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Below is a rough summary of what Callaway made by memory without notes. Will Jesse Watters and Fox News report any of this at 8pm tonight?
Callaway began by explaining how he got into politics. He was one of 13 children whose parents were very active in politics. Although Democrats, they were conservatives. His father voted for Barry Goldwater in 1964.
Callaway was one of 13 children. Through his parents, siblings, and their spouses and children, Callaway personally knew people throughout the county. For years, Callaway worked as a mercantile license inspector. There he came to know and like dozens of immigrants who struggled to build businesses here. “I won their support just by being fair with them, and teaching them how to comply with out laws”.
During the 1990’s, Callaway and his brother David supported various candidates for local office. They were frustrated that many of the people they registered and persuaded did not show up to vote on election day. However, in the year 2000, they discovered that the laws for absentee ballots had been changed. Virtually anyone could now vote by mail or messenger ballot without showing any illness, disability or special need. Callaway and his family then persuaded their supporters to vote by mail or messenger ballot whenever possible.
In 2000, they used more than a hundred messenger and mail-in ballots to unseat the City Council President in Atlantic City. One year later, they used hundreds of those paper ballots to unseat Atlantic City’s Mayor Jim Whelan.
“We turned losers into winners”, Callaway said. The candidates Callaway supported were behind on the night after Election Day when votes on the voting machines were counted. However, Callaway’s candidates won days later when the paper ballot he brought in were counted.
“They took us to court”, Callaway said, “But the judge ruled that everything we did was legal”.
Callaway said that in 2004, a friend of his who was close to the Kennedy family introduced Callaway to John Kerry. Kerry was the Democratic Party candidate for President running against Republican George W. Bush.
“They had me work in the I-4 Corridor of Florida around Tampa and St. Petersburg”, Callaway said. ‘We made a lot of progress, but I came too late. The Al Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons had already come there and used all the money. They stuffed their pockets, but brought nothing to the table. We could have won Florida! And the whole election!”
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