Shady Business in Ohio

It's happening in Ohio. You know, the state that was the site of the blatantly stolen election of 2004?

Can you believe Republicans are at it again? Oh wait, no. This, from a self-proclaimed "progressive political playground."

This year we have a secret weapon of our own.

But it won’t work without your help.

We are looking for additional, dedicated, progressive-minded volunteers for a well-planned but very secret mission behind enemy lines.

We need volunteers from all counties who:

1. have never voted in an Ohio primary election
2. can dress (and talk) about issues from a conservative perspective
   

Please contact me directly at....

Michelle reports on Operation Infiltration, for which lefty Buckeye State Blog was recruiting.

Bizzy Blog reports that the folks posting this stuff claim it was a hoax, meant to distract the opposition from other issues. Pretty dumb hoax to pull-- legitimizing your opponents' claims of dirty tricks by publishing fake plans for dirty tricks? Yeah, I don't really buy that.

Update: Read all about ACORN's shenanigans in Dem voter registration. And, here are some quick facts on voter fraud this year, from the RNC:

• Tennessee Bureau Of Investigation Is Reviewing Reports Of Double Voting In Memphis, TN; 12 Smartcards Used To Activate Electronic Voting Machines Went Missing From A An Early Voting Location.

• In 2006, Thousands Of Potentially Fraudulent Registration Cards Have Been Submitted By Democrat-Affiliated Groups In The Battleground States Of Colorado, Missouri, Ohio, And Pennsylvania.

• Democrat Registration Cards In Question Feature The Names Of Deceased People, Forged Signatures, Nonexistent And Invalid Names And Addresses, And Fraudulent Social Security Numbers.

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• A Federal Grand Jury Indicted Workers From The Left-Wing Voter Registration Group ACORN For Submitting False Voter Registrations In Kansas City.

• ACORN Reportedly Illegally Campaigned For Senate Candidate Claire McCaskill (D-MO).

• Thousands Of Deceased Citizens Remain Registered To Vote In Missouri And New York.

• This Cycle, Democrat Primary Elections In Kentucky And New Jersey Have Already Led To Indictments And Arrests Alleging Vote-Buying And Absentee Ballot Fraud.

• Chairman Of The Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), Called On The IRS To Monitor ACORN For Potentially Violating Tax Laws.

• These 2006 Activities Parallel The Widespread Democrat Fraud And Intimidation Of The 2004 Election. In 2004, The Democrat Playbook Was To Fake Voter Intimidation Even If It Didn't Exist.

Update: Joshua Micah Marshall thinks we should all be really mad and denouncy about some Republican (NRCC)-sponsored robocalls in 20 districts in the Northeast. I'm not so sure. His outrage feels a bit overdone.

Listen to the type of call he has a problem with, here.

They're anti-Dem ads, pretty tame judging by that one. The problem is, however, that the computers are repeat calling folks, which becomes an annoyance and could possibly discourage voters. Why is this a problem for Marshall, you might wonder, since a repeat call coming from the Republican side would likely turn voters off of Republicans? Because, he claims voters are hanging up before they realize it's a Republican ad, and are being left with the impression that the repeat calls are coming from Democrats, since the first line of the ad is a neutral, "I'm calling with information about (insert Dem name, here)."

Marshall's declared all-out war on this "dirty trick." It seems to me it's a problem inherent in all robocalls that voters might hang up before they get who the message is coming from. On the other hand, it only takes about 2 and a half seconds into the call to realize it's a Republican ad, so aren't there probably a lot of people out there who know it's Republicans bugging them and will act accordingly?

Oh, looky. Here's one now:

Joan Sherrill had not decided how to vote in the 8th Congressional race until she received more than a dozen phone calls from Republican David McSweeney.

At that point, the choice was clear.

“I am voting for (Democrat) Melissa Bean,” the Palatine woman said. “The calls are just too much. They’re annoying.”

Jonathan Collegio of the NRCC claims the repeat calls are a computer glitch:

Asked about the repetitive nature of the calls, Collegio said that may be a problem with the contractor.

"Because these calls are done by computers, it could be some kind of a glitch. This is all a matter of voter contact where we are trying to make sure people are aware of the upcoming election and make sure they vote the right way," he said.

I sincerely hope no one's repeat calling on purpose, but since the calls would seem to hurt both Republicans and Democrats, and the NRCC is claiming the repeats were a mistake, I'm inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt on the dirty trick business. If it's a dirty trick, I'd imagine it's an ineffective one.

But Dem operatives are aiming to be all over the TV with this one tonight. The press is already on the job, working with the ever-reliable Kos commenting community to get the real story about "voter suppression," so Republican talking heads ought to be armed with something. And, ABC seems to think any robocalls from Republicans constitute "attacks."

If only we could think of some instances of Democratic dirty tricks...

Why, Josh Marshall, do thou beholdest the merely questionable robocalls in thou brother's eye but considerest not the indictable offenses that are in thine own?