Thaddeus McCotter is a smart man, but he or his staff made an extremely stupid move by trying to file for the Michigan primary with a petition containing fake signatures. I'm going to give Rep. McCotter the benefit of the doubt and say that this probably was the result of a staff mess-up. The filing deadline was probably looming and the petition most likely was simply forgotten until the last minute. Then panic set in and the fake signatures were used in an effort to meet the deadline. There is no doubt that the popular representative could have easily gotten the necessary number of signatures to file a legitimate petition, but this was a case of leaving on vacation and forgetting the dog... a simple, big screw-up.
From the Detroit Free Press:
"This wasn't anything that was an innocent mistake," Lansing political consultant Tom Shields said Tuesday. "It was purely an attempt to make up for a lack of signatures, which is politically criminal."
Or maybe just plain criminal. The state Attorney General's Office is investigating to determine whether any laws were broken.
"We will review information provided by the Secretary of State and determine whether additional action is warranted," said Joy Yearout, spokeswoman for Attorney General Bill Schuette.From NPR:
McCotter claims he was duped, but also says he accepts responsibility for what happened. He says he wants the Michigan attorney general to investigate, and he will run as a write-in candidate. There is already another Republican candidate on the ballot, so McCotter will have to get more people to write in his name.
Elections experts says that's a big hurdle.
"I think it's doable, but he's got a lot of work to do, and I think he knows that," says Michigan Republican Party Chairman Bobby Schostack. "We at the state party will support whoever it is that wins the primary.This is one of those career-killer moments. We'll be watching how this plays out.
UPDATE: