Today’s Post has a comprehensive rundown of the deceptive tactics outgoing Maryland governor Bob Ehrlich and prospective Republican National Committee head Michael Steele used in Maryland on election day (after witnessing them firsthand last Tuesday, I blogged about them here and here). It turns out that this wasn’t the first time Ehrlich and Steele resorted to an unsavory election-day strategy. As The New Republic reported a couple of weeks ago, in 2002 they hired residents of a DC homeless shelter and students from Bowie State University to hand out misleading literature. The story gets worse...

"About 250 recruits, drawn by the promise of free meals and a day's pay, participated in what one recruit later called a 'scam from the start.' The students didn't get their meals, and they didn't get paid. The homeless recruits also weren't paid, and, that night, the van that had taken them at dawn to Prince George's County and was supposed to transport them back to Washington, D.C. never showed up."

As far as I know, the ’06 crop of homeless recruits (this time bussed in from Philadelphia) got paid and got their rides home; I gave my number to a few of them in case they got stranded and/or ripped off, and never heard from anyone. Thankfully, Ehrlich and Steele both lost. But the Republicans still see Steele as a valuable (read: African-American) asset, and have offered him the chance to replace outgoing RNC head Ken Mehlman.

The Democrats should fight this vociferously. Though the party is rightfully afraid of being branded with the dreaded Obstructionist Democrat label, and though the GOP will doubtless cry foul at Democratic meddling, the signal sent by a Steele appointment is too malicious to ignore. They were overshadowed by the resounding Democratic “thumpin’,” but there were numerous examples of Republican election-day malfeasance. If the GOP chooses to appoint someone who took part in these tactics—which would be tantamount to endorsing them—then the party’s higher-ups should be forced to explicitly defend this decision.

Yes, there will be some self-righteous sighing from those on the right (“See? All Democrats want to do is get in the way.”), but from a cost-benefit perspective, such a move makes sense. Let the RNC call a defensive press conference explaining why they want such a sleazy figure heading up their operations. Let them explain why they approve of the practice of hiring homeless people to hand out grossly misleading literature. The Democrats do need to pick their battles, but this is one worth fighting.

-- Jesse Singal
The Washington Monthly