OK, first things first. Dirty tricks happen on both sides of the aisle, and they’ve been an unpleasant part of American politics since a Thomas Jefferson-operative accused President John Adams of being a “hideous hermaphroditical character.”
But you’d think after 230 years, an American political party would at least learn how to cover their tracks a little better when engineering a fake candidacy.
Keystone Cop-level bungling was on full display this week over state Rep. Roy Schmidt’s filing – just 10 minutes before Tuesday’s filing deadline – in which he indicated he was running for re-election as a Republican, not a Democrat.
Since this caught Michigan Democrats completely by surprise, Dems had no candidate to run against Schmidt. But that was the point. State Republicans, primarily House Speaker Jase Bolger, had been recruiting Schmidt to run as a Republican for weeks, and if Schmidt switched parties at the very last minute, Republicans would all but eliminate viable competition.
So far, so good. These are the rules both parties play by. All is fair in love and war, and blah, blah, blah.
The embarrassing problem that emerged for Republicans was Matt Mojzak, a mystery candidate who had his paperwork filed to run as a Democrat for the 76th House District, as reported by Gongwer News. He is believed to be a friend of Schmidt's nephew recruited to make a viable Democratic candidacy more difficult.
More embarrassing for Republicans is that the same man that filed Schmidt’s candidacy papers Tuesday also filed Mojzak’s papers. Schmidt’s papers, incidentally, had been in Bolger’s possession before they were filed, according to Gongwer.
Now c’mon Republicans, that’s just plain sloppy. You have to cover your tracks better than that.
In that fallout that ensued, Mojzak has withdrawn his candidacy, but Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer has called on the state attorney’s office to investigate whether Mojzak committed perjury in misstating his address on his filing papers, Gongwer reported.
Through his spokesman, Ari Adler, Bolger denies ever meeting Mojzak, and state Republicans say they believe the matter is now closed since Mojzak has withdrawn his candidacy. Democrats now are trying to mount a viable write-in candidacy to Schmidt.
I suppose Republicans should chalk this up as a learning moment in the art of political subterfuge.



Recent Comments