Wisconsin Republicans Will Run Fake Democrats in Recall Elections to Force Primaries, Buy Time
The ugly side of partisan politics rears its ugly head again.
Wisconsin Republicans Will Run Fake Democrats in Recall Elections to Force Primaries, Buy Time
The ugly side of partisan politics rears its ugly head again.
I'm confused...why would the senate leader openly say "hey, we're gonna screw with everybody"?
It's counter-intuitive, isn' it?
It doesn't make any sense, that's for sure. I don't put shady tactics above any politician, but it is absolutely illogical to explain your shady behavior right before you're going into a primary election/general election. Something ain't right.
Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) said she learned of the primary plan last week and was told Monday it would be implemented in all six Senate districts. She declined to say what she thought of it.
"I'm staying out of that," she said. "I'm not getting involved in the diversions of the recalls."
Republicans are being recruited to run as Democrats in all six races so the general elections would be pushed back a month. That will give Republicans a crucial extra month to campaign, said Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau).
Fitzgerald said all six Republicans facing recalls knew about the plan. That differs from statements by Republican Sens. Randy Hopper of Fond du Lac and Luther Olsen of Ripon that they were not informed of it. Jennifer Harrington, the campaign manager for Sen. Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse), has said she did not know of the plan.
"All of them were aware that this was taking place," Fitzgerald said. "Some were questioning the angles on it."
He said it was discussed at the state Republican convention in Wisconsin Dells in May.
After Fitzgerald made his comments, Olsen continued to insist he had no knowledge of the plan. Asked if he was sure he didn't know about it, he said: "Unless I wasn't paying attention, but I'm sure I was paying attention."
Hopper couldn't be reached Tuesday, but on Sunday he said he knew nothing about it. "My campaign and myself don't know anything about this," he said then.
Last summer, a candidate named Andrew Wisniewski ran as a Republican in Assembly District 25 against conservative Independent Bob Ziegelbaur. Ziegelbaur, a Democrat assemblyman since 1992, defected from the party in the summer of 2010 because he felt “they became more enthusiastic about big government and big tax increases and farther away from pro-life issues.”
But instead of running an honest campaign against Ziegelbauer, AFSCME union organizer Jason Sidener recruited Andrew Wisniewski to run as a Republican in an attempt to siphon votes away from Ziegelbauer in the conservative district. Wisniewski initially did not receive enough valid signatures to get on the ballot, but a GAB error revealed he had enough signatures to be placed on the ballot despite objections by the Republican Party.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s “expose” on the Republican “plot” makes no mention of last summer’s candidacy of Andrew Wisniewski. The truth of the matter is both parties have attempted to run fake candidates in “trojan horse” plots to disrupt their opposition.
Once again, the “righteous indignation” of the Left rings a bit hollow.
The Wisconsin paper uses two sources, the senate president and another senate Republican.
New York Times: Democrats Backing Fake Tea Party Candidates
It's wrong no matter what side it comes from. They succeeded here and Ryan's plan got blamed for the loss in the media. If Davis hadn't been in the race, the republican would have won.
Fake tea party candidate seeks to split republican vote in NY | Can I Just Finish My Waffle?
I'm confused...why would the senate leader openly say "hey, we're gonna screw with everybody"?
New York Times: Democrats Backing Fake Tea Party Candidates
It's wrong no matter what side it comes from. They succeeded here and Ryan's plan got blamed for the loss in the media. If Davis hadn't been in the race, the republican would have won.
Fake tea party candidate seeks to split republican vote in NY | Can I Just Finish My Waffle?
It's kind of hard to tell who is a "Tea party" candidate and who isn't since all the Tea Party candidates and representatives run around claiming that the others just aren't "right-wing" enough.
When you spend a little time in the district, the Republican ads claiming Davis is a Democrat look silly. Yes, the Tea Party Express, which was co-founded by Republican strategists, came to the district this week to denounce Davis and endorse Corwin. Two members of Congress who were boosted by the Tea Party, Allen West and Marco Rubio, have cut calls for Corwin. But Davis, in his way, is the embodiment of the Tea Party, a one-man spokesperson for its fear of American decline. He's a pure nationalist who thinks that America got off track at some point, and that the boom days of the 1950s can return if taxes are low and trade deals get shredded. He reads Lou Dobbs and Paul Craig Roberts. He hates politicians. It takes some effort, when asked about his opponents, to judge them as "adequate," because, like everyone in the Tea Party, he thinks if you've been in politics you've contracted the virus that's come close to ruining this country.
rocket... do you plan on showing the same level of disdain for the Wisconcin Democrats that tried to do the same thing (see previous post)?
Well what I said was that I have disdain for electoral politics in which people are more concerned with their party winning. If I could go back in time and show "the same level of disdain" last summer, I would. But that's past.
I also questioned the assertion that Jack Davis was a "fake" Tea Party candidate. If you ask me, the Republicans have completely hijacked the Tea Party movement.
It doesn't make any sense, that's for sure. I don't put shady tactics above any politician, but it is absolutely illogical to explain your shady behavior right before you're going into a primary election/general election. Something ain't right.
Wisconsin Republican Party 6th Congressional District Chairman Dan Feyen sent letters to Republicans in the Oshkosh region urging them to support Republican "protest candidate" John Buckstaff, who intends to run as a Democrat so Hopper, R-Fond du Lac, can finish the legislative session in Madison and have time to campaign
The republicans claim, and I would tend to believe them, that they are just doing it in order to delay the vote.
By causing a primary, they are buying themselves some time to campaign, since they are currently stuck at the capitol and can't campaign in their districts.
Seems counterproductive to do something like this if you're trying to win reelection. People are going to take it as a slap in the face that you "attacked unions" and then spent state money on a farce just so you can go shake a few hands and kiss a few babies.
I also questioned the assertion that Jack Davis was a "fake" Tea Party candidate. If you ask me, the Republicans have completely hijacked the Tea Party movement.
There is quite a bit of mixed up assumptions within this statement. Davis ran as a Democrat on 2 separate occasions for the exact same seat. He was actively recruited by Democrats to run as a "tea party" candidate.
Most of the ideas and concepts within the tea party are libertarian and conservative in nature, their ideology doesnt match well with current Democrat thinking.
Davis wasn't allowed to run as a Republican because the incumbent was a Republican. He was also pro-choice and against the war in Iraq, neither position endeared him to the Republicans of the time. Other than those positions, he was not a Democrat. The Democrats let him run on their ticket because he was willing to do so on his own dime, and nobody that actually was a Democrat was excited about being the sacrifice in a gerrymandered district that stretched halfway across New York State. The Tea Party also did not exist then for him to run on their ticket.
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