So I’m browsing through The Corner this morning to see if anyone has said something outrageous that’s worth a bit of mockery, when I come across a post from Christian Schneider about the ongoing recall elections in Wisconsin. It starts off with some stuff about Republicans claiming that the elections are being handled unfairly, and then offers up an interesting bit about Randy Hopper, a recall target who’s in hot water because when demonstrators came by his house a while back, they “were told by Hopper’s wife to buzz off because he lived down in Madison with his 25-year-old mistress.” Ouch.
But then there was this odd bit about Hopper and another guy who’s likely to lose his recall election:
In order to delay recall elections, the GOP has planned to run fake Democratic primary candidates against the GOP challengers, which would push the elections back another month. That would give Republicans an extra month’s worth of distance from the collective-bargaining imbroglio that got them in this situation, and would allow more time to campaign.
Yet this will almost certainly be seen as a “dirty trick” by media and some voters.
Well, yes, I suppose it would be “seen” as a dirty trick. In fact, it would be a dirty trick. It wouldn’t be the first time in campaign history this has been done, but still, it’s unquestionably a dirty trick. Schneider, in defense, suggests that “it can be argued that the recall elections in themselves are merely dirty tricks,” and I suppose that can be argued. Pretty much anything can be argued, as Sarah Palin’s fans have conclusively proven over the past few days. But the plain truth is that a recall election isn’t a dirty trick, while running a fake candidate merely to artificially extend a campaign (and cost taxpayers a bunch of extra dough in the process) is a dirty trick. That’s why these candidates are called “fake.” I hope this clears things up for everyone.
