How the GOP "Rocks the Vote", Part II

The Republicans know that every vote for Nader in November is a vote taken away from Kerry. Therefore, conservative, antitax, big business Republicans across the nation have been mobilizing to get Nader, a green progressive with no hope for the Presidency, on the ballots. Is it dishonest to sign a petition to get someone on the ballot whose policies you vehemently oppose? I guess that's a question for each signer to ponder for himself. Is it a dirty trick? Well sure it is, but it's politics and so far it has all been legal.

Or has it?

In its complaint, CREW also charged that the state GOP encouraged the Oregon Family Council to make the phone calls, which it said amounted to "illegally conspiring" with an outside group to evade a ban on state parties using soft money to send out public communications.

"What the Oregon Republican Party could not do directly, it could not do indirectly," the complaint said.

CREW also cited comments by Bush spokesman Steve Schmidt that campaign volunteers, though not paid staffers, may have made phone calls from the campaign's office. The costs of those calls, including the preparation of phone lists and scripts, should have been reported to the FEC as an in-kind contribution from the Bush campaign to Nader, which would be illegal if it amounted to more than $5,000, the complaint said.

Sloan also told CNN that she is convinced the phone banks were coordinated between the Bush campaign, the Oregon GOP and the two groups, saying "it can't be a coincidence ... that they're all making the same phone calls at the same time."

Damn, can't the Republicans just let Kerry and Bush go head to head on their visions for the nation?

Even Superstar over at the Charge is outraged by what's going on in Oregon. But, get this, he is actually outraged that DEMOCRATS attended a Nader rally and... well... let's let Nader tell it--

. . .Democrats crowded into a meeting hall, kept other people out and gave the false impression that they had signed petitions for him.

In other words, they showed up to a Nader rally, took up seats that the GOP wanted to sit in, but didn't sign the petitions for Nader! Yes, the Democrats met a dirty trick head on with a little dirty trick of their own.

Then, you're not going to believe this, but Superstar actually claims that Democrats jamming up the Republican dirty trick is somehow equally outrageous as Republicans illegally jamming Democratic telephone lines to prevent potential voters from having access to election polls! And then pleading guilty to criminal conduct for it! I'm not kidding. You absolutely must read the whole thing.