Monday, April 09, 2012

More False Outrage About Fake Candidates

One Wisconsin Now and some bloggers seem to think it is illegal for the Republicans to run "fake" or "placeholder" candidates in the Democratic primaries. One blogger, Chris Liebenthal, cites Democratic election lawyer Jeremy Levinson in support of that position.

I know and like Jeremy Levinson. I respect him and, in fact, he was gracious enough to accept my invitation to speak to my Election Law class last week. But he's wrong about this. Very wrong - as the GAB seems to recognize.

The argument is that filing nomination papers to appear on the ballot to force a primary violates Wis. Stat. sec. 12.13 (3) (a) which provides that no person may "falsify any information in respect to ... [a] declaration of candidacy", and sec. 12.13 (3)(am) stating that no person may "... file a false declaration of candidacy or amended declaration of candidacy." Filing for a Democratic Party primary when one is not a Democrat and doesn't intend to campaign is, on this view. "falsification."

But it's not. The declaration of candidacy to be filed by these candidates is not due until tomorrow. But, based on press reports, there is no reason to believe that anything on those statements will be  false. In other words, the filing candidates will be who they say they are, live where they say they live, be qualifed to run, etc. On the GAB form, one simply avers that he or she is a candidate for an office representing a particular political party, i.e., that one is a candidate for that parties' nomination. These documents do not include any representation that the candidate supports the party, its principles or even that he or she does not belong to or support another party. Indeed, the statute requires nothing more in this regard than an affirmation of candidacy.

Isn't the fact that someone is a "real Democrat" implied?
No - at least not as the law is concerned. Criminal statutes are to be strictly construed. There is no chance that prosecuting these candidates would be successful. There are ways in which Wisconsin could try to protect parties from "outsiders" - and there are some states who employ such devices, e.g., closed primaries. But Wisconsin does not.

So, even if it is "legal," isn't it "wrong?"

No. I fail to see what is intrinsically wrong with the Republicans' strategy. Running candidates in the Senate primaries can be seen as a response to the extraordinary - and arguably unanticipated - use of recall elections as a devise to accelerate the election cycle and flip partisan control of the legislature.

We usually hold primaries and general elections on different days - even if there are not contested primaries for a particular office. One of the reasons this makes sense is to prevent a primary in one party from distorting the result in down ballot races. Assume, for example, that there is a heated race for the Republican Senate nomination this fall and no contested contested primaries of any significance on the Democratic side. If we accelerated the general election for, say, Secretary of State because neither party has a primary, we would distort the outcome of that race. People are far less likely to turn out for that office than for a contested primary at the top of the ballot. The electorate will be more heavily Republican than it will be on the day of the general.

The recall statute doesn't do that because it is predicated on the assumption that recalls will be directed at a particular office holder for something that he or she has done or failed to do and not as a generalized effort to accelerate the partisan election cycle based on policy disagreements.

But even if that is not the assumption, the fact remains that, if there are no primaries in the Senate recalls, then there will be "general" elections for the Senate at the same time that there is a a primary in only one party in  much higher profile race in which it is far easier to turn out voters.

This gives the Democrats an advantage that a party would normally not enjoy. We generally do not hold primaries on the same day as general elections. I understand why the Democrats want to hold on to that advantage. I understand why the Republicans don't want to let them have it.

The law permits the Republicans to take that advantage away and I fail to see what is unfair or mischievous about it. The upshot is that we will have a primary day and a general election day. That is how we normally conduct elections in this state. Acting to make that so does not unfairly "disadvantage" Democratic candidates.
Running candidates for  Governor and Lt. Governor seems superfluous given that there is going to be a Democratic primary. One reason to do that would be to ensure there is a primary if, for some reason, you want more time before the general election. That may serve some strategic advantage for the Republicans but hardly seems to disadvantage Democrats in an intrinsically unfair way.

It will also present the type of gamesmanship that we have saw last summer when the Democrats had candidates register and file nomination petitions and declaration of candidacies, but then (after nominations are closed) fail to file statements of economic interest so that they could not be certified on the ballot. That would have the effect of unexpectedly accelerating the recall election.

If that suggests to you a bit of inconsistency in the complaints about fake candidates from the Democratic Party, it should.



39 comments:

Anonymous said...

All I hear from some conservatives is that just because you can do something legal does not make it moral or justified.  The right claims to have scruples, and some of its members are dead-set against the “liberal agenda”.  Yet, there seems to be support among those conservatives for people to for a political office they ultimately have no interest in serving just because “they can” for reasons of "political gamesmanship".

It MAY be legal, but it's wrong. The GOP CHOSE to implement this tactic for their own designs. So much for principles!

Anonymous said...

Sorry, "to run for a political office they...". I should do a better job of proof reading.

Anonymous said...

Professor, I knew you were a partisan hack, but you've jumped the shark with this post.

Frankly I fail to see how you have much credibility. I wouldn't be surprised to see you write a lengthy justification if Gov. Walker ran over five senior citizens while driving drunk on his way to torch the Humane Society. I can imagine the prose...lots of

"Well, the statute is vague...doesn't quite meet the definition...that motive isn't intrinsically wrong...very highly subjective...Open to interpretation..."

Running a fake candidate in an election for purely partisan b.s. reasons is wrong. It is pathetic, childish, and stupid.

Grow a pair, slay your tribalism, and actually criticize your party for once in your life. There's plenty of material there.

Steve A. said...

The recall mechanism was never intended to be used in this extreme manner. If Democrats want to play dirty by constantly triggering recalls (and submitting tens of thousands of invalid signatures, and using liberal Dane county judges to block legislation, and intimidating businesses, lawmakers, and the governor's family, etc.), Republicans should fight back with any and every legal method available. In my view, Republicans have been too nice.

Tom said...

I don't see this as remotely close to wrong. How is it any different than a liberal running as a Republican in a place where you have to be Republican in order to win? Or a conservative doing the same as a Democrat?

Or Shirley Abrahamson pretending to be "law enforcement's ally" when in reality she's the most criminal defendant-friendly justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court?

That all being said, knowing the firestorm that was likely to come, I don't see why the Republicans didn't just run a fake candidate in their own primaries with no intention of having them campaign.

Anonymous said...

Folks, this is all easy to understand when you understand the thinking of a partisan hack:

My party always right; your party always wrong.

We have yet to see Herr Professor turn the howitzer on anything one of his Republican pals does.

We often read Herr Professor make the point that he isn't being paid by one conservative entity or another to defend it. I don't doubt that he is being honest here, but there is something else at work. He hopes that by carrying their water, they might toss a few pieces of silver his way at a later date. That's how the Wisconsin Center for Law & Liberty (or whatever he calls it) stays in business.

Anonymous said...

Anony 5:22 p.m. here--

Steve A., lay off the partisan sauce.

"tens of thousands of invalid signatures". Downright false!

www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/gab-staff-finds-more-than-900000-valid-signatures-to-recall-walker-ah4ptmf-144948425.html

So, Steve A., you want (R)'s to also trigger recalls, use their own "activist judges" to block legislation, and ignore calling out your brethren when they engage in deplorable behavior--all actions you find to be objectionable--because (R)'s have been "too nice"?

How ironic!

Anonymous said...

Tom--"How is it any different than a liberal running as a Republican in a place where you have to be Republican in order to win? Or a conservative doing the same as a Democrat?"

Because those individuals running at the very least embrace part of their political party's agenda.

Notice how this tactic was NEVER considered before...until it was needed as a tool for "political gamesmanship". And methinks if the (D)'s would have FIRST employed this tactic directly, the (R)'s would have a field day over its use and validity.

Again, all I hear from some conservatives is that just because you can do something legal does not make it moral or justified. Apparently, when other factors are in play, all bets are off!

"Or Shirley Abrahamson pretending to be "law enforcement's ally" when in reality she's the most criminal defendant-friendly justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court?"

Irrelevant and immaterial, your honor.

Rick Esenberg said...

It is telling that the critical comments here limit themselves to calling me names or daring me to criticize Republicans. Nothing close to an actual argument.

I suppose Anon 6:45 waves in that direction by asking why this hasn't beeen done before. But that's easy to respond to. The issue could only come up in the context of multiple partisan recall elections where the staging of primaries and generals and elections involving Democrats and Republicans might give one party an advantage over the others. We've never had that before.

Anonymous said...

Rick says,

"The issue could only come up in the context of multiple partisan recall elections where the staging of primaries and generals and elections involving Democrats and Republicans might give one party an advantage over the others. We've never had that before."

So, it's ok because the other side does it.

That's your argument. Nice.

Display Name said...

To me, the more obvious answer to this conundrum is to ask "How would you like it to be?" I don't like the idea of the government being asked to enforce partisan loyalty tests of candidates. It's bad enough the way today's WisGOP Republicans demand absolute conformance of their own.

Stray one step, and they'll declare you a RINO and they're lining up the candidates to replace you or even threatening a recall. Everything is partisan, especially when we can exploit the weaknesses of a partisan system. Let's ask school board candidates how they feel about abortion and open carry. Let's cross-tabulate the petition database against the list of city council candidates. We'll figure how who is real GOP and who isn't! Republicans eating Republicans! They say they want a free market and competition, but they sure don't like a diversity of opinions in the legislature, do they?

Given the very thin and vague justifications the Professor has given to allow the deliberate misrepresentations of "fake Democratic" candidates, why not take it to its extreme? Why shouldn't both parties always run fake candidates on the other side? Why shouldn't every race have a forced primary? Damn the costs to the public and the time of clerks everywhere, we're talking about political advantage here and that's what really matters! To the wind with ethics and personal integrity! If we can recruit a rube contributor (who otherwise can't put a sentence together) to run against a Democrat, why not? That's how we'll show respect for our system of government. Of course, primaries between real candidates would mean real competition of Republican ideas. Who wants that? Step aside, you upstart, the party annointed candidate is coming through! We can only find fake candidates to force primaries!

Anonymous said...

Earth to Tom: The freakin' Bill of Rights is "criminal defendant-friendly," whereas the Patience Roggensack wing is authoritarian, crypto-monarchist.

Anonymous said...

I am outraged, and a lot of people whom I know -- both Republicans and Democrats as well as Independents -- were outraged by this tactic last summer and are outraged about it now.

And our outrage is not fake. We really are outraged, for real.

And we have real IDs, too, if that law comes back.

Whether it does or doesn't, we will be voting, and we our votes will be influenced by our very real outrage about this tactic and others.

And no matter how much you wish to misconstrue our outrage, the impact of your post and your blog will be brief. The impact of our very real outrage will be enduring. Wait and see.

Brett said...

If you read the instructions of the Declaration of candidacy on page two it clearly explains the candidate must provide "Political party affilition or principal supported by you in five words or less" This is not a question of what primary you wish to run in but a request of the party or principal you support. And it is made under oath. Sounds like fraud to me.

illusory tenant said...

Brett, fraud isn't quite within Prof. Rick's area of expertise:

"One of the most amazing things was to see doctors openly engaged in — it's not too strong a word — fraud and justify it on the grounds of 'social activism.'" — Rick Esenberg

"Attorneys for the doctors stressed that there was no finding [the doctors] issued any fake sick notes or engaged in fraudulent behavior. They said the doctors assessed protesters before providing any notes and did not issue them to everyone who sought them." — MJS

Emphases added.

False outrage, on the other hand, Prof. Rick is quite capable of deploying when circumstances demand it.

Anonymous said...

Anony 5:22, 6:46, 6:54 here--

Illy-T, the conduct of the doctors, to me, was wrong. Plain and simple.

Did their behavior constitute fraud?
Debatable, similar to the discussion regarding the GOP strategy of running "fake Democrats".

However, if we do apply the rationale of Professor Esenberg in the case of the doctors issuing "fake notes" to the GOP strategy, it would appear there is a reasonable case to be made that this tactic is fraudulent.

The only "false outrage" are individuals who claim that there is a distinct right and wrong...but then out of political convenience forgo that morality.

illusory tenant said...

Anon, if it's still debatable whether the doctors committed fraud then either you or Prof. Rick is free to make that case. The doctors' own regulatory authority found only that some of the doctors failed to make adequate records of their consultations. When Prof. Rick made his unfounded -- and subsequently flatly contradicted -- accusation, he was simply doing what he habitually does: fanning the fake outrage ginned up by his fellow travelers among the MacGyver / Media Trackers set. That's what's amusing about his condemnation of the "fake outrage" over fake Democrats that his Bradley cash compels him to fake-ly condemn.

illusory tenant said...

By the way, whatever happened to the "false outrage" perpetrated by Prof. Rick pursuant to his trumpeting of the innuendo published by those buffoons at Media Trackers over Sen. Lena Taylor's mother's tenants? Prof. Rick got so excited over that one that he forgot to check the effective date of the Wisconsin statute he posted here in his attempt to implicate Sen. Taylor.

That incident was also when Dan Bice finally learned his lesson about those dishonest hacks at Media Trackers, although I notice Patrick Marley is still soliciting Prof. Rick's commentary for the Journal-Sentinel, most recently on the topic of -- ironically -- conflicts of interest. What Marley -- who should know better -- didn't mention is that he had Prof. Rick commenting on the antics of James Troupis, who just happens to have been Prof. Rick's co-counsel on the frivolous complaint the pair filed in Oconto County and which led directly to Scott Fitzgerald's issuing faux arrests warrants against several Democratic Senators.

Talk about conflicts of interest.

Tom said...

Funny that all the people yelling "partisan hack! partisan hack!" are doing nothing but launching ad hominems or complaining about Republican tactics (and saying nothing about Democrats using the same tactics).

I'll ask another question - "Democrat" and "Republican" aren't fixed labels with immutable meanings. Party platforms change. What's wrong with trying to "infiltrate" the other party in order to effect a platform change? I'd sure like to see a more conservative Democrat party.

Tom said...

And no, I've never had a problem with Democrats doing the same thing. And I've never complained about the cost of additional elections.

Anonymous said...

Tom, it would appear that you have a differnt definition of ad hominem.
Perhaps some of the posters may be engaging in this practice, but they might have merit in their criticism.

Tom says, ""Democrat" and "Republican" aren't fixed labels with immutable meanings."

Really? Then why do partisans froth at the mouth and label the other side as either "communist" or "neocon"?

Please, spare me. To a number of people, the mere uttering of "Democrat" or "Republican" evokes a Pavlovian response of specific buzz words. And, of course, whenever a moderate tries to instill sanity, they get labeled by their own kind at times as a "RINO" or "DINO".

Tom says, "What's wrong with trying to "infiltrate" the other party in order to effect a platform change?

By becoming a member of that political party, most certainly. But NOT by pretending you are a (D) or (R) in a primary. Again, so much for the vaunted principles I hear touted by some conservatives.
The tactic may be legal, but it does not mean it is moral or justified.

The Bear said...

Given the malfeasance, the vote fraud, the threats against businesses and persons, the destruction of property, the violence, - almost every last bit of it conducted by Democrat and unionista activists (hell somebody even poisoned a puppy belonging to Walker supporter), at this point anything shy of actual murder on the part of Republicans is justified.

The ends justify the means to quote Saul Alinsky.

I am absolutely certain that if Walker and the Republicans win these recalls the Dems WILL resort to actual murder to try to change things.

Anonymous said...

What the Bear is suggesting is anarchy. No rules apply to anyone. Sorry, Bear, we live in a society. With laws. And consequences. Any rational person, (D) or (R), would NOT subscribe to your foolish response.

Madison G-man said...

we are not lawyers, professor, that's why we're not going to get into a courtroom battle with you here.

the bottom line is that running fake democrats in a primary is wrong and a REAL waste of taxpayer dollars. And Walker is a criminal, plain and simple...okay, so maybe that's not proven in a court of law. But he's a bad person and a horrible representative for the people of Wisconsin. Proof--that repealing of the equal pay law for women late Friday afternoon as everyone was getting ready for the Easter/Passover weekend. The fact that you can support people like this makes you less credible despite all your degrees and knowledge about politics and law.
The 99% is rising up, my friend, and we're going to take back our country and protect the democracy the right wing is trying to take away.

George Mitchell said...

there should be separate threads...one with people willing to identify themselves....another for the rabble

Anonymous said...

The CONTENT of what is said matters, George, NOT whether the person has CHOSEN to remain an anony.

Kevin said...

Question from a non-lawyer here, but if this tactic is "so illegal and so fraudulent" as Levinson, OWN, and We are Wisconsin say...why didn't they try to challenge it in the courts and GAB last year?

Or were they too busy sending out ultimatums to DPW to repeat to tactic (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/labor-group-dems-must-fight-back-against-wisconsin-gop-shenanigans-or-risk-losing/2011/03/03/AGjUevOH_blog.html) to think of it at the time?

Anonymous said...

Kevin, BOTH sides are wrong. Besides, we all know what dog you have in the race. But as a partisan yourself, you should have seen this coming. So don't be lamenting about it.

Rick Esenberg said...

It is nice to hear from our friend Tom Foley but he's got it botched up.

I did not "fan" outrage over Sen. Taylor's mother. I said that the matter needed to be investigated but also explained what the governing legal principles were. I said that, if the voters registered from her property had sheltered there and had no other domicile, the registration at that address was proper.

So, rather than express or "fan" outrage, I'd say that I pored water on it.

I did initially grab a screen shot of the current version of a relevant statute which had been amended to lengthen the period of time that one must reside in a district, but I didn't claim that somehow transformed legal behavior into illegal behavior. You can read the details here.

I also stand by what I wrote about doctors who were captured on video writing sick notes for peope who were not sick and whom they did not assess. They wrote these notes knowing that employers would rely on them in excusing that person's absence.

This situation would be analogous - although not in a legal sense - only if the placeholder or fake candidates misrepresented their positions. But, even then, there would be no legal remedy.

Brett

To say that one is a candidate to be placed on the ballot "representing" a party is not the same as saying that one belongs to the party or adheres to its platform. By filing a declaration of candidacy, one makes oneself a candidate to represent that party. The declaration is not "false." This is why the GAB staff has dismissed the Democrats' position out of hand.

Anonymous said...

Very Clintonian, Professor.

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