GOP Senate Candidate Puts Himself On Dem Ticket

Republican Senator Roger Wicker is facing the fight of his life for reelection in Mississippi. So what is he doing to ensure another six years in Congress? He's apparently painting himself as a Democrat.

A sample ballot reportedly put out by the Senator -- who has been in office for less than a year and could very well lose his race to former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove -- seems designed to deceive voters into thinking he is on the same ticket as Obama-Biden.

The flier, which has been reported in the Delta and Jackson regions of the state, checks off and makes bold the name of every Democratic candidate on the ballot -- plus Wicker. The desired effect is to make recipients believe that, if they vote down the Democratic party line, they should check off Wicker's name as well.

The late-game scheming is reflective not just of how tight the Mississippi Senate race truly is, but how fundamentally the Southern political landscape has shifted with Obama on the ticket. The idea that a Republican Senate candidate in the deep South would actually want to be associated with a black presidential aspirant is downright mind-boggling. At the same time, Wicker may just be trying to stir up enough confusion to siphon off the needed Democratic vote to propel himself to victory. Either way, it's dirty.

Hat Tip: Phil Singer.

Update: The Wicker campaign denies involvement in an the sample ballot. Spokesman Ryan Annison, speaking to Talking Points Memo, says: "The honest to goodness truth is this is the first time we've seen it... At five o'clock the night before the election, I can't say that our opponent's press releases are a priority."

Comments

[Foy]

IT'S OKAY. LET THEM CONTINUE FOOLING THEMSELVES, THINKING THEY ARE FOOLING SOMEBODY ELSE. ONE FINGER FROM THEM POINTING AT US LEAVES THEM WITH FOUR POINTING BACK TO THEM. AND JESUS SAID, HE WHO IS FOR US CANNOT BE AGAINST US. SO LET THEM TRY. THAT'S ALL THEY WILL BE ABLE TO DO.

[psipolitics]

This was tried by Michael Steele in Maryland in 06 when he ran for US senate. It failed. Repugs think all voters are dumb, but they were smart enough to figure it out and they will be in Miss. too.

[HerbinRedBluff]

Can you blame the poor guy? Reminds me of extra (male) in the movie Titanic that dresses like a woman to get off the Titanic as it's going down. Actually, the way I see it, it's the ultimate endorsement for Obama.

Herb

[honeydiva]

dang running away from his brand....

[old lady]

Please folks, as soon as we get past 11/4 - lets petition our senators and reps on 11/5 to put harsh criminal penalties on every act intended to delude or mislead voters - put the Robocall moguls out of business..­. and while we're at it, lets get ourselves a uniform voting act that demands a separate Paper ballot for presidency and allows a 2 week voting period to ensure that every voter has a chance vote, and to challenge registration discrepancies.

Anybody want to get on board? Lets take back the franchise/

[dcree77]

If democrats were to attempt to enact a voting rights law between 11/5 and 1/20 (at noon) it would require George W. Bush to sign it into law. I doubt seriously if he would voluntarily sign into law a bill that would limit the chances of republicans of winning elections in the future. Best to wait until after the dems have a solid majority in the senate and a larger majority in the house. And of course a democrat in the white house.

[LintLass]

Well, if you can't beat 'em, confuse the voting process, sez Republicans.

[one4obama]

This election year will go done in history for the GOP lies and attempts at election fraud and attempts to disenfranchise the voters. At 60 years of age, I have lived through enough Presidential election years, but I have never seen the depths to which a party (any party!!) would go to keep their status quo.

For those truly honest and honorable Republicans, they need to secede from the party and form a new one. And then monitor who will want to join their party. Anyone who has been as part of this vile deception should not be allowed in.

Let us all hope that after this election year, changes WILL be enacted to ensure that none of this happens - ever again!

Push for it. After the election and after the party gets settled in after 1/21/09, make a concerted effort (just as we did to get Obama in office) to make sure that the entire election process is overhauled from top to bottom.

[mtflyer]

INDEED! I would like to see a law passed that when you run for another office you have to forfeirt the one you are currently holding. Secondly, the Electoral College needs to be abolished. It violates the concept of one person-one vote. There is no use or justification for it. Example-states with less population, RI, WV, NV, yes Alaska very few electoral votes. However Cal for example, with 55 electoral votes, each voter has 11 times the clout of a voter in WV with 5 or 18 times as much an Alaska or RI voter. This is ridiculous!With present technology and what passes for news media it is not necessary to make an election official by a vote of Senators and congressmen the likes of what are in there now. ABOLISH THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE AND GIVE THE VOTE BACK TO THE PEOPLE!

[johnb3950]

Agreed, but not only that, let's get rid of the ridiculous gap between the election and the power handover. As it is, the lame-duck administration is tempted to push through every last thing they can in that time - what have they got to lose? Bush is right now preparing executive orders that will substantially gut all kinds of consumer protections.

Cut out some of the ceremony and get the new Administration installed inside a week, at most, as other countries do. We're not living any more in a century where it could take weeks to physically get to Washington.

[UncivilLibertarian]

Makes me proud to be a FORMER Republican. I can't BELIEVE I fell in line with those schmucks for the first 12 years of my adult life. Obama/Biden 2008, and let the blue tide ROLL!

[sasidechick]

Welcome. I know there are alot more of you out there.

VOTE!!

[izAriver]

repubs have become the worst kind of human.

[madzippy]

humans too good for what some (not all) have degenerated to. most are just hypocrites like peggy noonan who in her heart of hearts knows palin was a dangerous choice, but today said she is voting for mccain.

[grizhead63]

Please dont insult humans like that.

[Boboday555]

I think you're being too generous with the use of the word "human."

[JTyroler]

It's interesting that this "sample" ballot doesn't have party affiliations. Of all the methods that Republicans have used to decrease voting for Democrats, this isn't one of the worse - compare massive "scrubbing" of rosters, telling people to vote on the wrong day, telling people if they have had a parking ticket or have lost their house cannot vote, etc.

It's not the worst attempt, but it's still something that the people behind this should not be proud of.

We really need election reform.

[grizhead63]

Make election fraud a federal offense with tough felony penalties.

[mtflyer]

Absolutely right! The prisons are overcrowded except for Gitmo. Send crooked politicians and crooked bankers there & let them room with others who have alledgedly(have to use that term as they have not been tried and convicted) sought to destroy our country and let nature take its course. How about putting it on a Pay for View channel & using the proceeds to take a piece out of the national debt?

[curocat]

If he wins, RECALL....

[troika]

Recall, file a lawsuit and throw him in the slammer for a few years.

[arspar183]

Pepugs never learn.
2 yrs ago Katherine harris of Fl had fliers showing her as a dem just before the election.
and some butt head repug in MD tried the same thing.

Both were running for senate seats and they both loss!!

[hypnotoad72]

FOX News responsible for this? Forgive me, but they have a habit of putting a "D" by a miscreant's name and the miscreant happens to be a Republican. Accidents can happen, and maybe someone was so thick they assumed "Democrat" at the time. At what point is it no longer an accident?

And, yes, they HAVE pointed out "R" miscreants too without being erroneous.

[sasidechick]

I know. I was watching one time and Arlen Spector did something they didn't like, and it showed " Arlen Spector-(D­)." I almost spit out my coffee.

[Boboday555]

More filth from the GOP!
Y'ALL got's to be so proud of all those Traditional Christian Conservative Values huh repressives?

Mud Slinger extraordinaire Senator John McCain is setting quite and example for the rest of his soulless party isn't he?

[grizhead63]

I've also seen or heard the Rev Wright ad on tv every time I have had it on today. Let's get the ChristianCoalition and extreme rightCrooks OFF our backs and OUT of our lives and liberties FOR GOOD. Vote Democratic and Let Freedom Ring!

[troika]

The Republican party is so full of it. They believe they are the only ones who have moral values and are true Christians and the rest of us are immoral. They have this HOLIER THAN THOU attitude and the sense of entitlement. A few more hours and they will be buried deeply.

[v6scotter]

Some people have no honor.