Disgraceful

Local, National, Politics 1 Minute

Just back from a meeting about ethics and while perusing the Virginia Political Blogs aggregator, I ran across this post about the behavior of Republicans in Maryland.

Steele, however, is ensnared in an incipient election scandal that we haven’t heard the last of yet.

[…]

Shortly before the election, the campaigns of both Steele and Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich, Jr. (also a Republican, running for re-election–unsuccessfully) together hired six busloads of African-Americans from Philadelphia, many of them homeless, to distribute campaign literature on election day in black wards of Baltimore and Prince Georges County.

[…]

The problem is with what the paid workers were handing out: glossy brochures with photos of black Democratic leaders on the front, containing headlines reading “Democratic Sample Ballot” and then listing Steele and Ehrlich, with red check marks, along with a list of local Democratic candidates. Nothing in the brochures identified Steele and Ehrlich as Republicans.

[…]

And it’s not the first time the Ehrlich/Steele campaign did it. In the 2002 Gubernatorial race, where Ehrlich and Steele ran together, the campaign used a similar tactic with glossy brochures using pictures of black Democratic leaders and falsely implying their support for the GOP duo.

The post did not provide any links to this information, however, I have no reason to think the writer would make this up. Here is the story in the Washington Post.

This is absolutely disgraceful. Maryland election officials should have never let these guys get by with the tactic in 2002. And they certainly should be punished for doing so in 2006.

Such behavior, if not illegal, is certainly unethical. What kind of example are Steele and Ehrlich setting – anything goes as long as you don’t get caught? What ends will they go to in order to win an election? And what does that say about them as individuals?

I hope that they throw the book at these two. It is not enough that they both lost. Such behavior requires more than that.

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16 thoughts on “Disgraceful”

  1. It will be interesting to see how the MSM handles this as the Republicans elevate Michael Steele to RNC chairman. I especially want to see the reaction of Chris Matthews, who was openly cheering for a Steele victory the weekend before the election.

  3. The other GOP dirty trick was inundating voters with repeated phone calls disguising them as from the Democratic candidate. This is thought to have cost possible half dozen additional pickups as voters rebelled against these bothersome calls which did not come from the Democrat.

    Republicans fear voters. They must suppress turnout and cheat so they can sneak by with only their base voters.

  4. MB – thanks for reminding me that I needed to post something about the groundbreaking today.

    Lest we think this is only a MD problem – check out this.

    In my own race last year, someone made a robo call on Election Day, telling people I had removed myself from the race.

    Something must be done to stop this kind of stuff.

  5. Steele won’t be RNC chairman – Mel Martinez is taking the job. I wonder what his constituents think about that . . .

    ~

    You’re right, Vivian – and the solution is ruthless enforcement. Against all practicioners. Any elected prosecutor who worries about the ramifications of bringing proceedings against his own party should remind him or herself how much the public loves a real law and order politician.

  7. I have to agree, it was disgraceful. Maryland has always been known for corrupt politics, on the other side, since republicans never really had a voice before. I am ashamed to see the republicans doing the same disgusting stuff that democrats have done for decades in Maryland. There’s no excuse for either side.

  8. Jane, As a former Maryland Republican (just moved here 11 months ago) this was a disgusting turn off to many of us! We expected BETTER of Erlich/Steele ESPECIALLY since they really were moderate Pubs. The Erlich cabinet had a number of Dems serving in it and advising it.

    The O’Malley political machine was too much of a juggernaut for Erlich to have won but still this was very disappointing. Mike Steele…. sigh he should have run for Governor instead of Senate.

  9. MB said
    the solution is ruthless enforcement

    In the MD case, it is obvious who was responsible. In most cases, however, it is almost impossible to trace the stuff back to people responsible. Take note of who the targets seem to always be: poor blacks.

    How much stuff really goes on that we never hear about because this group of people may not even realize what is happening and, therefore, doesn’t report it?

  10. Oh, no doubt where their favorite dirty tricks take place. That said, I think that it’s more traceable than we think – especially if we don’t wait until a week after the election to take a close look at it. I imagine that if you find someone passing out those fliers, they’ll lead you right back up the chain pretty quickly – I can’t imagine they have much loyalty or interest in protecting people above them. (On the other hand, it’s not all that hard to imagine a scenario in which a good dozen or so of the poor black men paid to hand out the fliers are locked up, victory declared, and the RNC boys sit back and smile. You know, not that there are parallels to be drawn, or anything . . .)

    Also, this should amuse – http://www.baltimoresun.com/media/photo/2006-09/25524269.jpg

    Steele. Democrat!

    ~

    The robo calls will get worse before they get better. Think it’s hard to trace calls now? Wait until the (really impressive) MoveOn.org VOIP calling-type operations get turned to use for less transparent purposes.

  11. I think the “Steele Democrat” idea was like the “Reagan Democrat.” Not that Reagan was a Democrat (although he had been) but that particular supporter was a democrat.

    Anyway, when was the last time politicans had grace?

  13. I also want to mention that I live in Richmond (old suburbs just outside the city), and received about 6 fliers from the Republicans in the mail, one of them simply read “SKIP THIS ELECTION’ with pictures of Democrats on one side. When you flipped it over it talked about how Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, etc. wanted you to skip the election. Not quite what happened in MD, but questionable none the less.

  14. Vivian, you missed the best part. You might note that in 2002, they paid folks from DC to do this. but this time around, they had them bussed from Philly. Why?

    Because the folks in 2002 were probably still pretty pissed off… when they finished the day’s work, THEY DIDN’T GET PAID AS PROMISED. So chances are, they weren’t going to be game for a go round this year.

    “I think the “Steele Democrat” idea was like the “Reagan Democrat.” Not that Reagan was a Democrat (although he had been) but that particular supporter was a democrat.”

    A sign saying “Reagan Democrat” says to me, this guy is a Democrat who is like Reagan. A sign saying
    Steele
    democrat (in smaller type)
    says to me: Steele IS a Democrat. That one is honest and the other is dishonest is pretty obvious.

  15. Terry – I hope you passed that flier on to the proper authorities. Plunge – I had no idea that the 2002 folks didn’t get paid. Do you have a link?

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