WI Labor Group: Dems, Run Candidates in GOP Primaries

[tishaLA]

Via Greg Sargent at the Washinton Post

We Are Wisconsin — which is one of the biggest labor-backed groups involved in the fight — has just issued a public statement stating that it would be in the interests of Democrats to respond to the GOP shenanigans by running their own candidates against Republicans in GOP primaries, just as Republicans are doing to Dems.

In a major development, the group argues that the strategic and on-the-ground implications of the GOP tactics are far more complex and serious a threat to Dem chances than has been publicly explained. They argue that if Republicans do this and Dems don’t, the GOP will be able to dictate the election calendar with a free hand, deciding which general recall elections happen on July 12th and which on August 9th — a huge strategic advantage for Republicans. <...> The group concludes:

Given the situation Republicans have so despicably concocted to manipulate these recall elections, it is the opinion of We Are Wisconsin that it would be in the interest of Democrats to run candidates in the Republican primaries to ensure the dates of the general election are predictably on August 9th, and that Republicans are forced to win a primary election instead of diverting their unlimited resources to back their “fake” candidates against “legitimate” Democrats. To that end, it would be in the interest of flipping the Wisconsin Senate that interested Democrats contact the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

This opinion is not rendered lightly. This is the most cynical manipulation of the Wisconsin electoral process in our state’s history, and is being done by a Republican party that has demonstrated no respect for the rule of law and our state’s tradition of clean elections and good governance. Unfortunately, however, after evaluating the strategic implications of their despicable tactics, to simply stand idly by would amount to unilateral disarmament and would almost certainly thwart the will of the hundreds of thousands of voters who support recalling Republican Senators in the upcoming elections.

[annabanana]

1. Should it be illegal to run a FAKE candidate? I mean one that you

plain out ADMIT is fake?

[ewagner]

2. Too dangerous

Wisconsin allows "cross-over" voting in primaries...soooooo

If the Republicans want to do so, they can jump into the Democratic Primary and try to elect the fake dem over the real dem...if they do that then we will need every bloody vote we can get just to get the real dem into the general election...we can't afford to put a fake rep in and then cross-over vote for him/her.

I also think that it would require some commitment of resources to make the "fake repubs" credible enough to divert funds from the repubs efforts to support fake democrats in the democratic primary...resources are limited...

this is getting confusing

not to mention sickening that the Repubs think this is good government.

[Scuba]

3. And we wonder why voters are cynical.

[tishaLA]

4. Ordinarily I'd agree, but Labor is convinced that, without these shenanigans,

the recall elections will be lost causes.

[buddysmellgood]

5. I don't think this is legal, but it's hard to prove.

Chapter 12 of the Wisconsin Statutes says:

12.05 False representations affecting elections. No person may knowingly make or publish, or cause to be made or published, a false representation pertaining to a candidate or referendum which is intended or tends to affect voting at an election