Aug.20

electoral-vote.com

Dem 51

Ties 1

GOP 48

Rodent Reproduction Is Going Wild

This year has seen a veritable bonanza of primary meddling, mysterious super PACs, straw candidates, and all manner of political shenanigans and dirty tricks. With so few competitive House districts and the Senate hinging on half a dozen races, all these things could matter. Here are just a few of them:

• Green Party: The Green Party is suing to get Andrew Tupone off their ballot line in PA-07, saying he was a registered Republican until February and has not been nominated by their party. Tupone is spouting typical Green Party slogans now, even though the Green Party didn't want to run a candidate in PA-07 for fear of hurting Bob Brooks (D)'s effort to unseat Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA). Tupone just filed and no one else did, so he got the GP's ballot position. The lesson here is that a (minor) party should always have a loyalist file to run. If need be, the loyalist can drop out 5 minutes before the deadline. This prevents some opponent from getting the nomination by noticing that no one else has filed and then filing.
  
  
• Seeing Double: We have written about the two Dan Sullivans (Dans Sullivan?) several times recently. Although Teacher Dan Sullivan denies that he filed just to suck votes from Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), we have our doubts. Maybe he was confused and thought the incumbent was Sarah Palin.
  
  
• Late Dropouts: The formally nominated Democrats in Idaho, Nebraska, and South Dakota have all dropped out, clearing the way for independents whose platforms match those of typical moderate Democrats but without that toxic (D) after their names. In Montana, which is the Democrats' best hope for an independent to win, Alani Bankhead (D) has been very stubborn and refused to drop out. We suspect she sees the real enemy as the moderate Democrats, not the Republicans, and wants to teach them a lesson.
  
  
• 4:55 Switcheroos: Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) and Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-IL) withdrew from their reelection race 5 minutes before the filing deadline, to ensure that their carefully selected preferred candidate would be the only one to file, and so the only one running and thus would not face a primary.
  
  
• Primary Meddling: FEC filings showed that new Republican-aligned super PACs with names like Lead Left PAC, Real Change PAC, and Progressive Champions PAC suddenly appeared out of nowhere to support scandal-ridden or weak Democrats in an attempt to saddle the Democratic Party with candidates who couldn't win a general election.
  
  
• AIPAC: The group, which supports Israel, knows it is not popular with Democrats. So it has created some super PACs with other names to support its preferred candidates. Its ads never even mention Israel. They talk about kitchen table issues. AIPAC has also funneled money to existing, well-established Democratic groups, like the Democratic Women's Caucus, as conduits for money that are not tainted by AIPAC.

These are just a few of the dirty tricks this cycle. There are probably more that simply haven't been exposed. (V)