Shades of the Future

From the Baltimore Sun:

New York Sen. Charles E. Schumer is pressing U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales to justify his department's decision not to investigate whether Maryland Republicans purposely misled voters on Election Day by circulating voter guides listing top state GOP candidates as part of a "Democratic Sample Ballot."

"The right to vote is perhaps our most essential civil right, the wellspring of our democracy," Schumer said in a letter sent yesterday to Gonzales. "Unfortunately, the mid-term elections held on November 7, 2006, were tarnished by countless dirty tricks and ugly tactics. The ploy used in Maryland stands out for its sheer cynicism and brazenness."

Campaign committees for Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Lt. Gov Michael S. Steele, then a U.S. Senate candidate, jointly sponsored the sample ballots. African-Americans were bused in from Pennsylvania to distribute those fliers and others at polling locations in Prince George's County and Baltimore. First lady Kendel Ehrlich reportedly welcomed the volunteers to Maryland.

Several politicians who were erroneously listed on the literature as endorsing Ehrlich and Steele, such as Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson and former senatorial candidate Kweisi Mfume, criticized the campaign tactic. Johnson, a Democrat, called it a "dirty trick."

An Assistant U.S. Attorney General has already written a letter to Schumer stating that "insufficient legal basis to initiate a formal investigation" existed.

Uh-huh. And the fact that the investigation would be of a GOP candidate had nothing to do with that.

With any luck, investigations like this, into specific malfeasance, will be common in the future. Just imagine Committees, lead by Democrats, with subpoena powers!

Chuck Schumer Alberto Gonzales Bob Erlich Michael Steele Sample Ballot Dirty Tricks