Mysterious Michigan "Tea Party" Kept Off Ballot - For Now

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: Campaign 2010

An April tea party protest in Washington.

(Credit: AP)

Are Michigan Democrats trying to split the GOP vote by getting "sham" Tea Party candidates on the state ballot?

That's the assertion of many of the state's Republicans and Tea Party activists, who achieved a partial victory yesterday when Michigan's Board of State Canvassers split on whether a new political party called The Tea Party would get a spot on the November ballot. The split means the issue now goes to the courts.

The people behind The Tea Party (that's the political party, not the movement) got nearly 60,000 signatures for their cause - far more than they needed to get the party on the ballot, as NPR reports.

But Republicans challenged the effort to add the party and its 23 candidates to state ballots, alleging that the establishment of The Tea Party was actually a Democratic plot to gain an advantage. They pointed to the alleged party's unpublicized nominating convention and the way the party was formed to argue, as attorney John Pirich told the Detroit Free Press, that "this Tea Party is a sham."

There is some evidence for that claim. Over the weekend, as the Freep reports, a Democratic Party official in suburban Detroit resigned after word that he had recruited Tea Party (again, the political party, not the movement) candidates to run for office.

At the Canvassing Board meeting yesterday, tea party activists railed against the effort to create a party named after their movement, casting it as a cynical effort to confuse voters. Because there appeared to be enough legitimate signatures to get the party on the ballot, opponents focused on potential technical violations to argue against it. The two Democrats on the panel eventually voted that the party should be allowed, while the two Republicans said no.

It takes a majority to get the party on the ballot, which means that it stays off for now. But backers of the party are vowing to appeal in the coming days, and it could be left to the Michigan Supreme Court to decide whether there will be a Tea Party line on Michigan ballots in the fall.

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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by Woodhollow August 25, 2010 1:12 PM EDT: Hold on...I'm still trying to figure out the now infamous gentleman from South Carolina, Al Greene's rise to political fame? Was this, or was this not a similar plot by nefarious Republican politicians. I'm just about ready for anarchy and that does NOT mean Tea Party!; Reply to this comment

by MrBullFighter August 24, 2010 3:08 PM EDT

Fox flu (Raucus Limbaughdicus infectius) (AKA Murdoch madness):
.
A recently discovered airborne pandemic transmitted via radio and television signals affecting certain areas of the cerebral cortex in susceptible individuals. Milder cases have also been transmitted by personal contact with previously infected persons.
This is a dangerous and debilitating disorder resulting in memory loss, unwarranted agitation, delusions, paranoia, lapses in judgement, anti-social behavior, and in extreme cases, violent outbursts.
.
Symptoms include, but are not limited to the following:
Severe agitation and elevated blood pressure, accompanied by shouting of the terms ?socialist? and ?redistribution of wealth? when exposed to any of the following phrases: Welfare, health care, inheritance tax, liberal, Medicare, Social Security, or Medicaid.
Delusions of grandeur when stimulated with the term ?upcoming election?.
Complete memory loss when questioned about anything that happened between January 2001 and January 2009.
Incoherent blabbering about ?giving more to the rich so that everyone prospers?.
Extreme paranoia and constant repetition of the word ?nuke? when stimulated with any of the following terms: Taliban, Iraq, Iran, 911, Russia, Muslim, or communist.
Angry outbursts when brought into close proximity of any elected Democratic official.
Infected individuals often display a false sense of superiority, accompanied by a general loathing of others who do not share their views.
.
Successful treatment usually requires a long, tedious and often painful process of de-programming, which may take years to accomplish.
Treatment is often ineffective in severe cases.
.
Please avoid prolonged exposure to individuals exhibiting the above symptoms.

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by Woodhollow August 25, 2010 1:18 PM EDT: How true! Is anybody "out there" covering the $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association by Fox News? And, if not, why not?