Slate has an article up comming mostly from the Wisconsin Democrats assailing the three recall petitions against Democratic State Senators in Wisconsin. It turns out that these petitions may have been gathered fraudulently.
In the coming days, you will see affidavits from citizens in these targeted districts who were deceived into signing petitions by Republican road agents who often refused to identify themselves with their real names. One example is circulators who would ask citizens who supported Democratic Sen. Dave Hansen, asking whether they'd like to see him on the ballot. They were deceived.
Felons used to gather the signatures:
Without any real enthusiasm on the part of the citizens of the districts to support the anti-Wisconsin Walker agenda, the Republican recall racket was forced to rely on road agents from a Colorado firm and elsewhere, mercenaries from out-of-state who came in and were paid money per recall signature. The only real press that this practice got was the reporting on a Colorado canvasser with a dangerous felony record who was was preying on visitors to Lambeau Field and taking stolen items to a motel room paid for by Republicans. But that dangerous Colorado felon employed by the Republican Party was just the tip of the iceberg. At the heart of the Republican effort from the start was a mercenary spirit that naturally used deception and fraud to gain signatures.
This just goes to show that the support for the Republicans and Scott Walker has failed to show a significant presence in Wisconsin. That is why the Republicans had to resort to these practices to attempt to get the Democrats recalled.
The Republican recall racket shows once and for all that Scott Walker has lost all momentum. To have to rely on fraud, deception and unethical behavior shows that the Walker machine has lost moral authority and enthusiasm. Our recall effort has lapped the Walker machine not merely because our side has had more enthusiasm, has worked harder and is better organized, but because we possess the moral authority of an energized population who want to see a fair and free Wisconsin that creates opportunities for everyone, not to see power concentrated in the hands of the likes of the Koch Brothers. And that, more than anything, is why the Republican recall racket has failed.
But will they get caught?
At the end of the day, the sloppy, disorganized, dispirited and fraudulent efforts of the Republican recall racket and its corporate sponsors means a very high likelihood that the challenges will fail. Ultimately, however, the senators they seek to challenge stood up to Scott Walker instead of endorsing his anti-Wisconsin agenda and will prevail in any recall election.
Only if we make it so... There is a facebook group called the Young Progressives that are trying to disqualify inappropriate signatures from the filings. You can help by going here.Updated by jsamuel at Thu Apr 21, 2011 at 12:54 PM CDT
The Young Progressives are hearing reports like this:
"The Hansen recall has been filed today, and the Wirch and Holperin recalls are reportedly on the way. There have been reports of people in Wirch's district being told it was a recall for Scott Walker."
UPDATE:
One comment has pointed out: Should progressives really be complaining about felons?
Here is the point as I see it.
That will significantly increase the likelihood of illegitimate signatures being filed. If that is the standard they are using, don't be surprised if a large number of their signatures are either fake, gotten under false pretenses, or gotten through unethical means. They demonstrate that in the article by pointing out the lying to signers and the gifts for signers as two examples.
Also compare the people the Republicans paid to collect signatures (per signature) and the people that volunteered for the Democrats. As Chris Bowers points out, the number of signatures gathered per day is much lower for the recalls done by the Republicans. This shows a difference in the support behind the respective recall efforts.