was replaced by another one taken from what appears to be an upper floor of some structure. [ [http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2006/3/29/23428/8027 Poster "Londonbear"] Evidence that the photograph may have been taken from the Al-Rashid Hotel in the Green Zone in Baghdad.] [Analysis of the Exif data on the replacement image suggesting that it was taken at the time of Mr. Kaloogian's July 2005 trip to Baghdad. See image. .] [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/29/AR2006032902277.html Washington Post online] . "Baghdad on the Bosporus", Dana Milbank, March 30, 2006. The entire Iraq trip page was temporarily pulled down without explanation, as Milbank confirms in this article.]

Kaloogian later said using the photo was "a stupid mistake". [ [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/03/30/BAGD9I0HQP1.DTL SFgate.com] "Candidate admits 'stupid' Web error", Carla Marinucci, March 30, 2006, p. B3. According to the article, "Kaloogian said the photo was taken during a layover in Istanbul and was mixed up with those taken on the Iraq tour."]

Photo pose with George W. Bush

In addition to the false Baghdad photo, the Kaloogian website also posted a photo of Kaloogian with president George W. Bush, which was altered in such a way that the height discrepancy between the two men was reduced. [ [http://blogs.sun.com/roller/page/DanX/20060331 "Another fake photo by Howard Kaloogian"] ]

Photo with troops

In one photo which appears on the campaign website home page, as well as in the photo gallery section of the web site, the location of where the photo was taken is misrepresented. The campaign website claims the photo was taken in Iraq, whereas the same photo appears on the Move America Forward blog with the caption that it was taken at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. [ [http://whpsocal.blogspot.com/2006/03/kaloogian-and-photos.html "Kaloogian and Photos"] ] [The two photographs can be compared with the following links: [http://www.kaloogianforcongress.com/gallery.asp?ID12=110 Campaign photo gallery] (accessed 2006-04-06) and the [http://www.moveamericaforward.org/index.php/DailyFile/photos_from_centcom_bbq/ Move America Forward photo] (accessed 2006-04-03).]

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.moveamericaforward.org Move America Forward]
* [http://www.kaloogianforcongress.com Kaloogian's Campaign Web Site]
* [http://www.defendreagan.org Kaloogian's Defend Reagan Committee]
* [http://www.recallgraydavis.com Recall Gray Davis Committee - led by Kaloogian]
* [http://www.howardisaliar.com Howardisaliar.com - anti-Kaloogian site (from other recall proponents)]

Baghdad photo links

* [http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/3/29/11569/6885 Confirmation of the real location of the photo]
* [http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x776401 Democratic Underground forum where fake photo was discovered]
* [http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/3/28/152755/284 DailyKos diary crossposted from DU to DKos by AnthonyLA]
* [http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/008034.php Comparison with another photo of the same location, with matching features connected by arrows]