THE DAILY BS: HOW MUCH CAN YOU HANDLE?
SPARE ME THE BS (I’ve got things to do).
- CNN discussed reporting that operatives connected to Mary Peltola’s campaign recruited a challenger sharing Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan’s name.
- Ana Navarro responded with a Florida Republican ghost-candidate scandal; another panelist suggested voters could simply read the ballot.
- Peltola’s campaign denies recruiting candidates. Alaska’s governor has ordered an investigation.
LAY IT ON ME (I’ve got time).
A Democratic campaign faces allegations of engineering voter confusion in a potentially decisive Senate race. Naturally, Ana Navarro had a Republican scandal ready.
During Wednesday’s CNN discussion of the Alaska Senate controversy, Navarro pivoted to a Florida case involving Republican operatives and a spoiler candidate. Her point: recruiting someone to run and illegally paying someone to run are different things.
That distinction deserves examination. So does the alleged effort to win a Senate seat by finding another fellow with the incumbent’s name. Apparently, the democracy business now includes a casting department.
The New York Times reported that people connected to Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign worked to recruit additional candidates, including Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., whose name resembles incumbent Republican Dan S. Sullivan’s. Peltola’s campaign denies involvement.
Navarro noted that the Florida operation produced felony convictions involving payments. On whether similar payments had been established in Alaska, she said: “There is no proof or evidence in this case that that happened.”
She then argued that lawmakers could change the rules, saying “they should make recruiting sham candidates illegal.”
Republican election lawyer Ben Ginsberg also disputed the argument that recruiting a spoiler, by itself, established illegality.
Fine. But clearing a legal threshold and clearing a basic honesty threshold are separate assignments. Voters can object to a dirty trick without waiting for somebody to arrive carrying handcuffs.
Panelist Cari Champion supplied another defense: the ballot identifies the incumbent, so voters should be able to distinguish the candidates. Host Kasie Hunt pointed back to reporting that people allegedly involved had mocked precisely the voters who might struggle with that distinction.
There’s the sales pitch: if the confusion works, congratulations to the strategists. If voters complain, perhaps they should have studied harder.
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has now ordered an investigation. Both Sullivan candidates remain part of a race with consequences for Senate control.
Until the facts are settled, viewers can enjoy cable television’s familiar emergency procedure: when an uncomfortable Democratic story arrives, break glass and retrieve a Republican.
DBS WIRE SOURCES (I’ve got all day).
- CNN: Full transcript of the October 28 discussion
- Associated Press: Alaska governor orders investigation into Peltola campaign
- The Washington Post: Allegations, campaign denial and investigation
